Harderbarr9921

Lophyra flexuosa, a eurytopic tiger beetle characterized by long phenological activity, wide geographic and altitudinal distribution, and occurring in the highest number of habitats among all Cicindelidae known from North Africa, was chosen to study its geographic variation in morphology and sexual dimorphism. Here, we found significant sexual dimorphism exhibited in larger body size of females and longer mandibles in males, which can be explained by different roles of particular sexes in courtship. Moreover, we recorded significant differences in body sizes between western and eastern Maghreb populations which could suggest genetic isolation between these populations. As the species is related to habitats placed close to the water reservoirs, which in the desert countries are under significant human pressure (including climate change), we expect a reduction of habitat occupied by this taxon. Therefore, the geographic morphological variability that we observe today in the tiger beetle Lophyra flexuosa in the future could lead to speciation.Biological patterns across latitudinal gradients elucidate a number of striking natural clines from which numerous processes can be further explored. The trade-off between reproduction and somatic maintenance and growth represents a suite of life-history traits with variable energy allocation and potential latitudinal patterns. Specifically, male sexually dimorphic traits in female choice systems represent one such reproductive investment constrained by resource acquisition and subsequent allocation. Latitudinal variation in sexual dimorphism has been suggested although the relationship between dimorphic traits and latitude are conflicting. Here, we test alternative hypotheses regarding this pattern using two broadly distributed vertebrates exhibiting sexually dimorphic traits. We hypothesized that the exaggeration of dimorphic traits correlates with latitude, with males having exaggerated sexually dimorphic traits at either higher or lower latitudes. Results indicate that male sexually dimorphic traits are exaggerated at lower latitudes while relative gonopodium size in Poecilia latipinna was larger at higher latitudes. This pattern may be a result of lower latitude populations experiencing greater population densities and longer access to resources that could manifest in females more intensively selecting for higher quality males in lower latitudes. Experimental work should address this pattern and investigate mechanistic processes.Generalization of pollination systems is widely accepted by ecologists in the studies of plant-pollinator interaction networks at the community level, but the degree of generalization of pollination networks remains largely unknown at the individual pollinator level. Using potential legitimate pollinators that were constantly visiting flowers in two alpine meadow communities, we analyzed the differences in the pollination network structure between the pollinator individual level and species level. The results showed that compared to the pollinator species-based networks, the linkage density, interaction diversity, interaction evenness, the average plant linkage level, and interaction diversity increased, but connectance, degree of nestedness, the average of pollinator linkage level, and interaction diversity decreased in the pollinator individual-based networks, indicating that pollinator individuals had a narrower food niche than their counterpart species. Pollination networks at the pollinator individual level were more specialized at the network level (H'2) and the plant species node level (d') than at the pollinator species-level networks, reducing the chance of underestimating levels of specialization in pollination systems. The results emphasize that research into pollinator individual-based pollination networks will improve our understanding of the pollination networks at the pollinator species level and the coevolution of flowering plants and pollinators.Exaggerated secondary sexual characteristics are apparently costly and seem to defy natural selection. This conundrum promoted the theory of sexual selection. Accordingly, exaggerated secondary sexual characteristics might be ornaments on which female choice is based and/or armaments used during male-male competition. Males of many cichlid fish species, including the adaptive radiation of Nicaraguan Midas cichlids, develop a highly exaggerated nuchal hump, which is thought to be a sexually selected trait. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a series of behavioral assays in F2 hybrids obtained from crossing a species with a relatively small hump and one with an exaggerated hump. Mate-choice experiments showed a clear female preference for males with large humps. In an open-choice experiment with limited territories, couples including large humped males were more successful in acquiring these territories. Therefore, nuchal humps appear to serve dual functions as an ornament for attracting mates and as an armament for direct contest with rivals. Although being beneficial in terms of sexual selection, this trait also imposes fitness costs on males possessing disproportionally large nuchal humps since they exhibit decreased endurance and increased energetic costs when swimming. We conclude that these costs illustrate trade-offs associated with large hump size between sexual and natural selection, which causes the latter to limit further exaggeration of this spectacular male trait.In the species-rich genus Impatiens, few natural hybrids are known, even though closely related species often occur sympatrically. In this study, we aim to bridge the gap between micro- and macro-evolution to disentangle pre- and postzygotic mechanisms that may prevent hybridization in the Impatiens purpureoviolacea complex from Central Africa. We analyzed habitat types, species distribution, pollination syndromes, pollinator dependency, genome sizes, and chromosome numbers of seven out of the ten species of the complex as well as of one natural hybrid and reconstructed the ancestral chromosome numbers of the complex. Several species of the complex occur in sympatry or geographically very close to each other. All of them are characterized by pre- and/or postzygotic mechanisms potentially preventing hybridization. We found four independent polyploidization events within the complex. The only known natural hybrid always appears as single individual and is self-fertile. But the plants resulting from self-pollinated seeds often die shortly after first flowering. These results indicate that the investigated mechanisms in combination may effectively but not absolutely prevent hybridization in Impatiens and probably occur in other genera with sympatric species as well.While there has been increasing interest in how taxonomic diversity is changing over time, less is known about how long-term taxonomic changes may affect ecosystem functioning and resilience. Exploring long-term patterns of functional diversity can provide key insights into the capacity of a community to carry out ecological processes and the redundancy of species' roles. We focus on a protected freshwater system located in a national park in southeast Germany. We use a high-resolution benthic macroinvertebrate dataset spanning 32 years (1983-2014) and test whether changes in functional diversity are reflected in taxonomic diversity using a multidimensional trait-based approach and regression analyses. Specifically, we asked (i) How has functional diversity changed over time? (ii) How functionally distinct are the community's taxa? (iii) Are changes in functional diversity concurrent with taxonomic diversity? And (iv) what is the extent of community functional redundancy? Resultant from acidification mitigation, macroinvertebrate taxonomic diversity increased over the study period. Recovery of functional diversity was less pronounced, lagging behind responses of taxonomic diversity. Over multidecadal timescales, the macroinvertebrate community has become more homogenous with a high degree of functional redundancy, despite being isolated from direct anthropogenic activity. While taxonomic diversity increased over time, functional diversity has yet to catch up. These results demonstrate that anthropogenic pressures can remain a threat to biotic communities even in protected areas. The differences in taxonomic and functional recovery processes highlight the need to incorporate functional traits in assessments of biodiversity responses to global change.Quantifying consumption and prey choice for marine predator species is key to understanding their interaction with prey species, fisheries, and the ecosystem as a whole. However, parameterizing a functional response for large predators can be challenging because of the difficulty in obtaining the required data on predator diet and on the availability of multiple prey species.This study modeled a multi-species functional response (MSFR) to describe the relationship between consumption by harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) and the availability of multiple prey species in the southern North Sea. Bayesian methodology was employed to estimate MSFR parameters and to incorporate uncertainties in diet and prey availability estimates. Prey consumption was estimated from stomach content data from stranded harbour porpoises. Prey availability to harbour porpoises was estimated based on the spatial overlap between prey distributions, estimated from fish survey data, and porpoise foraging range in the days prior to stranding predicted from telemetry data.Results indicated a preference for sandeels in the study area. Prey switching behavior (change in preference dependent on prey abundance) was confirmed by the favored type III functional response model. Ripasudil Variation in the size of the foraging range (estimated area where harbour porpoises could have foraged prior to stranding) did not alter the overall pattern of the results or conclusions.Integrating datasets on prey consumption from strandings, predator foraging distribution using telemetry, and prey availability from fish surveys into the modeling approach provides a methodological framework that may be appropriate for fitting MSFRs for other predators.Investigating the determinants of the reproductive biology of fishes is an essential component of fisheries research. Tilapia breeding patterns were investigated to determine the impact of non-native Oreochromis niloticus on the native congeneric Oreochromis macrochir in the upper Kabompo River in the Northwest of Zambia using the gonadosomatic index and the sex ratios. Oreochromis niloticus was the most abundant fish caught (221, 63.5%) than O. macrochir (127, 36.5%). Results showed that the overall gonadosomatic index means of O. macrochir in both sections were similar. Oreochromis macrochir bred in December and February-March, with no reproduction in June. However, O. niloticus in the invaded section indicated all year reproduction through reduced spawning in May-June, with increased spawning activity in February-March. The sex ratio (females males) was 11.3 and 11.7 for O. niloticus and O. macrochir, respectively, and both significantly deviated from the sex ratio of 11 (ꭓ2 = 8.42 and 9.37, p less then .