There is a lack of quantitative syntheses of fragmentation effects across species and biogeographic regions, especially with respect to species life-history traits. We used data from 24 independent studies of butterflies and moths from a wide range of habitats and landscapes in Europe and North America to test whether traits associated with dispersal capacity, niche breadth and reproductive rate modify the effect of habitat fragmentation on species richness. Overall, species richness increased with habitat patch area and connectivity. Life-history traits improved the explanatory power of the statistical models considerably and modified the butterfly species-area relationship. Species with low mobility, a narrow feeding niche and low reproduction were most strongly affected by habitat loss. This demonstrates the importance of considering life-history traits in fragmentation studies and implies that both species richness and composition change in a predictable manner with habitat loss and fragmentation.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01487.x | DOI Listing |
Mar Pollut Bull
January 2025
Department of Bioenvironmental Systems Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan. Electronic address:
Emerging contaminants in estuarine sediments, such as bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nTiO), pose ecotoxicological risks that may be exacerbated by co-contamination. This study investigated the impacts of DEHP, nTiO, and their combinations at environmentally relevant concentrations (1, 10, and 100 μg/g) on the soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans in estuarine-like sediment (14.25‰ salinity).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFISME J
January 2025
Biological Oceanography, Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde, Rostock, 18119 Germany.
Dormancy is a wide-spread key life history trait observed across the tree of life. Many plankton species form dormant cells stages that accumulate in aquatic sediments and under anoxic conditions, form chronological records of past species and population dynamics under changing environmental conditions. Here we report on the germination of a microscopic alga, the abundant marine diatom Skeletonema marinoi that had remained dormant for up to 6871 ± 140 years in anoxic sediments of the Baltic Sea and resumed growth when exposed to oxygen and light.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Econ Entomol
January 2025
Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA.
The carpophilus beetle, Carpophilus truncatus Murray, 1864 (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) is an invasive pest recently detected in California's tree nut crop orchards. Here we report a simple, labor-saving, and cost-effective rearing system for C. truncatus utilizing banana and industrial sand components.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEcotoxicol Environ Saf
December 2024
Key Laboratory of Mariculture, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Shandong 266003, China; Function Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Laoshan Laboratory, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, China. Electronic address:
Saline-alkaline aquaculture plays a crucial role in the ecological restoration of saline soils, yet high water salinity can significantly restrict the growth of cultured organisms. The Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) is typically farmed in freshwater, to evaluate the effects of salinity stress on these crabs, this study conducted laboratory aquaculture experiments at salinities of ≤ 0.5 (freshwater), 6, 12, and 18 ‰.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
December 2024
Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Genetic diversity can influence fitness components such as survival and reproductive success. Yet the association between genetic diversity and fitness based on neutral loci is sometime very weak and inconsistent, with relationships varying among taxa due to confounding effects of population demography and life history. Fitness-diversity relationships are likely to be stronger and more consistent for genes known to influence phenotypic traits, such as immunity-related genes, and may also depend on the genetic differences between breeding partners.
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