Ecological opportunity - through entry into a new environment, the origin of a key innovation or extinction of antagonists - is widely thought to link ecological population dynamics to evolutionary ...diversification. The population-level processes arising from ecological opportunity are well documented under the concept of ecological release. However, there is little consensus as to how these processes promote phenotypic diversification, rapid speciation and adaptive radiation. We propose that ecological opportunity could promote adaptive radiation by generating specific changes to the selective regimes acting on natural populations, both by relaxing effective stabilizing selection and by creating conditions that ultimately generate diversifying selection. We assess theoretical and empirical evidence for these effects of ecological opportunity and review emerging phylogenetic approaches that attempt to detect the signature of ecological opportunity across geological time. Finally, we evaluate the evidence for the evolutionary effects of ecological opportunity in the diversification of Caribbean Anolis lizards. Some of the processes that could link ecological opportunity to adaptive radiation are well documented, but others remain unsupported. We suggest that more study is required to characterize the form of natural selection acting on natural populations and to better describe the relationship between ecological opportunity and speciation rates.
Trees with millions of tips may require a page of paper larger than the observable universe to be printed: they break the paper paradigm, but on screen, users can still easily zoom in through the ...tree to any point of interest (see Figure 2, which used data from 9). In order to place the phylogenetic data on a scalable two-dimensional map, OneZoom uses concepts inspired by fractal geometry.\n We most look forward to seeing OneZoom bring to life the remarkable and powerful phylogenetic datasets that many evolutionary biologists have strived to collect over recent years.
Correlated evolution among traits, which can happen due to genetic constraints, ontogeny, and selection, can have an important impact on the trajectory of phenotypic evolution. For example, shifts in ...the pattern of evolutionary integration may allow the exploration of novel regions of the morphospace by lineages. Here, we use phylogenetic trees to study the pace of evolution of several traits and their pattern of evolutionary correlation across clades and over time. We use regimes mapped to the branches of the phylogeny to test for shifts in evolutionary integration while incorporating the uncertainty related to trait evolution and ancestral regimes with joint estimation of all parameters of the model using Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo. We implemented the use of summary statistics to test for regime shifts based on a series of attributes of the model that can be directly relevant to biological hypotheses. In addition, we extend Felsenstein’s pruning algorithm to the case of multivariate Brownian motion models with multiple rate regimes. We performed extensive simulations to explore the performance of the method under a series of scenarios. Finally, we provide two test cases; the evolution of a novel buccal morphology in fishes of the family Centrarchidae and a shift in the trajectory of evolution of traits during the radiation of anole lizards to and from the Caribbean islands.
The balance between activity in the left and right frontal cortex, commonly referred to as asymmetric frontal cortical activity, has served as a proxy for an organism's motivational direction (i.e., ...approach vs. avoidance). Many studies have examined the influence of the manipulation of motivational direction on asymmetrical frontal cortical activity and found results consistent with the idea that greater relative left (right) frontal cortical activity is associated with approach (avoidance) motivation. We critically review literature employing physical (versus psychological) manipulations of frontal asymmetry using a variety of methodologies including neurofeedback training, muscular contractions, and non-invasive brain stimulation. These reviewed methods allow us to make stronger causal inferences regarding the role of asymmetric frontal cortical activity in approach and avoidance motivation.
•Asymmetric patterns of frontal cortical activity have served as a proxy for an organism’s motivational direction.•We review manipulations of frontal asymmetry including neurofeedback, muscular contractions and brain stimulation.•These methods allow for stronger causal inferences about the role of a frontal asymmetry in approach-avoidance motivation.
► DRIFT is only one of a handful of directional dark matter detectors. ► A method of rejecting Radon Progeny Recoils, DRIFT’s main background, is discussed. ► Additionally DRIFT-IId was found to run ...stably with a mixture of CS2 and CF4. ► DRIFT’s sensitivity is orders of magnitude better than other directional detectors.
Data are presented from the DRIFT-IId detector operated in the Boulby Underground Science Facility in England. A 0.8m3 fiducial volume, containing partial pressures of 30Torr CS2 and 10Torr CF4, was exposed for a duration of 47.4 live-time days with sufficient passive shielding to provide a neutron free environment within the detector. The nuclear recoil events seen are consistent with a remaining low-level background from the decay of radon daughters attached to the central cathode of the detector. However, charge from such events must drift across the entire width of the detector, and thus display large diffusion upon reaching the readout planes of the device. Exploiting this feature, it is shown to be possible to reject energy depositions from these Radon Progeny Recoil events while still retaining sensitivity to fiducial-volume nuclear recoil events. The response of the detector is then interpreted, using the F nuclei content of the gas, in terms of sensitivity to proton spin-dependent WIMP–nucleon interactions, displaying a minimum in sensitivity cross section at 1.8pb for a WIMP mass of 100GeV/c2. This sensitivity was achieved without compromising the direction sensitivity of DRIFT.
Identification of general properties of evolutionary radiations has been hindered by the lack of a general statistical and phylogenetic approach applicable across diverse taxa. We present a ...comparative analytical framework for examining phylogenetic patterns of diversification and morphological disparity with data from four iguanian-lizard taxa that exhibit substantially different patterns of evolution. Taxa whose diversification occurred disproportionately early in their evolutionary history partition more of their morphological disparity among, rather than within, subclades. This inverse relationship between timing of diversification and morphological disparity within subclades may be a general feature that transcends the historically contingent properties of different evolutionary radiations.
For the period 1980-89, we estimate a carbon sink in the coterminous United States between 0.30 and 0.58 petagrams of carbon per year (petagrams of carbon = 1015grams of carbon). The net carbon flux ...from the atmosphere to the land was higher, 0.37 to 0.71 petagrams of carbon per year, because a net flux of 0.07 to 0.13 petagrams of carbon per year was exported by rivers and commerce and returned to the atmosphere elsewhere. These land-based estimates are larger than those from previous studies (0.08 to 0.35 petagrams of carbon per year) because of the inclusion of additional processes and revised estimates of some component fluxes. Although component estimates are uncertain, about one-half of the total is outside the forest sector. We also estimated the sink using atmospheric models and the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (the tracer-transport inversion method). The range of results from the atmosphere-based inversions contains the land-based estimates. Atmosphere- and land-based estimates are thus consistent, within the large ranges of uncertainty for both methods. Atmosphere-based results for 1980-89 are similar to those for 1985-89 and 1990-94, indicating a relatively stable U.S. sink throughout the period.
Exotic species invasions create almost ideal conditions for promoting evolutionary diversification: establishment of allopatric populations in new environmental conditions; altered ecological ...opportunities for native species; and new opportunities for hybridization between previously allopatric taxa. Here, we review recent studies of the evolutionary consequences of species invasions, revealing abundant and widespread examples of exotic species promoting evolutionary diversification via increased genetic differentiation among populations of both exotic and native species and the creation of new hybrid lineages. Our review indicates that, although the well-documented reductions to biodiversity caused by exotic species might outweigh the increases resulting from diversification, a complete understanding of the net effects of exotic species on biodiversity in the long term will require consideration of both.
Although serotonin has been extensively studied in many species, there is a lack of information in ruminants, and no research has been evaluated if its precursor, 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), ...administered into the abomasum may be used as a means to manipulate serotonin metabolism. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate if intra-abomasal infusion of 5-HTP increases circulating serotonin in the steer. Eight Holstein steers (471 ± 8.9 kg) were used in a replicated 4 × 4 Latin Square design experiment. The treatments were intra-abomasal infusion of 5-HTP at 0.5, 1, 2.5, and 5 mg/kg BW. Blood was collected at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 24 h after infusion. The serum concentration of 5-HTP increased quadratically (P = 0.005) with a peak at 2 h after administration. The 5-HTP administration increased (P < 0.05) serum serotonin in comparison with baseline with no difference (P > 0.05) between the doses of 5-HTP. When 5-HTP was dosed at 2.5 mg/kg BW or higher, intake decreased, and there was an altered manure consistency. The serum 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid concentrations followed the same pattern as 5-HTP. Plasma glucose content was not affected (P > 0.05) by 5-HTP dosing. However, free fatty acids concentration in the plasma was lower (P > 0.05) compared with baseline for the infusion levels of 0.5 and 1 mg/kg BW. Intra-abomasal infusion of 5-HTP efficiently increases serum serotonin cattle.
•Abomasal administration of 5-hydroxytryptophan has not been studied in adult cattle.•The 5-HTP administration increased serum serotonin.•High levels of 5-HTP decrease feed intake and altered fecal consistency.•Moderate doses of 5-HTP can increase serotonin synthesis without adverse effects.•Cattle appear sensitive to 5-HTP compared with nonruminants.
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