scholarly journals Hybridization and diversification are positively correlated across vascular plant families

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nora Mitchell ◽  
Kenneth D. Whitney
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Causal Structure ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Diversification Rates ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Family Level ◽  
History Information ◽  
Plant Families ◽  
The Relationship

ABSTRACTHybridization has experimental and observational ties to evolutionary processes and outcomes such as adaptation, speciation, and radiation. Although it has been hypothesized that hybridization and diversification are correlated, this idea remains largely untested empirically. Here, we use a hybridization database on 195 plant families, life history information, and a time-calibrated family-level phylogeny to test for phylogenetically-corrected associations between hybridization and diversification rates, while also taking into account life-history traits that may be correlated with both processes. We show that diversification and hybridization are positively correlated using three different methods to estimate diversification rates and two different metrics of hybridization. Moreover, the relationship remains detectable when incorporating the correlations between diversification and two other life history characteristics, perenniality and woodiness. We further provide potential mechanisms for this association under three different scenarios: hybridization may drive diversification, diversification may drive hybridization, or both hybridization and diversification may jointly be driven by other factors. We suggest future studies to disentangle the causal structure.

The unity of characters: ecological and morphological specialisation in larvae of Hawaiian platynine Carabidae (Coleoptera)

2000 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 931 ◽  
Author(s):  
James K. Liebherr
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Phylogenetic Inference ◽  
Larval Period ◽  
Larval Duration ◽  
Similar Treatment ◽  
First Instar ◽  
Functional Linkage ◽  
History Information

Life history information and first instar egg bursters are compared for larvae of 25 species across the monophyletic radiation of Hawaiian Platynini (Coleoptera : Carabidae). The plesiotypic larval duration is approximately five weeks, with derived extension of the larval period having evolved during phylogenetic diversification of the radiation. This extension in larval duration is associated with vestigialisation of the metathoracic flight wings. Egg size is larger in those brachypterous species with slower developing larvae, reflecting pervasive ecological specialisation of these taxa in the isolated, favourable, and temporally stable habitats of Hawaiian montane forests. First instar egg bursters are also compared across these taxa, with evolution of a keel-like egg burster congruently defining a clade also characterised by longer larval duration and larger egg size. A functional linkage between egg burster configuration and egg size is rejected by lack of any association between egg size and egg burster type in the related genus Calathus. Such rejection does not reduce the value of the egg burster for phylogenetic inference. The ability to assess taxa for both life history traits and egg burster configuration argues for similar treatment of all such characters, both ecological and morphological, when estimating phylogeny.

SOME NEW NORTH AMERICAN GENERA AND SPECIES IN THE GROUP FORMERLY CALLED PLATYMETOPIUS (RHYNCHOTA, HOMOPTERA)

1931 ◽  
Vol 63 (9) ◽  
pp. 216-222
Author(s):  
E. D. Ball
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
New Species ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Food Plant ◽  
Food Plants ◽  
History Information ◽  
Related Group ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Working Out

The writer has been working on the food plants of the leaf-hoppers for many years and has found in the main the different species of the genus Platymetopius, as commonly recognized, are very closely confined to a single species of plant or to a closely related group. Before it was possible to prepare a list of the food plants in the group it was found necessary to describe a number of new species of which food plant and life history information was available. In working out the relationship of these species, two startling discoveries were made.

scholarly journals Seed plant families with diverse mycorrhizal states have higher diversification rates

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Isabel Mujica ◽  
Gustavo Burin ◽  
María Fernanda Pérez ◽  
Tiago Quental
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fungi ◽  
Plant Evolution ◽  
Ancestral State ◽  
Seed Plant ◽  
Plant Family ◽  
Symbiotic Interaction ◽  
Evolutionary Transitions ◽  
Diversification Rates ◽  
Plant Families ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractA crucial innovation in plant evolution was the association with soil fungi during land colonization. Today, this symbiotic interaction is present in most plants species and can be classified in four types: arbuscular (AM), Ecto (EM), Orchid (OM) and Ericoid Mycorrhiza (ER). Since the AM ancestral state, some plants lineages have switched partner (EM, OM and ER) or lost the association (no-association: NM). Evolutionary transitions to a novel mycorrhizal state (MS) might allow plant lineages to access new resources, enhancing diversification rates. However, some clades are not restricted to one MS, and this variability might promote diversification. In this study we address the relationship between MS and diversification rates of seed plant families. For this, we used the recently published FungalRoot database, which compiled data for 14,870 species and their mycorrhizal partners. We assigned a MS to each plant family, calculated the MS heterogeneity and estimated their diversification rates using the method-of-moments. Families with mixed MS had the highest diversification rates and there was a positive relationship between MS heterogeneity and diversification rates. These results support the hypothesis that MS lability promotes diversification and highlight the importance of the association with soil fungi for the diversification of plants.

scholarly journals Optimal immune specificity at the intersection of host life history and parasite epidemiology

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (12) ◽  
pp. e1009714
Author(s):  
Alexander E. Downie ◽  
Andreas Mayer ◽  
C. Jessica E. Metcalf ◽  
Andrea L. Graham
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Reproductive Maturity ◽  
Structured Population ◽  
Specificity And Sensitivity ◽  
Population Dynamics Model ◽  
Structured Population Dynamics ◽  
Host Life ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Shed Light

Hosts diverge widely in how, and how well, they defend themselves against infection and immunopathology. Why are hosts so heterogeneous? Both epidemiology and life history are commonly hypothesized to influence host immune strategy, but the relationship between immune strategy and each factor has commonly been investigated in isolation. Here, we show that interactions between life history and epidemiology are crucial for determining optimal immune specificity and sensitivity. We propose a demographically-structured population dynamics model, in which we explore sensitivity and specificity of immune responses when epidemiological risks vary with age. We find that variation in life history traits associated with both reproduction and longevity alters optimal immune strategies–but the magnitude and sometimes even direction of these effects depends on how epidemiological risks vary across life. An especially compelling example that explains previously-puzzling empirical observations is that depending on whether infection risk declines or rises at reproductive maturity, later reproductive maturity can select for either greater or lower immune specificity, potentially illustrating why studies of lifespan and immune variation across taxa have been inconclusive. Thus, the sign of selection on the life history-immune specificity relationship can be reversed in different epidemiological contexts. Drawing on published life history data from a variety of chordate taxa, we generate testable predictions for this facet of the optimal immune strategy. Our results shed light on the causes of the heterogeneity found in immune defenses both within and among species and the ultimate variability of the relationship between life history and immune specificity.

scholarly journals Capture technique and fish personality: angling targets timid bluegill sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus

2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (5) ◽  
pp. 749-757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander D.M. Wilson ◽  
Thomas R. Binder ◽  
Keegan P. McGrath ◽  
Steven J. Cooke ◽  
Jean-Guy J. Godin
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Lepomis Macrochirus ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Wild Fish ◽  
Bluegill Sunfish ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Capture Technique

Size-selective harvesting associated with commercial and recreational fishing practices has been shown to alter life history traits through a phenomenon known as fishing-induced evolution. This phenomenon may be a result of selection pathways targeting life-history traits directly or indirectly through correlations with behavioral traits. Here, we report on the relationship between individual differences in behavior and capture technique (beach seining versus angling) in wild-caught juvenile bluegill sunfish ( Lepomis macrochirus ). Both fish caught by using a seine net (seined) and fish caught by using a lure (angled) were individually tested under standardized laboratory conditions for their boldness, water-column use, and general activity. Observed inter-individual differences in boldness were strongly correlated with method of capture in the wild. Fish caught by angling were more timid and had fewer ectoparasites than fish caught using a seine net. However, this relationship did not carry over to an experiment in a large outdoor pool with seine-caught, individually tagged wild fish, where bolder individuals were more likely to be angled in open water away from refuges than more timid individuals, based on their previously assessed boldness scores. Our study is both novel and important, as it describes the relationship between capture technique and boldness in a natural population and underscores the potential risk of sampling biases associated with method of animal capture for behavioral, population, and conservation biologists.

scholarly journals Invertebrates and fire—challenges and opportunities for conserving biodiversity

2012 ◽  
Vol 124 (1) ◽  
pp. 47
Author(s):  
Alan York
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Fire Management ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Terrestrial Invertebrates ◽  
Invertebrate Biodiversity ◽  
Composition And Structure ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities

Fires, whether planned or unplanned, impact upon a suite of organisms in natural ecosystems. Direct (short-term) and indirect (longer term) effects influence the composition and structure of invertebrate communities through the interaction of site history, characteristics of individual fire events and species life-history traits. Prediction of fire responses based on vascular plant species life-history traits, and the development of a functional classification based on shared traits, underpins current fire management in south-eastern Australia. Can a similar approach be developed for terrestrial invertebrates, or should we focus on utilising a framework based on surrogates developed around vegetation composition and structure, or taxonomic alternatives? This paper considers whether the use of surrogates offers promise as a strategy of dealing with the complexity of invertebrate biodiversity and associated issues surrounding fire management. It proposes a functional approach, based on species’ life-history traits, that can complement existing strategies; and identifies opportunities that have potential for resolving existing challenges in biodiversity conservation in fire-prone environments.

scholarly journals Women’s Pregnancy Life History and Alzheimer’s Risk: Can Immunoregulation Explain the Link?

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 516-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly Fox ◽  
Carlo Berzuini ◽  
Leslie A. Knapp ◽  
Laura M. Glynn
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Proportional Hazards ◽  
Cox Proportional Hazards ◽  
Late Gestation ◽  
Cumulative Number ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Early Gestation ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Immune Biomarkers ◽  
The Relationship

Background: Pregnancy is associated with improvement in immunoregulation that persists into the geriatric phase. Impaired immunoregulation is implicated in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathogenesis. Hence, we investigate the relationship between pregnancy and AD. Methods: Cross-sectional cohort of British women (N = 95). Cox proportional hazards modeling assessed the putative effects of cumulative months pregnant on AD risk and the mutually adjusted effects of counts of first and third trimesters on AD risk. Results: Cumulative number of months pregnant, was associated with lower AD risk (β = −1.90, exp(β) = 0.15, P = .02). Cumulative number of first trimesters was associated with lower AD risk after adjusting for third trimesters (β = −3.83, exp(β) = 0.02, P < .01), while the latter predictor had no significant effect after adjusting for the former. Conclusions: Our observation that first trimesters (but not third trimesters) conferred protection against AD is more consistent with immunologic effects, which are driven by early gestation, than estrogenic exposures, which are greatest in late gestation. Results may justify future studies with immune biomarkers.

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