Code sharing in ecology and evolution increases citation rates but remains uncommon.

Biologists increasingly rely on computer code to collect and analyze their data, reinforcing the importance of published code for transparency, reproducibility, training, and a basis for further work. Here, we conduct a literature review estimating temporal trends in code sharing in ecology and evolution publications since 2010, and test for an influence of code sharing on citation rate. We find that code is rarely published (only 6% of papers), with little improvement over time.

Contrasting population genetic structure of three semi-terrestrial brachyuran crabs on the coast of the Japanese archipelago.

Anthropogenic activities have reduced ecotones between the ocean and land, which is likely to threaten the population of brackish-water brachyuran crabs. To assess the current status of these crabs, we examine the population genetic structures of three semi-terrestrial brachyuran crabs widely distributed along the coast of the Japan and to clarify factors determining their genetic structures. We collected 184 , 252 , and 151 crabs from 36 localities of the Japanese archipelago.

Estimating range expansion of wildlife in heterogeneous landscapes: A spatially explicit state-space matrix model coupled with an improved numerical integration technique.

Dispersal as well as population growth is a key demographic process that determines population dynamics. However, determining the effects of environmental covariates on dispersal from spatial-temporal abundance proxy data is challenging owing to the complexity of model specification for directional dispersal permeability and the extremely high computational loads for numerical integration. In this paper, we present a case study estimating how environmental covariates affect the dispersal of Japanese sika deer by developing a spatially explicit state-space matrix model coupled with an improved numerical integration technique (Markov chain Monte Carlo with particle filters).

Factors restricting the range expansion of the invasive green anole on Okinawa Island, Japan.

The green anole invaded the Ogasawara Islands in Japan, drove various native species to extinction, and its distribution expanded 14 years after initial establishment. invaded Okinawa Island, but it has not expanded its distribution in more than 25 years, although its density is extremely high in the southern region. To determine whether has the potential to expand its distribution on Okinawa Island, we performed phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial ND2 DNA sequences to study the origin of that invaded Okinawa Island.

Whole-genome sequencing reveals small genomic regions of introgression in an introduced crater lake population of threespine stickleback.

Invasive species pose a major threat to biological diversity. Although introduced populations often experience population bottlenecks, some invasive species are thought to be originated from hybridization between multiple populations or species, which can contribute to the maintenance of high genetic diversity. Recent advances in genome sequencing enable us to trace the evolutionary history of invasive species even at whole-genome level and may help to identify the history of past hybridization that may be overlooked by traditional marker-based analysis.