ORCID Profile
0000-0003-0304-7544
Current Organisation
Macquarie University
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Life Histories (Incl. Population Ecology) | Biogeography | Palaeontology | Evolutionary Biology
Climate change | Living resources (incl. impacts of fishing on non-target species) | Biological sciences |
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 07-2004
DOI: 10.1890/03-0800
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 20-02-2017
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-07-2010
DOI: 10.1111/J.1461-0248.2010.01515.X
Abstract: The ersity of life is ultimately generated by evolution, and much attention has focused on the rapid evolution of ecological traits. Yet, the tendency for many ecological traits to instead remain similar over time [niche conservatism (NC)] has many consequences for the fundamental patterns and processes studied in ecology and conservation biology. Here, we describe the mounting evidence for the importance of NC to major topics in ecology (e.g. species richness, ecosystem function) and conservation (e.g. climate change, invasive species). We also review other areas where it may be important but has generally been overlooked, in both ecology (e.g. food webs, disease ecology, mutualistic interactions) and conservation (e.g. habitat modification). We summarize methods for testing for NC, and suggest that a commonly used and advocated method (involving a test for phylogenetic signal) is potentially problematic, and describe alternative approaches. We suggest that considering NC: (1) focuses attention on the within-species processes that cause traits to be conserved over time, (2) emphasizes connections between questions and research areas that are not obviously related (e.g. invasives, global warming, tropical richness), and (3) suggests new areas for research (e.g. why are some clades largely nocturnal? why do related species share diseases?).
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 13-03-2007
Abstract: The size and metabolic rate of cells affect processes from the molecular to the organismal level. We present a quantitative, theoretical framework for studying relationships among cell volume, cellular metabolic rate, body size, and whole-organism metabolic rate that helps reveal the feedback between these levels of organization. We use this framework to show that average cell volume and average cellular metabolic rate cannot both remain constant with changes in body size because of the well known body-size dependence of whole-organism metabolic rate. Based on empirical data compiled for 18 cell types in mammals, we find that many cell types, including erythrocytes, hepatocytes, fibroblasts, and epithelial cells, follow a strategy in which cellular metabolic rate is body size dependent and cell volume is body size invariant. We suggest that this scaling holds for all quickly iding cells, and conversely, that slowly iding cells are expected to follow a strategy in which cell volume is body size dependent and cellular metabolic rate is roughly invariant with body size. Data for slowly iding neurons and adipocytes show that cell volume does indeed scale with body size. From these results, we argue that the particular strategy followed depends on the structural and functional properties of the cell type. We also discuss consequences of these two strategies for cell number and capillary densities. Our results and conceptual framework emphasize fundamental constraints that link the structure and function of cells to that of whole organisms.
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 24-01-2003
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-2005
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-01-2008
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-2003
DOI: 10.1038/NATURE01671
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 06-05-2015
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 27-01-2016
Abstract: Population ecology has classically focused on pairwise species interactions, hindering the description of general patterns and processes of population abundance at large spatial scales. Here we use the metabolic theory of ecology as a framework to formulate and test a model that yields predictions linking population density to the physiological constraints of body size and temperature on in idual metabolism, and the ecological constraints of trophic structure and species richness on energy partitioning among species. Our model was tested by applying Bayesian quantile regression to a comprehensive reef-fish community database, from which we extracted density data for 5609 populations spread across 49 sites around the world. Our results indicate that population density declines markedly with increases in community species richness and that, after accounting for richness, energetic constraints are manifested most strongly for the most abundant species, which generally are of small body size and occupy lower trophic groups. Overall, our findings suggest that, at the global scale, factors associated with community species richness are the major drivers of variation in population density. Given that populations of species-rich tropical systems exhibit markedly lower maximum densities, they may be particularly susceptible to stochastic extinction.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 11-07-2006
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-2004
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 04-09-2012
Abstract: With frigid temperatures and virtually no in situ productivity, the deep oceans, Earth’s largest ecosystem, are especially energy-deprived systems. Our knowledge of the effects of this energy limitation on all levels of biological organization is very incomplete. Here, we use the Metabolic Theory of Ecology to examine the relative roles of carbon flux and temperature in influencing metabolic rate, growth rate, lifespan, body size, abundance, biomass, and bio ersity for life on the deep seafloor. We show that the relative impacts of thermal and chemical energy change across organizational scales. Results suggest that in idual metabolic rates, growth, and turnover proceed as quickly as temperature-influenced biochemical kinetics allow but that chemical energy limits higher-order community structure and function. Understanding deep-sea energetics is a pressing problem because of accelerating climate change and the general lack of environmental regulatory policy for the deep oceans.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 11-07-2014
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2013
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 13-06-2006
Abstract: Latitudinal gradients of bio ersity and macroevolutionary dynamics are prominent yet poorly understood. We derive a model that quantifies the role of kinetic energy in generating bio ersity. The model predicts that rates of genetic ergence and speciation are both governed by metabolic rate and therefore show the same exponential temperature dependence (activation energy of ≈0.65 eV 1 eV = 1.602 × 10 −19 J). Predictions are supported by global datasets from planktonic foraminifera for rates of DNA evolution and speciation spanning 30 million years. As predicted by the model, rates of speciation increase toward the tropics even after controlling for the greater ocean coverage at tropical latitudes. Our model and results indicate that in idual metabolic rate is a primary determinant of evolutionary rates: ≈10 13 J of energy flux per gram of tissue generates one substitution per nucleotide in the nuclear genome, and ≈10 23 J of energy flux per population generates a new species of foraminifera.
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date: 09-2017
DOI: 10.1086/692758
Abstract: Simulations and experiments have shown that species coexistence can be maintained via nontransitive competition, of which a simple case is the rock-paper-scissors game. Reef-building corals exemplify high bio ersity competing for a few limiting resources via several mechanisms. Thus, corals represent fertile ground for exploring competition and nontransitivity. This article aimed to test hypotheses about the effects of species-level traits on competitive outcomes, specifically, that more upright growth, larger corallites, smaller ranges, and difference in commonness co-occur with competitive superiority. Further aims were to test whether closely related species show less predictable competitive outcomes and greater nontransitivity and to examine the level of nontransitivity among a large number of species. These goals were addressed by fitting a mixed-effects model to outcomes of 2,322 interspecific interactions. Among species-level traits, corallite width had the greatest impact on outcome, followed by geographical range size, growth form, and the typical commonness of conspecifics in assemblages. These fixed effects had smaller estimated impacts than a random effect associated with species pair, suggesting a primary role for idiosyncratic species-pair or other factors. Closely related species had more variable, less predictable interaction outcomes. Nearly a quarter of three-way species relations were nontransitive. The observed degree of competitive nontransitivity and extent of idiosyncratic species-pair effects together provide an empirical baseline for further investigations of mechanisms of species coexistence.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-2014
DOI: 10.3732/AJB.1400340
Abstract: • Have Gondwanan rainforest floral associations survived? Where do they occur today? Have they survived continuously in particular locations? How significant is their living floristic signal? We revisit these classic questions in light of significant recent increases in relevant paleobotanical data.• We traced the extinction and persistence of lineages and associations through the past across four now separated regions-Australia, New Zealand, Patagonia, and Antarctica-using fossil occurrence data from 63 well-dated Gondwanan rainforest sites and 396 constituent taxa. Fossil sites were allocated to four age groups: Cretaceous, Paleocene-Eocene, Neogene plus Oligocene, and Pleistocene. We compared the modern and ancient distributions of lineages represented in the fossil record to see if dissimilarity increased with time. We quantified similarity-dissimilarity of composition and taxonomic structure among fossil assemblages, and between fossil and modern assemblages.• Strong similarities between ancient Patagonia and Australia confirmed shared Gondwanan rainforest history, but more of the lineages persisted in Australia. S les of ancient Australia grouped with the extant floras of Australia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Fiji, and Mt. Kinabalu. Decreasing similarity through time among the regional floras of Antarctica, Patagonia, New Zealand, and southern Australia reflects multiple extinction events.• Gondwanan rainforest lineages contribute significantly to modern rainforest community assembly and often co-occur in widely separated assemblages far from their early fossil records. Understanding how and where lineages from ancient Gondwanan assemblages co-occur today has implications for the conservation of global rainforest vegetation, including in the Old World tropics.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 07-2000
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-02-2019
DOI: 10.1111/PPA.12996
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 02-06-2022
DOI: 10.1038/S41597-022-01364-9
Abstract: Trait databases have become important resources for large-scale comparative studies in ecology and evolution. Here we introduce the AnimalTraits database, a curated database of body mass, metabolic rate and brain size, in standardised units, for terrestrial animals. The database has broad taxonomic breadth, including tetrapods, arthropods, molluscs and annelids from almost 2000 species and 1000 genera. All data recorded in the database are sourced from their original empirical publication, and the original metrics and measurements are included with each record. This allows for subsequent data transformations as required. We have included rich metadata to allow users to filter the dataset. The additional R scripts we provide will assist researchers with aggregating standardised observations into species-level trait values. Our goals are to provide this resource without restrictions, to keep the AnimalTraits database current, and to grow the number of relevant traits in the future.
Publisher: Elsevier
Date: 2010
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 24-09-2013
Abstract: Marine organisms disperse mostly by ocean currents as larval propagules. Therefore, it is commonly thought that the duration of the larval stage is the fundamental determinant of geographic range size. Using a global compilation of reef fish traits, we test an alternative hypothesis: adult traits associated with population establishment and persistence in novel areas are better predictors of geographic range size than larval traits. We conclude that colonization success is as primary determinant of successful range extension and of geographic range size among tropical reef fishes.
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 30-08-2002
Abstract: The latitudinal gradient of increasing bio ersity from poles to equator is one of the most prominent but least understood features of life on Earth. Here we show that species ersity can be predicted from the biochemical kinetics of metabolism. We first demonstrate that the average energy flux of populations is temperature invariant. We then derive a model that quantitatively predicts how species ersity increases with environmental temperature. Predictions are supported by data for terrestrial, freshwater, and marine taxa along latitudinal and elevational gradients. These results establish a thermodynamic basis for the regulation of species ersity and the organization of ecological communities.
Publisher: International Union of Crystallography (IUCr)
Date: 06-2018
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 20-04-2023
DOI: 10.1002/PPP3.10369
Abstract: Plants are fundamental to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and are key to human livelihoods. To protect plant ersity, systematic approaches to conservation assessment are needed. Many nations have legislation or other policy instruments that seek to protect bio ersity (including plants), and species‐level assessments are essential for identifying the most threatened species that require special and immediate protection measures. Some plants occur in only one place (for instance, a single country) and here we have estimated how many of these ‘endemic’ species have had their threats assessed in each country or close country‐equivalent worldwide. We show that the level of assessment completion is only weakly related to the income of countries or the likely level of threat that species face. The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation ambitiously called for an assessment of the conservation status of all recognised plant taxa by 2020. This target was not met in the short term. Nevertheless, the need for conservation assessments remains urgent as plants go extinct and face increasing threats from human impacts on the biosphere. Here, the completeness of threat assessments for endemic flora in 179 countries or their close equivalents was assessed. To do so, distribution information from the World Checklist of Vascular Plants was combined with assessments collated in the ThreatSearch database. The completeness of assessments was expected to be associated with the objective affluence of countries (measured using inequality‐adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI)) and/or the exposure of their plant species to threats associated with human impacts (measured using Global Human Modification index (GHM)). The number of endemic species per country was also hypothesised to influence the completion of assessments. Overall, 58% of all country‐based endemic species examined have no conservation assessment (127,643 species). Countries' progress toward the completion of threat assessments for endemic plants could not be confidently predicted by IHDI, GHM or the richness of endemic plant flora. The shortfall in threat assessments identified here restricts national regulation of actions which imperil plant species, with particular consequences for endemic plant species subject to local laws. Some nations with high IHDI scores (i.e. wealthier nations) are not systematically assessing extinction risk in their endemic species. Scarce funding should be directed to global hotspots of endemism with few available resources for assessment.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-10-2014
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 20-06-2012
DOI: 10.1038/NATURE11205
Abstract: Ecosystem respiration is the biotic conversion of organic carbon to carbon dioxide by all of the organisms in an ecosystem, including both consumers and primary producers. Respiration exhibits an exponential temperature dependence at the subcellular and in idual levels, but at the ecosystem level respiration can be modified by many variables including community abundance and biomass, which vary substantially among ecosystems. Despite its importance for predicting the responses of the biosphere to climate change, it is as yet unknown whether the temperature dependence of ecosystem respiration varies systematically between aquatic and terrestrial environments. Here we use the largest database of respiratory measurements yet compiled to show that the sensitivity of ecosystem respiration to seasonal changes in temperature is remarkably similar for erse environments encompassing lakes, rivers, estuaries, the open ocean and forested and non-forested terrestrial ecosystems, with an average activation energy similar to that of the respiratory complex (approximately 0.65 electronvolts (eV)). By contrast, annual ecosystem respiration shows a substantially greater temperature dependence across aquatic (approximately 0.65 eV) versus terrestrial ecosystems (approximately 0.32 eV) that span broad geographic gradients in temperature. Using a model derived from metabolic theory, these findings can be reconciled by similarities in the biochemical kinetics of metabolism at the subcellular level, and fundamental differences in the importance of other variables besides temperature—such as primary productivity and allochthonous carbon inputs—on the structure of aquatic and terrestrial biota at the community level.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-2007
DOI: 10.1890/06-1935.1
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 30-07-2009
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-05-2013
DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS2836
Abstract: Rates of molecular evolution have a central role in our understanding of many aspects of species' biology. However, the causes of variation in rates of molecular evolution remain poorly understood, particularly in plants. Here we show that height accounts for about one-fifth of the among-lineage rate variation in the chloroplast and nuclear genomes of plants. This relationship holds across 138 families of flowering plants, and when accounting for variation in species richness, temperature, ultraviolet radiation, latitude and growth form. Our observations can be explained by a link between height and rates of genome copying in plants, and we propose a mechanistic hypothesis to account for this-the 'rate of mitosis' hypothesis. This hypothesis has the potential to explain many disparate observations about rates of molecular evolution across the tree of life. Our results have implications for understanding the evolutionary history and future of plant lineages in a changing world.
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 09-08-2005
Abstract: Understanding the storage, flux, and turnover of nutrients in organisms is important for quantifying contributions of biota to biogeochemical cycles. Here we present a model that predicts the storage of phosphorus-rich RNA and whole-body phosphorus content in eukaryotes based on the mass- and temperature-dependence of ATP production in mitochondria. Data from a broad assortment of eukaryotes support the model's two main predictions. First, whole-body RNA concentration is proportional to mitochondrial density and consequently scales with body mass to the -1/4 power. Second, whole-body phosphorus content declines with increasing body mass in eukaryotic unicells but approaches a relatively constant value in large multicellular animals because the fraction of phosphorus in RNA decreases relative to the fraction in other pools. Extension of the model shows that differences in the flux of RNA-associated phosphorus are due to the size dependencies of metabolic rate and RNA concentration. Thus, the model explicitly links two biological currencies at the in idual level: energy in the form of ATP and materials in the form of phosphorus, both of which are critical to the functioning of ecosystems. The model provides a framework for linking attributes of in iduals to the storage and flux of phosphorus in ecosystems.
Publisher: Society for Sedimentary Geology
Date: 11-2016
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 05-11-2012
Abstract: Understanding how biogeochemical cycles relate to the structure of ecological communities is a central research question in ecology. Here we approach this problem by focusing on body size, which is an easily measured species trait that has a pervasive influence on multiple aspects of community structure and ecosystem functioning. We test the predictions of a model derived from metabolic theory using data on ecosystem metabolism and community size structure. These data were collected as part of an aquatic mesocosm experiment that was designed to simulate future environmental warming. Our analyses demonstrate significant linkages between community size structure and ecosystem functioning, and the effects of warming on these links. Specifically, we show that carbon fluxes were significantly influenced by seasonal variation in temperature, and yielded activation energies remarkably similar to those predicted based on the temperature dependencies of in idual-level photosynthesis and respiration. We also show that community size structure significantly influenced fluxes of ecosystem respiration and gross primary production, particularly at the annual time-scale. Assessing size structure and the factors that control it, both empirically and theoretically, therefore promises to aid in understanding links between in idual organisms and biogeochemical cycles, and in predicting the responses of key ecosystem functions to future environmental change.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 30-05-2007
DOI: 10.1111/J.1461-0248.2007.01057.X
Abstract: Neutral bio ersity theory has the potential to contribute to our understanding of how macroevolutionary dynamics influence contemporary bio ersity, but there are issues regarding its dynamical predictions that must first be resolved. Here we address these issues by extending the theory in two ways using a novel analytical approach: (1) we set the absolute tempo of bio ersity dynamics by explicitly incorporating population-level stochasticity in abundance (2) we allow new species to arise with more than one in idual. Setting the absolute tempo yields quantitative predictions on bio ersity dynamics that can be tested using contemporary and fossil data. Allowing incipient-species abundances greater than one in idual yields predictions on how these dynamics, and the form of the species-abundance distribution, are affected by multiple speciation modes. We apply this new model to contemporary and fossil data that encompass 30 Myr of macroevolution for planktonic foraminifera. By synthesizing the model with these empirical data, we present evidence that dynamical issues with neutral bio ersity theory may be resolved by incorporating the effects of environmental stochasticity and incipient-species abundance on bio ersity dynamics.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 28-02-2015
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 19-03-2011
DOI: 10.1111/J.1558-5646.2011.01265.X
Abstract: Numerous evolutionary studies have sought to explain the distribution of ersity across the limbs of the tree of life. At the same time, ecological studies have sought to explain differences in ersity and relative abundance within and among ecological communities. Traditionally, these patterns have been considered separately, but models that consider processes operating at the level of in iduals, such as neutral bio ersity theory (NBT), can provide a link between them. Here, we compare evolutionary dynamics across a suite of NBT models. We show that NBT can yield phylogenetic tree topologies with imbalance closely resembling empirical observations. In general, metacommunities that exhibit greater disparity in abundance are characterized by more imbalanced phylogenetic trees. However, NBT fails to capture the tempo of ersification as represented by the distribution of branching events through time. We suggest that population-level processes might therefore help explain the asymmetry of phylogenetic trees, but that tree shape might mislead estimates of evolutionary rates unless the ersification process is modeled explicitly.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-09-2010
DOI: 10.1111/J.1469-8137.2010.03442.X
Abstract: The metabolic theory of ecology (MTE) as applied to the plant sciences aims to provide a general synthesis for the structure and functioning of plants from organelles to ecosystems. MTE builds from simple assumptions of in idual metabolism to make predictions about phenomena across a wide range of scales, from in idual plant structure and function to community dynamics and global nutrient cycles. The scope of its predictions include morphological allometry, biomass partitioning, vascular network design, and life history phenomena at the in idual level size‐frequency distributions, population growth rates, and energetic equivalence at the community level and the flux, turnover and storage of nutrients at the ecosystem level. Here, we provide an overview of MTE, by considering its assumptions and predictions at these different levels of organization and explaining how the model integrates phenomena among all of these scales. We highlight the model’s many successes in predicting novel patterns and draw attention to areas in which gaps remain between observations and MTE’s assumptions and predictions. Considering the theory as a whole, we argue that MTE has made a significant contribution in furthering our understanding of those unifying aspects of the structure and function of plants, populations, communities, and ecosystems. Contents Summary 696 I. Introduction 697 II. Background and theoretical foundations: assumptions of WBE 698 III. Background and theoretical foundations: assumptions of MTE 699 IV. MTE at the in idual plant level: metabolism, architecture and demography 699 V. Metabolism 700 VI. Morphology 701 VII. Biomass partitioning 701 VIII. Hydraulics 702 IX. Demography 702 X. MTE at population, community, and ecosystem scales 703 XI. Plant population density 703 XII. Plant population density within a site 704 XIII. Population growth rates 704 XIV. Ecosystem dynamics 705 XV. Discussion 706 Acknowledgements 708 References 708
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-2002
Publisher: International Union of Crystallography (IUCr)
Date: 06-2018
DOI: 10.1107/S160057671800643X
Abstract: Following many years of evolutionary development, first at the National Synchrotron Light Source, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and then at the Advanced Photon Source (APS), Argonne National Laboratory, the APS ultra-small-angle X-ray scattering (USAXS) facility has been transformed by several new developments. These comprise a conversion to higher-order crystal optics and higher X-ray energies as the standard operating mode, rapid fly scan measurements also as a standard operational mode, automated contiguous pinhole small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements at intermediate scattering vectors, and associated rapid wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) measurements for X-ray diffraction without disturbing the s le geometry. With each mode using the USAXS incident beam optics upstream of the s le, USAXS/SAXS/WAXS measurements can now be made within 5 min, allowing in situ and operando measurement capabilities with great flexibility under a wide range of s le conditions. These developments are described, together with ex les of their application to investigate materials phenomena of technological importance. Developments of two novel USAXS applications, USAXS-based X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy and USAXS imaging, are also briefly reviewed.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 2023
Abstract: Introduced social insects can be highly invasive outside of their native range. Around the world, the introduction and establishment of the eusocial bumblebee Bombus terrestris (L. 1758) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) has negatively impacted native pollinators and ecosystems. Understanding how morphological variation is linked to environmental variation across invasive ranges can indicate how rapidly species may be erging or adapting across novel ranges and may assist with predicting future establishment and spread. Here we investigate whether B. terrestris shows morphological variation related to environmental variation across the island of Tasmania (Australia) where it was introduced three decades ago. We collected 169 workers from 16 sites across Tasmania and related relative abundance and morphology to landscape-wide climate, land use, and vegetation structure. We found weak morphological ergence related to environmental conditions across Tasmania. Body size of B. terrestris was positively associated with the percentage of urban land cover, a relationship largely driven by a single site, possibly reflecting high resource availability in urban areas. Proboscis length showed a significant negative relationship with the percentage of pasture. Wing loading and local abundance were not related to the environmental conditions within sites. Our results reflect the highly adaptable nature of B. terrestris and its ability to thrive in different environments, which may have facilitated the bumblebee’s successful invasion across Tasmania.
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 13-11-2007
Abstract: Biologists have long sought a means by which to quantify similarities and differences in embryonic development across species. Here we present a quantitative approach for predicting the timing of developmental events based on principles of allometry and biochemical kinetics. Data from erse oviparous species support model predictions that most variation in the time required to reach one early developmental stage—the time to first heartbeat—is explained by the body size and temperature dependence of metabolic rate. Furthermore, comparisons of this stage with later developmental stages suggest that, after correcting for size and temperature, the relationship of metabolic rate to the rate of embryogenesis is approximately invariant across taxonomic groups and stages of ontogeny.
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 19-06-2013
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 18-11-2021
DOI: 10.1111/JEN.12952
Abstract: In Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) programs, the released sterile insects must attain sexual maturity at an early adult age so that a large proportion survive to mature and contribute to reducing reproduction of pest populations. Previous field studies based on release of adult Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (‘Q‐fly’), at 2 days of age found a significant increase in the recapture of mature male Q‐flies when they were provided methoprene or raspberry ketone (RK) before release. SIT for Q‐flies has subsequently adopted release at 5 days of age there is now a contextual need to re‐assess the merit of methoprene and RK supplements. We assessed field abundance and dispersal of mature sterile male Q‐flies that had been held for 5 days on pre‐release standard diets of sugar and yeast hydrolysate (3:1) (control) with and without methoprene or RK supplements. Overall, the proportion of control‐ and RK‐treated flies recaptured was higher than the proportion of methoprene‐treated flies recaptured. We found no evidence that either methoprene or RK supplements yielded improvements over the control diet alone concerning abundance and dispersal of the male Q‐flies. Laboratory studies indicate that while the doses of methoprene (control + methoprene at 0.05% or 0.5%) and RK (control + RK at 1.25% or 5%) used in field releases at 2 days of age did not affect male longevity when sustenance was provided, these doses resulted in reduced longevity when no sustenance was provided. Furthermore, all doses of methoprene and RK used in field releases at 5 days of age reduced male longevity regardless of sustenance. At 5 days of age, the flies are already in an advanced state of maturity when released and in this context, it appears that additional pre‐release treatments of methoprene and RK provide no further improvement and may even be detrimental when nutrition is scarce.
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 20-12-2006
Abstract: Debate on the mechanism(s) responsible for the scaling of metabolic rate with body size in mammals has focused on why the maximum metabolic rate ( ) appears to scale more steeply with body size than the basal metabolic rate (BMR). Consequently, metabolic scope, defined as /BMR, systematically increases with body size. These observations have led some to suggest that and BMR are controlled by fundamentally different processes, and to discount the generality of models that predict a single power-law scaling exponent for the size dependence of the metabolic rate. We present a model that predicts a steeper size dependence for than BMR based on the observation that changes in muscle temperature from rest to maximal activity are greater in larger mammals. Empirical data support the model's prediction. This model thus provides a potential theoretical and mechanistic link between BMR and .
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 07-2004
DOI: 10.1890/03-9000
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-2007
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-12-2009
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-07-2015
DOI: 10.1111/JBI.12574
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-07-2016
DOI: 10.1038/SREP30556
Abstract: Multicomponent signals can be formed by the uninterrupted concatenation of multiple call types. One such signal is found in dingoes, Canis familiaris dingo . This stereotyped, multicomponent ‘bark-howl’ vocalisation is formed by the concatenation of a noisy bark segment and a tonal howl segment. Both segments are structurally similar to bark and howl vocalisations produced independently in other contexts (e.g. intra- and inter-pack communication). Bark-howls are mainly uttered in response to human presence and were hypothesized to serve as alarm calls. We investigated the function of bark-howls and the respective roles of the bark and howl segments. We found that dingoes could discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar howl segments, after having only heard familiar howl vocalisations (i.e. different calls). We propose that howl segments could function as ‘identity signals’ and allow receivers to modulate their responses according to the caller’s characteristics. The bark segment increased receivers’ attention levels, providing support for earlier observational claims that barks have an ‘alerting’ function. Lastly, dingoes were more likely to display vigilance behaviours upon hearing bark-howl vocalisations, lending support to the alarm function hypothesis. Canid vocalisations, such as the dingo bark-howl, may provide a model system to investigate the selective pressures shaping complex communication systems.
Publisher: Canadian Science Publishing
Date: 1999
Publisher: Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles
Date: 19-12-2022
DOI: 10.1670/20-113
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 20-02-2007
DOI: 10.1111/J.1461-0248.2007.01020.X
Abstract: A latitudinal gradient in bio ersity has existed since before the time of the dinosaurs, yet how and why this gradient arose remains unresolved. Here we review two major hypotheses for the origin of the latitudinal ersity gradient. The time and area hypothesis holds that tropical climates are older and historically larger, allowing more opportunity for ersification. This hypothesis is supported by observations that temperate taxa are often younger than, and nested within, tropical taxa, and that ersity is positively correlated with the age and area of geographical regions. The ersification rate hypothesis holds that tropical regions ersify faster due to higher rates of speciation (caused by increased opportunities for the evolution of reproductive isolation, or faster molecular evolution, or the increased importance of biotic interactions), or due to lower extinction rates. There is phylogenetic evidence for higher rates of ersification in tropical clades, and palaeontological data demonstrate higher rates of origination for tropical taxa, but mixed evidence for latitudinal differences in extinction rates. Studies of latitudinal variation in incipient speciation also suggest faster speciation in the tropics. Distinguishing the roles of history, speciation and extinction in the origin of the latitudinal gradient represents a major challenge to future research.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-07-2006
DOI: 10.1111/J.1461-0248.2006.00946.X
Abstract: The mechanisms responsible for latitudinal bio ersity gradients have fascinated and perplexed biologists since the time of Darwin. Ecological theory has yielded two general classes of mechanisms to account for variation in bio ersity: dispersal-assembly mechanisms that invoke differences in stochastic rates of speciation, extinction and dispersal and niche-assembly mechanisms that invoke species differences, species interactions and environmental heterogeneity. Distinguishing between these two classes of mechanisms requires explicit consideration of macroevolutionary dynamics. Here, we assess the importance of dispersal-assembly mechanisms in the origin and maintenance of bio ersity using fossil data that encompass 30 million years of macroevolution for three distinct groups of ocean plankton: foraminifera, nannoplankton and radiolaria. Applying new methods of analysis to these fossil data, we show here for the first time that latitudinal bio ersity gradients exhibit strong positive correlations with speciation rates even after explicitly controlling for variation in s ling effort and for increases in habitat area towards the equator. These findings provide compelling evidence that geographical variation in macroevolutionary dynamics is a primary determinant of contemporary bio ersity gradients, as predicted by dispersal-assembly theory.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-04-2009
DOI: 10.1111/J.1461-0248.2009.01302.X
Abstract: Ecologists have long recognized that species are sustained by the flux, storage and turnover of two biological currencies: energy, which fuels biological metabolism and materials (i.e. chemical elements), which are used to construct biomass. Ecological theories often describe the dynamics of populations, communities and ecosystems in terms of either energy (e.g. population-dynamics theory) or materials (e.g. resource-competition theory). These two classes of theory have been formulated using different assumptions, and yield distinct, but often complementary predictions for the same or similar phenomena. For ex le, the energy-based equation of von Bertalanffy and the nutrient-based equation of Droop both describe growth. Yet, there is relatively little theoretical understanding of how these two distinct classes of theory, and the currencies they use, are interrelated. Here, we begin to address this issue by integrating models and concepts from two rapidly developing theories, the metabolic theory of ecology and ecological stoichiometry theory. We show how combining these theories, using recently published theory and data along with new theoretical formulations, leads to novel predictions on the flux, storage and turnover of energy and materials that apply to animals, plants and unicells. The theory and results presented here highlight the potential for developing a more general ecological theory that explicitly relates the energetics and stoichiometry of in iduals, communities and ecosystems to subcellular structures and processes. We conclude by discussing the basic and applied implications of such a theory, and the prospects and challenges for further development.
Publisher: Canadian Science Publishing
Date: 11-1999
DOI: 10.1139/F99-139
Abstract: We assessed environmental gradients and the extent to which they induced concordant patterns of taxonomic composition among benthic macroinvertebrate, riparian bird, sedimentary diatom, fish, and pelagic zooplankton assemblages in 186 northeastern U.S.A. lakes. Human population density showed a close correspondence to this region's dominant environmental gradient. This reflected the constraints imposed by climate and geomorphology on land use and, in turn, the effects of land use on the environment (e.g., increasing lake productivity). For the region as a whole, concordance was highest among assemblages whose taxa were relatively similar in body size. The larger-bodied assemblages (benthos, birds, fish) were correlated most strongly with factors of broader scale (climate, forest composition) than the diatoms and zooplankton (pH, lake depth). Assemblage concordance showed little or no relationship to body size when upland and lowland subregions were examined separately. This was presumably because differences in the scales at which each assemblage integrated the environment were obscured more locally. The larger-bodied assemblages showed stronger associations with land use than the diatoms and zooplankton. This occurred, in part, because they responded more strongly to broad-scale, nonanthropogenic factors that also affected land use. We argue, however, that the larger-bodied assemblages have also been more severely affected by human activities.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 20-01-2015
DOI: 10.1111/GEB.12280
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-04-2018
DOI: 10.1111/ELE.12947
Abstract: The allocation of metabolic energy to growth fundamentally influences all levels of biological organisation. Here we use a first-principles theoretical model to characterise the energetics of fish growth at distinct ontogenetic stages and in distinct thermal regimes. Empirically, we show that the mass scaling of growth rates follows that of metabolic rate, and is somewhat steeper at earlier ontogenetic stages. We also demonstrate that the cost of growth, E
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-06-2014
DOI: 10.1111/ELE.12309
Abstract: Fishes contribute substantially to energy and nutrient fluxes in reef ecosystems, but quantifying these roles is challenging. Here, we do so by synthesising a large compilation of fish metabolic-rate data with a comprehensive database on reef-fish community abundance and biomass. In idual-level analyses support predictions of Metabolic Theory after accounting for significant family-level variation, and indicate that some tropical reef fishes may already be experiencing thermal regimes at or near their temperature optima. Community-level analyses indicate that total estimated respiratory fluxes of reef-fish communities increase on average ~2-fold from 22 to 28 °C. Comparisons of estimated fluxes among trophic groups highlight striking differences in resource use by communities in different regions, perhaps partly reflecting distinct evolutionary histories, and support the hypothesis that piscivores receive substantial energy subsidies from outside reefs. Our study demonstrates one approach to synthesising in idual- and community-level data to establish broad-scale trends in contributions of biota to ecosystem dynamics.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 17-12-2015
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-06-2021
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-021-92218-8
Abstract: Insects tend to live within well-defined habitats, and at smaller scales can have distinct microhabitat preferences. These preferences are important, but often overlooked, in applications of the sterile insect technique. Different microhabitat preferences of sterile and wild insects may reflect differences in environmental tolerance and may lead to spatial separation in the field, both of which may reduce the control program efficiency. In this study, we compared the diurnal microhabitat distributions of mass-reared (fertile and sterile) and wild Queensland fruit flies, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae). Flies were in idually tagged and released into field cages containing citrus trees. We recorded their locations in the canopies (height from ground, distance from canopy center), behavior (resting, grooming, walking, feeding), and the abiotic conditions on occupied leaves (temperature, humidity, light intensity) throughout the day. Flies from all groups moved lower in the canopy when temperature and light intensity were high, and humidity was low lower canopy regions provided shelter from these conditions. Fertile and sterile mass-reared flies of both sexes were generally lower in the canopies than wild flies. Flies generally fed from the top sides of leaves that were lower in the canopy, suggesting food sources in these locations. Our observations suggest that mass-reared and wild B. tryoni occupy different locations in tree canopies, which could indicate different tolerances to environmental extremes and may result in spatial separation of sterile and wild flies when assessed at a landscape scale.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-2006
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-2014
DOI: 10.1111/AEC.12189
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 02-2013
Abstract: Assessing the extent to which population sub ision during cladogenesis is necessary for long-term phenotypic evolution is of fundamental importance in a broad range of biological disciplines. Differentiating cladogenesis from anagenesis, defined as evolution within a species, has generally been h ered by dating precision, insufficient fossil data, and difficulties in establishing a direct link between morphological changes detectable in the fossil record and biological species. Here we quantify the relative frequencies of cladogenesis and anagenesis for macroperforate planktic Foraminifera, which arguably have the most complete fossil record currently available, to address this question. Analyzing this record in light of molecular evidence, while taking into account the precision of fossil dating techniques, we estimate that the fraction of speciation events attributable to anagenesis is % during the Cenozoic era (last 65 Myr) and % during the Neogene period (last 23 Myr). Our central conclusion—that cladogenesis is the predominant mode by which new planktic Foraminifera taxa become established at macroevolutionary time scales—differs markedly from the conclusion reached in a recent study based solely on fossil data. These disparate findings demonstrate that interpretations of macroevolutionary dynamics in the fossil record can be fundamentally altered in light of genetic evidence.
Publisher: CRC Press
Date: 25-11-2016
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2000
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 02-10-2007
Abstract: Since the modern evolutionary synthesis was first proposed early in the twentieth century, attention has focused on assessing the relative contribution of mutation versus natural selection on protein evolution. Here we test a model that yields general quantitative predictions on rates of protein evolution by combining principles of in idual energetics with Kimura's neutral theory. The model successfully predicts much of the heterogeneity in rates of protein evolution for erse eukaryotes (i.e. fishes, hibians, reptiles, birds, mammals) from different thermal environments. Data also show that the ratio of non-synonymous to synonymous nucleotide substitution is independent of body size, and thus presumably of effective population size. These findings indicate that rates of protein evolution are largely controlled by mutation rates, which in turn are strongly influenced by in idual metabolic rate.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-2014
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-04-2006
DOI: 10.1111/J.1461-0248.2006.00914.X
Abstract: Rates of ecosystem recovery following disturbance affect many ecological processes, including carbon cycling in the biosphere. Here, we present a model that predicts the temperature dependence of the biomass accumulation rate following disturbances in forests. Model predictions are derived based on allometric and biochemical principles that govern plant energetics and are tested using a global database of 91 studies of secondary succession compiled from the literature. The rate of biomass accumulation during secondary succession increases with average growing season temperature as predicted based on the biochemical kinetics of photosynthesis in chloroplasts. In addition, the rate of biomass accumulation is greater in angiosperm-dominated communities than in gymnosperm-dominated ones and greater in plantations than in naturally regenerating stands. By linking the temperature-dependence of photosynthesis to the rate of whole-ecosystem biomass accumulation during secondary succession, our model and results provide one ex le of how emergent, ecosystem-level rate processes can be predicted based on the kinetics of in idual metabolic rate.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 31-01-2007
DOI: 10.1038/NATURE05548
Abstract: Reich et al. report that the whole-plant respiration rate, R, in seedlings scales linearly with plant mass, M, so that R=C(R)M(theta) when theta approximately 1, in which c(R) is the scaling normalization and theta is the scaling exponent. They also state that because nitrogen concentration (N) is correlated with c(R), variation in N is a better predictor of R than M would be. Reich et al. and Hedin incorrectly claim that these "universal" findings question the central tenet of metabolic scaling theory, which they interpret as predicting theta = (3/4), irrespective of the size of the plant. Here we show that these conclusions misrepresent metabolic scaling theory and that their results are actually consistent with this theory.
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 23-12-2004
Abstract: Observations that rates of molecular evolution vary widely within and among lineages have cast doubts on the existence of a single “molecular clock.” Differences in the timing of evolutionary events estimated from genetic and fossil evidence have raised further questions about the accuracy of molecular clocks. Here, we present a model of nucleotide substitution that combines theory on metabolic rate with the now-classic neutral theory of molecular evolution. The model quantitatively predicts rate heterogeneity and may reconcile differences in molecular- and fossil-estimated dates of evolutionary events. Model predictions are supported by extensive data from mitochondrial and nuclear genomes. By accounting for the effects of body size and temperature on metabolic rate, this model explains heterogeneity in rates of nucleotide substitution in different genes, taxa, and thermal environments. This model also suggests that there is indeed a single molecular clock, as originally proposed by Zuckerkandl and Pauling [Zuckerkandl, E. & Pauling, L. (1965) in Evolving Genes and Proteins , eds. Bryson, V. & Vogel, H. J. (Academic, New York), pp. 97–166], but that it “ticks” at a constant substitution rate per unit of mass-specific metabolic energy rather than per unit of time. This model therefore links energy flux and genetic change. More generally, the model suggests that body size and temperature combine to control the overall rate of evolution through their effects on metabolism.
Publisher: California Digital Library (CDL)
Date: 28-04-2016
DOI: 10.21425/F58129328
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-12-2008
DOI: 10.1111/J.1469-8137.2008.02660.X
Abstract: Contents Summary 295 I. Introduction 296 II. Unicellular, pseudocolonial, colonial and multicellular phytoplankton: definitions, taxonomy and morphology 296 III. Symbioses 298 IV. Physical constraints on size, morphology and motility 298 V. Elemental stoichiometry 302 VI. Allometry of specific growth rates and specific metabolic rates 302 VII. Trophic interactions 303 VIII. Global significance of large unicells, colonies and multicellular organisms 303 IX. Significance of colonies and multicellular organisms relative to large unicells in the phytoplankton 304 Acknowledgements 306 References 306
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 03-2014
DOI: 10.1038/NATURE13164
Abstract: Methane (CH4) is an important greenhouse gas because it has 25 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide (CO2) by mass over a century. Recent calculations suggest that atmospheric CH4 emissions have been responsible for approximately 20% of Earth's warming since pre-industrial times. Understanding how CH4 emissions from ecosystems will respond to expected increases in global temperature is therefore fundamental to predicting whether the carbon cycle will mitigate or accelerate climate change. Methanogenesis is the terminal step in the remineralization of organic matter and is carried out by strictly anaerobic Archaea. Like most other forms of metabolism, methanogenesis is temperature-dependent. However, it is not yet known how this physiological response combines with other biotic processes (for ex le, methanotrophy, substrate supply, microbial community composition) and abiotic processes (for ex le, water-table depth) to determine the temperature dependence of ecosystem-level CH4 emissions. It is also not known whether CH4 emissions at the ecosystem level have a fundamentally different temperature dependence than other key fluxes in the carbon cycle, such as photosynthesis and respiration. Here we use meta-analyses to show that seasonal variations in CH4 emissions from a wide range of ecosystems exhibit an average temperature dependence similar to that of CH4 production derived from pure cultures of methanogens and anaerobic microbial communities. This average temperature dependence (0.96 electron volts (eV)), which corresponds to a 57-fold increase between 0 and 30°C, is considerably higher than previously observed for respiration (approximately 0.65 eV) and photosynthesis (approximately 0.3 eV). As a result, we show that both the emission of CH4 and the ratio of CH4 to CO2 emissions increase markedly with seasonal increases in temperature. Our findings suggest that global warming may have a large impact on the relative contributions of CO2 and CH4 to total greenhouse gas emissions from aquatic ecosystems, terrestrial wetlands and rice paddies.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-01-2001
Start Date: 2010
End Date: 12-2013
Amount: $225,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
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