Tag: perspective

Animal Functional Traits, Pespectives, Uncategorized

Do ants and plants see the world the same way?

Heloise Gibb, Tom R. Bishop, Lily Leahy, Catherine L. Parr, Jean-Philippe Lessard, Nathan J. Sanders, Jonathan Z. Shik, Javier Ibarra-Isassi, Ajay Narendra, Robert R. Dunn, Ian J. Wright This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology perspective article that can be found here. An ecological strategy describes the way a species interacts with other species and its environment and determines its evolutionary fitness. … Continue reading Do ants and plants see the world the same way?

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Animal Functional Traits, community ecology, Pespectives

Towards an animal economics spectrum for ecosystem research

Robert R. Junker, Jörg Albrecht, Marcel Becker, Raya Keuth, Nina Farwig, Matthias Schleuning This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which is published here. Animals strongly vary in size, appearance, and metabolism, which limits the comparability of ecological strategies across the animal kingdom. However, functional assessments of whole ecosystems and their response to global change may benefit from a set … Continue reading Towards an animal economics spectrum for ecosystem research

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animal physiological ecology

From theory to functional trait

Kearney, Michael; Jusup, Marko; McGeoch, Melodie; Kooijman, Bas; Chown, Steven A functional trait is one that can be connected to the performance of an organism, for example to growth or to reproduction. The idea of a functional trait has a long history. However, recent progress collating and comparing trait measurements for the purpose of modelling responses to environmental change has shown that there is a … Continue reading From theory to functional trait

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Damselfishes swim among the coral branches in the mid-day sun at the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. (Photo: Fredrik Jutfelt)
behavioural ecology

Too hot to eat – why aquatic animals reduce feeding during warming

Fredrik Jutfelt, Tommy Norin, Eirik Asheim, Lauren Rowsey, Anna Andreassen, Rachael Morgan, Timothy Clark, Ben Speers-Roesch Aquatic animals reduce feeding when water temperatures become too warm, but the cause of their reduced appetite is unknown. We propose a new hypothesis that explains the physiological mechanism causing the reduced feeding.Water-breathing animals, such as fish, have the same body temperature as the water surrounding them. Therefore, when … Continue reading Too hot to eat – why aquatic animals reduce feeding during warming

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Daylight availability may play an important role in the evolution of avian migration. Photo by Chinmayee Mishra, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_clear_sunset_view.jpg#filelinks
animal physiological ecology

Perspective: A role for daylight in the evolution of migration

Keith W. Sockman and Allen H. Hurlbert Long-distance latitudinal migration exposes individuals to dramatic variation in daylight availability (photoperiod). For example, the Arctic tern, which migrates each year from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back, does not experience the short days of winter due to the timing of its migratory flights. Instead, it experiences roughly three-fourths of its life in daylight. Although the Arctic … Continue reading Perspective: A role for daylight in the evolution of migration

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Hypothetical framework for how silicon affects root nodulation and nitrogen fixation (full description is provided in the article).
plant physiological ecology

Is it time to include legumes in plant silicon research?

Rocky Putra, Jeff R. Powell, Susan E. Hartley & Scott N. Johnson In 2016, Functional Ecology published a special issue on “The functional role of silicon in plant biology” featuring 8 exciting papers on diverse areas of ecological research. Papers highlighted how silicon (Si) is a beneficial element that alleviates adverse effects of environmental stresses in plants. However, most studies addressing the ecological significance of … Continue reading Is it time to include legumes in plant silicon research?

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community ecology

Perspective: Conserving the holobiont

Alexandra J.R. Carthey, Daniel T. Blumstein, Rachael V. Gallagher, Sasha G. Tetu, Michael R. Gillings All animals and plants host complex communities of micro-organisms; on their skin and in their guts, on their leaves and among their roots. These micro-organisms are increasingly recognised as important for the health, development, growth and well-being of their hosts. However, as a result of ongoing human disturbance, an increasing … Continue reading Perspective: Conserving the holobiont

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community ecology

Can dynamic network modeling be used to identify adaptive microbiomes?

Joshua Garcia and Jenny Kao-Kniffin The microbiome can be thought of as the community of microbes that live on or within populations and groups of species and that potentially interact to influence the traits of a eukaryotic host or ecosystem.  In recent times, interest has grown in understanding how microbiomes associated with plants and animals influence the survivability or fitness of their hosts. The profound … Continue reading Can dynamic network modeling be used to identify adaptive microbiomes?

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evolutionary ecology

Why does eating less make lab animals live longer? An evolutionary perspective.

Jenny C. Regan, Hannah Froy, Craig A. Walling, Joshua P. Moatt & Daniel H. Nussey, One of the most reliable ways to make lab animals, including worms, flies and mice, live longer and age slower is to reduce the amount of food they can eat. This so-called “dietary restriction” effect on aging is widely observed and is now known to be underpinned by signalling of … Continue reading Why does eating less make lab animals live longer? An evolutionary perspective.

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While mimicry in animals is well-known, plants often also display adaptive resemblances. Here a male wasp pollinator is gripping a black outgrowth on the surface of an orchid flower. This outgrowth resembles its own wingless female, and astonishingly, produced the same sex pheromones as the female wasps when they are ready to mate. Male wasps are very sensitive to these sex pheromones and quickly locate the orchid, land on its flower, and attempt to mate with the black outgrowth in the hopes of producing their own offspring. In the process, male wasps remove the pollen from the flower. This pollen is then deposited on the next wasp-mimicking flower that manages to deceive a male, allowing orchids to exploit wasps to transport their pollen without providing any rewards in return. Photo credit: Rod Peakall
evolutionary ecology

Perspective: When does resemblance become mimicry?

Biological mimicry has been a pillar of evolution for more than a century. Darwin was quick to realise its potential to showcase the power of natural selection and added it as an exemplar of adaptation to the Origin of Species. Despite a strong current research focus, with new cases of mimicry being reported every year, scientists often lack agreement over what exactly constitutes mimicry. What … Continue reading Perspective: When does resemblance become mimicry?

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