cometadata/datacite-titles-descriptions-related-identifiers huggingface dataset:
DOI: 10.5683/sp2/tasg7f
title: Data from: Resource selection and landscape change reveal mechanisms suppressing population recovery for the world's most endangered antelope

description: AbstractUnderstanding how bottom-up and top-down forces affect resource selection can inform restoration efforts. With a global population size of &lt;500 individuals, the hirola Beatragus hunteri is the world's most endangered antelope, with a declining population since the 1970s. While the underlying mechanisms are unclear, some combination of habitat loss and predation are thought to be responsible for low abundances of contemporary populations. Efforts to conserve hirola are hindered by a lack of understanding as to why population density remains low, despite eradication of the viral disease, rinderpest. To elucidate factors underlying chronically low numbers, we examined resource selection and landscape change within the hirola's native range. Because hirola are grazers, we hypothesized that the availability of open areas would be linked both to forage and safety from predators. We quantified: (1) changes in tree cover across the hirola's historical range in eastern Kenya over the past 27 years; (2) how tree cover has influenced resource selection by hirola; and (3) interactions between tree cover and predation. Between 1985 and 2012, tree cover increased by 251% across the historical range of hirola. Tree encroachment was associated with a 98% decline of hirola and elephant Loxodonta africana populations, a 74% decline in cattle Bos indicus, an increase in browsing livestock by 327%, and a reduction in rainfall. Although hirola avoided tree cover, we found no evidence that predation on hirola increased with increasing tree cover. Synthesis and applications. Hirola may qualify as a refugee species, in which contemporary populations are restricted to suboptimal habitat and exhibit low survival, reproduction, or both. The extinction of hirola would be the first of a mammalian genus on the African continent in modern history. We conclude that contemporary low numbers of hirola are due at least partly to habitat loss via tree encroachment, triggered by some combination of elephant extirpation, overgrazing, drought, and perhaps fire suppression. We recommend a combination of rangeland restoration efforts (including conservation of elephants, manual clearing of trees, and grass seeding), increased enforcement of an existing protected area (Arawale National Reserve), and reintroductions to enhance recovery for this endangered species. These efforts will rely on enhanced support from the international conservation community and the cooperation of pastoralist communities with which the hirola coexist.
DOI: 10.5683/sp2/8xkzob
title: Data from: Resources alter the structure and increase stochasticity in bromeliad microfauna communities

description: AbstractAlthough stochastic and deterministic processes have been found to jointly shape structure of natural communities, the relative importance of both forces may vary across different environmental conditions and across levels of biological organization. We tested the effects of abiotic environmental conditions, altered trophic interactions and dispersal limitation on the structure of aquatic microfauna communities in Costa Rican tank bromeliads. Our approach combined natural gradients in environmental conditions with experimental manipulations of bottom-up interactions (resources), top-down interactions (predators) and dispersal at two spatial scales in the field. We found that resource addition strongly increased the abundance and reduced the richness of microfauna communities. Community composition shifted in a predictable way towards assemblages dominated by flagellates and ciliates but with lower abundance and richness of algae and amoebae. While all functional groups responded strongly and predictably to resource addition, similarity among communities at the species level decreased, suggesting a role of stochasticity in species-level assembly processes. Dispersal limitation did not affect the communities. Since our design excluded potential priority effects we can attribute the differences in community similarity to increased demographic stochasticity of resource-enriched communities related to erratic changes in population sizes of some species. In contrast to resources, predators and environmental conditions had negligible effects on community structure. Our results demonstrate that bromeliad microfauna communities are strongly controlled by bottom-up forces. They further suggest that the relative importance of stochasticity may change with productivity and with the organizational level at which communities are examined.
DOI: 10.5683/sp2/frajao
title: Data from: Responses to simulated winter conditions differ between threespine stickleback ecotypes

description: AbstractAbiotic factors can act as barriers to colonization and drive local adaptation. During colonization, organisms may cope with changes in abiotic factors using existing phenotypic plasticity, but the role of phenotypic plasticity in assisting or hindering the process of local adaptation remains unclear. To address these questions, we explore the role of winter conditions in driving divergence during freshwater colonization and the effects of plasticity on local adaptation in ancestral marine and derived freshwater ecotypes of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). We found that freshwater-resident stickleback had greater tolerance of acute exposure to low temperatures than marine stickleback, but these differences were abolished after acclimation to simulated winter conditions (9L:15D photoperiod at 4°C). Plasma chloride levels differed between the ecotypes, but showed a similar degree of plasticity between ecotypes. Gene expression of the epithelial calcium channel (ECaC) differed between ecotypes, with the freshwater ecotype demonstrating substantially greater expression than the marine ecotype, but there was no plasticity in this trait under these conditions in either ecotype. In contrast, growth (assessed as final mass) and the expression of an isoform of the electroneutral Na+/H+ exchanger (NHE3) exhibited substantial change with temperature in the marine ecotype that was not observed in the freshwater ecotype under the conditions tested here, which is consistent with evolution of these traits by a process such as genetic assimilation. These data demonstrate substantial divergence in many of these traits between freshwater and marine stickleback, but also illustrate the complexity of possible relationships between plasticity and local adaptation.
DOI: 10.5683/sp2/7r10ga
title: Data from: Rethinking phylogenetic comparative methods

description: AbstractAs a result of the process of descent with modification, closely related species tend to be similar to one another in a myriad different ways. In statistical terms, this means that traits measured on one species will not be independent of traits measured on others. Since their introduction in the 1980s, phylogenetic comparative methods (PCMs) have been framed as a solution to this problem. In this paper, we argue that this way of thinking about PCMs is deeply misleading. Not only has this sowed widespread confusion in the literature about what PCMs are doing but has led us to develop methods that are susceptible to the very thing we sought to build defenses against --- unreplicated evolutionary events. Through three Case Studies, we demonstrate that the susceptibility to singular events is indeed a recurring problem in comparative biology that links several seemingly unrelated controversies. In each Case Study we propose a potential solution to the problem. While the details of our proposed solutions differ, they share a common theme: unifying hypothesis testing with data-driven approaches (which we term ``phylogenetic natural history'') to disentangle the impact of singular evolutionary events from that of the factors we are investigating. More broadly, we argue that our field has, at times, been sloppy when weighing evidence in support of causal hypotheses. We suggest that one way to refine our inferences is to re-imagine phylogenies as probabilistic graphical models; adopting this way of thinking will help clarify precisely what we are testing and what evidence supports our claims.
DOI: 10.5683/sp2/mazevl
title: Data from: Rethinking refugia: tree topology, divergence dates, and demographic history trace the distribution of the endangered Plymouth gentian (Sabatia kennedyana) from the Pleistocene glaciation to present day

description: AbstractPremise of study: Molecular population genetics is a powerful tool to infer how species responded to past environmental change. In the northern hemisphere, interest is increasing in how species responded to changes in ice coverage and temperature during the last glaciation maximum (LGM, between 18000–21000 yr ago) with a common assumption that glacial refugia were located at the southern edge of a species range. Methods: We reconstructed the glacial and postglacial phylogeography of Sabatia kennedyana, a member of the Atlantic Coastal Plains Flora with a current distribution from Nova Scotia (NS) to South Carolina, using both cpDNA and nuclear markers. We also examined clinal variation in morphological traits, in particular relative investment in asexual vs sexual growth. Key results: We find strong evidence that the species did not reside in southern glacial refugia, but rather in primary glacial refugia off the exposed continental shelf extending from Cape Cod and that this area was responsible for the founding of modern populations across the range from Nova Scotia (NS) to the United States. Additionally, based on the finding of higher cpDNA diversity and older cpDNA lineages in NS, we propose that multiple founder events occurred in NS, while only a single lineage gave rise to current populations in the United States. Conclusions: By understanding how S. kennedyana responded to past shifts in climate and by identifying areas of high genetic diversity in the northern range edge, we discuss the potential response of the species to future climate change scenarios.
DOI: 10.5683/sp2/wpughv
title: Data from: Reversed brain size sexual dimorphism accompanies loss of parental care in white sticklebacks

description: AbstractUncovering factors that shape variation in brain morphology remains a major challenge in evolutionary biology. Recently, it has been shown that brain size is positively associated with level of parental care behavior in various taxa. One explanation for this pattern is that the cognitive demands of performing complex parental care may require increased brain size. This idea is known as the parental brain hypothesis (PBH). We set out to test the predictions of this hypothesis in wild populations of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). These fish are commonly known to exhibit (1) uniparental male care and (2) sexual dimorphism in brain size (males&gt;females). To test the PBH, we took advantage of the existence of closely related populations of stickleback that display variation in parental care behavior: common marine threespine sticklebacks (uniparental male care) and white threespine sticklebacks (no care). To begin, we quantified genetic differentiation among two common populations and three white populations from Nova Scotia. We found overall low differentiation among populations, although FST was increased in between-type comparisons. We then measured the brain weights of males and females from all five populations along with two additional common populations from British Columbia. We found that sexual dimorphism in brain size is reversed in white stickleback populations: males have smaller brains than females. Thus, while several alternatives need to be ruled out, the PBH appears to be a reasonable explanation for sexual dimorphism in brain size in threespine sticklebacks.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.16640698.v1
title: FT-ICR MS.xlsx

description: Marine phytoplankton are major source of labile organic matters in the upper ocean, and play critical roles in marine elemental cycling. However, the metabolism and transformation of phytoplankton-derived N- and S-containing organic compounds (e.g., GBT and DMSP) by heterotrophic bacteria is limited at the molecular level to date. The present study investigated microbial metabolites, community compositions/ secessions and microbial-DOM interactions with carbohydrate (glucose), N-containing (GBT) and S-containing (DMSP) substrates incubations. The substrate GBT support much higher bacterial growth rate and efficiency than the DMSP. Two humic-like fluorescent DOM components displayed environmental specific recalcitrant characteristic due to different microbial population successions in three substrates incubations. The median richness of microbial produced organic molecules (metabolites) was significantly higher in GBT than in DMSP incubations as revealed by FT-ICR MS result. The CHON and CHOS group molecules enriched in the GBT and DMSP incubations, respectively, suggesting elemental composition of substrates greatly influence the molecular composition of microbial metabolites.
DOI: 10.5683/sp2/rd59ui
title: Data from: Robustness to noise in gene expression evolves despite epistatic constraints in a model of gene networks

description: AbstractStochastic noise in gene expression causes variation in the development of phenotypes, making such noise a potential target of stabilizing selection. Here we develop a new simulation model of gene networks to study the adaptive landscape underlying the evolution of robustness to noise. We find that epistatic interactions between the determinants of the expression of a gene and its downstream effect impose significant constraints on evolution, but these interactions do allow the gradual evolution of increased robustness. Despite strong sign epistasis, adaptation rarely proceeds via deleterious intermediate steps, but instead occurs primarily through small beneficial mutations. A simple mathematical model captures the relevant features of the single-gene fitness landscape and explains counterintuitive patterns, such as a correlation between the mean and standard deviation of phenotypes. In more complex networks, mutations in regulatory regions provide evolutionary pathways to increased robustness. These results chart the constraints and possibilities of adaptation to reduce expression noise and demonstrate the potential of a novel modeling framework for gene networks.
DOI: 10.25545/eaj1ci
title: Quantification and Characterization of Turbulent Flow using Magnetic Resonance

description: This dataset contains magnetic resonance measurements as well as Matlab code for processing. The dataset is meant to accompany the Ph.D. thesis of Amy-Rae Gauthier entitled “Quantification and Characterization of Turbulent Flow using Magnetic Resonance” to facilitate reproduction of the results.
DOI: 10.5683/sp2/unsxik
title: Data from: Root effect haemoglobins in fish may greatly enhance general oxygen delivery relative to other vertebrates

description: AbstractThe teleost fishes represent over half of all extant vertebrates; they occupy nearly every body of water and in doing so, occupy a diverse array of environmental conditions. We propose that their success is related to a unique oxygen (O2) transport system involving their extremely pH-sensitive haemoglobin (Hb). A reduction in pH reduces both Hb-O2 affinity (Bohr effect) and carrying capacity (Root effect). This, combined with a large arterial-venous pH change (ΔpHa-v) relative to other vertebrates, may greatly enhance tissue oxygen delivery in teleosts (e.g., rainbow trout) during stress, beyond that in mammals (e.g., human). We generated oxygen equilibrium curves (OECs) at five different CO2 tensions for rainbow trout and determined that, when Hb-O2 saturation is 50% or greater, the change in oxygen partial pressure (ΔPO2) associated with ΔpHa-v can exceed that of the mammalian Bohr effect by at least 3-fold, but as much as 21-fold. Using known ΔpHa-v and assuming a constant arterial-venous PO2 difference (Pa-vO2), Root effect Hbs can enhance O2 release to the tissues by 73.5% in trout; whereas, the Bohr effect alone is responsible for enhancing O2 release by only 1.3% in humans. Disequilibrium states are likely operational in teleosts in vivo, and therefore the ΔpHa-v, and thus enhancement of O2 delivery, could be even larger. Modeling with known Pa-vO2 in fish during exercise and hypoxia indicates that O2 release from the Hb and therefore potentially tissue O2 delivery may double during exercise and triple during some levels of hypoxia. These characteristics may be central to performance of athletic fish species such as salmonids, but may indicate that general tissue oxygen delivery may have been the incipient function of Root effect Hbs in fish, a trait strongly associated with the adaptive radiation of teleosts.
DOI: 10.5683/sp2/t1zzpx
title: Data from: Save your host, save yourself? caste-ratio adjustment in a parasite with division of labor and snail host survival following shell damage

description: AbstractShell damage and parasitic infections are frequent in gastropods, influencing key snail host life-history traits such as survival, growth, and reproduction. However, their interactions and potential effects on hosts and parasites have never been tested. Host–parasite interactions are particularly interesting in the context of the recently discovered division of labor in trematodes infecting marine snails. Some species have colonies consisting of two different castes present at varying ratios; reproductive members and nonreproductive soldiers specialized in defending the colony. We assessed snail host survival, growth, and shell regeneration in interaction with infections by two trematode species, Philophthalmus sp. and Maritrema novaezealandense, following damage to the shell in the New Zealand mud snail Zeacumantus subcarinatus. We concomitantly assessed caste-ratio adjustment between nonreproductive soldiers and reproductive members in colonies of the trematode Philophthalmus sp. in response to interspecific competition and shell damage to its snail host. Shell damage, but not parasitic infection, significantly increased snail mortality, likely due to secondary infections by pathogens. However, trematode infection and shell damage did not negatively affect shell regeneration or growth in Z. subcarinatus; infected snails actually produced more new shell than their uninfected counterparts. Both interspecific competition and shell damage to the snail host induced caste-ratio adjustment in Philophthalmus sp. colonies. The proportion of nonreproductive soldiers increased in response to interspecific competition and host shell damage, likely to defend the parasite colony and potentially the snail host against increasing threats. These results indicate that secondary infections by pathogens following shell damage to snails both significantly increased snail mortality and induced caste-ratio adjustments in parasites. This is the first evidence that parasites with a division of labor may be able to produce nonreproductive soldiers according to environmental factors other than interspecific competition with other parasites.
DOI: 10.5683/sp2/zd3uyc
title: Data from: Scale and direction of adaptive introgression between black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) and balsam poplar (P. balsamifera)

description: AbstractIntrogression can introduce novel genetic variation at a faster rate than mutation alone, and result in adaptive introgression when adaptive alleles are maintained in the recipient genome over time by natural selection. A previous study from our group demonstrated adaptive introgression from Populus balsamifera into P. trichocarpa in a target genomic region. Here we expanded our local ancestry analysis to the whole genome of both parents to provide a comprehensive, unbiased view of introgression patterns and to identify additional candidate regions for adaptive introgression genome-wide. Populus trichocarpa is a large, fast-growing tree of mild coastal regions of the Pacific northwest, whereas P. balsamifera is a smaller stature tree of continental and boreal regions with intense winter-cold. The species are parapatric with extensive hybridization. Here, using local ancestry analysis, we detected asymmetric patterns of introgression across the whole genome of these two species of poplar trees adapted to contrasting environments, with stronger introgression from P. balsamifera to P. trichocarpa than vice versa. Admixed P. trichocarpa individuals showed more genomic regions with unusually high levels of introgression (19 regions) compared with admixed P. balsamifera (9 regions) but also the largest introgressed peak (1.02 Mb). Our analysis also revealed numerous candidate regions for adaptive introgression with strong signals of selection, notably related to disease resistance, and enriched for genes that may play crucial roles for survival and adaptation. Furthermore, we revealed overrepresentation of subtelomeric regions in P. balsamifera introgression into P. trichocarpa and possible protection of the sex-determining regions from interspecific gene flow.
DOI: 10.5683/sp2/zpfaid
title: Data from: Selection and genomic differentiation during ecological speciation: isolating the contributions of host association via a comparative genome scan of Neochlamisus bebbianae leaf beetles

description: AbstractThis study uses a comparative genome scan to evaluate the contributions of host plant related divergent selection to genetic differentiation and ecological speciation in maple- and willow-associated populations of Neochlamisus bebbianae leaf beetles. For each of 15 pairwise population comparisons, we identified "outlier loci" whose strong differentiation putatively reflects divergent selection. Of 447 AFLP loci, 15% were outliers across multiple population comparisons, and low linkage disequilibrium indicated that these outliers derived from multiple regions of the genome. Outliers were further classified as "host-specific" if repeatedly observed in "different-host" population comparisons but never in "same-host" comparisons. Outliers exhibiting the opposite pattern were analogously classified as "host-independent." Host-specific outliers represented 5% of all loci and were more frequent than host-independent outliers, thus revealing a large role for host-adaptation in population genomic differentiation. Evidence that host-related selection can promote divergence despite gene flow was provided by population trees. These were structured by host-association when datasets included host-specific outliers, but not when based on neutral loci, which united sympatric populations. Lastly, three host-specific outliers were highly differentiated in all nine different-host comparisons. Because host-adaptation promotes reproductive isolation in these beetles, these loci provide promising candidate gene regions for future molecular studies of ecological speciation.