Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CLIMATIC ADAPTATION AND THE EVOLUTION OF BASAL AND MAXIMUM RATES OF METABOLISM IN RODENTS

Metabolic rate is a key aspect of organismal biology and the identification of selective factors that have led to species differences is a major goal of evolutionary physiology. We tested whether environmental characteristics and/or diet were significant predictors of interspecific variation in rodent metabolic rates. Mass-specific basal metabolic rates (BMR) and maximum metabolic rates (MMR, measured during cold exposure in a He-O2 atmosphere) were compiled from the literature. Maximum (Tmax) and minimum (Tmin) annual mean temperatures, latitude, altitude, and precipitation were obtained from field stations close to the capture sites reported for each population (N 5 57). Diet and all continuous-valued traits showed statistically significant phylogenetic signal, with the exception of masscorrected MMR and altitude. Therefore, results of phylogenetic analyses are emphasized. Body mass was not correlated with absolute latitude, but was positively correlated with precipitation in analyses with phylogenetically independent contrasts. Conventional multiple regressions that included body mass indicated that Tmax (best), Tmin, latitude, and diet were significant additional predictors of BMR. However, phylogenetic analyses indicated that latitude was the only significant predictor of mass-adjusted BMR (positive partial regression coefficient, one-tailed P 5 0.0465). Conventional analyses indicated that Tmax, Tmin (best), and altitude explained significant amounts of the variation in mass-adjusted MMR. With body mass and Tmin in the model, no additional variables were significant predictors. Phylogenetic contrasts yielded similar results. Both conventional and phylogenetic analyses indicated a highly significant positive correlation between residual BMR and MMR (as has also been reported for birds), which is consistent with a key assumption of the aerobic capacity model for the evolution of vertebrate energetics (assuming that MMR and exercise-induced maximal oxygen consumption are positively functionally related). Our results support the hypothesis that variation in environmental factors leads to variation in the selective regime for metabolic rates of rodents. However, the causes of a positive association between BMR and latitude remain obscure. Moreover, an important area for future research will be experiments in all taxa are raised under common conditions to allow definitive tests of climatic adaptation in endotherm metabolic rates and to elucidate the extent of adaptive phenotypic plasticity.
Managing Scalable Persistent Data

Distributed applications should be able to manage dynamic workloads; i.e., the amount of client requests per time unit may vary frequently and servers should rapidly adapt their computing efforts to those workloads. This implies that these applications should be able to scale out without problems in order to handle workload peaks and to reduce their number of replicas when the workload diminishes, at least when a pay-per-use utility model is assumed. Cloud systems provide a solid basis for this kind of applications. This paper surveys different techniques being used in different modern systems in order to increase the scalability and adaptability in the management of persistent data. Those techniques follow two basic principles: (a) to minimise distributed coordination, and (b) to eliminate any sources of delay in local operation service. These principles are implemented following six complementary mechanisms: (1) to replicate data in order to improve read access parallelisation, (2) to partition the database in order to increase update access concurrency, (3) to relax the resulting replica consistency in order to ensure network-partition tolerance, (4) usage of simple operations in order to reduce concurrency control efforts, (5) declaration of simple schemas, thus reducing the dependency on elaborate indexing techniques and eliminating the need of join operations, and (6) to bound coordination for directly achieving the first
Phylogeography of Ophioblennius: the role of ocean currents and geography in reef fish evolution.

Many tropical reef fishes are divided into Atlantic and East Pacific taxa, placing similar species in two very different biogeographic regimes. The tropical Atlantic is a closed ocean basin with relatively stable currents, whereas the East Pacific is an open basin with unstable oceanic circulation. To assess how evolutionary processes are influenced by these differences in oceanography and geography, we analyze a 630-bp region of mitochondrial cytochrome b from 171 individuals in the blenniid genus Ophioblennius. Our results demonstrate deep genetic structuring in the Atlantic species, O. atlanticus, corresponding to recognized biogeographic provinces, with divergences of d = 5.2–12.7% among the Caribbean, Brazilian, St. Helena/Ascension Island, Gulf of Guinea, and Azores/Cape Verde regions. The Atlantic phylogeny is consistent with Pliocene dispersal from the western to eastern Atlantic, and the depth of these separations (along with prior morphological comparisons) may indicate previously unrecognized species. The eastern Pacific species, O. steindachneri, is characterized by markedly less structure than O. atlanticus, with shallow mitochondrial DNA lineages (dmax = 2.7%) and haplotype frequency shifts between locations in the Sea of Cortez, Pacific Panama, Clipperton Island, and the Galapagos Islands. No concordance between genetic structure and biogeographic provinces was found for O. steindachneri. We attribute the phylogeographic pattern in O. atlanticus to dispersal during the reorganization of Atlantic circulation patterns that accompanied the shoaling of the Isthmus of Panama. The low degree of structure in the eastern Pacific is probably due to unstable circulation and linkage to the larger Pacific Ocean basin. The contrast in genetic signatures between Atlantic and eastern Pacific blennies demonstrates how differences in geology and oceanography have influenced evolutionary radiations within each region.
Developmental Patterns of Tree Dimensions in a Neotropical Deciduous Forest1

Abstract For 26 tree species in very dry tropical forest in México, the developmental trends of relationships among trunk diameter, tree height, and crown diameter were inferred from a one-time measurement of dispersed individuals across the size range from saplings to large, mature trees. On hillside sites in this high diversity forest, maximum dimensions were usually <10-m height, 4-m crown diameter, and 0.3-m trunk diameter. The relationship of height to trunk diameter was characterized by an asymptotic, three-parameter model. Crown diameter was a linear function of trunk diameter. The parameter values for both models varied widely among the species. In general, the dispersion among species of the height–crown diameter relationship increased linearly with trunk diameter (up to 0.2 m). Arborescent cacti were distant from other species at all sizes, although they were well modeled using the same equations. Empirical and theoretical features and limitations of the present and previous models, including mechanical buckling and water-stress theories, are considered.
A QUANTITATIVE GENETIC TEST OF ADAPTIVE DECOUPLING ACROSS METAMORPHOSIS FOR LOCOMOTOR AND LIFE-HISTORY TRAITS IN THE PACIFIC TREE FROG, HYLA REGILLA

Metamorphosis is assumed to be beneficial because it can break developmental links between traits in the different phases of a complex life-cycle and thereby allow larval and adult phases to adapt independently. I tested the prediction that correlations between the larval and adult phases are smaller than within stages. I estimated phenotypic and additive genetic variances and correlations for tadpole swimming speed, frog jump distance, body size, and larval period in a single population of the Pacific tree frog, Hyla regilla. These traits are known or reasonably assumed to be important for survival in this and other anuran species from temporary ponds. Only the three size variables were affected by sire identity. Heritabilities for locomotor performance, larval period, and size-independent performance were low (0.00–0.23) and not significant. Body size measurements showed somewhat higher and statistically significant heritabilities (0.24–0.34). Most traits were phenotypically correlated. On average, phenotypic correlations were larger between phases than within phases (0.41 vs. 0.28). Genetic correlations involving body-size traits were positive and large, and average withinand between-phase genetic correlation coefficients were identical (0.81). These results do not support the adaptive decoupling hypothesis, and they indicate that a paucity of additive genetic variation is a likely constraint on the evolution of traits measured for this population.
Species frequency dynamics in an old-field succession: Effects of disturbance, fertilization and scale

Abstract Question: Can patterns of species frequency in an old-field be explained within the context of a metapopulation model? Are the patterns observed related to time, spatial scale, disturbance, and nutrient availability? Location: Upland and lowland old-fields in Illinois, USA. Method: Species richness was recorded annually for seven years following plowing of an upland and lowland old-field subject to crossed fertilizer and disturbance treatments (mowing and rototilling). Species occupancy distributions were assessed with respect to the numbers of core and satellite species. Results: In both fields, species richness became higher in disturbed plots than in undisturbed plots over time, and decreased in fertilized plots irrespective of time. A bimodal pattern of species richness consistent with the Core-satellite species (CSS) hypothesis occurred in the initial seed bank and through the course of early succession. The identity of native and exotic core species (those present in > 90% of blocks) changed with time. Some core species from the seed bank became core species in the vegetation, albeit after several years. At the scale of individual plots, a bimodal fit consistent with the CSS hypothesis applied only in year 1 and rarely thereafter. Conclusions: The CSS hypothesis provides a metapopulation perspective for understanding patterns of species richness but requires the assessment of spatial and temporal scaling effects. Regional processes (e.g. propagule availability) at the largest scale have the greatest impact influencing community structure during early secondary succession. Local processes (e.g., disturbance and soil nutrients) are more important at smaller scales and place constraints on species establishment and community structure of both native and exotic species. Under the highest intensity of disturbance, exotic species may be able to use resources unavailable to, or unused by, native species. Nomenclature: Mohlenbrock (2002).
Trait convergence and trait divergence in herbaceous plant communities: Mechanisms and consequences

Abstract In landscapes subject to intensive agriculture, both soil fertility and vegetation disturbance are capable of impacting strongly, evenly and simultaneously on the herbaceous plant cover and each tends to impose uniformity on the traits of constituent species. In more natural and ancient grasslands greater spatial and temporal variation in both productivity and disturbance occurs and both factors have been implicated in the maintenance of species-richness in herbaceous communities. However, empirical data suggest that disturbance is the more potent driver of trait differentiation and species co-existence at a local scale. This may arise from the great diversity in opportunities for establishment, growth or reproduction that arise when the intensity of competition is reduced by damage to the vegetation. In contrast to the diversifying effects of local disturbances, productivity-related plant traits (growth rate, leaf longevity, leaf chemistry, leaf toughness, decomposition rate) appear to be less variable on a local scale. This difference in the effects of the productivity and disturbance filters arises from the relative constancy of productivity within the community and the diversity in agency and in spatial and temporal scales exhibited by disturbance events. Also, evolutionary responses to disturbances involve minor adaptive shifts in phenological and regenerative traits and are more likely to occur as micro-evolutionary steps than the shifts in linked traits in the core physiology associated with the capacity to exploit productive and unproductive habitats. During the assembly of a community and over its subsequent lifespan filters with diversifying and convergent effects may operate simultaneously on recruitment from the local species pool and impose contrasted effects on the similarity of the trait values exhibited by co-existing species. Moreover, as a consequence of the frequent association of productivity with the convergence filter, an additional difference is predicted in terms of the effects of the two filters on ecosystem functioning. Convergence in traits selected by the productivity filter will exert effects on both the plant community and the ecosystem while divergent effects of the disturbance filter will be restricted to the plant community.
Fossil Cross-validation of the Dated Ant Phylogeny (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Abstract As molecular clock methods become more widely used it has become apparent that careful consideration of fossil minimum calibrations is essential. Not only is it necessary to be certain of the taxonomic identity of the fossils and correct placement within the phylogenetic tree, recent studies have suggested that when multiple fossils are available consideration of conflict among fossils must also be taken into account. In this study we investigate whether any of the 43 fossils used by Moreau, et al. (2006) are “inconsistent” and how this affects the results of molecular clock dating analyses and inferred diversification patterns. After considering each of the 43 fossils in turn, following the methods of Near and colleagues (Near & Sanderson, 2004; Near et al., 2005), we found that five fossils are considered to be “inconsistent. ” After removing these fossils and reanalyzing the data, we found that excluding these minimum age fossil calibration points did not have a considerable effect on the results. Comparing lineages-through-time plots demonstrate that not only are similar ages recovered, but also that the previously inferred significant shift in diversification rates within the ant phylogeny is not an artifact of the “inconsistent” fossils. These findings suggest that all available fossil information should be included in molecular clock analyses.
Species responses to experimentally induced habitat changes in a Corynephorus grassland

Abstract Question: To which extent do external ecological factors effect Corynephorus grassland vegetation? Location: Central Netherlands. Methods: We implemented different treatments (sand deposition, litter deposition, nitrogen input, mechanical disturbance, control) in permanent plots representing different successional phases in Corynephorus grassland. Plots were recorded just before the treatments and during the subsequent two years. Vegetation changes were analysed by Redundancy Analysis for repeated measurements and Correspondence Analysis, changes in single species abundances by ANOVA. Results: Species composition hardly changed during the observation period. Several single species abundances showed significant responses to different treatments, most often decrements as direct effects of cover, removal, or dieback. However, Corynephorus canescens and Polytrichum piliferum benefited from sand deposition, the exotic moss Campylopus introflexus from litter deposition. In the colonization phase Polytrichum, Campylopus and Cladonia diversa increased irrespective treatment. Therophytes such as Spergula morisonii showed the strongest negative response to drought, grasses (e.g. Corynephorus canescens) and bryophytes (e.g. Polytrichum piliferum) were less susceptible. Most lichens did not respond at all. Conclusions: The experiment confirms the high stability of Corynephorus grassland vegetation. Most vegetation changes are in accordance with the hypothetical series of successional phases. In contrast, changes in abundance of single species express considerable dynamics within the vegetation. Species responses also depend on extreme weather conditions as well as on the successional phase of the grassland vegetation and therefore on the competition situation. Abbreviations: CA = Correspondence Analysis; RDA = Redundancy Analysis. Nomenclature: Wisskirchen & Haeupler (1998) for vascular plants; Koperski et al. (2000) for bryophytes; van Herk & Aptroot (2004) for lichens; Ettl & Gärtner (1995) for algae.
A Worldwide Survey of Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxins, Dibenzofurans, and Related Contaminants in Butter

The main source of human exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) is, in general, food. In this study, 64 butter samples from 37 countries were analyzed to assess the global contamination of polychlorinated dibenzo-pdioxins (PCDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs), biphenyls (PCBs), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), and 2,2-bis (4-chlorophenyl)-1,1,1-trichloroethane (DDT) together with its major metabolites. The objectives of the study were to assess the presence of major organohalogen contaminants in butter, to trace geographical differences, and to determine toxic equivalents (TEQs) of PCDDs/Fs and dioxin-like PCBs in butter. The highest PCDD/F concentrations were found in butter from Korea with an average of 1.4 pg TEQ g 1 lipid weight (l.w.). from PCDD/F and an additional contribution from the nonand mono-orthoPCBs of 0.55 pg TEQ g 1 l.w. Belgian butter showed average levels of 0.53 and 1.2 pg TEQ g 1 l.w. for PCDDs/ Fs and PCBs, respectively, but one sample of Belgium butter had a total TEQ level as high as 4.0 pg TEQ g 1 l.w. Three out of five butter samples from Portugal showed similarly high PCDD/F TEQ levels. The RPCB levels in European butter appeared to be somewhat higher than in the samples from the rest of the world. The average contribution of CB-153 to the total PCB concentration was 22% (SD 6.4, coefficient of variation 29%). Generally, the PCBs contributed around 60% of the total TEQ value, with CB-126 contributing approximately half of this value. This shows the important TEQ contribution from dioxinlike PCBs to the total TEQs. The highest HCB levels were found in butter samples from Russia, Ukraine, Belgium, and Slovenia. Low levels of HCB in butter were generally found in the Southern Hemisphere. Butter samples from countries from Eastern Europe had elevated RDDT concentrations, with a particularly high concentration in Ukraine butter, followed by some Russian samples, Brazil, and the US.
The Contributions of Sea Ice Algae to Antarctic Marine Primary Production1

Abstract The seasonally ice-covered regions of the Southern Ocean have distinctive ecological systems due to the growth of microalgae in sea ice. Although sea ice microalgal production is exceeded by phytoplankton production on an annual basis in most offshore regions of the Southern Ocean, blooms of sea ice algae differ considerably from the phytoplankton in terms of timing and distribution. Thus sea ice algae provide food resources for higher trophic level organisms in seasons and regions where water column biological production is low or negligible. A flux of biogenic material from sea ice to the water column and benthos follows ice melt, and some of the algal species are known to occur in ensuing phytoplankton blooms. A review of algal species in pack ice and offshore plankton showed that dominance is common for three species: Phaeocystis antarctica, Fragilariopsis cylindrus and Fragilariopsis curta. The degree to which dominance by these species is a product of successional processes in sea ice communities could be an important in determining their biogeochemical contribution to the Southern Ocean and their ability to seed blooms in marginal ice zones.
Distress Calls of Birds in a Neotropical Cloud Forest1

Abstract Distress calls are loud, harsh calls given by some species of birds when they are captured by a predator or handled by humans. We recorded the frequency of distress calls and struggling behavior in 40 species of birds captured in mist nets during the dry season in a Costa Rica cloud forest. We tested the following hypotheses proposed to explain the function of distress calls: (1) calling for help from kin or reciprocal altruists; (2) warning kin; (3) eliciting mobbing behavior; (4) startling the predator; and (5) distracting the predator through attraction of additional predators. Our results did not support the calling-for-help, warning kin, or mobbing hypotheses. Indeed, genera that regularly occurred with kin or in flocks were not more likely to call than non-flocking genera. There was no relationship between calling frequency and struggling behavior as predicted by the predator startle hypothesis. Genera of larger birds tended to call more than smaller birds, providing some support for both the predator distraction hypothesis and predator startle hypotheses. Calls of higher amplitude may be more effective in startling the predator. Distress calls of larger birds may also travel greater distances than those of smaller birds, supporting the predator manipulation hypothesis, but this requires further testing.
Structural biology and evolution in the monotypic Amazonian palm Wendlandiella (Arecoideae: Chamaedoreeae)

Abstract Stauffer, F.W. , J. Eychenne, N. Ortega & H. Balslev (2019). Structural biology and evolution in the monotypic Amazonian palm Wendlandiella (Arecoideae: Chamaedoreeae) Candollea 74: 15–30. In English, English abstract. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.15553/c2019v741a3 The structural biology is here, for the first time, described in the Amazonian palm genus Wendlandiella Dammer, a poorly known and monotypic member of the early divergent tribe Chamaedoreeae Drude (Arecoideae). Wendlandiella gracilis Dammer includes three varieties: var. gracilis, var. polyclada (Burret) A.J. Hend. , and var. simplicifrons (Burret) A.J. Hend. In contrast to the overwhelmingly monoecious condition in this subfamily, Wendlandiella together with the species-rich genus Chamaedorea Willd. , presents a dioecious reproductive syndrome. The terrestrial root system, the leaves and the stems of Wendlandiella display a relatively simple architecture and vegetative multiplication observed in wild populations may be regarded as an important mechanism of reproduction. Flowers in Wendlandiella are arranged in a complex floral cluster known as acervulus, clearly deviating from the floral triad characterizing most other members of the subfamily. Our study describes the structure of the acervulus in inflorescences of both sexes. The lack of a nectariferous epithelium in the gynoecium and the pistillode suggests that Wendlandiella is wind pollinated, which is a rare pollination mechanism in palms. Wendlandiella is proposed as an interesting model to test the different evolutionary pathways to dioecy in palms. Received: September 14, 2018. Accepted: January 26, 2019. First published online: March 28, 2019.