flowPloidy: An R package for genome size and ploidy assessment of flow cytometry data.

Premise Of The Study: Despite advantages in terms of reproducibility, histogram analysis based on nonlinear regression is rarely used in genome size assessments in plant biology. This is due in part to the lack of a freely available program to implement the procedure. We have developed such a program, the R package flowPloidy.

Early warning signals detect critical impacts of experimental warming.

Earth's surface temperatures are projected to increase by ~1-4°C over the next century, threatening the future of global biodiversity and ecosystem stability. While this has fueled major progress in the field of physiological trait responses to warming, it is currently unclear whether routine population monitoring data can be used to predict temperature-induced population collapse. Here, we integrate trait performance theory with that of critical tipping points to test whether early warning signals can be reliably used to anticipate thermally induced extinction events.

An atypical reproductive cycle in a common viviparous Asia Agamid Phrynocephalus vlangalii.

Viviparous lizards living in cold climate of high altitude often exhibit atypical reproductive cycles, in which mating and fertilization occur synchronously and annually with parturition occurring at the end of the year. Nevertheless, detailed case studies on atypical reproductive cycles are few. Using anatomical data combined with behavioral observations, we examined the reproductive cycle of a common Asian agamid, Phrynocephalus vlangalii, from a high-elevation area in Sichuan, China.