Multiyear genotype characterization of eastern spruce budworm outbreaking populations from Quebec and adjacent regions.

Population outbreaks are characterized by irruptive changes in population density and connectivity resulting in rapid demographic and spatial expansion, often at the landscape scale. Outbreaks are common across multiple taxa, many of which inhabit northern ecosystems. Outbreaks of Lepidopteran defoliators in forest ecosystems are a particularly compelling example of this phenomenon, given the massive spatial scales over which these outbreaks can occur, their frequency, and socioeconomic impacts.

Independent Transitions to Freshwater Environments Promote Phenotypic Divergence, Not Convergence, in Stingrays.

Instances of convergent or parallel evolution provide a potent model system for exploring contingency and determinism in evolutionary biology. Likewise, the multiple, independent habitat transitions from saltwater to freshwater biomes offer opportunities for studying convergent evolution within and among different vertebrate lineages. For example, stingrays have invaded freshwater habitats multiple times across different continents, sometimes even several times within the same clade (e.

Patterns of Phenotypic Evolution Associated with Marine/Freshwater Transitions in Fishes.

Evolutionary transitions between marine and freshwater ecosystems have occurred repeatedly throughout the phylogenetic history of fishes. The theory of ecological opportunity predicts that lineages that colonize species-poor regions will have greater potential for phenotypic diversification than lineages invading species-rich regions. Thus, transitions between marine and freshwaters may promote phenotypic diversification in trans-marine/freshwater fish clades.

Ecological and Phenotypic Diversification after a Continental Invasion in Neotropical Freshwater Stingrays.

Habitat transitions are key potential explanations for why some lineages have diversified and others have not-from Anolis lizards to Darwin's finches. The ecological ramifications of marine-to-freshwater transitions for fishes suggest evolutionary contingency: some lineages maintain their ancestral niches in novel habitats (niche conservatism), whereas others alter their ecological role. However, few studies have considered phenotypic, ecological, and lineage diversification concurrently to explore this issue.

CARDIORESPIRATORY EFFECTS OF DEXMEDETOMIDINE-MIDAZOLAM AND REVERSAL WITH ATIPAMEZOLE IN CAPTIVE BROWN BROCKET DEER ().

Ketamine-free, midazolam-based protocols have successfully immobilized cervids in the past but their impact on physiological function has not yet been thoroughly investigated. Six deer received IM dexmedetomidine (30.96 ± 3.