ORCID Profile
0000-0003-2077-7055
Current Organisations
Griffith University
,
University of St Andrews
Does something not look right? The information on this page has been harvested from data sources that may not be up to date. We continue to work with information providers to improve coverage and quality. To report an issue, use the Feedback Form.
Research Topics
In Research Link Australia (RLA), "Research Topics" refer to ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes. These topics are either sourced from ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes listed in researchers' related grants or generated by a large language model (LLM) based on their publications.
Top 5 Research Topics
ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)
Nanomaterials | Adaptive Agents and Intelligent Robotics | Theoretical and Computational Chemistry not elsewhere classified | Ecology | Energy Generation, Conversion and Storage Engineering | Physical Chemistry not elsewhere classified | Chemical Thermodynamics and Energetics | Theoretical and Computational Chemistry | Physical Chemistry (Incl. Structural) | Landscape Ecology | Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing | Electrochemistry | Pattern Recognition and Data Mining | Community Ecology
ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)
Energy Storage (excl. Hydrogen) | Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Marine Environments | Natural Hazards in Marine Environments | Expanding Knowledge in the Environmental Sciences | Expanding Knowledge in the Chemical Sciences | Expanding Knowledge in the Physical Sciences | Marine Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity |
Related Links
Publications
Towards a macroscope: Leveraging technology to transform the breadth, scale and resolution of macroecological data
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-11-2019
DOI: 10.1111/GEB.13025
Reply to: Emphasizing declining populations in the Living Planet Report
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 26-01-2022
Ion interactions with the air-water interface using a continuum solvent model
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 11-07-2014
DOI: 10.1021/JP502887E
Abstract: Explaining and predicting the distribution of ions at the air-water interface has been a central challenge of physical chemistry for nearly a century. In essence, the problem amounts to calculating the change in the solvation energy of an ion as it approaches the interface. Here, we generalize our recently developed model of ionic solvation energies to calculate this interaction. The change in the Born energy as well as the static polarization response of the ion is included by using the conductor-like screening model (COSMO), which treats the ions quantum mechanically. Approximate expressions for the dispersion repulsion, cavity attraction, and surface potential contributions are also included. This model reproduces the surface tensions of electrolyte solutions and is consistent with ab initio molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The model provides clear physical insight into iodide's adsorption. Unlike alternative models, no parameters are deliberately adjusted to reproduce surface tensions, and all of the important contributions to the interactions are included. Solving this problem has important direct implications for atmospheric chemistry and bubble properties. It also has important indirect implications for the more complex interactions of ions with protein and mineral surfaces. These play a fundamental role in a vast number of biological and industrial processes. The model is conceptually simple and has low computational demand, which facilitates its extension to these important applications.
Coral niche construction: coral recruitment increases along a coral-built structural complexity gradient
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 15-10-2021
DOI: 10.1101/2021.10.14.464352
Abstract: Niche construction is the process through which organisms modify environmental states in ways favourable to their own fitness. Here, we test experimentally whether scleractinian corals can be considered niche constructors. In particular, we demonstrate a positive feedback involved in corals building structures which facilitate recruitment. Coral larval recruitment is a key process for coral reef persistence. Larvae require low flow conditions to settle from the plankton, and hence the presence of colony structures that can break the flow is expected to facilitate coral recruitment. Here, we show an increase in settler presence on artificial tiles deployed in the field along a gradient of coral-built structural complexity. Structural complexity had a positive effect on settlement, with an increase of 15,71% of settler presence probability along the range of structural complexity considered. This result provides evidence that coral built structural complexity creates conditions that facilitate coral settlement, while demonstrating that corals meet the criteria for ecological niche construction.
Temporal β diversity—A macroecological perspective
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-11-2019
DOI: 10.1111/GEB.13026
Climate-driven shift in coral morphological structure predicts decline of juvenile reef fishes
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-12-2020
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.14911
Abstract: Rapid intensification of environmental disturbances has sparked widespread decline and compositional shifts in foundation species in ecosystems worldwide. Now, an emergent challenge is to understand the consequences of shifts and losses in such habitat‐forming species for associated communities and ecosystem processes. Recently, consecutive coral bleaching events shifted the morphological makeup of habitat‐forming coral assemblages on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Considering the disparity of coral morphological growth forms in shelter provision for reef fishes, we investigated how shifts in the morphological structure of coral assemblages affect the abundance of juvenile and adult reef fishes. We used a temporal dataset from shallow reefs in the northern GBR to estimate coral convexity (a fine‐scale quantitative morphological trait) and two widely used coral habitat descriptors (coral cover and reef rugosity) for disentangling the effects of coral morphology on reef fish assemblages. Changes in coral convexity, rather than live coral cover or reef rugosity, disproportionately affected juvenile reef fishes when compared to adults, and explained more than 20% of juvenile decline. The magnitude of this effect varied by fish body size with juveniles of small‐bodied species showing higher vulnerability to changes in coral morphology. Our findings suggest that continued large‐scale shifts in the relative abundance of morphological groups within coral assemblages are likely to affect population replenishment and dynamics of future reef fish communities. The different responses of juvenile and adult fishes according to habitat descriptors indicate that focusing on coarse‐scale metrics alone may mask fine‐scale ecological responses that are key to understand ecosystem functioning and resilience. Nonetheless, quantifying coral morphological traits may contribute to forecasting the structure of reef fish communities on novel reef ecosystems shaped by climate change.
Conventional sampling methods severely underestimate phytoplankton species richness
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 27-11-2013
Overlooked local biodiversity loss—Response
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 06-06-2014
Approaches to hydration, old and new: Insights through Hofmeister effects
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2011
Reply to: Do not downplay biodiversity loss.
Publisher: No publisher found
Date: 2022
Author Correction: Clustered versus catastrophic global vertebrate declines
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 18-01-2021
A millennium of increasing ecosystem diversity until the mid-20th century
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 17-03-2021
DOI: 10.1101/2021.03.16.435590
Abstract: Land-use change is widely regarded as a simplifying and homogenising force in nature. In contrast, analysing global land-use reconstructions from the 10 th to 20 th centuries, we found progressive increases in the number, evenness, and ersity of ecosystems (including human-modified land-use types) across the globe. Ecosystem ersity increased more rapidly after ∼1700CE, then slowed or partially reversed (depending on the metric) following the mid-20 th century acceleration of human impacts. Differentiation also generally increased across space, with homogenization only evident in the presence-absence analysis of ecosystem types at the global scale. Our results suggest that human land-use changes have primarily driven increases in ecosystem ersity over the last millennium.
The larval development ofHymenosoma orbiculareDesmarest, 1825 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Hymenosomatidae)
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-2003
Spillover effects of a community-managed marine reserve
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 30-04-2015
Coral settlement and recruitment are negatively related to reef fish trait diversity
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 21-10-2021
DOI: 10.1101/2021.10.19.464984
Abstract: The process of coral recruitment is crucial to the functioning of coral reef ecosystems, as well as recovery of coral assemblages following disturbances. Fishes can be key mediators of this process by removing benthic competitors like algae, but their foraging impacts are capable of being facilitative or harmful to coral recruits depending on species traits. Reef fish assemblages are highly erse in foraging strategies and the relationship between this ersity with coral settlement and recruitment success remains poorly understood. Here, we investigate how foraging trait ersity of reef fish assemblages covaries with coral settlement and recruitment success across multiple sites at Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef. Using a multi-model inference approach incorporating six metrics of fish assemblage foraging ersity (foraging rates, trait richness, trait evenness, trait ergence, herbivore abundance, and sessile invertivore abundance), we found that herbivore abundance was positively related to both coral settlement and recruitment success. However, the correlation with herbivore abundance was not as strong in comparison with foraging trait ersity metrics. Coral settlement and recruitment exhibited a negative relationship with foraging trait ersity, especially with trait ergence and richness in settlement. Our findings provide further evidence that fish play a role in making benthic habitats more conducive for coral settlement and recruitment. Because of their ability to shape the reef benthos, the variation of fish bio ersity is likely to contribute to spatially uneven patterns of coral recruitment and reef recovery.
Quantifying coral morphology
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 02-08-2019
Allometric growth in reef-building corals
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 22-03-2017
Abstract: Predicting demographic rates is a critical part of forecasting the future of ecosystems under global change. Here, we test if growth rates can be predicted from morphological traits for a highly erse group of colonial symbiotic organisms: scleractinian corals. We ask whether growth is isometric or allometric among corals, and whether most variation in coral growth rates occurs at the level of the species or morphological group. We estimate growth as change in planar area for 11 species, across five morphological groups and over 5 years. We show that coral growth rates are best predicted from colony size and morphology rather than species. Coral size follows a power scaling law with a constant exponent of 0.91. Despite being colonial organisms, corals have consistent allometric scaling in growth. This consistency simplifies the task of projecting community responses to disturbance and climate change.
Jews and the child murder libel in the medieval Iberian Peninsula: European trends and Iberian peculiarities
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-09-2021
From species to communities: the signature of recreational use on a tropical river ecosystem
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-11-2015
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.1800
BioTIME: A database of biodiversity time series for the Anthropocene
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 07-2018
DOI: 10.1111/GEB.12729
β‐diversity scaling patterns are consistent across metrics and taxa
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-01-2019
DOI: 10.1111/ECOG.04117
Morphological traits can track coral reef responses to the Anthropocene
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-05-2019
An Indo-Pacific coral spawning database
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-01-2021
DOI: 10.1038/S41597-020-00793-8
Abstract: The discovery of multi-species synchronous spawning of scleractinian corals on the Great Barrier Reef in the 1980s stimulated an extraordinary effort to document spawning times in other parts of the globe. Unfortunately, most of these data remain unpublished which limits our understanding of regional and global reproductive patterns. The Coral Spawning Database (CSD) collates much of these disparate data into a single place. The CSD includes 6178 observations (3085 of which were unpublished) of the time or day of spawning for over 300 scleractinian species in 61 genera from 101 sites in the Indo-Pacific. The goal of the CSD is to provide open access to coral spawning data to accelerate our understanding of coral reproductive biology and to provide a baseline against which to evaluate any future changes in reproductive phenology.
A balance of winners and losers in the Anthropocene
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-03-2019
DOI: 10.1111/ELE.13242
Abstract: Scientists disagree about the nature of bio ersity change. While there is evidence for widespread declines from population surveys, assemblage surveys reveal a mix of declines and increases. These conflicting conclusions may be caused by the use of different metrics: assemblage metrics may average out drastic changes in in idual populations. Alternatively, differences may arise from data sources: populations monitored in idually, versus whole-assemblage monitoring. To test these hypotheses, we estimated population change metrics using assemblage data. For a set of 23 241 populations, 16 009 species, in 158 assemblages, we detected significantly accelerating extinction and colonisation rates, with both rates being approximately balanced. Most populations (85%) did not show significant trends in abundance, and those that did were balanced between winners (8%) and losers (7%). Thus, population metrics estimated with assemblage data are commensurate with assemblage metrics and reveal sustained and increasing species turnover.
More is less: net gain in species richness, but biotic homogenization over 140 years
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 31-07-2019
DOI: 10.1111/ELE.13361
Abstract: While bio ersity loss continues globally, assessments of regional and local change over time have been equivocal. Here, we assess changes in plant species richness and beta ersity over 140 years at the level of regions within a country. Using 19th-century flora censuses for 14 Danish regions as a baseline, we overcome previous criticisms concerning short time series and neglect of completely altered habitats. We find that species composition has changed dramatically and directionally across all regions. Substantial species losses were more than offset by large gains, resulting in a net increase in species richness in all regions. The occupancy of initially widespread species increased, while initially rare species lost terrain. These changes were accompanied by strong biotic homogenization i.e. regions are more similar now than they were 140 years ago. Species declining in Denmark were found to be in similar decline all over Northern Europe.
A word on habitat complexity
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-03-2023
DOI: 10.1111/ELE.14208
Abstract: In their recent synopsis, Loke and Chisholm ( Ecology Letters, 25, 2269–2288, 2022 ) present an overview of habitat complexity metrics for ecologists. They provide a review and some sound advice. However, we found several of their analyses and opinions misleading. This technical note provides a different perspective on the complexity metrics assessed.
Landscape-scale forest loss as a catalyst of population and biodiversity change
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 03-12-2018
DOI: 10.1101/473645
Abstract: Global assessments have highlighted land-use change as a key driver of bio ersity change. However, we lack real-world global-scale estimates of how habitat transformations such as forest loss and gain are reshaping bio ersity over time. Here, we quantify the influence of 150 years of forest cover change on populations and ecological assemblages worldwide and across taxa by analyzing change in 6,667 time series. We found that forest loss simultaneously intensified ongoing increases and decreases in abundance, species richness and temporal species replacement (turnover) by up to 48%. Temporal lags in these responses extended up to 50 years and increased with species’ generation time. Our findings demonstrate that land-use change precipitates ergent population and bio ersity change, highlighting the complex biotic consequences of deforestation and afforestation. Declines in forest cover lify both gains and losses in population abundance and bio ersity over time.
Temperature-related biodiversity change across temperate marine and terrestrial systems
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 26-11-2019
DOI: 10.1101/841833
Abstract: Climate change is reshaping global bio ersity as species respond to changing temperatures. However, the net effects of climate-driven species redistribution on local assemblage ersity remain unknown. Here, we relate trends in species richness and abundance from 21,500 terrestrial and marine assemblage time series across temperate regions (23.5-60.0°) to changes in air or sea surface temperature. We find a strong coupling between bio ersity and temperature changes in the marine realm, which is conditional on the baseline climate. We detect increases in species richness with increasing temperature that is twice as pronounced in warmer locations, while abundance declines with warming in the warmest marine locations. In contrast, we did not detect systematic temperature-related richness or abundance trends on land, despite a greater magnitude of warming. We also found no evidence for an interaction between bio ersity change and latitude, further emphasizing the importance of baseline climate in structuring assemblages. As the world is committed to further warming, significant challenges remain in maintaining local bio ersity amongst the non-uniform inflow and outflow of “climate migrants” across distinct regions, especially in the ocean.
Partitioning colony size variation into growth and partial mortality
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 2020
Abstract: Body size is a trait that broadly influences the demography and ecology of organisms. In unitary organisms, body size tends to increase with age. In modular organisms, body size can either increase or decrease with age, with size changes being the net difference between modules added through growth and modules lost through partial mortality. Rates of colony extension are independent of body size, but net growth is allometric, suggesting a significant role of size-dependent mortality. In this study, we develop a generalizable model of partitioned growth and partial mortality and apply it to data from 11 species of reef-building coral. We show that corals generally grow at constant radial increments that are size independent, and that partial mortality acts more strongly on small colonies. We also show a clear life-history trade-off between growth and partial mortality that is governed by growth form. This decomposition of net growth can provide mechanistic insights into the relative demographic effects of the intrinsic factors (e.g. acquisition of food and life-history strategy), which tend to affect growth, and extrinsic factors (e.g. physical damage, and predation), which tend to affect mortality.
Net effects of life‐history traits explain persistent differences in abundance among similar species
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-2022
DOI: 10.1002/ECY.3863
Abstract: Life‐history traits are promising tools to predict species commonness and rarity because they influence a population's fitness in a given environment. Yet, species with similar traits can have vastly different abundances, challenging the prospect of robust trait‐based predictions. Using long‐term demographic monitoring, we show that coral populations with similar morphological and life‐history traits show persistent (decade‐long) differences in abundance. Morphological groups predicted species positions along two, well known life‐history axes (the fast‐slow continuum and size‐specific fecundity). However, integral projection models revealed that density‐independent population growth (λ) was more variable within morphological groups, and was consistently higher in dominant species relative to rare species. Within‐group λ differences projected large abundance differences among similar species in short timeframes, and were generated by small but compounding variation in growth, survival, and reproduction. Our study shows that easily measured morphological traits predict demographic strategies, yet small life‐history differences can accumulate into large differences in λ and abundance among similar species. Quantifying the net effects of multiple traits on population dynamics is therefore essential to anticipate species commonness and rarity.
A continuum model of solvation energies including electrostatic, dispersion, and cavity contributions
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 08-2013
DOI: 10.1021/JP403596C
Abstract: Physically accurate continuum solvent models that can calculate solvation energies are crucial to explain and predict the behavior of solute particles in water. Here, we present such a model applied to small spherical ions and neutral atoms. It improves upon a basic Born electrostatic model by including a standard cavity energy and adding a dispersion component, consistent with the Born electrostatic energy and using the same cavity size parameter. We show that the well-known, puzzling differences between the solvation energies of ions of the same size is attributable to the neglected dispersion contribution. This depends on dynamic polarizability as well as size. Generally, a large cancellation exists between the cavity and dispersion contributions. This explains the surprising success of the Born model. The model accurately reproduces the solvation energies of the alkali halide ions, as well as the silver(I) and copper(I) ions with an error of 12 kJ mol(-1) (±3%). The solvation energy of the noble gases is also reproduced with an error of 2.6 kJ mol(-1) (±30%). No arbitrary fitting parameters are needed to achieve this. This model significantly improves our understanding of ionic solvation and forms a solid basis for the investigation of other ion-specific effects using a continuum solvent model.
Mechanical vulnerability explains size‐dependent mortality of reef corals
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-06-2014
DOI: 10.1111/ELE.12306
Collins's rule, Hofmeister effects and ionic dispersion interactions
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2014
Erratum: Coral reef diversity refutes the neutral theory of biodiversity
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-2006
DOI: 10.1038/NATURE05187
Coral reef diversity refutes the neutral theory of biodiversity
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 02-03-2006
DOI: 10.1038/NATURE04534
Abstract: The global decline of coral reefs highlights the need to understand the mechanisms that regulate community structure and sustain bio ersity in these systems. The neutral theory, which assumes that in iduals are demographically identical regardless of species, seeks to explain ubiquitous features of community structure and bio ersity patterns. Here we present a test of neutral-theory predictions with the use of an extensive species-level data set of Indo-Pacific coral communities. We show that coral assemblages differ markedly from neutral-model predictions for patterns of community similarity and the relative abundance of species. Within local communities, neutral models do not fit relative abundance distributions as well as the classical log-normal distribution. Relative abundances of species across local communities also differ markedly from neutral-theory predictions: coral communities exhibit community similarity values that are far more variable, and lower on average, than the neutral theory can produce. Empirical community similarities deviate from the neutral model in a direction opposite to that predicted in previous critiques of the neutral theory. Instead, our results support spatio-temporal environmental stochasticity as a major driver of ersity patterns on coral reefs.
Testing species abundance models: a new bootstrap approach applied to Indo‐Pacific coral reefs
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-2009
DOI: 10.1890/08-1832.1
Abstract: Patterns in the commonness and rarity of species are a fundamental characteristic of ecological assemblages however, testing between alternative models for such patterns remains an important challenge. Conventional approaches to fitting or testing species abundance models often assume that species, not in iduals, are the units that are s led and that species' abundances are independent of one another. Here we test three different models (the Poisson lognormal, the negative binomial, and the neutral, "zero-sum multinomial" [ZSM]) against species abundance distributions of Indo-Pacific corals and reef fishes. We derive and apply several alternative bootstrap analyses of model fit, each of which makes different assumptions about how species abundance data are s led, and we assess the extent to which tests of model fit are sensitive to such assumptions. For all models, goodness of fit is remarkably consistent, regardless of whether one assumes that species or in iduals are the units that are s led or whether or not one assumes that species' abundances are statistically independent of one another. However, goodness-of-fit estimates are approximately twice as precise and detect lack of model fit more frequently, when based on s ling of in iduals, rather than species. Bootstrap analyses indicate that the Poisson lognormal distribution exhibits substantially better fit to species abundance patterns, consistent with model selection analyses. In particular, heterogeneity in species abundances (many rare and few highly abundant species) is too great to be captured by the ZSM model or the negative binomial model and is best explained by models that predict species abundance patterns that are much closer, but not identical, to the lognormal distribution. More broadly, our bootstrap analyses suggest that estimates of model fit are likely to be robust to assumptions about the statistical interdependence of species abundances, but that tests of model fit are more powerful when they assume s ling of in iduals, rather than species. Such in idual-based tests therefore may be able to identify lack of model fit where previous tests have been inconclusive.
Diversity is maintained by seasonal variation in species abundance
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-09-2013
Abstract: Some of the most marked temporal fluctuations in species abundances are linked to seasons. In theory, multispecies assemblages can persist if species use shared resources at different times, thereby minimizing interspecific competition. However, there is scant empirical evidence supporting these predictions and, to the best of our knowledge, seasonal variation has never been explored in the context of fluctuation-mediated coexistence. Using an exceptionally well-documented estuarine fish assemblage, s led monthly for over 30 years, we show that temporal shifts in species abundances underpin species coexistence. Species fall into distinct seasonal groups, within which spatial resource use is more heterogeneous than would be expected by chance at those times when competition for food is most intense. We also detect seasonal variation in the richness and evenness of the community, again linked to shifts in resource availability. These results reveal that spatiotemporal shifts in community composition minimize competitive interactions and help stabilize total abundance.
In the company of greatness: announcing the best reviewers and best associate editors
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-11-2016
DOI: 10.1111/GEB.12546
Rechargeable Dual‐Carbon Batteries: A Sustainable Battery Technology
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-09-2022
Abstract: Dual‐carbon batteries (DCBs) with both electrodes composed of carbon materials are currently at the forefront of industrial consideration. This is due to their low cost, safety, sustainability, fast charging, and simpler electrochemistry than lithium and other post‐lithium metal‐ion batteries. This article provides an overview of the past lessons on rechargeable DCBs and their future promises. In brief, it introduces the reader to DCBs as one of the most promising energy storage solutions for balancing sustainability, cost and performance, their history, electrochemistry and associated charge storage mechanisms. Then, the past lessons with respect to their ion intercalation are provided. These include DCB mechanisms during different anion/cation intercalation in layered carbons and their intercalation compounds and electrode structures versus electrochemical performance. This is followed by a description of the current issues affecting DCBs like capacity fading and self‐discharging, electrolyte instability, low energy densities and electrode exfoliation, together with their remedies. Finally, an insightful perspective proposing key areas requiring significant research efforts toward the success of DCBs is provided responsible for accelerating the commercialization and adoption of DCBs toward a sustainable and circular economy. This article is a simplified guide to understanding the current state and future research needed to develop sustainable DCBs.
Exploring the effect of interlayer distance of expanded graphite for sodium ion storage using first principles calculations
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Date: 2021
DOI: 10.1039/D0CP06134D
Abstract: Expanded graphite with an interlayer distance of 4.4 Å enables sodium ion intercalation and thermodynamically most stable sodium-graphite intercalation compound can be formed when the interlayer distance reaches 6.0 Å.
A continuum solvent model of the multipolar dispersion solvation energy
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 08-2013
DOI: 10.1021/JP403595X
Abstract: The dispersion energy is an important contribution to the total solvation energies of ions and neutral molecules. Here, we present a new continuum model calculation of these energies, based on macroscopic quantum electrodynamics. The model uses the frequency dependent multipole polarizabilities of molecules in order to accurately calculate the dispersion interaction of a solute particle with surrounding water molecules. It includes the dipole, quadrupole, and octupole moment contributions. The water is modeled via a bulk dielectric susceptibility with a spherical cavity occupied by the solute. The model invokes d ing functions to account for solute-solvent wave function overlap. The assumptions made are very similar to those used in the Born model. This provides consistency and additivity of electrostatic and dispersion (quantum mechanical) interactions. The energy increases in magnitude with cation size, but decreases slightly with size for the highly polarizable anions. The higher order multipole moments are essential, making up more than 50% of the dispersion solvation energy of the fluoride ion. This method provides an accurate and simple way of calculating the notoriously problematic dispersion contribution to the solvation energy. The result establishes the importance of using accurate calculations of the dispersion energy for the modeling of solvation.
Shaping coral traits: plasticity more than filtering
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 19-08-2021
DOI: 10.1101/2021.08.19.456946
Abstract: The structure of ecosystems is usually determined by the shape of the organisms that build it, commonly known as ecosystem engineers. Understanding to what extent plasticity and environmental filtering determine variation in ecosystem engineer physical structure is necessary to predict how ecosystem structure may change. Here, we explored coral survival and the plasticity of morphological traits that are critical for habitat provision in coral reefs. We conducted a reciprocal clonal transplant experiment in which branching corals from the genus Porites and Acropora were moved to and from a deep and a shallow site within a lagoon in the Mal es. Survival and trait analyses showed that transplant destination consistently induced the strongest changes, particularly among Acropora spp. The origin of the corals only marginally affected some of the traits. We also detected variation in the way in iduals from the same species and site differentiate their shape, showing that traits linked to habitat provision are phenotypically plastic. The results suggest coral phenotypic plasticity plays a stronger role than environmental filtering, in determining zonation of coral morphologies, and consequently the habitats they provide for other taxa.
Temperature-related biodiversity change across temperate marine and terrestrial systems
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-05-2020
A global biodiversity observing system to unite monitoring and guide action
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 24-08-2023
A continuum solvent model of ion-ion interactions in water
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Date: 2014
DOI: 10.1039/C4CP02822H
Abstract: We present a continuum solvent model of ion–ion interactions in water that reproduces activities with only two fitted parameters.
Elevated compositional change in plant assemblages linked to invasion
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 10-05-2023
Abstract: Alien species are widely linked to bio ersity change, but the extent to which they are associated with the reshaping of ecological communities is not well understood. One possible mechanism is that assemblages where alien species are found exhibit elevated temporal turnover. To test this, we identified assemblages of vascular plants in the BioTIME database for those assemblages in which alien species are either present or absent and used the Jaccard measure to compute compositional dissimilarity between consecutive censuses. We found that, although alien species are typically rare in invaded assemblages, their presence is associated with an increase in the average rate of compositional change. These differences in compositional change between invaded and uninvaded assemblages are not linked to differences in species richness but rather to species replacement (turnover). Rapid compositional restructuring of assemblages is a major contributor to bio ersity change, and as such, our results suggest a role for alien species in bringing this about.
Measuring temporal turnover in ecological communities
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-08-2015
Reply to: The Living Planet Index does not measure abundance
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 26-01-2022
Quantifying temporal change in biodiversity: Challenges and opportunities
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 07-01-2013
Abstract: Growing concern about bio ersity loss underscores the need to quantify and understand temporal change. Here, we review the opportunities presented by bio ersity time series, and address three related issues: (i) recognizing the characteristics of temporal data (ii) selecting appropriate statistical procedures for analysing temporal data and (iii) inferring and forecasting bio ersity change. With regard to the first issue, we draw attention to defining characteristics of bio ersity time series—lack of physical boundaries, uni-dimensionality, autocorrelation and directionality—that inform the choice of analytic methods. Second, we explore methods of quantifying change in bio ersity at different timescales, noting that autocorrelation can be viewed as a feature that sheds light on the underlying structure of temporal change. Finally, we address the transition from inferring to forecasting bio ersity change, highlighting potential pitfalls associated with phase-shifts and novel conditions.
Effect of fluoro and hydroxy analogies of diglyme on sodium-ion storage in graphite: a computational study
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Date: 2023
DOI: 10.1039/D3CP00903C
Abstract: Binding of F-diglyme and OH-diglyme derivatives could be effectively used to tune the co-intercalation of Na into graphite.
Widespread reductions in body size are paired with stable assemblage biomass
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 03-02-2023
DOI: 10.1101/2023.02.03.526822
Abstract: Biotic responses to global change include directional shifts in organismal traits. Body size, an integrative trait that determines demographic rates and ecosystem functions, is often thought to be shrinking in the Anthropocene. Here, we assess the prevalence of body size change in six taxon groups across 5,032 assemblage time-series spanning 1960-2020. Using the Price equation to partition this change into within-species body size versus compositional changes, we detect prevailing decreases in body size through time. Change in assemblage composition contributes more to body size changes than within-species trends, but both components show substantial variation in magnitude and direction. The biomass of assemblages remains remarkably stable as decreases in body size trade-off with increases in abundance. Variable within-species and compositional trends combine into shrinking body size, abundance increases and stable biomass.
Regional occupancy increases for widespread species but decreases for narrowly distributed species in metacommunity time series
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-03-2023
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-023-37127-2
Abstract: While human activities are known to elicit rapid turnover in species composition through time, the properties of the species that increase or decrease their spatial occupancy underlying this turnover are less clear. Here, we used an extensive dataset of 238 metacommunity time series of multiple taxa spread across the globe to evaluate whether species that are more widespread (large-ranged species) differed in how they changed their site occupancy over the 10–90 years the metacommunities were monitored relative to species that are more narrowly distributed (small-ranged species). We found that on average, large-ranged species tended to increase in occupancy through time, whereas small-ranged species tended to decrease. These relationships were stronger in marine than in terrestrial and freshwater realms. However, in terrestrial regions, the directional changes in occupancy were less extreme in protected areas. Our findings provide evidence for systematic decreases in occupancy of small-ranged species, and that habitat protection could mitigate these losses in the face of environmental change.
Biodiversity post‐2020: Closing the gap between global targets and national‐level implementation
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-11-2021
DOI: 10.1111/CONL.12848
Abstract: National and local governments need to step up efforts to effectively implement the post‐2020 global bio ersity framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity to halt and reverse worsening bio ersity trends. Drawing on recent advances in interdisciplinary bio ersity science, we propose a framework for improved implementation by national and subnational governments. First, the identification of actions and the promotion of ownership across stakeholders need to recognize the multiple values of bio ersity and account for remote responsibility. Second, cross‐sectorial implementation and mainstreaming should adopt scalable and multifunctional ecosystem restoration approaches and target positive futures for nature and people. Third, assessment of progress and adaptive management can be informed by novel bio ersity monitoring and modeling approaches handling the multidimensionality of bio ersity change.
Stratified settlement and moulting competency of brachyuran megalopae in Ponta Rasa mangrove swamp, Inhaca Island (Mozambique)
Publisher: No publisher found
Date: 2003
Landscape-scale forest loss as a catalyst of population and biodiversity change
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 19-06-2020
Abstract: Land-use change by humans, particularly forest loss, is influencing Earth's bio ersity through time. To assess the influence of forest loss on population and bio ersity change, Daskalova et al. integrated data from more than 6000 time series of species' abundance, richness, and composition in ecological assemblages around the world. Forest loss leads to both positive and negative responses of populations and bio ersity, and the temporal lags in population and bio ersity change after forest loss can extend up to half a century. Land-use change precipitates ergent population and bio ersity change. This analysis has consequences for projections of human impact, ongoing conservation, and assessments of bio ersity change. Science , this issue p. 1341
Interspecific synchrony of seabird population growth rate and breeding success
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 30-05-2013
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.592
A new year with a new leadership team at GEB – or how to guarantee your paper gets into GEB
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 13-12-2015
DOI: 10.1111/GEB.12416
A millennium of increasing diversity of ecosystems until the mid‐20th century
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-07-2022
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.16335
Abstract: Land‐use change is widely regarded as a simplifying and homogenising force in nature. In contrast, analysing global land‐use reconstructions from the 10th to 20th centuries, we found progressive increases in the number, evenness, and ersity of ecosystems (including human‐modified land‐use types) present across most of the Earth's land surface. Ecosystem ersity increased more rapidly after ~1700 CE, then slowed or slightly declined (depending on the metric) following the mid‐20th century acceleration of human impacts. The results also reveal increasing spatial differentiation, rather than homogenisation, in both the presence‐absence and area‐coverage of different ecosystem types at sub‐global scales—at least, prior to the mid‐20th century. Nonetheless, geographic homogenization was revealed for a subset of analyses at a global scale, reflecting the now‐global presence of certain human‐modified ecosystem types. Our results suggest that, while human land‐use changes have caused declines in relatively undisturbed or “primary” ecosystem types, they have also driven increases in ecosystem ersity over the last millennium.
Measuring temporal change in alpha diversity: A framework integrating taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional diversity and the iNEXT.3D standardization
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-08-2021
Abstract: Bio ersity is a multifaceted concept covering different levels of organization from genes to ecosystems. Bio ersity has at least three dimensions: (a) Taxonomic ersity (TD): a measure that is sensitive to the number and abundances of species. (b) Phylogenetic ersity (PD): a measure that incorporates not only species abundances but also species evolutionary histories. (c) Functional ersity (FD): a measure that considers not only species abundances but also species' traits. We integrate the three dimensions of ersity under a unified framework of Hill numbers and their generalizations. Our TD quantifies the effective number of equally abundant species, PD quantifies the effective total branch length, mean‐PD (PD ided by tree depth) quantifies the effective number of equally ergent lineages, and FD quantifies the effective number of equally distinct virtual functional groups (or functional ‘species’). Thus, TD, mean‐PD and FD are all in the same units of species/lineage equivalents and can be meaningfully compared. Like species richness, empirical TD, PD and FD based on s ling data depend on s ling effort and s le completeness. For TD (Hill numbers), the iNEXT (interpolation and extrapolation) standardization was developed for standardizing s le size or s le completeness (as measured by s le coverage, the fraction of in iduals that belong to the observed species) to make objective comparisons across studies. This paper extends the iNEXT method to the iNEXT.3D standardization to encompass all three dimensions of ersity via s le size‐ and s le coverage‐based rarefaction and extrapolation under the unified framework. The asymptotic ersity estimates (i.e. s le size tends to infinity and s le coverage tends to unity) are also derived. In addition to in idual‐based abundance data, the proposed iNEXT.3D standardization is adapted to deal with incidence‐based occurrence data. We apply the integrative framework and the proposed iNEXT.3D standardization to measure temporal alpha‐ ersity changes for estuarine fish assemblage data spanning four decades. The influence of environmental drivers on ersity change are also assessed. Our analysis informs a mechanistic interpretation of bio ersity change in the three dimensions of ersity. The accompanying freeware, iNEXT.3D, developed during this project, facilitates all computation and graphics.
Stable α-MoO3 Electrode with a Widened Electrochemical Potential Window for Aqueous Electrochemical Capacitors
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 24-03-2021
Prevalence of multimodal species abundance distributions is linked to spatial and taxonomic breadth
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-11-2016
DOI: 10.1111/GEB.12532
Fifteen forms of biodiversity trend in the Anthropocene
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.TREE.2014.11.006
Abstract: Humans are transforming the biosphere in unprecedented ways, raising the important question of how these impacts are changing bio ersity. Here we argue that our understanding of bio ersity trends in the Anthropocene, and our ability to protect the natural world, is impeded by a failure to consider different types of bio ersity measured at different spatial scales. We propose that ecologists should recognize and assess 15 distinct categories of bio ersity trend. We summarize what is known about each of these 15 categories, identify major gaps in our current knowledge, and recommend the next steps required for better understanding of trends in bio ersity.
Hydronium and hydroxide at the air-water interface with a continuum solvent model
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2015
Assemblage time series reveal biodiversity change but not systematic loss.
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 18-04-2014
Abstract: Although the rate of species extinction has increased markedly as a result of human activity across the biosphere, conservation has focused on endangered species rather than on shifts in assemblages. Dornelas et al. (p. 296 see the Perspective by Pandolfi and Lovelock ), using an extensive set of bio ersity time series of species occurrences in both marine and terrestrial habitats from the past 150 years, find species turnover above expected but do not find evidence of systematic bio ersity loss. This result could be caused by homogenization of species assemblages by invasive species, shifting distributions induced by climate change, and asynchronous change across the planet. All of which indicates that it is time to review conservation priorities.
Cation effects on haemoglobin aggregation: balance of chemisorption against physisorption of ions
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 16-06-2017
Abstract: A theoretical model of haemoglobin is presented to explain an anomalous cationic Hofmeister effect observed in protein aggregation. The model quantifies competing proposed mechanisms of non-electrostatic physisorption and chemisorption. Non-electrostatic physisorption is stronger for larger, more polarizable ions with a Hofmeister series Li + K + Cs + . Chemisorption at carboxylate groups is stronger for smaller kosmotropic ions, with the reverse series Li + K + Cs + . We assess aggregation using second virial coefficients calculated from theoretical protein–protein interaction energies. Taking Cs + to not chemisorb, comparison with experiment yields mildly repulsive cation–carboxylate binding energies of 0.48 k B T for Li + and 3.0 k B T for K + . Aggregation behaviour is predominantly controlled by short-range protein interactions. Overall, adsorption of the K + ion in the middle of the Hofmeister series is stronger than ions at either extreme since it includes contributions from both physisorption and chemisorption. This results in stronger attractive forces and greater aggregation with K + , leading to the non-conventional Hofmeister series K + Cs + ≈ Li + .
Contrasting changes in the abundance and diversity of North American bird assemblages from 1971 to 2010
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-05-2016
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.13292
Abstract: Although it is generally recognized that global bio ersity is declining, few studies have examined long-term changes in multiple bio ersity dimensions simultaneously. In this study, we quantified and compared temporal changes in the abundance, taxonomic ersity, functional ersity, and phylogenetic ersity of bird assemblages, using roadside monitoring data of the North American Breeding Bird Survey from 1971 to 2010. We calculated 12 abundance and ersity metrics based on 5-year average abundances of 519 species for each of 768 monitoring routes. We did this for all bird species together as well as for four subgroups based on breeding habitat affinity (grassland, woodland, wetland, and shrubland breeders). The majority of the bio ersity metrics increased or remained constant over the study period, whereas the overall abundance of birds showed a pronounced decrease, primarily driven by declines of the most abundant species. These results highlight how stable or even increasing metrics of taxonomic, functional, or phylogenetic ersity may occur in parallel with substantial losses of in iduals. We further found that patterns of change differed among the species subgroups, with both abundance and ersity increasing for woodland birds and decreasing for grassland breeders. The contrasting changes between abundance and ersity and among the breeding habitat groups underscore the relevance of a multifaceted approach to measuring bio ersity change. Our findings further stress the importance of monitoring the overall abundance of in iduals in addition to metrics of taxonomic, functional, or phylogenetic ersity, thus confirming the importance of population abundance as an essential bio ersity variable.
Disentangling non-random structure from random placement when estimating β-diversity through space or time
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 22-09-2023
Fitness consequences of female multiple mating: A direct test of indirect benefits
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2012
Biodiversity change under adaptive community dynamics
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-04-2023
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.16680
Abstract: Compositional change is a ubiquitous response of ecological communities to environmental drivers of global change, but is often regarded as evidence of declining “biotic integrity” relative to historical baselines. Adaptive compositional change, however, is a foundational idea in evolutionary biology, whereby changes in gene frequencies within species boost population‐level fitness, allowing populations to persist as the environment changes. Here, we present an analogous idea for ecological communities based on core concepts of fitness and selection. Changes in community composition (i.e., frequencies of genetic differences among species) in response to environmental change should normally increase the average fitnessof community members. We refer to compositional changes that improve the functional match, or “fit,” between organisms' traits and their environment as adaptive community dynamics . Environmental change (e.g., land‐use change) commonly reduces the fit between antecedent communities and new environments. Subsequent change in community composition in response to environmental changes, however, should normally increase community‐level fit, as the success of at least some constituent species increases. We argue that adaptive community dynamics are likely to improve or maintain ecosystem function (e.g., by maintaining productivity). Adaptive community responses may simultaneously produce some changes that are considered societally desirable (e.g., increased carbon storage) and others that are undesirable (e.g., declines of certain species), just as evolutionary responses within species may be deemed desirable (e.g., evolutionary rescue of an endangered species) or undesirable (e.g., enhanced virulence of an agricultural pest). When assessing possible management interventions, it is important to distinguish between drivers of environmental change (e.g., undesired climate warming) and adaptive community responses, which may generate some desirable outcomes. Efforts to facilitate, accept, or resist ecological change require separate consideration of drivers and responses, and may highlight the need to reconsider preferences for historical baseline communities over communities that are better adapted to the new conditions.
Widespread shifts in body size within populations and assemblages
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 08-09-2023
BioDeepTime: A database of biodiversity time series for modern and fossil assemblages
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-07-2023
DOI: 10.1111/GEB.13735
Abstract: We have little understanding of how communities respond to varying magnitudes and rates of environmental perturbations across temporal scales. BioDeepTime harmonizes assemblage time series of presence and abundance data to help facilitate investigations of community dynamics across timescales and the response of communities to natural and anthropogenic stressors. BioDeepTime includes time series of terrestrial and aquatic assemblages of varying spatial and temporal grain and extent from the present‐day to millions of years ago. BioDeepTime currently contains 7,437,847 taxon records from 10,062 assemblage time series, each with a minimum of 10 time steps. Age constraints, s ling method, environment and taxonomic scope are provided for each time series. The database includes 8752 unique s ling locations from freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Spatial grain represented by in idual s les varies from quadrats on the order of several cm 2 to grid cells of ~100 km 2 . BioDeepTime in aggregate currently spans the last 451 million years, with the 10,062 modern and fossil assemblage time series ranging in extent from years to millions of years. The median extent of modern time series is 18.7 years and for fossil series is 54,872 years. Temporal grain, the time encompassed by in idual s les, ranges from days to tens of thousands of years. The database contains information on 28,777 unique taxa with 4,769,789 records at the species level and another 271,218 records known to the genus level, including time series of benthic and planktonic foraminifera, coccolithophores, diatoms, ostracods, plants (pollen), radiolarians and other invertebrates and vertebrates. There are to date 7012 modern and 3050 fossil time series in BioDeepTime. SQLite, Comma‐separated values.
Improving the electrochemical performance of α-MoO3 electrode using aluminium trifluoromethanesulfonate water-in-salt electrolyte
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2023
Species differences drive spatial scaling of foraging patterns in herbivorous reef fishes
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-10-2021
DOI: 10.1111/OIK.08713
Abstract: Herbivory is a core ecosystem function that is delivered heterogeneously across space. Disentangling the drivers of foraging patterns is key to understanding the functional impact of herbivores. Because intrinsic drivers of foraging like metabolism, nutritional requirements and movement costs scale allometrically, foraging movement patterns in terrestrial herbivores have been shown to also scale positively with body size. However, spatial patterns of herbivory can also be explained by orthogonal factors such as trophic position, competition and functional groupings. Here, we investigate body size and species traits as drivers of the spatial scaling of foraging patterns in herbivorous coral reef fishes. We quantified foraging patterns of 119 in iduals from nine common herbivorous species using focal in idual surveys. Body size, species identity, feeding substrata, social grouping and functional group were tested as predictors of three foraging metrics: foraging area, inter‐foray distance and tortuosity. Our resulting model revealed that species identity overshadowed body size as a predictor in models for all foraging metrics. While foraging area was explained best by species only, the resulting tortuosity and mean inter‐foray distance models included a small effect of body size that explained within‐species variation. We do not find strong support for size‐scaling of foraging patterns in our study species. These findings indicate that foraging allometry based on Optimal foraging theory cannot be generally applied to reef fish assemblages due to a ersity of foraging strategies, such as spatial partitioning and territoriality. Our work reveals the importance of behavioural ecology and taxonomic ersity in understanding herbivory, especially given the functional differences across species. With coral reefs under threat across the world, this is an important step to disentangling the spatial delivery of a core ecosystem function.
Rarefaction and extrapolation with beta diversity under a framework of H ill numbers: The iNEXT .beta3D standardization
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-09-2023
DOI: 10.1002/ECM.1588
Abstract: Based on s ling data, we propose a rigorous standardization method to measure and compare beta ersity across datasets. Here beta ersity, which quantifies the extent of among‐assemblage differentiation, relies on Whittaker's original multiplicative decomposition scheme, but we use Hill numbers for any ersity order q ≥ 0. Richness‐based beta ersity ( q = 0) quantifies the extent of species identity shift, whereas abundance‐based ( q 0) beta ersity also quantifies the extent of difference among assemblages in species abundance. We adopt and define the assumptions of a statistical s ling‐model as the foundation for our approach, treating s ling data as a representative s le taken from an assemblage. The approach makes a clear distinction between the theoretical assemblage level (unknown properties arameters of the assemblage) and the s ling data level (empirical/observed statistics computed from data). At the assemblage level, beta ersity for N assemblages reflects the interacting effect of the species abundance distribution and spatial/temporal aggregation of in iduals in the assemblage. At the data level, observed beta (= gamma/alpha) ersity depends not only on among‐assemblage differentiation but also on s ling effort/completeness, which in turn induces dependence of beta on alpha and gamma ersity. How to remove the dependence of richness‐based beta ersity on its gamma component (species pool) has been intensely debated. Our approach is to standardize gamma and alpha based on s le coverage (an objective measure of s le completeness). For a single assemblage, the iNEXT method was developed, through interpolation (rarefaction) and extrapolation with Hill numbers, to standardize s les by s ling effort/completeness. Here we adapt the iNEXT standardization to alpha and gamma ersity, i.e., alpha and gamma ersity are both assessed at the same level of s le coverage, to formulate standardized, coverage‐based beta ersity. This extension of iNEXT to beta ersity required the development of novel concepts and theories, including a formal proof and empirical demonstration that the resulting standardized beta ersity removes the dependence of beta ersity on both gamma and alpha values, and thus reflects the pure among‐assemblage differentiation. The proposed standardization is illustrated with spatial, temporal and spatio‐temporal datasets, while the freeware iNEXT.beta3D facilitates all computations and graphics. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
A continuum solvent model of the partial molar volumes and entropies of ionic solvation
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 05-03-2014
DOI: 10.1021/JP410956M
Abstract: Continuum solvent models of electrolyte solutions are extremely useful. However, before we can use them with confidence, it is important to test them by comparison with a range of experimental properties. Here, we have adapted our recently developed1,2 simple continuum solvent model of ionic solvation free energies to calculate the solvation entropies and partial molar volumes of a group of monovalent and monatomic ions. This procedure gives good quantitative agreement for larger ions, and reproduces key qualitative features, such as the shift to positive entropies of solvation for iodide and the shift to negative partial molar volumes for small cations. Small ions require a correction to account for dielectric saturation effects, which brings them also into good agreement with experiment. We argue that this model does not require ad hoc corrections, and uses parameters that have good external physical justification. This work therefore establishes that our continuum solvent model can provide a satisfactory understanding of ionic solvation. It can thus serve as a foundation for improved models that explain and predict more complex ion specific effects.
Comparing temporal dynamics of compositional reorganization in long‐term studies of birds and fish
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-05-2023
DOI: 10.1111/ELE.14214
Abstract: The composition of ecological assemblages has changed rapidly over the past century. Compositional reorganization rates are high relative to rates of alpha ersity change, creating an urgent need to understand how this compositional reorganization is progressing. We developed a quantitative framework for comparing temporal trajectories of compositional reorganization and applied it to two long‐term bird and marine fish datasets. We then evaluated how the number and magnitude of short‐term changes relate to overall rates of change. We found varied trajectories of turnover across birds and fish, with linear directional change predominating in birds and non‐directional change more common in fish. The number of changes away from the baseline was a more consistent correlate of the overall rate of change than the magnitude of such changes, but large unreversed changes were found in both fish and birds, as were time series with accelerating compositional change. Compositional reorganization is progressing through a complex mix of temporal trajectories, including both threshold‐like behaviour and the accumulation of repeated, linear change.
Looking back on biodiversity change: lessons for the road ahead
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 29-05-2023
Abstract: Estimating bio ersity change across the planet in the context of widespread human modification is a critical challenge. Here, we review how bio ersity has changed in recent decades across scales and taxonomic groups, focusing on four ersity metrics: species richness, temporal turnover, spatial beta- ersity and abundance. At local scales, change across all metrics includes many ex les of both increases and declines and tends to be centred around zero, but with higher prevalence of declining trends in beta- ersity (increasing similarity in composition across space or biotic homogenization) and abundance. The exception to this pattern is temporal turnover, with changes in species composition through time observed in most local assemblages. Less is known about change at regional scales, although several studies suggest that increases in richness are more prevalent than declines. Change at the global scale is the hardest to estimate accurately, but most studies suggest extinction rates are probably outpacing speciation rates, although both are elevated. Recognizing this variability is essential to accurately portray how bio ersity change is unfolding, and highlights how much remains unknown about the magnitude and direction of multiple bio ersity metrics at different scales. Reducing these blind spots is essential to allow appropriate management actions to be deployed. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Detecting and attributing the causes of bio ersity change: needs, gaps and solutions’.
Patterns of reticulate evolution for the classical class I and II HLA loci
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-09-1998
Abstract: Some alleles of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes have a reticulate pattern of evolution, probably resulting from the exchange of segments by gene conversion or recombination. Here we compare the extent and patterns of reticulate evolution among the classical class I and class II loci of the human MHC using the recently developed compatibility and partition matrix methods. A complex pattern is revealed with substantial differences among loci in the extent and pattern of reticulation. Extremely high levels of reticulation are observed at HLA-B and HLA-DPB1, high levels at HLA-A and HLA-DRB1, moderate levels at HLA-C and HLA-DQB1, and low levels at HLA-DQA1. The reticulate events are concentrated in the exons encoding the highly variable, peptide-binding domains, suggesting that the sequence combinations produced by these events are maintained by natural selection.
The geography of biodiversity change in marine and terrestrial assemblages
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 18-10-2019
Abstract: Bio ersity is undergoing rapid change driven by climate change and other human influences. Blowes et al. analyze the global patterns in temporal change in bio ersity using a large quantity of time-series data from different regions (see the Perspective by Eriksson and Hillebrand). Their findings reveal clear spatial patterns in richness and composition change, where marine taxa exhibit the highest rates of change. The marine tropics, in particular, emerge as hotspots of species richness losses. Given that human activities are affecting bio ersity in magnitudes and directions that differ across the planet, these findings will provide a much needed biogeographic understanding of bio ersity change that can help inform conservation prioritization. Science , this issue p. 339 see also p. 308
Biological diversity in a changing world
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 27-11-2010
Abstract: From the pioneering explorations of Joseph Banks (later a President of the Royal Society), to the present day, a great deal has been learnt about the extent, distribution and stability of biological ersity in the world. We now know that erse life can be found even in the most inhospitable places. We have also learned that biological ersity changes through time over both large and small temporal scales. These natural changes track environmental conditions, and reflect ecological and evolutionary processes. However, anthropogenic activities, including overexploitation, habitat loss and climate change, are currently causing profound transformations in ecosystems and unprecedented loss of biological ersity. This series of papers considers temporal variation in biological ersity, examines the extent of human-related change relative to underlying natural change and builds on these insights to develop tools and policies to help guide us towards a sustainable future.
Disturbance and change in biodiversity
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 27-11-2010
Abstract: Understanding how disturbance affects bio ersity is important for both fundamental and applied reasons. Here, I investigate how disturbances with different ecological effects change bio ersity metrics. I define three main types of disturbance effects: D disturbance (shifts in mortality rate), B disturbance (shifts in reproductive rates) and K disturbance (shifts in carrying capacity). Numerous composite disturbances can be defined including any combination of these three types of ecological effects. The consequences of D , B and K disturbances, as well as of composite DBK disturbances are examined by comparing metrics before and after a disturbance, in disturbed and undisturbed communities. I use simulations of neutral communities and examine species richness, total abundance and species abundance distributions. The patterns of change in bio ersity metrics are consistent among different types of disturbance. K disturbance has the most severe effects, followed by D disturbance, and B disturbance has nearly negligible effects. Consequences of composite DBK disturbances are more complex than any of the three types of disturbance, with unimodal relationships along a disturbance gradient arising when D, B and K are negatively correlated. Importantly, regardless of disturbance type, community isolation enhances the negative consequences and hinders the positive effects of disturbances.
QUANTIFYING CORAL MORPHOLOGY
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 19-02-2019
DOI: 10.1101/553453
Abstract: The morphology of coral colonies has important implications for their biological and ecological performance, including their role as ecosystem engineers. However, given that morphology is difficult to quantify across many taxa, morphological variation is typically shoehorned into coarse growth form categories (e.g., arborescent and digitate). In this study, we develop a quantitative schema for morphology by identifying three-dimensional shape variables that can describe coral morphology. We contrast six variables estimated from 152 laser scans of coral colonies that ranged across seven growth form categories and three orders of magnitude of size. We found that 88% of the variation in shape was captured by two axes of variation and three shape variables. The main axis was variation in volume compactness ( cf . sphericity) and the second axis was the trade-off between surface complexity and the vertical distribution of volume (i.e., top heaviness). Variation in volume compactness also limited variation along the second axis, where surface complexity and vertical volume distribution ranged more freely when compactness was low. Traditional growth form categories occupied distinct regions within this morpho-space. However, these regions overlapped due to shape changes with colony size. Nonetheless, four of the shape variables were able to predict traditional growth form categories with 70 to 95% accuracy, suggesting that the continuous variables captured much of the qualitative variation inherently implied by these growth forms. Distilling coral morphology into geometric variables that capture shape variation will allow for better tests of the mechanisms that govern coral biology, ecology and ecosystem services such as reef building and provision of habitat.
Reply to: Shifting baselines and biodiversity success stories
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 26-01-2022
Long‐term changes in temperate marine fish assemblages are driven by a small subset of species
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-11-2021
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.15947
Abstract: The species composition of plant and animal assemblages across the globe has changed substantially over the past century. How do the dynamics of in idual species cause this change? We classified species into seven unique categories of temporal dynamics based on the ordered sequence of presences and absences that each species contributes to an assemblage time series. We applied this framework to 14,434 species trajectories comprising 280 assemblages of temperate marine fishes surveyed annually for 20 or more years. Although 90% of the assemblages erged in species composition from the baseline year, this compositional change was largely driven by only 8% of the species' trajectories. Quantifying the reorganization of assemblages based on species shared temporal dynamics should facilitate the task of monitoring and restoring bio ersity. We suggest ways in which our framework could provide informative measures of compositional change, as well as leverage future research on pattern and process in ecological systems.
Climate change transforms the functional identity of Mediterranean coralligenous assemblages
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-03-2021
DOI: 10.1111/ELE.13718
Abstract: Quantifying changes in functional community structure driven by disturbance is critical to anticipate potential shifts in ecosystem functioning. However, how marine heatwaves (MHWs) affect the functional structure of temperate coral‐dominated communities is poorly understood. Here, we used five long‐term ( 10 years) records of Mediterranean coralligenous assemblages in a multi‐taxa, trait‐based analysis to investigate MHW‐driven changes in functional structure. We show that, despite stability in functional richness (i.e. the range of species functional traits), MHW‐impacted assemblages experienced long‐term directional changes in functional identity (i.e. their dominant trait values). Declining traits included large sizes, long lifespans, arborescent morphologies, filter‐feeding strategies or calcified skeletons. These traits, which were mostly supported by few sensitive and irreplaceable species from a single functional group (habitat‐forming octocorals), disproportionally influence certain ecosystem functions (e.g. 3D‐habitat provision). Hence, MHWs are leading to assemblages that are deficient in key functional traits, with likely consequences for the ecosystem functioning.
Disparity between projected geographic ranges of rare species: a case study of Echinomorpha nishihirai (Scleractinia)
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 2015
DOI: 10.1017/S1755267215001141
Abstract: Rare and cryptic species can be easily missed during ecological surveys of coral communities. This study reveals a disparity in the reported geographic range of a rare species, Echinomorpha nishihirai, between three different sources none of which are wholly consistent with the available published occurrence records. Discrepancies in the species ranges reported in two comprehensive online databases are greater for rare, compared with common, coral species, suggesting a need for a more cautious treatment of rare species in biogeographic studies.
Clustered versus catastrophic global vertebrate declines
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 18-11-2020
DOI: 10.1038/S41586-020-2920-6
Abstract: Recent analyses have reported catastrophic global declines in vertebrate populations
Multiple modes in a coral species abundance distribution
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-2008
DOI: 10.1111/J.1461-0248.2008.01208.X
Abstract: Species abundance distributions are an important measure of bio ersity and community structure. These distributions are affected by s ling, and alternative species-abundance models often make similar predictions for small s le sizes. Very large s les reveal the relative abundances of rare species, and thus provide information about species relative abundances that small s les cannot. Here, we present the species-abundance distribution for a s le of > 40,000 coral colonies at a single site, exceeding existing s les of coral local assemblages by over an order of magnitude. This abundance distribution is multimodal when examined on a logarithmic scale. Four different model selection procedures all indicate that the underlying community abundance distribution has at least three modes. We show that the multiple modes are not caused by mixtures of species with different habitat preferences. However, spatial aggregation partially explains our results. We inspect published work on species abundance distributions, and suggest that multimodality may be a common feature of large s les.
Effects of polyandry on male phenotypic diversity
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 28-09-2010
DOI: 10.1111/J.1420-9101.2010.02105.X
Abstract: Polyandry has the potential to affect the distribution of phenotypes and to shape the direction of sexual selection. Here, we explore this potential using Trinidadian guppies as a model system and ask whether polyandry leads to directional and/or ersifying selection of male phenotypic traits. In this study, we compare the phenotypic ersity of offspring from multiply and singly sired broods. To quantify phenotypic ersity, we first combine phenotypic traits using multivariate methods, and then take the dispersion of in iduals in multivariate space as our measure of ersity. We show that, when each trait is examined separately, polyandry generates offspring with a higher proportion of bright coloration, indicating directional selection. However, our multivariate approach reveals that this directionality is accompanied by an increase in phenotypic ersity. These results suggest that polyandry (i) selects for the production of sons with the preferred brighter colour phenotypes whereas (ii) enhancing the ersity of male sexual traits. Promoting phenotypic ersity may be advantageous in coping with environmental and reproductive variability by increasing long-term fitness.
Electrosynthesis of polypyrrole-reinforced helical α-MoO3 microribbons for high-energy aqueous Al3+-ion pseudocapacitors
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2022
Rapid biotic homogenization of marine fish assemblages
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 24-09-2015
DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS9405
Abstract: The role human activities play in reshaping bio ersity is increasingly apparent in terrestrial ecosystems. However, the responses of entire marine assemblages are not well-understood, in part, because few monitoring programs incorporate both spatial and temporal replication. Here, we analyse an exceptionally comprehensive 29-year time series of North Atlantic groundfish assemblages monitored over 5° latitude to the west of Scotland. These fish assemblages show no systematic change in species richness through time, but steady change in species composition, leading to an increase in spatial homogenization: the species identity of colder northern localities increasingly resembles that of warmer southern localities. This biotic homogenization mirrors the spatial pattern of unevenly rising ocean temperatures over the same time period suggesting that climate change is primarily responsible for the spatial homogenization we observe. In this and other ecosystems, apparent constancy in species richness may mask major changes in species composition driven by anthropogenic change.
Recent increases in assemblage rarity are linked to increasing local immigration
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 07-2020
DOI: 10.1098/RSOS.192045
Abstract: As pressures on bio ersity increase, a better understanding of how assemblages are responding is needed. Because rare species, defined here as those that have locally low abundances, make up a high proportion of assemblage species lists, understanding how the number of rare species within assemblages is changing will help elucidate patterns of recent bio ersity change. Here, we show that the number of rare species within assemblages is increasing, on average, across systems. This increase could arise in two ways: species already present in the assemblage decreasing in abundance but with no increase in extinctions, or additional species entering the assemblage in low numbers associated with an increase in immigration. The positive relationship between change in rarity and change in species richness provides evidence for the second explanation, i.e. higher net immigration than extinction among the rare species. These measurable changes in the structure of assemblages in the recent past underline the need to use multiple bio ersity metrics to understand bio ersity change.
Species richness in marine phytoplankton communities is not correlated to ecosystem productivity
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 15-08-2013
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS10443
Species abundance distributions: moving beyond single prediction theories to integration within an ecological framework
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-08-2007
DOI: 10.1111/J.1461-0248.2007.01094.X
Abstract: Species abundance distributions (SADs) follow one of ecology's oldest and most universal laws--every community shows a hollow curve or hyperbolic shape on a histogram with many rare species and just a few common species. Here, we review theoretical, empirical and statistical developments in the study of SADs. Several key points emerge. (i) Literally dozens of models have been proposed to explain the hollow curve. Unfortunately, very few models are ever rejected, primarily because few theories make any predictions beyond the hollow-curve SAD itself. (ii) Interesting work has been performed both empirically and theoretically, which goes beyond the hollow-curve prediction to provide a rich variety of information about how SADs behave. These include the study of SADs along environmental gradients and theories that integrate SADs with other bio ersity patterns. Central to this body of work is an effort to move beyond treating the SAD in isolation and to integrate the SAD into its ecological context to enable making many predictions. (iii) Moving forward will entail understanding how s ling and scale affect SADs and developing statistical tools for describing and comparing SADs. We are optimistic that SADs can provide significant insights into basic and applied ecological science.
Abundance and dominance become less predictable as species richness decreases
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-01-2011
A geometric basis for surface habitat complexity and biodiversity
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 24-08-2020
Species abundance distributions reveal environmental heterogeneity in modified landscapes
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 28-04-2009
Related Organisations
University Of St Andrews
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Related Funding Activities
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100794
Start Date: 06-2020
End Date: 03-2024
Amount: $419,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityDiscovery Projects - Grant ID: DP200102573
Start Date: 06-2020
End Date: 07-2023
Amount: $400,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityDiscovery Projects - Grant ID: DP190103914
Start Date: 03-2019
End Date: 12-2022
Amount: $420,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityDiscovery Projects - Grant ID: DP180101944
Start Date: 2018
End Date: 2018
Amount: $393,245.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded Activity