Articles

Non-associative versus associative learning by foraging predatory mites

Learning processes can be broadly categorized into associative and non-associative. Associative learning occurs through the pairing of two previously unrelated stimuli, whereas non-associative learning occurs ...

Authors: Peter Schausberger and Stefan Peneder

Erratum to: Palaeoenvironmental drivers of vertebrate community composition in the Belly River Group (Campanian) of Alberta, Canada, with implications for dinosaur biogeography

Authors: Thomas M. Cullen and David C. Evans

Erratum to: Feeding preferences of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) in Nepal

Authors: Raj Kumar Koirala, David Raubenheimer, Achyut Aryal, Mitra Lal Pathak and Weihong Ji

A temporal assessment of nematode community structure and diversity in the rhizosphere of cisgenic Phytophthora infestans-resistant potatoes

Nematodes play a key role in soil processes with alterations in the nematode community structure having the potential to considerably influence ecosystem functioning. As a result fluctuations in nematode diver...

Authors: Vilma Ortiz, Sinead Phelan and Ewen Mullins

Collapse of an iconic conifer: long-term changes in the demography of Widdringtonia cedarbergensis using repeat photography

Conifer populations appear disproportionately threatened by global change. Most examples are, however, drawn from the northern hemisphere and long-term rates of population decline are not well documented as hi...

Authors: J. D. M. White, S. L. Jack, M. T. Hoffman, J. Puttick, D. Bonora, V. Visser and E. C. February

Feeding preferences of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) in Nepal

Nepal provides habitat for approximately 100–125 wild Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). Although a small proportion of the world population of this species, this group is important for maintaining the genetic di...

Authors: Raj Kumar Koirala, David Raubenheimer, Achyut Aryal, Mitra Lal Pathak and Weihong Ji

Palaeoenvironmental drivers of vertebrate community composition in the Belly River Group (Campanian) of Alberta, Canada, with implications for dinosaur biogeography

The Belly River Group of southern Alberta is one of the best-sampled Late Cretaceous terrestrial faunal assemblages in the world. This system provides a high-resolution biostratigraphic record of terrestrial v...

Authors: Thomas M. Cullen and David C. Evans

Siberian flying squirrels do not anticipate future resource abundance

One way to cope with irregularly occurring resources is to adjust reproduction according to the anticipated future resource availability. In support of this hypothesis, few rodent species have been observed to...

Authors: Vesa Selonen and Ralf Wistbacka

The 2nd International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE 2016)

01 The eco-toxicological effects of cadmium stress on five ornamental plants

Authors: Zhouli Liu, Wei Chen, Xingyuan He, Shuai Yu, Weihang Ding, Jianjun Liu, Yuliang Wu, Kaixiang Fan, Yuanchao Li, Xinqing Zheng, Shiquan Chen, Haiqun Xie, Jie Li, Zhuomin Wang, Li Xue, Zhiyang Lie…

BioVeL: a virtual laboratory for data analysis and modelling in biodiversity science and ecology

Making forecasts about biodiversity and giving support to policy relies increasingly on large collections of data held electronically, and on substantial computational capability and capacity to analyse, model...

Authors: Alex R. Hardisty, Finn Bacall, Niall Beard, Maria-Paula Balcázar-Vargas, Bachir Balech, Zoltán Barcza, Sarah J. Bourlat, Renato De Giovanni, Yde de Jong, Francesca De Leo, Laura Dobor, Giacinto Donvito, Donal Fellows, Antonio Fernandez Guerra, Nuno Ferreira, Yuliya Fetyukova…

A century of morphological variation in Cyprinidae fishes

Aquatic habitats have been altered over the past century due to a variety of anthropogenic influences. Ecomorphology is an area of aquatic ecology that can both directly and indirectly assess the effects of ha...

Authors: Stephen J. Jacquemin and Mark Pyron

Insect herbivory in a mature Eucalyptus woodland canopy depends on leaf phenology but not CO₂ enrichment

Climate change factors such as elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations (e[CO₂]) and altered rainfall patterns can alter leaf composition and phenology. This may subsequently impact insect herbivory. In...

Authors: Andrew N. Gherlenda, Ben D. Moore, Anthony M. Haigh, Scott N. Johnson and Markus Riegler

High genetic diversity in the offshore island populations of the tephritid fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis

Geographic isolation is an important factor that limit species dispersal and thereby affects genetic diversity. Because islands are often small and surrounded by a natural water barrier to dispersal, they gene...

Authors: Chunyan Yi, Chunyan Zheng, Ling Zeng and Yijuan Xu

Ecological status of high altitude medicinal plants and their sustainability: Lingshi, Bhutan

Human beings use plants for a multitude of purposes of which a prominent one across the globe is for their medicinal values. Medicinal plants serve as one of the major sources of income for high altitude inhab...

Authors: Lakey and Kinley Dorji

Hunting as a management tool? Cougar-human conflict is positively related to trophy hunting

Overexploitation and persecution of large carnivores resulting from conflict with humans comprise major causes of declines worldwide. Although little is known about the interplay between these mortality types,...

Authors: Kristine J. Teichman, Bogdan Cristescu and Chris T. Darimont

Loss and conservation of evolutionary history in the Mediterranean Basin

Phylogenetic diversity and evolutionary distinctiveness are highly valuable components of biodiversity, but they are rarely considered in conservation practices. Focusing on a biodiversity hotspot, the Mediter...

Authors: S. Veron, P. Clergeau and S. Pavoine

Application of fundamental equations to species−area theory

Species−area relationship (SAR), endemics-area relationship (EAR) and overlap-area relationship (OAR) are three important concepts in biodiversity study. The application of fundamental equations linking the SA...

Authors: Xubin Pan

Seasonal rainfall at long-term migratory staging sites is associated with altered carry-over effects in a Palearctic-African migratory bird

An understanding of year-round habitat use is essential for determining how carry-over effects shape population dynamics in long-distance migratory songbirds. The recent discovery of long-term migratory stagin...

Authors: Marjorie C. Sorensen, Graham D. Fairhurst, Susanne Jenni-Eiermann, Jason Newton, Elizabeth Yohannes and Claire N. Spottiswoode

Host plant range of a fruit fly community (Diptera: Tephritidae): does fruit composition influence larval performance?

Phytophagous insects differ in their degree of specialisation on host plants, and range from strictly monophagous species that can develop on only one host plant to extremely polyphagous species that can devel...

Authors: Abir Hafsi, Benoit Facon, Virginie Ravigné, Frédéric Chiroleu, Serge Quilici, Brahim Chermiti and Pierre-François Duyck

Crop diversity loss as primary cause of grey partridge and common pheasant decline in Lower Saxony, Germany

The grey partridge (Perdix perdix) and the common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) are galliform birds typical of arable lands in Central Europe and exhibit a partly dramatic negative population trend. In order to ...

Authors: Katrin Ronnenberg, Egbert Strauß and Ursula Siebert

Population density of the western burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) in Mexican prairie dog (Cynomys mexicanus) colonies in northeastern Mexico

The western burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) occurs throughout western North America in various habitats such as desert, short-grass prairie and shrub-steppe, among others, where the main threat for th...

Authors: Gabriel Ruiz Ayma, Alina Olalla Kerstupp, Alberto Macías Duarte, Antonio Guzmán Velasco and José I. González Rojas

Pesticide seed dressings can affect the activity of various soil organisms and reduce decomposition of plant material

Seed dressing with pesticides is widely used to protect crop seeds from pest insects and fungal diseases. While there is mounting evidence that especially neonicotinoid seed dressings detrimentally affect inse...

Authors: Johann G. Zaller, Nina König, Alexandra Tiefenbacher, Yoko Muraoka, Pascal Querner, Andreas Ratzenböck, Michael Bonkowski and Robert Koller

Differentiation and description of aromatic short grain rice landraces of eastern Indian state of Odisha based on qualitative phenotypic descriptors

Speciality rice, in general, and aromatic rice in particular, possess enormous market potential for enhancing farm profits. However, systematic characterization of the diversity present in this natural wealth ...

Authors: Pritesh Sundar Roy, Rashmita Samal, Gundimeda Jwala Narasimha Rao, Sasank Sekhar Chyau Patnaik, Nitiprasad Namdeorao Jambhulkar, Ashok Patnaik and Trilochan Mohapatra

BMC Ecology Image Competition 2016: the winning images

The 2016 BMC Ecology Image Competition marked another celebration of the astounding biodiversity, natural beauty, and biological interactions documented by talented ecologists worldwide. For our fourth annual ...

Authors: Julia Simundza, Matthew Palmer, Josef Settele, Luke M. Jacobus, David P. Hughes, Dominique Mazzi and Simon Blanchet

Chemical disguise of myrmecophilous cockroaches and its implications for understanding nestmate recognition mechanisms in leaf-cutting ants

Cockroaches of the genus Attaphila regularly occur in leaf-cutting ant colonies. The ants farm a fungus that the cockroaches also appear to feed on. Cockroaches disperse between colonies horizontally (via foragin...

Authors: Volker Nehring, Francesca R. Dani, Luca Calamai, Stefano Turillazzi, Horst Bohn, Klaus-Dieter Klass and Patrizia d’Ettorre

Using multivariate cross correlations, Granger causality and graphical models to quantify spatiotemporal synchronization and causality between pest populations

This work combines multivariate time series analysis and graph theory to detect synchronization and causality among certain ecological variables and to represent significant correlations via network projection...

Authors: Petros Damos

Surveying the citizen science landscape: an exploration of the design, delivery and impact of citizen science through the lens of the Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) programme

This paper provides a short introduction to the topic of citizen science (CS) identifying the shift from the knowledge deficit model to more inclusive, participatory science. It acknowledges the benefits of ne...

Authors: Linda Davies, Roger Fradera, Hauke Riesch and Poppy Lakeman-Fraser

To have your citizen science cake and eat it? Delivering research and outreach through Open Air Laboratories (OPAL)

The vast array of citizen science projects which have blossomed over the last decade span a spectrum of objectives from research to outreach. While some focus primarily on the collection of rigorous scientific...

Authors: Poppy Lakeman-Fraser, Laura Gosling, Andy J. Moffat, Sarah E. West, Roger Fradera, Linda Davies, Maxwell A. Ayamba and René van der Wal

Differences between urban and rural hedges in England revealed by a citizen science project

Hedges are both ecologically and culturally important and are a distinctive feature of the British landscape. However the overall length of hedges across Great Britain is decreasing. Current challenges in stud...

Authors: Laura Gosling, Tim H. Sparks, Yoseph Araya, Martin Harvey and Janice Ansine

Quality control in public participation assessments of water quality: the OPAL Water Survey

Public participation in scientific data collection is a rapidly expanding field. In water quality surveys, the involvement of the public, usually as trained volunteers, generally includes the identification of...

Authors: N L. Rose, S. D. Turner, B. Goldsmith, L. Gosling and T. A. Davidson

Initiating and continuing participation in citizen science for natural history

Natural history has a long tradition in the UK, dating back to before Charles Darwin. Developing from a principally amateur pursuit, natural history continues to attract both amateur and professional involveme...

Authors: Glyn Everett and Hilary Geoghegan

Synergistic impacts by an invasive amphipod and an invasive fish explain native gammarid extinction

Worldwide freshwater ecosystems are increasingly affected by invasive alien species. In particular, Ponto-Caspian gobiid fishes and amphipods are suspected to have pronounced effects on aquatic food webs. Howe...

Authors: S. Beggel, J. Brandner, A. F. Cerwenka and J. Geist

Haematocrit, eggshell colouration and sexual signaling in the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris)

One hypothesis to explain the blue–green colour of the eggs of many bird species is that it is a sexually-selected signal of the laying female’s quality, which males use to determine their investment. This hyp...

Authors: Raime B. Fronstin, Stephanie M. Doucet and Julian K. Christians

Suppression of reproductive characteristics of the invasive plant Mikania micrantha by sweet potato competition

As a means of biologically controlling Mikania micrantha H.B.K. in Yunnan, China, the influence of sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.] on its reproductive characteristics was studied. The trial utilized a de...

Authors: Shicai Shen, Gaofeng Xu, David Roy Clements, Guimei Jin, Shufang Liu, Yanxian Yang, Aidong Chen, Fudou Zhang and Hisashi Kato-Noguchi

Importance of latrine communication in European rabbits shifts along a rural–to–urban gradient

Information transfer in mammalian communication networks is often based on the deposition of excreta in latrines. Depending on the intended receiver(s), latrines are either formed at territorial boundaries (betwe...

Authors: Madlen Ziege, David Bierbach, Svenja Bischoff, Anna-Lena Brandt, Mareike Brix, Bastian Greshake, Stefan Merker, Sandra Wenninger, Torsten Wronski and Martin Plath

Effects of elevated CO₂ on photosynthetic traits of native and invasive C₃ and C₄ grasses

Rising CO₂ is expected to result in changes in plant traits that will increase plant productivity for some functional groups. Differential plant responses to elevated CO₂ are likely to drive changes in competitiv...

Authors: Heather A. Hager, Geraldine D. Ryan, Hajnal M. Kovacs and Jonathan A. Newman

Assessment of Clarias gariepinus as a biological control agent against mosquito larvae

The emergence and spread of insecticide resistant mosquitoes renewed interest in investigating the use of larvivorous fish as a biological control agent. The potential of Clarias gariepinus fish in controlling An...

Authors: Buze Chala, Berhanu Erko, Abebe Animut, Abraham Degarege and Beyene Petros

Floral traits influence pollen vectors’ choices in higher elevation communities in the Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains

How floral traits and community composition influence plant specialization is poorly understood and the existing evidence is restricted to regions where plant diversity is low. Here, we assessed whether plant ...

Authors: Yan-Hui Zhao, Zong-Xin Ren, Amparo Lázaro, Hong Wang, Peter Bernhardt, Hai-Dong Li and De-Zhu Li

Fire-severity effects on plant–fungal interactions after a novel tundra wildfire disturbance: implications for arctic shrub and tree migration

Vegetation change in high latitude tundra ecosystems is expected to accelerate due to increased wildfire activity. High-severity fires increase the availability of mineral soil seedbeds, which facilitates recr...

Authors: Rebecca E. Hewitt, Teresa N. Hollingsworth, F. Stuart Chapin III and D. Lee Taylor

Rodent-avoidance, topography and forest structure shape territory selection of a forest bird

Understanding the factors underlying habitat selection is important in ecological and evolutionary contexts, and crucial for developing targeted conservation action in threatened species. However, the key fact...

Authors: Gilberto Pasinelli, Alex Grendelmeier, Michael Gerber and Raphaël Arlettaz

Spatial patterns of genetic diversity, community composition and occurrence of native and non-native amphipods in naturally replicated tributary streams

Worldwide, natural communities are invaded by non-native species, with potentially devastating effects on the native communities. A large part of past research aimed at finding traits and characteristics of th...

Authors: Florian Altermatt, Roman Alther and Elvira Mächler

A test of priority effect persistence in semi-natural grasslands through the removal of plant functional groups during community assembly

It is known that during plant community assembly, the early colonizing species can affect the establishment, growth or reproductive success of later arriving species, often resulting in unpredictable assembly ...

Authors: Kenny Helsen, Martin Hermy and Olivier Honnay

Predatory beetles feed more pest beetles at rising temperature

Climate warming is a challenge for many plants and animals as they have to respond to rising temperature. Rising temperature was observed to affect herbivores and predators. Activity-density of abundant predat...

Authors: Thomas Frank and Martin Bramböck

Host choice in a bivoltine bee: how sensory constraints shape innate foraging behaviors

Many insects have multiple generations per year and cohorts emerging in different seasons may evolve their own phenotypes if they are subjected to different selection regimes. The bivoltine bee Andrena bicolor is...

Authors: Paulo Milet-Pinheiro, Kerstin Herz, Stefan Dötterl and Manfred Ayasse

Convergence of soil microbial properties after plant colonization of an experimental plant diversity gradient

Several studies have examined the effects of plant colonization on aboveground communities and processes. However, the effects of plant colonization on soil microbial communities are less known. We addressed t...

Authors: Katja Steinauer, Britta Jensen, Tanja Strecker, Enrica de Luca, Stefan Scheu and Nico Eisenhauer

Microbial diversity in the floral nectar of Linaria vulgaris along an urbanization gradient

Microbes are common inhabitants of floral nectar and are capable of influencing plant-pollinator interactions. All studies so far investigated microbial communities in floral nectar in plant populations that w...

Authors: Jacek Bartlewicz, Bart Lievens, Olivier Honnay and Hans Jacquemyn

Vertebrate bacterial gut diversity: size also matters

One of the central issues in microbial ecology is to understand the parameters that drive diversity. Among these parameters, size has often been considered to be the main driver in many different ecosystems. S...

Authors: Jean-Jacques Godon, Pugazhendi Arulazhagan, Jean-Philippe Steyer and Jérôme Hamelin

Seasonal cues induce phenotypic plasticity of Drosophila suzukii to enhance winter survival

As global climate change and exponential human population growth intensifies pressure on agricultural systems, the need to effectively manage invasive insect pests is becoming increasingly important to global ...

Authors: Peter W. Shearer, Jessica D. West, Vaughn M. Walton, Preston H. Brown, Nicolas Svetec and Joanna C. Chiu

Skeletal light-scattering accelerates bleaching response in reef-building corals

At the forefront of ecosystems adversely affected by climate change, coral reefs are sensitive to anomalously high temperatures which disassociate (bleaching) photosynthetic symbionts (Symbiodinium) from coral ho...

Authors: Timothy D. Swain, Emily DuBois, Andrew Gomes, Valentina P. Stoyneva, Andrew J. Radosevich, Jillian Henss, Michelle E. Wagner, Justin Derbas, Hannah W. Grooms, Elizabeth M. Velazquez, Joshua Traub, Brian J. Kennedy, Arabela A. Grigorescu, Mark W. Westneat, Kevin Sanborn, Shoshana Levine…

What´s in the tank? Nematodes and other major components of the meiofauna of bromeliad phytotelms in lowland Panama

Nematodes are a very diverse and extremely abundant group of animals, but their occurrence in the tropics is surprisingly little understood. We investigated the meiofauna of epiphytic tank bromeliads in the lo...

Authors: Gerhard Zotz and Walter Traunspurger