Search

Trait-based restoration strategies are gaining significant attention in the scientific community. A recent article in Restoration Ecology by Merchant et al. outlined four reasons why traits are underused in restoration practice. In their response to the paper, Gornish et al. highlighted examples of how practitioners do, in fact, use traits in restoration and made recommendations for researchers to better engage with practitioners to leverage existing knowledge. Here, we clarify a preeminent challenge for either perspective: that we continue to lack the empirical data needed to develop and apply the effective trait-based tools envisioned by many researchers. Long-term, spatially replicated studies designed to address context-dependency are needed to address critical knowledge gaps. Co-developing projects with practitioners not only fosters more realistic and relatable study designs but also increases the likelihood of adopting new methods, enabling long-term research that advances theory while improving local outcomes through more accurate trait-based predictions.

The outcome of many ecological interactions lies somewhere along a continuum between pure positive and pure negative effects. Although the popularity of this idea has notoriously risen in the last decades, with the occurrence of continua in interaction outcomes invoked for a wide variety of interactions, the absence of a precise theoretical treatment has led to considerable inaccuracy and ambiguity in its treatment. We develop here a consumer‐resource model to explore the occurrence of continua. This model is based on the assumption that the distribution of individual interaction events includes both negative and positive immediate outcomes, with variable frequencies, for at least one of the interacting species. Our study shows that continua in interaction outcomes happen just by varying the sign and impact of individual events. The exact shape of the continua depends on the proportion of positive versus negative events and the relative magnitude of per‐capita interaction strengths. Our model shows that continua in interaction outcomes are a key property of most pairwise interactions and are originated from the variable roles played by the interacting partners. It constitutes a step forward in the paradigm change from discrete categorization of ecological interactions to a new perspective over a continuous space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The future of coral reefs in a warming world depends on corals' ability to recover from bleaching, the loss of their symbiotic dinoflagellate algae (Symbiodiniaceae) during marine heatwaves. Heat-tolerant symbiont species can remain in symbiosis during heat stress, but often provide less photosynthate to the host than heat-sensitive species under ambient conditions. Understanding how heat stress changes the dynamics of this tradeoff between stress tolerance and mutualism contribution is crucial for predicting coral success under climate change. To test how symbiont resource allocation affects coral recovery from heat stress, we exposed the coral Montipora capitata hosting either heat-sensitive Cladocopium C31 (C) or heat-tolerant Durusdinium glynnii (D) to heat stress. D regained symbiont density and photochemical efficiency faster after heat treatment than C, but symbiont recovery did not restore coral biomass or calcification rates to pre-bleaching levels in the initial recovery period. D populations also contributed less photosynthate to the host relative to C, even during heat stress. Further, higher-density symbiont populations of both species retained more photosynthate than lower-density populations, and corals receiving less photosynthate exhibited reduced calcification rates and lower intracellular pH. This is the first evidence that symbiont density and carbon translocation are negatively related, and the first to establish a link between Symbiodiniaceae carbon translocation and coral cellular homeostasis. Together, these results suggest the energy demand of symbiont regrowth after bleaching reduces their mutualism contribution and can thus delay host recovery. Reestablishing a beneficial endosymbiosis imposes additional costs as holobionts overcome stress, and may explain latent mortality among coral populations after alleviation of heat stress in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research on adjective ordering in linguistics andpsychology has focused primarily on the unmarked or defaultorder of adjectives, as in large blue car. Inverted word order,as in blue large car, which violates the proposed semanticconstraints on adjective placement, received relatively littleattention. In two studies we show that the inverted order is notas limited in scope as previous researchers have argued. Wepropose that the inverted word order reflects the subjectivedistance principle: the attribute that is psychologically closerto the speaker is mentioned first. Our explanation draws onresearch on word order in binomials, thus connecting twopreviously unrelated research traditions on word order inlinguistics and cognitive psychology.

Ecological communities are assembled through a series of multiple processes, including dispersal, abiotic and biotic filtering, and ecological drift. Although these assembly processes act in concert to structure local communities, their relative importance is considerably variable among study systems. While such contingency of community assembly has been widely appreciated, the empirical and theoretical evidence is scattered around in the literature, and few efforts have been made to synthesize it. In this mini‐review, we summarize the accumulated evidence of the context‐dependency of community assembly rules, to reach a rough generalization of the contingency. Specifically, we argue that spatial and temporal dimensions can serve as general axes that regulate the relative importance of assembly processes. To this end, we synthesize the current understanding of how the relative importance of multiple assembly processes changes with spatial scales and complexity, and with time in the long and short terms. This review concludes that spatial and temporal dimensions can be common currencies of community assembly rules that are shared across various systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological interactions are foundational to our understanding of community composition and function. While interactions are known to change depending on the environmental context, it has generally been assumed that external environmental factors are responsible for driving these dependencies. Here, we derive a theoretical framework which instead focuses on how intrinsic environmental changes caused by the organisms themselves alter interaction values. Our central concept is the 'instantaneous interaction', which captures the feedback between the current environmental state and organismal growth, generating spatiotemporal context-dependencies as organisms modify their environment over time and/or space. We use small microbial communities to illustrate how this framework can predict time-dependencies in a toxin degradation system, and relate time- and spatial-dependencies in crossfeeding communities. By re-centring the relationship between organisms and their environment, our framework predicts the variations in interactions wherever intrinsic, organism-driven environmental change dominates over external drivers., (© 2024 The Author(s). Ecology Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Previous research has demonstrated systematic discrepancies between description- and experience-based risky choices. This description-experience gap has been attributed to several factors such as reliance on small samples and differential probability weighting patterns. Because context-dependent outcome expectation regarding safe options might influence experience-based risky choices, it constitutes another potential contributor to the gap. Using a free-sampling paradigm and risky options with rare outcomes that were either attractive or unattractive relative to the frequent ones, two experiments examined the existence and impact of such outcome expectation in experience-based risky choices. Both experiments had two information conditions: hint information meant to eliminate outcome expectation was provided in one condition but not the other. Experiment 1, which indicated the numbers of possible outcomes regarding both safe and risky options under the hint condition, revealed different choice behaviors regarding risky-safe trials between the two information conditions, no matter whether the rare outcome of the risky option in such a trial (i.e., the local context) was attractive or unattractive. However, this result provided only indirect evidence for the role of outcome expectation because it was unclear whether the hint information affected only the outcome expectation and thus evaluation of safe options or the evaluations of both safe and risky ones. With refined hint information arguably removing potential impacts on the evaluation of risky options, Experiment 2 showed that expectation of a non-existent rare outcome of safe options did contribute to experience-based risky choices. In addition, it appeared that the rare outcomes of the risky options in other decision problems presented in the same experiment (i.e., the global context) also affected outcome expectation. Future research could investigate how the interaction between local and global contexts determines outcome expectation to deepen our understanding of its contribution to experience-based risky choice and the description-experience gap.

Incidence, molecular presentation and outcome of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) are influenced by sex, but little attention has been directed at untangling sex‐related molecular and phenotypic differences between female and male patients. While increased incidence and poor risk are generally associated with a male phenotype, the poor prognostic FLT3 internal tandem duplication (FLT3‐ITD) mutation and co‐mutations with NPM1 and DNMT3A are overrepresented in female AML. Here, we have investigated the relationship between sex and FLT3‐ITD mutation status by comparing clinical data, mutational profiles, gene expression and ex vivo drug sensitivity in four cohorts: Beat AML, LAML‐TCGA and two independent HOVON/SAKK cohorts, comprising 1755 AML patients in total. We found prevalent sex‐associated molecular differences. Co‐occurrence of FLT3‐ITD, NPM1 and DNMT3A mutations was overrepresented in females, while males with FLT3‐ITDs were characterized by additional mutations in RNA splicing and epigenetic modifier genes. We observed diverging expression of multiple leukaemia‐associated genes as well as discrepant ex vivo drug responses, suggestive of discrete functional properties. Importantly, significant prognostication was observed only in female FLT3‐ITD‐mutated AML. Thus, we suggest optimization of FLT3‐ITD mutation status as a clinical tool in a sex‐adjusted manner and hypothesize that prognostication, prediction and development of therapeutic strategies in AML could be improved by including sex‐specific considerations.

Copyright of Journal of Planning Education & Research is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract Biological invasions are one of the major threats to biodiversity worldwide and contribute to changing community patterns and ecosystem processes. However, it is often not obvious whether an invader is the “driver” causing ecosystem changes or a “passenger” which is facilitated by previous ecosystem changes. Causality of the impact can be demonstrated by experimental removal of the invader or introduction into a native community. Using such an experimental approach, we tested whether the impact of the invasive plant Impatiens glandulifera on native vegetation is causal, and whether the impact is habitat‐dependent. We conducted a field study comparing invaded and uninvaded plots with plots from which I. glandulifera was removed and plots where I. glandulifera was planted within two riparian habitats, alder forests and meadows. A negative impact of planting I. glandulifera and a concurrent positive effect of removal on the native vegetation indicated a causal effect of I. glandulifera on total native biomass and growth of Urtica dioica. Species α‐diversity and composition were not affected by I. glandulifera manipulations. Thus, I. glandulifera had a causal but low effect on the native vegetation. The impact depended slightly on habitat as only the effect of I. glandulifera planting on total biomass was slightly stronger in alder forests than meadows. We suggest that I. glandulifera is a “back‐seat driver” of changes, which is facilitated by previous ecosystem changes but is also a driver of further changes. Small restrictions of growth of the planted I. glandulifera and general association of I. glandulifera with disturbances indicate characteristics of a back‐seat driver. For management of I. glandulifera populations, this requires habitat restoration along with removal of the invader.

Once one abandons the ideal of value-free, impartial science, the question of how to distinguish biased from legitimately value-laden science arises. To approach this "new demarcation problem", I argue that one should distinguish different uses of "bias" in a first step: a narrow sense of bias as systematic deviation from the truth, and a wider sense that covers any kind of tendency impacting scientific reasoning. Secondly, the narrow sense exemplifies an ontological notion of bias, which understands bias in terms of a deviation from an impartial ideal outcome. I propose to replace it with an epistemic notion of bias, which understands biased research as research that we have good reasons to suspect could have been (done) systematically better. From a socio-epistemic perspective, such good reasons to expect better can be found in a lack of responsiveness to conventional standards and/or critical discourse in the scientific community. In short, bias in an epistemic sense consists in a deviation, not from truth but from current best practice. While this turns bias into something that is dependent on time and context, it allows for value-laden research to be unbiased, if there are no good reasons to expect this research to be better. • We need to distinguish between biased and legitimately value-laden science. • We need to differentiate between a wide and a narrow sense of bias. • I propose to replace an ontological understanding of bias with an epistemic one. • Research is biased in an epistemic sense if it deviates from current best practice. • Research is unbiased if there are no good reasons to expect it to be better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Predation is a pervasive force that structures food webs and directly influences ecosystem functioning. The relative body sizes of predators and prey may be an important determinant of interaction strengths. However, studies quantifying the combined influence of intra‐ and interspecific variation in predator–prey body size ratios are lacking. We use a comparative functional response approach to examine interaction strengths between three size classes of invasive bluegill and largemouth bass toward three scaled size classes of their tilapia prey. We then quantify the influence of intra‐ and interspecific predator–prey body mass ratios on the scaling of attack rates and handling times. Type II functional responses were displayed by both predators across all predator and prey size classes. Largemouth bass consumed more than bluegill at small and intermediate predator size classes, while large predators of both species were more similar. Small prey were most vulnerable overall; however, differential attack rates among prey were emergent across predator sizes. For both bluegill and largemouth bass, small predators exhibited higher attack rates toward small and intermediate prey sizes, while larger predators exhibited greater attack rates toward large prey. Conversely, handling times increased with prey size, with small bluegill exhibiting particularly low feeding rates toward medium–large prey types. Attack rates for both predators peaked unimodally at intermediate predator–prey body mass ratios, while handling times generally shortened across increasing body mass ratios. We thus demonstrate effects of body size ratios on predator–prey interaction strengths between key fish species, with attack rates and handling times dependent on the relative sizes of predator–prey participants. Considerations for intra‐ and interspecific body size ratio effects are critical for predicting the strengths of interactions within ecosystems and may drive differential ecological impacts among invasive species as size ratios shift.

Abstract The dynamics and prevalence of mutualistic interactions, which are responsible for the maintenance and structuring of all ecological communities, are vulnerable to changes in abiotic and biotic environmental conditions. Mutualistic outcomes can quickly shift from cooperation to conflict, but it unclear how resilient and stable mutualistic outcomes are to more variable conditions. Tidally controlled coral atoll lagoons that experience extreme diurnal environmental shifts thus provide a model from which to test plasticity in mutualistic behavior of dedicated (formerly obligate) cleaner fish, which acquire all their food resources through client interactions. Here, we investigated cleaning patterns of a model cleaner fish species, the bluestreak wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus), in an isolated tidal lagoon on the Great Barrier Reef. Under tidally restricted conditions, uniquely both adults and juveniles were part‐time facultative cleaners, pecking on Isopora palifera coral. The mutualism was not completely abandoned, with adults also wandering across the reef in search of clients, rather than waiting at fixed site cleaning stations, a behavior not yet observed at any other reef. Contrary to well‐established patterns for this cleaner, juveniles appeared to exploit the system, by biting (“cheating”) their clients more frequently than adults. We show for the first time, that within this variable tidal environment, where mutualistic cleaning might not represent a stable food source, the prevalence and dynamics of this mutualism may be breaking down (through increased cheating and partial abandonment). Environmental variability could thus reduce the pervasiveness of mutualisms within our ecosystems, ultimately reducing the stability of the system.

According to the stress gradient hypothesis (SGH), ecological interactions between organisms shift positively as environmental stress increases. In the case of associational resistance, habitat is modified to ameliorate stress, benefitting other organisms. The SGH is contentious due to conflicting evidence and theoretical perspectives, so we adopted a meta‐analytic approach to determine if it is widely supported across a variety of contexts, including different kingdoms, ecosystems, habitats, interactions, stressors, and life history stages. We developed an extensive list of Boolean search criteria to search the published ecological literature and successfully detect studies that both directly tested the hypothesis, and those that were relevant but never mentioned it. We found that the SGH is well supported by studies that feature bacteria, plants, terrestrial ecosystems, interspecific negative interactions, adults, survival instead of growth or reproduction, and drought, fire, and nutrient stress. We conclude that the SGH is indeed a broadly relevant ecological hypothesis that is currently held back by cross‐disciplinary communication barriers. More SGH research is needed beyond the scope of interspecific plant competition, and more SGH research should feature multifactor stress. There remains a need to account for positive interactions in scientific pursuits, such as associational resistance in tests of the SGH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil respiration plays a central role in global carbon dynamics, and small changes in the magnitude of soil respiration could have large impacts on atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Heterotrophic soil respiration mainly comes from microbial mineralization of soil organic matter and decomposition of plant litter, yet only a few studies have addressed the combined effects of interactions among leaf litter quality, soil quality, and microbial biomass on soil respiration. We conducted a microcosm experiment using three soils from three forest sites representing a gradient in soil quality, comprised of soil pH and C:N ratio, and six tree litter types (from the same forests), encompassing a gradient in leaf nutrient and lignin concentrations. We followed soil CO2 emissions, soil basal respiration (measured as O2-consumption), and microbial biomass over twelve weeks to examine variation in response to leaf litter and soil quality and their interactions. Our results show that soil CO2 emissions increased significantly with soil quality and leaf litter quality respectively, and these effects were mediated by interactions with soil microbial biomass. Moreover, we found idiosyncratic interactive effects of leaf litter quality and microbial biomass on soil CO2 emissions across the gradient in soil quality. The sensitivity of soil respiration to soil quality and the interactions between leaf litter quality and soil microbial biomass suggests that global change drivers altering forest composition and soil community composition may have significant cascading effects on the soil carbon cycle.

In the context of the embodied cognition debate, an effect of motion verb associated speed information has previously been detected using eye-tracking, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and reaction times (RT). The latter, for instance, was implemented by Wender and Weber (1982), who observed that participants were faster in detecting motion in sentences associated with fast motion compared to sentences associated with slow motion after having formed mental images of the sentences' content. It remains open whether the reported effects of speed are associated with automatic lexical-semantic retrieval processes or whether they reflect higher top-down cognitive processes. To answer this question, the paradigm by Wender and Weber (1982) was adopted and further elaborated in the present study. In Experiment 1 visualization instructions were eliminated. Additionally, the stimulus material was manipulated in regards to the agent of the described movement (human vs. object motion) in order to determine the representation's modality (visual vs. motoric). In Experiment 2, the task to detect motion was replaced by the task to judge sensicality. The results suggest that the prompt to perform mental imagery is not a precondition for the engagement of modal representations in this speed of motion paradigm and that the involved representations' modality is visual rather than motoric. However, the modal representations' involvement is dependent on the task. They thus do not seem to be part of the invariant semantic representation of manner of motion verbs.

Incidence, molecular presentation and outcome of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) are influenced by sex, but little attention has been directed at untangling sex‐related molecular and phenotypic differences between female and male patients. While increased incidence and poor risk are generally associated with a male phenotype, the poor prognostic FLT3 internal tandem duplication (FLT3‐ITD) mutation and co‐mutations with NPM1 and DNMT3A are overrepresented in female AML. Here, we have investigated the relationship between sex and FLT3‐ITD mutation status by comparing clinical data, mutational profiles, gene expression and ex vivo drug sensitivity in four cohorts: Beat AML, LAML‐TCGA and two independent HOVON/SAKK cohorts, comprising 1755 AML patients in total. We found prevalent sex‐associated molecular differences. Co‐occurrence of FLT3‐ITD, NPM1 and DNMT3A mutations was overrepresented in females, while males with FLT3‐ITDs were characterized by additional mutations in RNA splicing and epigenetic modifier genes. We observed diverging expression of multiple leukaemia‐associated genes as well as discrepant ex vivo drug responses, suggestive of discrete functional properties. Importantly, significant prognostication was observed only in female FLT3‐ITD‐mutated AML. Thus, we suggest optimization of FLT3‐ITD mutation status as a clinical tool in a sex‐adjusted manner and hypothesize that prognostication, prediction and development of therapeutic strategies in AML could be improved by including sex‐specific considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hummingbirds utilize visual cues to locate flowers, but little is known about the role olfaction plays in nectar foraging despite observations that hummingbirds avoid resources occupied by certain insects. We investigated the behavioral responses of both wild and captive hummingbirds to olfactory cues of hymenopteran floral visitors, including native wood ants (Formica francoeuri), invasive Argentine ants (Linepithema humile), and European honeybees (Apis mellifera). We demonstrate for the first time that hummingbirds use olfaction to make foraging decisions when presented with insect-derived chemical cues under field and aviary conditions. Both wild and captive hummingbirds avoided foraging on feeders with defensive chemicals of F. francoeuri and aggregation pheromones of L. humile, but showed no response to honeybee cuticular hydrocarbons. Our experiments demonstrate the importance of olfaction in shaping hummingbird foraging decisions. Significance statement: Recent reviews reveal that avian olfaction is not just limited to vultures and a few taxa. We demonstrate that a very charismatic group, hummingbirds, avoid defensive and aggregatory chemical cues from insects present at nectar resources. Olfactory cues can provide critical information about the presence and potential threat of insect floral visitors. This study raises new questions about the underrated importance of olfaction in avian foraging and specifically, hummingbird foraging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing studies propose that anti-Americanism in the Arab region is fueled by American interventions, citizens' religion, and relative deprivation. However, these three have not been addressed simultaneously or integrated into one framework. This study does so by developing and testing a context-dependent framework. Empirically, we apply multilevel regression to 32 Global Attitudes Project and 34 Arab Barometer surveys that cover more than 58,000 respondents. Contrasting dominant understandings, we find that American interventions fuel both political and societal anti-Americanism and that relatively deprived citizens are not more anti-American. Moreover, our results show (highly religious) Muslims are more politically and societally anti-American than (less religious) non-Muslims, particularly in Arab countries with fewer (highly religious) Muslims and American interventions. Altogether, anti-Americanism is context-dependent and shaped by different but interconnected mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Microbes can provide their hosts with protection from biotic and abiotic factors. While many studies have examined how certain bacteria can increase host lifespan, fewer studies have examined how host reproduction can be altered. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been a particularly useful model system to examine how bacteria affect the fitness of their hosts under different contexts. Here, we examine how the bacterium Bacillus subtilis, compared to the standard C. elegans lab diet, Escherichia coli, affects C. elegans survival and reproduction after experiencing a period of intense heat stress. We find that under standard conditions, nematodes reared on B. subtilis produce fewer offspring than when reared on E. coli.However, despite greater mortality rates on B. subtilis after heat shock, young adult nematodes produced more offspring after heat shock when fed B. subtilis compared to E. coli. Because offspring production is necessary for host population growth and evolution, the reproductive advantage conferred by B. subtilis supersedes the survival advantage of E. coli. Furthermore, we found that nematodes must be reared on B. subtilis (particularly at the early stages of development) and not merely be exposed to the bacterium during heat shock, to obtain the reproductive benefits provided by B. subtilis. Taken together, our findings lend insight into the importance of environmental context and interaction timing in shaping the protective benefits conferred by a microbe toward its host.

Context-dependency effects on memory exist, whereby people’s context influences their ability to accurately recall items from memory. This effect was not previously studied when considering virtual reality as an environmental context. We show that adverse effects on recall of memorized items exist when changing between virtual and real environments. The effect was not present when memorizing and recall were both done in VR; it appears to be caused by the change of environmental context. This previously unknown effect may impact how we use VR for memorization tasks, particularly when accurate recall of memorized information in a real environment is important. In a memory-recall experiment (n = 51) participants that underwent a context change involving VR after memorizing performed significantly worse on 24-h later item recall than those who did not change context (17% lower accuracy, p < 0.001). In particular memorizing in VR as opposed to a real environment lowers accuracy of recall in a real environment (24% lower, p = 0.001).

In arctic and boreal ecosystems, ground bryophytes play an important role in regulating carbon (C) exchange between vast belowground C stores and the atmosphere. Climate is changing particularly fast in these high‐latitude regions, but it is unclear how altered precipitation regimes will affect C dynamics in the bryosphere (i.e. the ground moss layer including senesced moss, litter and associated biota) and the closely associated upper humus layer, and how these effects will vary across contrasting environmental conditions. Here, we set up a greenhouse experiment in which mesocosms were assembled containing samples of the bryosphere, dominated by the feather moss Hylocomium splendens, and the upper humus layer, that were collected from across a boreal forest chronosequence in northern Sweden which varies strongly in nutrient availability, productivity and soil biota. We tested the effect of variation in precipitation volume and frequency on CO2 exchange and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) export, and on moss growth. As expected, reduced precipitation volume and frequency lowered net CO2 efflux, DOC export and moss growth. However, by regulating moisture, the lower bryosphere and humus layers often mediated how precipitation volume and frequency interacted to drive C dynamics. For example, less frequent precipitation reduced moss growth only when precipitation volume was low. When volume was high, high moisture content of the humus layer helped avoid moss desiccation. Variation in precipitation regime affected C cycling consistently in samples collected across the chronosequence, despite large environmental variation along the sequence. This suggests that the bryosphere exerts a strong buffering effect on environmental variation at the forest floor, which leads to similar responses of C cycling to external perturbations across highly contrasting ecosystems. As such, our study indicates that projected increases in droughts and ground evapotranspiration in high‐latitude regions resulting from climate change will consistently reduce C losses from moss‐dominated ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biological invasions are one of the major threats to biodiversity worldwide and contribute to changing community patterns and ecosystem processes. However, it is often not obvious whether an invader is the "driver" causing ecosystem changes or a "passenger" which is facilitated by previous ecosystem changes. Causality of the impact can be demonstrated by experimental removal of the invader or introduction into a native community. Using such an experimental approach, we tested whether the impact of the invasive plant Impatiens glandulifera on native vegetation is causal, and whether the impact is habitat‐dependent. We conducted a field study comparing invaded and uninvaded plots with plots from which I. glandulifera was removed and plots where I. glandulifera was planted within two riparian habitats, alder forests and meadows. A negative impact of planting I. glandulifera and a concurrent positive effect of removal on the native vegetation indicated a causal effect of I. glandulifera on total native biomass and growth of Urtica dioica. Species α‐diversity and composition were not affected by I. glandulifera manipulations. Thus, I. glandulifera had a causal but low effect on the native vegetation. The impact depended slightly on habitat as only the effect of I. glandulifera planting on total biomass was slightly stronger in alder forests than meadows. We suggest that I. glandulifera is a "back‐seat driver" of changes, which is facilitated by previous ecosystem changes but is also a driver of further changes. Small restrictions of growth of the planted I. glandulifera and general association of I. glandulifera with disturbances indicate characteristics of a back‐seat driver. For management of I. glandulifera populations, this requires habitat restoration along with removal of the invader. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of standard strongly evokes machines, industries, electric or mechanical devices, vehicles, or furniture. Indeed, our technological civilization would not be possible – at least in the terms it is structured today – without universal, reliable components, whose acknowledged use results in competitive costs, robustness and interchangeability. For example, an Ikea screw can be used in a wide set of structurally dissimilar furniture and an app can be run on many different smartphones. The very concept of standardization is linked to the industrial revolution and mass production of goods through assembly lines. The question we will try to answer in the present paper is the extent to which standards and the standardization process can be accomplished in the biological realm.

Plants are expected to face novel challenges as consequence of human-driven global change. Outbreaks of pests and higher incidence of contaminants are increasing. Plants can improve tolerance to stress factors through associations with symbiotic microorganisms. Certain grasses establish persistent and asymptomatic symbioses with Epichloë fungal endophytes, which are known to confer protection against Herbivores and improve plant tolerance to abiotic stress factors. Nonetheless, accumulating evidence suggests the symbiosis outcome is context-dependent. We evaluated the capacity of the endophyte fungus E. occultans in protecting the annual grass Lolium multiflorum against a spontaneous larva attack of the generalist herbivore Agrotis ipsilon under episodic exposure of plants to ozone. Symbiotic and non-symbiotic plants were individually grown outdoors and exposed to ozone at different stages resulting in four treatments: control (plant never exposed to ozone), plant exposed to ozone at the vegetative stage, plant exposed to ozone at reproductive stage, and plant exposed to ozone at both stages. After the last exposure, there was an outbreak of A. ipsilon larvae. We evaluated herbivore damage, seed production per plant, and endophyte transmission to the seeds. Frequency of attacked plants was irrespective of both the endophyte and ozone exposure. However, the damage level per plant was only reduced by the endophyte. Seed production was slightly lower in endophyte-symbiotic plants and not affected by ozone. Interestingly, herbivore damaged and undamaged endophyte-symbiotic plants contributed equally to seed production. However, in plants exposed to ozone once at the vegetative or reproductive stage, endophyte-free undamaged plants had higher seed production than endophyte-free damaged plants. Ozone treatments did not affect the transmission efficiency of endophytes to the seeds. Mean endophyte transmission efficiency per plant was 95%. Medium doses of ozone seem to have undetectable effects on grass-endophyte symbiosis, not affecting the defensive mutualism nor the persistence of the symbiont across generations.

The concept of standard strongly evokes machines, industries, electric or mechanical devices, vehicles, or furniture. Indeed, our technological civilization would not be possible -- at least in the terms it is structured today -- without universal, reliable components, whose acknowledged use results in competitive costs, robustness and interchangeability. For example, an Ikea screw can be used in a wide set of structurally dissimilar furniture and an app can be run on many different smartphones. The very concept of standardization is linked to the industrial revolution and mass production of goods through assembly lines. The question we will try to answer in the present paper is the extent to which standards and the standardization process can be accomplished in the biological realm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the ways in which humour twists regular euphemism use. Based on the classical fields of euphemisms anchored in religion, aesthetics, social politics, and amorality, it identifies the characteristics of their twisted variants with a humorous component: playing-with-fire euphemisms that jocosely provoke supernatural forces, innuendo euphemisms that entertain, mocking euphemisms that make fun of others in a teasing or demeaning way, and idealistic euphemisms that uncover obfuscating language and negative realities. Using English, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish euphemisms of different periods and genres, the article analyses the intentions, origins, motives, functions, and styles of humour, differentiates between symbiotic and parasitic twists, and thus provides a typology of twisted euphemism use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in plant communities can have large effects on ecosystem carbon (C) dynamics and long‐term C stocks. However, how these effects are mediated by environmental context or vary among ecosystems is not well understood. To study this, we used a long‐term plant removal experiment set up across 30 forested lake islands in northern Sweden that collectively represent a strong gradient of soil fertility and ecosystem productivity. We measured forest floor CO2 exchange and aboveground and belowground C stocks for a 22‐yr experiment involving factorial removal of the two dominant functional groups of the boreal forest understory, namely ericaceous dwarf shrubs and feather mosses, on each of the 30 islands. We found that long‐term shrub and moss removal increased forest floor net CO2 loss and decreased belowground C stocks consistently across the islands irrespective of their productivity or soil fertility. However, we did see context‐dependent responses of respiration to shrub removals because removals only increased respiration on islands of intermediate productivity. Both CO2 exchange and C stocks responded more strongly to shrub removal than to moss removal. Shrub removal reduced gross primary productivity of the forest floor consistently across the island gradient, but it had no effect on respiration, which suggests that loss of belowground C caused by the removals was driven by reduced litter inputs. Across the island gradient, shrub removal consistently depleted C stocks in the soil organic horizon by 0.8 kg C/m2. Our results show that the effect of plant functional group diversity on C dynamics can be relatively consistent across contrasting ecosystems that vary greatly in productivity and soil fertility. These findings underline the key role of understory vegetation in forest C cycling, and suggest that global change leading to changes in the relative abundance of both shrubs and mosses could impact on the capacity of boreal forests to store C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxytocin is both a hormone and a neurotransmitter and has been originally recognized for its role in childbirth and lactation. Later, it became widely known as a "cuddle hormone" that induces trusting behavior towards strangers and reduces social stress and anxiety. Several studies showed that oxytocin influences empathic behavior and has prosocial effects. The anterior cingulate cortex and the anterior insula are brain regions that are active when humans observe fear in others. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether oxytocin administration affects activity in these regions depending on whether a threat is directed at another person (empathy) compared to when the threat is directed at the subject itself (fear). Our findings demonstrate increased anterior cingulate cortex activation after oxytocin administration in the fear, but not in the empathy condition. Furthermore, oxytocin administration was associated with deceased anterior insula activity in the empathy condition. However, our findings do not support the idea that oxytocin generally augments activity in brain regions associated with empathy. Thereby this study supports current research questioning that oxytocin has exclusively prosocial effects on human behavior. Rather, the effect of oxytocin depends on various contextual (e.g. presence of a familiar person) and interindividual (e.g. sex, mental disorder) factors. Therefore, to consider oxytocin an empathy inducing hormone is an oversimplification and future research should focus on factors moderating oxytocin effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical disturbances, such as fire, may affect the relationship between ants and plants. We evaluated the extent to which severe fires alter the protective effect of ants against the herbivores of an extrafloral-nectary bearing tree. We performed an ant removal experiment and sampled the ant fauna from the same trees over 4 years: the pre-fire year, the fire-year, and again 1 and 2 years later. Ants reduced insect herbivory in the pre-fire year and in the fire-year but failed to provide any plant protection in the two years after fire. The magnitude of the ant effect on herbivory did not differ between the pre-fire year and the fire-year. Fire reduced the abundance of ants with strictly arboreal-nesting habits. However, in the fire year (but not in the subsequent ones), this decline was compensated by an increase in the abundance of arboreal generalists and ground-nesting ants foraging in trees. Our results indicate that severe fires can affect the strength and direction of the ant effects on herbivory by altering the structure of the arboreal ant community and the abundance of insect herbivores. Fire disturbance is thus an important factor of conditionality of ant-plant mutualisms in fire-prone habitats, like the Cerrado savannas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Goldberg, the author of the "novelty-routinization" framework, suggested a new pair of cognitive styles for agent-centered decision-making (DM), context-dependency/independency (CD/CI), quantified by the Cognitive Bias Task (CBT) and supposedly reflecting functional brain hemispheric specialization. To date, there are only three lesion and activation neuroimaging studies on the CBT with the largest sample of 12 participants. The present study is the first to analyze whole-brain functional connectivity (FC) of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), involved in contextual agent-centered DM. Method: We compared whole-brain resting-state FC of the DLPFC between CD (n = 24) and CI (n = 22) healthy participants. Additionally, we investigated associations between CD/CI and different aspects of executive functions. Results: CD participants had stronger positive FC of the DLPFC with motor and visual regions; FC of the left DLPFC was more extensive. CI participants had stronger positive FC of the left DLPFC with right prefrontal and parietal-occipital areas and of the left and right DLPFC with ipsilateral cerebellar hemispheres. No sex differences were found. CD/CI had nonlinear associations with working memory. Conclusions: The findings suggest that CD and CI are associated with different patterns of DLPFC FC. While CD is associated with FC between DLPFC and areas presumably involved in storing representations of current situation, CI is more likely to be associated with FC between DLPFC and right-lateralized associative regions, probably involved in the inhibition of the CD response and switching from processing of incoming perceptual information to creation of original response strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plants are expected to face novel challenges as consequence of human-driven global change. Outbreaks of pests and higher incidence of contaminants are increasing. Plants can improve tolerance to stress factors through associations with symbiotic microorganisms. Certain grasses establish persistent and asymptomatic symbioses with Epichloë fungal endophytes, which are known to confer protection against Herbivores and improve plant tolerance to abiotic stress factors. Nonetheless, accumulating evidence suggests the symbiosis outcome is context-dependent. We evaluated the capacity of the endophyte fungus E. occultans in protecting the annual grass Lolium multiflorum against a spontaneous larva attack of the generalist herbivore Agrotis ipsilon under episodic exposure of plants to ozone. Symbiotic and non-symbiotic plants were individually grown outdoors and exposed to ozone at different stages resulting in four treatments: control (plant never exposed to ozone), plant exposed to ozone at vegetative stage, plant exposed to ozone at reproductive stage, and plant exposed to ozone at both stages. After the last exposure, there was an outbreak of A. ipsilon larvae. We evaluated herbivore damage, seed production per plant, and endophyte transmission to the seeds. Frequency of attacked plants was irrespective of both the endophyte and ozone exposure. However, the damage level per plant was only reduced by the endophyte. Seed production was slightly lower in endophyte-symbiotic plants and not affected by ozone. Interestingly, herbivore damaged and undamaged endophyte-symbiotic plants contributed equally to seed production. However, in plants exposed to ozone once at vegetative or reproductive stage, endophyte-free undamaged plants had higher seed production than endophyte-free damaged plants. Ozone treatments did not affect the transmission efficiency of endophytes to the seeds. Mean endophyte transmission efficiency per plant was 95%. Medium doses of ozone seem to have undetectable effects on grass-endophyte symbiosis, not affecting the defensive mutualism nor the persistence of the symbiont across generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predation is a pervasive force that structures food webs and directly influences ecosystem functioning. The relative body sizes of predators and prey may be an important determinant of interaction strengths. However, studies quantifying the combined influence of intra‐ and interspecific variation in predator–prey body size ratios are lacking.We use a comparative functional response approach to examine interaction strengths between three size classes of invasive bluegill and largemouth bass toward three scaled size classes of their tilapia prey. We then quantify the influence of intra‐ and interspecific predator–prey body mass ratios on the scaling of attack rates and handling times.Type II functional responses were displayed by both predators across all predator and prey size classes. Largemouth bass consumed more than bluegill at small and intermediate predator size classes, while large predators of both species were more similar. Small prey were most vulnerable overall; however, differential attack rates among prey were emergent across predator sizes. For both bluegill and largemouth bass, small predators exhibited higher attack rates toward small and intermediate prey sizes, while larger predators exhibited greater attack rates toward large prey. Conversely, handling times increased with prey size, with small bluegill exhibiting particularly low feeding rates toward medium–large prey types. Attack rates for both predators peaked unimodally at intermediate predator–prey body mass ratios, while handling times generally shortened across increasing body mass ratios.We thus demonstrate effects of body size ratios on predator–prey interaction strengths between key fish species, with attack rates and handling times dependent on the relative sizes of predator–prey participants.Considerations for intra‐ and interspecific body size ratio effects are critical for predicting the strengths of interactions within ecosystems and may drive differential ecological impacts among invasive species as size ratios shift. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Interactions between multiple predators can modify prey risk and profoundly alter ecological community dynamics. Further, ontogenic prey size changes are known to mediate prey risk through refuge effects. Understandings of these biotic factors is important for robust quantifications of natural enemy effects on target species, yet their combined influence lacks investigation. 2. Functional responses were used to quantify the predatory impacts of Notonecta glauca (water boatman; Ng) and Gammarus pulex (river shrimp; Gp) towards four different larval instars of Culex pipiens in container‐style habitats. Using conspecific pairs of predators, multiple predator effects (MPEs) of both predator species were examined across larval prey sizes, and prey preference tests were applied to examine prey selectivity across predator–prey body size ratios. 3. Both predators were able to feed on C. pipiens across their larval ontogeny; however, Ng consumed significantly more larvae than Gp. Functional responses of Ng were typically Type IIs, whereas Gp trended towards sigmoidal Type IIIs. Predation by pairs of Ng and Gp showed independent MPEs towards first‐, third‐, and fourth‐instar stages (except predation by Gp at higher densities of fourth‐instar) stages, whereas, for second‐instar stages, Ng showed synergistic MPEs and Gp showed antagonistic MPEs. Both predators preferred late instar mosquitoes (Ng: fourth instar; Gp: third instar). These preferences reflected predator:prey weight–length ratios, showing that relative sizes of predators and prey are important factors in prey selectivity. 4. The results obtained in the present study demonstrate that MPEs, combined with intraspecific prey preferences, may modulate trophic interactions within ecosystems. Therefore, such effects should be increasingly considered to further the understanding of agent efficacies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observational and experimental studies have shown that an interaction class between two species (be it mutualistic, competitive, antagonistic, or neutral) may switch to a different class, depending on the biotic and abiotic factors within which species are observed. This complexity arising from the evidence of context-dependencies has underscored a difficulty in establishing a systematic analysis about the extent to which species interactions are expected to switch in nature and experiments. Here, we propose an overarching theoretical framework, by integrating probabilistic and structural approaches, to establish null expectations about switches of interaction classes across environmental contexts. This integration provides a systematic platform upon which it is possible to establish new hypotheses, clear predictions, and quantifiable expectations about the context-dependency of species interactions. Species interactions are not fixed and determine the dynamics and persistence of ecological communities. Empirical work has shown that the switching frequency of species interactions is context-dependent. The context-dependency of multispecies communities has underscored a difficulty in establishing a quantifiable and systematic framework about the expected frequency of interaction switches. We propose a structural probabilistic framework to systematically address the uncertainty associated with context-dependency and derive null expectations about the switching frequency of interaction classes in multispecies communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of invasive species is often difficult to assess due to species × ecosystem interactions. Impatiens glandulifera heavily invaded several habitat types in Central Europe but its impact on native plant communities is rated ambiguously. One reason could be that the impact differs between habitat types or even between environmentally heterogeneous patches (micro-habitats) within one habitat type. In the present study a vegetation survey was performed within heterogeneous riverside habitats in Germany investigating the impact of I. glandulifera on native vegetation in dependence of environmental conditions. The vegetation was recorded in summer and spring because of seasonal species turnover and thus potentially different impact of the invasive plant. We found that the cover of I. glandulifera depended on environmental conditions resulting in a patchy occurrence. I. glandulifera did not have any impact on plant alpha-diversity but reduced the cover of the native vegetation, especially of the dominant species. This effect depended on micro-habitat and season. The native vegetation was most affected in bright micro-habitats, especially those with a high soil moisture. Not distinguishing between micro-habitats, plant species composition was not affected in summer but in spring. However, environmental conditions had a higher impact on the native vegetation than I. glandulifera. We conclude that within riparian habitats the threat of I. glandulifera to the native vegetation can be rated low since native species were reduced in cover but not excluded from the communities. This might be due to patchy occurrence and year-to-year changes in cover of I. glandulifera. The context-dependency in terms of micro-habitat and season requires specific risk assessments which is also an opportunity for nature conservation to develop management plans specific to the different habitats. Particular attention should be given to habitats that are bright and very wet since the effect of I. glandulifera was strongest in these habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamics and prevalence of mutualistic interactions, which are responsible for the maintenance and structuring of all ecological communities, are vulnerable to changes in abiotic and biotic environmental conditions. Mutualistic outcomes can quickly shift from cooperation to conflict, but it unclear how resilient and stable mutualistic outcomes are to more variable conditions. Tidally controlled coral atoll lagoons that experience extreme diurnal environmental shifts thus provide a model from which to test plasticity in mutualistic behavior of dedicated (formerly obligate) cleaner fish, which acquire all their food resources through client interactions. Here, we investigated cleaning patterns of a model cleaner fish species, the bluestreak wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus), in an isolated tidal lagoon on the Great Barrier Reef. Under tidally restricted conditions, uniquely both adults and juveniles were part‐time facultative cleaners, pecking on Isopora palifera coral. The mutualism was not completely abandoned, with adults also wandering across the reef in search of clients, rather than waiting at fixed site cleaning stations, a behavior not yet observed at any other reef. Contrary to well‐established patterns for this cleaner, juveniles appeared to exploit the system, by biting ("cheating") their clients more frequently than adults. We show for the first time, that within this variable tidal environment, where mutualistic cleaning might not represent a stable food source, the prevalence and dynamics of this mutualism may be breaking down (through increased cheating and partial abandonment). Environmental variability could thus reduce the pervasiveness of mutualisms within our ecosystems, ultimately reducing the stability of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature and the strength of plant–frugivore interactions often vary along an antagonism–mutualism continuum and are highly influenced by the local ecological context (e.g. level of environmental disturbances). However, little is known concerning how the local ecological setting where plant–frugivore interactions take place affects the seed dispersal effectiveness (SDE) and, eventually, plant recruitment. This knowledge gap relates to the scarcity of empirical investigations on individual‐based plant–frugivore networks. We assessed whether the assembly of interaction modes (antagonist and mutualist) of the dwarf palm Chamaerops humilis (Arecaeae) affect the individual and the population level SDE in two Mediterranean sites differing in perturbation levels. We analysed the frequency distribution of interaction typologies and test its relationship with variation among individual palms in SDE. Additionally, we document how variation in interaction motif frequency (e.g. overrepresented interaction typologies) relates to changes in the SDE landscape of both disturbed study sites. We found that the interaction typologies of individual palms and its frugivores did not occur randomly. In a more complex landscape, interactions were more diverse and less dominated by simpler typologies, which may increase the stability of the plant–disperser interaction over the long term. We demonstrate that plants that interact with a more complex assemblage of frugivores, including both mutualistic and antagonistic partners, had the highest probability of recruitment. We found that the highly variable SDE among individual palms resulted from a few interaction modes occurring at higher than expected frequencies. We suggest this may be a reasonably frequent situation in diversified frugivore assemblages with a high heterogeneity of functional effects among mutualistic and antagonistic partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]