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Conflicts of interests between males and females over reproduction is a universal feature of sexually reproducing organisms and has driven the evolution of intersexual mimicry, mating behaviours and reproductive polymorphisms. Here, we show how temperature drives pre-reproductive selection in a female colour polymorphic insect that is subject to strong sexual conflict. These species have three fem
Pollinator-mediated reproductive interactions among co-flowering plant species are prime examples of how species interactions may affect fitness and community assembly. Despite considerable interest in these issues, statistical methods for assessing signal of reproductive interactions in observational data on co-flowering species are currently lacking. We propose a flexible method for quantifying
Questions: How do mat thickness, physical structure and allelopathic properties of terricolous mat-forming lichens affect recruitment of vascular plants in dwarf-shrub and lichen heath vegetation?. Location: The mountains of Dovrefjell, central Norway. Methods: In autumn, seeds of ten vascular plant species were collected and sown in a common garden experiment with mats of six lichen species and b
Seed dormancy is considered to be an adaptive strategy in seasonal and/or unpredictable environments because it prevents germination during climatically favorable periods that are too short for seedling establishment. Tropical dry forests are seasonal environments where seed dormancy may play an important role in plant resilience and resistance to changing precipitation patterns. We studied the ge
Premise of the Study: Turnover in biotic communities across heterogeneous landscapes is expected to lead to variation in interactions among plants, their mutualists, and their antagonists. Across a fragmented landscape in northern Costa Rica, populations of the euphorb vine Dalechampia scandens vary widely in mating systems and associated blossom traits. Previous work suggested that populations ar
In the event of a community turnover, population decline, or complete disappearance of pollinators, animal-pollinated plants may respond by adapting to novel pollinators or by changing their mating system. The ability of populations to adapt is determined by their ability to respond to novel selection pressures, i.e. their evolvability. In the short term, evolvability is determined by standing gen
The spread of invasive, particularily bird-sown and red-fruited, non-native woody species in open calcareous conifer forests in Sweden is discussed and examplified with a survey of pine forests by Åhus in E Scania, southern-most Sweden. The survey area is a pine forest planted ca 100 years ago on calcareous sanddunes within which an area with private homes with gardens was built in the 1960’s to 1
During the period from 2011 to 2013, a group from Mossornas Vänner made a field survey of bryophyte flora of Stora alvaret situated on island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The result of the survey was published in Journal of Bryology 2018 (see the reference at the end of the article). We analysed the occurrence of bryophyte species and variation in species richness across 674 plats (0.5 m x 0.5 m) in a
Palaearctic steppes evolved under the Cenozoic cold arid climate and megaherbivore pressure. A large portion of the biome persisted into the Holocene but has recently been subjected to human land use alternation. Pseudophilotes bavius (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) is a steppe specialist sporadically distributed in Eastern Europe and Pontic-Caspian region (from Transylvania to Southern Urals), the Balk
Northern Yellowstone Lake is on the southeast edge of the 631-ka Yellowstone caldera and is an area with high heat flow, high seismicity, and an abundance of active hydrothermal features and structures. Several large hydrothermal explosions since the last glacial recession formed craters of more than 100 m in diameter. These large craters raise the question on how climate and hydrological changes
Aims: Although nitrogen (N) fixation by moss-associated bacteria is the main source of new N in N-limited ecosystems like arctic tundra, we do not know which nutrient, molybdenum (Mo) or phosphorus (P), is rate-limiting for sustaining this process in the long-term. Further, how moss-associated N2 fixation impacts the belowground microbial regulation of decomposition remains unresolved. Methods: Mo
Alloimmunization against human platelet antigen (HPA)-1a during pregnancy can cause foetal/neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FNAIT) and severe bleeding in the foetus or newborn and likely depends on several factors. HPA-1a alloimmunization is associated with DRB3*01:01, which is associated with several DR-DQ haplotypes. However, it is not known to what extent these haplotypes contribute to the
Microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE), or the partitioning of assimilated C into growth or respiration, is a key parameter that is central to understanding the soil C cycle and its feedback to environmental and climate change. The availability of nitrogen (N), organic matter (OM) quality and environmental factors influence CUE indirectly by affecting growth rates and respiration of the major micro
Losses and gains in species diversity affect ecological stability1–7 and the sustainability of ecosystem functions and services8–13. Experiments and models have revealed positive, negative and no effects of diversity on individual components of stability, such as temporal variability, resistance and resilience2,3,6,11,12,14. How these stability components covary remains poorly understood15. Simila
The latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG) is one of the most widely studied patterns in ecology, yet no consensus has been reached about its underlying causes. We argue that the reasons for this are the verbal nature of existing hypotheses, the failure to mechanistically link interacting ecological and evolutionary processes to the LDG, and the fact that empirical patterns are often consistent with
Humans require multiple services from ecosystems, but it is largely unknown whether trade-offs between ecosystem functions prevent the realisation of high ecosystem multifunctionality across spatial scales. Here, we combined a comprehensive dataset (28 ecosystem functions measured on 209 forest plots) with a forest inventory dataset (105,316 plots) to extrapolate and map relationships between vari
Ecological Fiscal Transfers (EFT) have recently gained attention as a promising instrument addressing public authorities to provide incentives for nature conservation. In parallel, both the EU and various European countries are exploring new mechanisms to mobilise funding to support biodiversity conservation. We develop a proposal for an EFT design within the supranational context of the EU and as
