Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

Cryptic Diversity Within Nyctixalus (Anura: Rhacophoridae): A New Species, A Resurrection, And A Redescription, Jennifer Dever, Jimmy A. Mcguire, Djoko T. Iskandar, Amir Hamidy, Lee L. Grismer

Biology Faculty Publications

The examination of molecular markers confirms hidden diversity and reveals a new species within the Nyctixalus pictus (Peters, 1871) complex. Three genetically distinct clades were recovered: one from the Thai-Malay Peninsula; one from Sumatra, Indonesia; and one from Sarawak, Borneo, East Malaysia. Voucher specimens from each region were compared, and significantly different mean values were found through morphological analyses. The populations also differ significantly in morphospace, as determined by PCA, DAPC, and MFA analyses. The Thai-Malay Peninsula individuals have a distinct, rounded and slightly elongated snout shape compared to the other two clades. Based on these combined data, these three …

Clerodendrum Kelli (Lamiaceae), A New Species From Carranglan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines, And Lectotypification Of Clerodendrum Mindorense, David Justin R. Ples, Jacek Patykowski, John Charles A. Altomonte, Adriene B. Tobias, Rene Alfred Anton Bustamante

Biology Faculty Publications

Clerodendrum kelli (Lamiaceae), a new species from the montane forests of Carranglan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines, is described and illustrated. The species shares morphological features with Clerodendrum quadriloculare and C. mindorense, but differs in inflorescence structure, corolla tube length, and calyx shape and color. A lectotype for C. mindorense is also designated. Preliminary conservation assessment places C. kelli in the Critically Endangered category (CR B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii)). This study contributes to Philippine plant biodiversity knowledge and informs conservation strategies.

Sequestration Of Plant Defenses By Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma Delicatula) And Effects On Avian Predators, Anne E. Johnson, Allison Cornell, Fang Zhu, Ashley E. Shay, Gabrielle Davis, Kelli Hoover

Biology Faculty Publications

Lycorma delicatula is a polyphagous phloem feeder, which is spreading rapidly in the U.S., and is a major threat to grapes, hops, and ornamentals. Among its hosts, L. delicatulaprefers Ailanthus altissima, an invasive tree from which it sequesters toxins, including several quassinoid compounds. We tested how these defenses affected predation by birds of nymphal and adult L. delicatula. Freeze-killed nymphs of each instar were reared with or without access to A. altissima and placed into cups on top of nest boxes occupied by house wrens (Troglodytes aedon). House wrens ate or fed their chicks a …

Elevated Extinction Risk In Over One-Fifth Of Native North American Pollinators, Tara Cornelisse, David W. Inouye, Rebecca E. Irwin, Sarina Jepsen, Jonathan R. Mawdsley, Margaret Ormes, Jaret Daniels, Diane M. Debinski, Terry Griswold, John Klymko, Michael C. Orr, Leif Richardson, Nicole Sears, Dale Schweitzer, Bruce E. Young

Biology Faculty Publications

Pollinators are critical for food production and ecosystem function. Although native pollinators are thought to be declining, the evidence is limited. This first, taxonomically diverse assessment for mainland North America north of Mexico reveals that 22.6% (20.6 to 29.6%) of the 1,579 species in the best-studied vertebrate and insect pollinator groups have elevated risk of extinction. All three pollinating bat species are at risk and bees are the insect group most at risk (best estimate, 34.7% of 472 species assessed, range 30.3 to 43.0%). Substantial numbers of butterflies (19.5% of 632 species, range 19.1 to 21.0%) and moths (16.1% of …

Phylotranscriptomic Relationships Of The Oophila Clade Of Green Algae Associated To Amphibian Egg Masses, Ryan Kerney, Miguel Vences, Maria Sachs, Iker Irisarri, Fabian Bartels, Pontus Eriksson, Sven Künzel, Atsushi Kurabayashi, Ane Laugen, Zachary Vegso, Cory Bishop, Hartmut Arndt

Biology Faculty Publications

Green algae usually assigned to the genus Oophila are known to colonize egg capsules of amphibian egg masses across the Nearctic and Palearctic regions. We study the phylogenetic relationships of these algae using a phylotranscriptomic data set of 76 protein-coding single-copy nuclear genes. Our data set includes novel RNAseq data for six amphibian-associated and five free-living green algae, and draft genomes of two of the latter. Within the Oophila clade (nested within Moewusinia), we find samples from two European frogs (Rana dalmatina and R. temporaria) closely related to those of the North American frog R. aurora (Oophila …

Population Genomics Provide Insight Into Ancestral Relationships And Diversity Of The Feral Horses Of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Melissa A. Thompson, Blake E. Mccann, Turk Rhen, Rebecca Simmons

Biology Faculty Publications

Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) manages a herd of feral horses (Equus caballus) which was present on the landscape prior to the establishment of the park. The population presents a unique scenario in that it has experienced fairly intensive and well-documented management since the park's establishment, including herd size reductions, intentional introduction of diversity, and subsequent attempts to remove introduced lineages. This provides an interesting case study on the genetic effects of diverse evolutionary forces on an isolated feral population. To explore the effects of these forces and clarify the relationship of this feral herd with other horses, …

Mitochondrial Metabolism In Blood More Reliably Predicts Whole-Animal Energy Needs Compared To Other Tissues, Stefania Casagrande, Maciej Dzialo, Lisa Trost, Kasja Malkoc, Edyta T. Sadowska, Michaela Hau, Barbara J. Pierce, Scott R. Mcwilliams, Ulf Bauchinger

Biology Faculty Publications

Understanding energy metabolism in free-ranging animals is crucial for ecological studies. In birds, red blood cells (RBCs) offer a minimally invasive method to estimate metabolic rate (MR). In this study with European starlings Sturnus vulgaris, we examined how RBC oxygen consumption relates to oxygen use in key tissues (brain, liver, heart, and pectoral muscle) and versus the whole-organism measured at basal levels. The pectoral muscle accounted for 34-42% of organismal MR, while the heart and liver, despite their high mass-specific metabolic rate, each contributed 2.5-3.0% to organismal MR. Despite its low contribution to organismal MR (0.03-0.04%), RBC MR best predicted …

Reimagining Large River Management Using The Resist–Accept–Direct (Rad) Framework In The Upper Mississippi River, Nicole K. Ward, Abigail J. Lynch, Erik A. Beever, Joshua Booker, Kristen L. Bouska, Holly Embke, Jeffrey N. Houser, John F. Kocik, David J. Lawrence, Mary Grace Lemon, Doug Limpinsel, Madeline R. Magee, Bryan M. Maitland, Owen Mckenna, Andrew Meier, John M. Morton, Jeffrey D. Muehlbauer, Robert Newman, Devon C. Oliver, Heidi M. Rantala, Greg G. Sass, Aaron Shultz, Laura M. Thompson, Jennifer L. Wilkening

Biology Faculty Publications

Background Large-river decision-makers are charged with maintaining diverse ecosystem services through unprecedented social-ecological transformations as climate change and other global stressors intensify. The interconnected, dendritic habitats of rivers, which often demarcate jurisdictional boundaries, generate complex management challenges. Here, we explore how the Resist–Accept–Direct (RAD) framework may enhance large-river management by promoting coordinated and deliberate responses to social-ecological trajectories of change. The RAD framework identifies the full decision space of potential management approaches, wherein managers may resist change to maintain historical conditions, accept change toward different conditions, or direct change to a specified future with novel conditions. In the Upper Mississippi …

Mitogenomes Revealed The History Of Bison Colonization Of Northern Plains After The Last Glacial Maximum, Igor V. Ovtchinnikov, Blake Mccann

Biology Faculty Publications

American bison demonstrated differential patterns of extinction, survival, and expansion since the terminal Pleistocene. We determined population dynamics of the Northern Great Plains bison using 40 mitochondrial genomes from radiocarbon dated remains with the age ranging from 12,226 to 167 calibrated years before present. Population dynamics correlated with environmental and anthropogenic factors and was characterized by three primary periods: terminal Pleistocene population growth starting 14,000 years ago, mid Holocene demographic stability between 6700 and 2700 years ago, and late Holocene population decline in the last 2700 years. Most diversification of mtDNA haplotypes occurred in the early Holocene when bison colonized …

Groundwater-Stream Connections Shape The Spatial Pattern And Rates Of Aquatic Metabolism, Anna Lupon, Lluís Gomez-Gener, Megan Fork, Hjalmar Laudon, Eugènia Martí, William Lidberg, Ryan A. Sponseller

Biology Faculty Publications

A longstanding challenge in stream ecology is to understand how landscape configuration organizes spatial patterns of ecosystem function via lateral groundwater connections. We combined laboratory bioassays and field additions of a metabolic tracer (resazurin) to test how groundwater-stream confluences, or "discrete riparian inflow points " (DRIPs), regulate heterotrophic microbial activity along a boreal stream. We hypothesized that DRIPs shape spatial patterns and rates of aquatic heterotrophic microbial activity by supplying labile dissolved organic matter (DOM) to streams. Laboratory bioassays showed that the potential influence of DRIPs on heterotrophic activity varied spatially and temporally, and was related to their DOM content …

Long‑Term Adaptation To Galactose As A Sole Carbon Source Selects For Mutations Outside The Canonical Gal Pathway, Artemiza A. Martínez, Andrew Conboy, Sean Buskirk, Daniel A. Marad, Gregory I. Lang

Biology Faculty Publications

Galactose is a secondary fermentable sugar that requires specific regulatory and structural genes for its assimilation, which are under catabolite repression by glucose. When glucose is absent, the catabolic repression is attenuated, and the structural GAL genes are fully activated. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the GAL pathway is under selection in environments where galactose is present. However, it is unclear the adaptive strategies in response to long-term propagation in galactose as a sole carbon source in laboratory evolution experiments. Here, we performed a 4,000-generation evolution experiment using 48 diploid Saccharomyces cerevisiae populations to study adaptation in galactose. We show that fitness …

Artificial Intelligence For Automated Detection Of Large Mammals Creates Path To Upscale Drone Surveys, Javier Lenzi, Andrew Barnas, Abdelrahman A. Elsaid, Travis Desell, Robert F. Rockwell, Susan N. Ellis-Felege

Biology Faculty Publications

Imagery from drones is becoming common in wildlife research and management, but processing data efficiently remains a challenge. We developed a methodology for training a convolutional neural network model on large-scale mosaic imagery to detect and count caribou (Rangifer tarandus), compare model performance with an experienced observer and a group of naïve observers, and discuss the use of aerial imagery and automated methods for large mammal surveys. Combining images taken at 75 m and 120 m above ground level, a faster region-based convolutional neural network (Faster-RCNN) model was trained in using annotated imagery with the labels: “adult …

Conceptualizing The Construct Of Ocean Identity, Miriah R. Kelly, Jo-Marie Kasinak, Emma Mckinley, Caitlin Mclaughlin, Jamie M.P. Vaudrey, Jennifer Mattei

Biology Faculty Publications

The construct of ocean identity provides a valuable lens that can unpack the multiple dimensions of human connections with ocean spaces, and crucially places importance on the integration of cognitive, affective, and behavioral components. The construct of ocean identity is applicable in academic and professional contexts, and is largely unexplored from both qualitative and quantitative research perspectives. This comment article presents a revised definition of ocean identity and posits a useful conceptual framework based on a robust analysis of literature to unveil the multiple dimensions that may explain an individuals’ ocean identity. Here we identify a series of attributes that …

Evidence For A Single, Ancient Origin Of A Genus-Wide Alternative Life History Strategy, Kalle Tunström, Alyssa Woronik, Joseph J. Hanly, Pasi Rastas, Anton Chichvarkhin, Andrew D. Warren, Akito Kawahara, Sean D. Schoville, Vincent Ficarrotta, Adam H. Porter, Ward B. Watt, Arnaud Martin, Christopher W. Wheat

Biology Faculty Publications

Understanding the evolutionary origins and factors maintaining alternative life history strategies (ALHS) within species is a major goal of evolutionary research. While alternative alleles causing discrete ALHS are expected to purge or fix over time, one-third of the ~90 species of Colias butterflies are polymorphic for a female-limited ALHS called Alba. Whether Alba arose once, evolved in parallel, or has been exchanged among taxa is currently unknown. Using comparative genome-wide association study (GWAS) and population genomic analyses, we placed the genetic basis of Alba in time-calibrated phylogenomic framework, revealing that Alba evolved once near the base of the genus and …

Our Natural World, Jennifer Mattei

Biology Faculty Publications

It’s nothing earth-shattering to say our natural world gives us everything we need to survive, from the oxygen we breathe and the clean water we drink to that apple you are enjoying with your lunch today. We all know this. However, we sometimes fail to appreciate and act on the converse—if we fail to maintain a well-functioning and resilient natural world our future is literally at risk.

What’s more, our reliance on nature goes deeper than the base physical essentials of air, water and food that are required for life. Our bodies—physically, mentally and emotionally—are healthier for their interaction with …

Fast And Furious: Energetic Tradeoffs And Scaling Of High-Speed Foraging In Rorqual Whales, William T. Gough, David E. Cade, Max F. Czapanskiy, Jean Potvin, Frank E. Fish, Shirel R. Kahane-Rapport, Matthew S. Savoca, K. C. Bierlich, David W. Johnston, Ari S. Friedlaender, Andy Szabo, Lars Bejder, Jeremy A. Goldbogen

Biology Faculty Publications

Although gigantic body size and obligate filter feeding mechanisms have evolved in multiple vertebrate lineages (mammals and fishes), intermittent ram (lunge) filter feeding is unique to a specific family of baleen whales: rorquals. Lunge feeding is a high cost, high benefit feeding mechanism that requires the integration of unsteady locomotion (i.e., accelerations and maneuvers); the impact of scale on the biomechanics and energetics of this foraging mode continues to be the subject of intense study. The goal of our investigation was to use a combination of multi-sensor tags paired with UAS footage to determine the impact of morphometrics such as …

Community-Powered Urban Stream Restoration: A Vision For Sustainable And Resilient Urban Ecosystems, Mateo Scoggins, Derek B. Booth, Tim Fletcher, Megan Fork, Ana Gonzalez, Rebecca L. Hale, Robert J. Hawley, Allison H. Roy, Erika E. Bilger, Nick Bond, Matthew James Burns, Kristina G. Hopkins, Kate H. Macneale, Eugenia Marti, Kyle S. Mckay, Martin W. Neale, Michael J. Paul, Blanca Rios-Touma, Kathryn L. Russell, Robert F. Smith, Staryn Wagner, Seth Wenger

Biology Faculty Publications

Urban streams can provide amenities to people living in cities, but those benefits are reduced when streams become degraded, potentially even causing harm (disease, toxic compounds, etc.). Governments and institutions invest resources to improve the values and services provided by urban streams; however, the conception, development, and implementation of such projects may not include meaningful involvement of community members and other stakeholders. Consequently, project objectives may be misaligned with community desires and needs, and projects may fail to achieve their goals. In February 2020, the 5(th) Symposium on Urbanization and Stream Ecology, an interdisciplinary meeting held every 3 to 5 …

Developmental Basis Of Evolutionary Lung Loss In Plethodontid Salamanders, Zachary R. Lewis, Ryan R. Kerney, James Hanken

Biology Faculty Publications

One or more members of four living amphibian clades have independently dispensed with pulmonary respiration and lack lungs, but little is known of the developmental basis of lung loss in any taxon. We use morphological, molecular, and experimental approaches to examine the Plethodontidae, a dominant family of salamanders, all of which are lungless as adults. We confirm an early anecdotal report that plethodontids complete early stages of lung morphogenesis: Transient embryonic lung primordia form but regress by apoptosis before hatching. Initiation of pulmonary development coincides with expression of the lung-specification gene Wnt2b in adjacent mesoderm, and the lung rudiment expresses …

Valuing Angling On Reservoirs Using Benefit Transfer, Richard T. Melstrom, Mark A. Kaemingk, Nicholas W. Cole, John C. Whitehead, Christopher J. Chizinski, Kevin L. Pope

Biology Faculty Publications

Economic assessments are rarely applied to inland recreational fisheries for management purposes, especially when compared to fish, habitat, and creel assessments, yet economic assessments can provide critical information for management decisions. We provide a brief overview of economic value, key terminology, and existing economic techniques to address these issues. Benefit transfer, a technique used to measure economic value when an original analysis is not practicable, is conducted by drawing on existing estimates of economic value in similar contexts. We describe an application of benefit transfer to measure the economic value of several recreational fisheries in Nebraska, USA. We examine two …

Feral Horses And Bison At Theodore Roosevelt National Park (North Dakota, United States) Exhibit Shifts In Behaviors During Drone Flights, Javier Lenzi, Christopher J. Felege, Robert Newman, Blake Mccann, Susan N. Ellis-Felege

Biology Faculty Publications

Drone use has been rapidly increasing in protected areas in North America, and potential impacts on terrestrial megafauna have been largely unstudied. We evaluated behavioral responses to drones on two terrestrial charismatic species, feral horse (Equus caballus) and bison (Bison bison), at Theodore Roosevelt National Park (North Dakota, United States) in 2018. Using a Trimble UX5 fixed-wing drone, we performed two flights at 120 m above ground level (AGL), one for each species, and recorded video footage of their behaviors prior to, during, and after the flight. Video footage was analyzed in periods of 10 s intervals, and the occurrence …

Resolving The Drivers Of Algal Nutrient Limitation From Boreal To Arctic Lakes And Streams, Maria Myrstener, Megan Fork, Ann-Kristin Bergstrom, Isolde Callisto Puts, Demian Hauptmann, Peter D. F. Isles, Ryan M. Burrows, Ryan A. Sponseller

Biology Faculty Publications

Nutrient inputs to northern freshwaters are changing, potentially altering aquatic ecosystem functioning through effects on primary producers. Yet, while primary producer growth is sensitive to nutrient supply, it is also constrained by a suite of other factors, including light and temperature, which may play varying roles across stream and lake habitats. Here, we use bioassay results from 89 lakes and streams spanning northern boreal to Arctic Sweden to test for differences in nutrient limitation status of algal biomass along gradients in colored dissolved organic carbon (DOC), water temperature, and nutrient concentrations, and to ask whether there are distinct patterns and …

Genetic Variation Of The Mitochondrial Dna Control Region Across Plains Bison Herds In Usa And Canada, Gaimi Davies, Blake Mccann, Lee Jones, Stefano Liccioli, Maria Cecilia Penedo, Igor V. Ovtchinnikov

Biology Faculty Publications

Once numbering in the tens of millions, bison (Bison bison) have faced a broad range of challenges over the past century, including genetic impacts from the population bottleneck in the 1800s, and significant loss and fragmentation of habitat resulting in little opportunity for population growth on remaining small, geographically isolated reserves. To identify best practices for bison stewardship against this backdrop, managers must understand the genetic composition of existing conservation herds. This study characterized 14 plains bison (Bison bison bison) herds managed by the U.S. Department of Interior and Parks Canada Agency based on complete mtDNA …

Sex-Related Differences In Aging Rate Are Associated With Sex Chromosome System In Amphibians, Hugo Cayuela, Beth Reinke, 48 Other Co-Authors

Biology Faculty Publications

Sex-related differences in mortality are widespread in the animal kingdom. Although studies have shown that sex determination systems might drive lifespan evolution, sex chromosome influence on aging rates have not been investigated so far, likely due to an apparent lack of demographic data from clades including both XY (with heterogametic males) and ZW (heterogametic females) systems. Taking advantage of a unique collection of capture–recapture datasets in amphibians, a vertebrate group where XY and ZW systems have repeatedly evolved over the past 200 million years, we examined whether sex heterogamy can predict sex differences in aging rates and lifespans. We showed …

Cold Shock Induces A Terminal Investment Reproductive Response In C. Elegans, Leah Gulyas, Jennifer R. Powell

Biology Faculty Publications

Challenges from environmental stressors have a profound impact on many life-history traits of an organism, including reproductive strategy. Examples across multiple taxa have demonstrated that maternal reproductive investment resulting from stress can improve offspring survival; a form of matricidal provisioning when death appears imminent is known as terminal investment. Here we report a reproductive response in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans upon exposure to acute cold shock at 2 °C, whereby vitellogenic lipid movement from the soma to the germline appears to be massively upregulated at the expense of parental survival. This response is dependent on functional TAX-2; TAX-4 cGMP-gated channels …

Behavioral Responses Of Blue-Winged Teal And Northern Shoveler To Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Surveys, Mason D. Ryckman, Kaylan Kemink, Christopher J. Felege, Brian J. Darby, Gregory S. Vandeberg, Susan N. Ellis-Felege

Biology Faculty Publications

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become a popular wildlife survey tool. Most research has focused on detecting wildlife using UAVs with less known about behavioral responses. We compared the behavioral responses of breeding blue-winged teal (Spatula discors) (n = 151) and northern shovelers (Spatula clypeata) (n = 46) on wetlands flown over with a rotary DJI Matrice 200 quadcopter and control wetlands without flights. Using a GoPro camera affixed to a spotting scope, we conducted focal individual surveys and recorded duck behaviors for 30 minutes before, during, and 30 minutes after UAV flights to determine if …

Radon (222rn) As Tracer For Submarine Groundwater Discharge Investigation—Limitations Of The Approach At Shallow Wind-Exposed Coastal Settings, Michael Schubert, Jan Scholten, Matthias Kreuzburg, Eric Petermann, Mariele Lopes De Paiva, Dennis Kohler, V. Liebetrau, John Rapaglia, Michael Schlüter

Biology Faculty Publications

Mapping radon (222Rn) distribution patterns in the coastal sea is a widely applied method for localizing and quantifying submarine groundwater discharge (SGD). While the literature reports a wide range of successful case studies, methodical problems that might occur in shallow wind-exposed coastal settings are generally neglected. This paper evaluates causes and effects that resulted in a failure of the radon approach at a distinct shallow wind-exposed location in the Baltic Sea. Based on a simple radon mass balance model, we discuss the effect of both wind speed and wind direction as causal for this failure. We show that at coastal …

American Bullfrog (Lithobates Catesbeianus) Diet In Uruguay Compared With Other Invasive Populations In Southern South America, Gabriel Laufer, Noelia Gobel, Mauro Berazategui, Matías Zarucki, Sofía Cortizas, Alvaro Soutullo, Claudio Martinez Debat, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

Between 2000-2020, more than ten new populations of the invasive American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) have been reported in the southern cone of South America. We studied the stomach contents of 126 bullfrogs from a population at an early invasion stage in Uruguay (Acegua, Cerro Largo Department). We observed a rich diet, with extensive prey volume range (1 mm3 to more than 7 000 mm(3)); the most frequent items were Hymenoptera (19.6%), Coleoptera (16.4%), Amphipoda (13.3%), Anura (8.9%) and Heteroptera (8.7%). Despite some overlap, differences were observed in volume (chi(2) = 54.6, p <0.001, d.f. = 2) and prey quantity (F = 8.1, p <0.001, d.f. = 79) between males, females, and juveniles. Juveniles showed significantly higher consumption of terrestrial prey by count (82% of their total ingestion) than adults (29% for males and 32% for females) (chi(2) = 28.5, p <0.001, d.f. = 2). Adults, especially females, showed a high frequency of cannibalism (33% of their total ingestion; chi(2) = 20.9, p <0.001, d.f. = 2). Comparing our data with other bullfrog regional studies, we found great plasticity in trophic habits and differences in the incidence of cannibalism (higher incidence in the populations of Acegua, Uruguay, and Buenos Aires, Argentina). These differences could be related to local biodiversity, but also could be affected by the invasion phase. Cannibalism frequency was higher in small bullfrog populations, where it could be favoring the establishment success. This shift in foraging strategies during the invasion process had been insufficiently evaluated in amphibians. Knowing the ecological determinants for the invasion by bullfrogs can be useful to the development of management strategies.

How Birds During Migration Maintain (Oxidative) Balance, Scott R. Mcwilliams, Wales A. Carter, Clara Cooper-Mullin, Kristen J. Demoranville, Abigail E. Frawley, Barbara J. Pierce, Megan Skrip

Biology Faculty Publications

Animals dynamically adjust their physiology and behavior to survive in changing environments, and seasonal migration is one life stage that demonstrates these dynamic adjustments. As birds migrate between breeding and wintering areas, they incur physiological demands that challenge their antioxidant system. Migrating birds presumably respond to these oxidative challenges by up-regulating protective endogenous systems or accumulating dietary antioxidants at stopover sites, although our understanding of the pre-migration preparations and mid-migration responses of birds to such oxidative challenges is as yet incomplete. Here we review evidence from field and captive-bird studies that address the following questions: (1) Do migratory birds build …

Is The Life History Flexibility Of Cold Desert Annuals Broad Enough To Cope With Predicted Climate Change? The Case Of Erodium Oxyrhinchum In Central Asia, Huiliang Liu, Yanfeng Chen, Lingwei Zhang, Jerry M. Baskin, Carol C. Baskin, Lan Zhang, Yan Liu, Daoyuan Zhang, Yuanming Zhang

Biology Faculty Publications

Interannual seasonal variability in precipitation may strongly affect the life history and growth of desert annual plants. We compared the effects of dry and wet springs and dry and wet autumns on growth and F2 seed dormancy of plants from spring (SG)- and autumn (AG)-germinated seeds of the cold desert annual Erodium oxyrhinchum. Vegetative and reproductive growth and F2 seed dormancy and germination were monitored from September 2016 to November 2020 in the sandy Gurbantunggut Desert in NW China in Central Asia. Dry autumns decreased the density of AG plants, and dry springs decreased the density of SG plants …

Highly Contiguous Assemblies Of 101 Drosophilid Genomes, Bernard Y. Kim, Jeremy R. Wang, Danny E. Miller, Olga Barmina, Emily Delaney, Ammon Thompson, Aaron A. Comeault, David Peede, Emmanuel R. R. D'Agostino, Julianne Pelaez, Jessica M. Aguilar, Diler Haji, Teruyuki Matsunaga, Ellie E. Armstrong, Molly Zych, Yoshitaka Ogawa, Marina Stamenković-Radak, Mihailo Jelić, Marija Savić Veselinović, Marija Tanasković, Jeremy S. Davis

Biology Faculty Publications

Over 100 years of studies in Drosophila melanogaster and related species in the genus Drosophila have facilitated key discoveries in genetics, genomics, and evolution. While high-quality genome assemblies exist for several species in this group, they only encompass a small fraction of the genus. Recent advances in long-read sequencing allow high-quality genome assemblies for tens or even hundreds of species to be efficiently generated. Here, we utilize Oxford Nanopore sequencing to build an open community resource of genome assemblies for 101 lines of 93 drosophilid species encompassing 14 species groups and 35 sub-groups. The genomes are highly contiguous and complete, …