Biology
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On the variation of traits and tree range constraints
Ecology in the 21st century faces the considerable challenge of predicting how ecosystem structure and function will respond to rapid global environmental change. In order to meet this challenge, ecology must transcend ... -
Evolutionary History of the Patagonian Liolaemus fitzingerii Species Group of Lizards
The majority of the world’s land mass and biota reside in the Northern Hemisphere. However, even when land area is accounted for, we know disproportionately less about Southern Hemisphere flora and fauna than their Northern ... -
Scents and Sense Ability: The evolution and role of chemical cues in the pollination and herbivory of Passiflora
Pollination and herbivory play a critical role in both wild ecosystems and agricultural ones, factoring in to their maintenance, evolution, and ecology. Insects, for whom chemical cues are often more important than those ... -
Systematics of Buddleja (Scrophulariaceae): phylogenetic relationships, historical biogeography, and phylogenomics
Plants display incredible diversity, in morphology and spatial distribution, which can best be understood in an evolutionary context. The reconstruction of how this diversity has evolved can illuminate patterns and trends ... -
Exploring Drivers of Gene Flow in Jaguars and Pumas in Southern Mexico via Molecular Scatology and Eco-Evo Simulations
The profound fragmentation and degradation of Neotropical forests over the past 50-100 years poses a significant threat to the wildlife populations in Mesoamerica. Neotropical large carnivores, jaguars (Panthera onca) and ... -
Vertebrate patterns of taxonomic and ecological diversity and recovery from the End-Permian Mass Extinction: two novel test cases from southern Pangea
Mass extinctions are among the most important events in the history of life on Earth and understanding their effects on life and the structure of biotic systems is restricted to the fossil record. Comparatively few studies ... -
Sea urchin sperm chemotaxis: individual effects and fertilization success
Egg chemoattraction of conspecific sperm mediates fertilization, a critical juncture in reproduction, especially in broadcast-spawning organisms like sea urchins. In the century that sea urchin sperm chemotaxis was studied ... -
Multiple zebrafish atoh1 genes specify a diversity of neuronal types in the zebrafish hindbrain
The basic Helix-Loop-Helix transcription factor, Atoh1, is known to specify several neuronal subtypes including one of most abundant cell types in the vertebrate brain, cerebellar granule neurons. The function of atoh1 in ... -
Evolutionary dynamics under various modes of reproduction
Chapter 1. Dispersal and migration are spatially limited in many natural populations. Such limitations can lead to clustering of like types, which weakens competition between unlike types; thus, the rate by which a fitter ... -
Functions of the SLC36 transporter Pathetic in growth control of Drosophila sensory neurons
Dendrites exhibit enormous diversity in form and can differ in size by several orders of magnitude even in a single animal. However, whether neurons with large dendrite arbors have specialized mechanisms to support their ... -
Determining day length and temperature regulation of flowering: a molecular and modelling approach
In nature, plants are exposed to numerous abiotic and biotic pressures. Temperature, day length, light quality, length of winter, herbivors, nutrients, and pathogens all affect plant development and change throughout the ... -
Local impacts of global change: shifting range limits, advancing phenology, and communicating research
There are two generalizable biological impacts of climate change: first, species are shifting their distributions (both pole-ward in latitude and up in elevation), and second, species are advancing their spring phenology. ... -
Regulation of dendrite growth, placement, and patterning in Drosophila melanogaster class 4 dendrite arborization neurons
The directional flow of information in neurons depends on compartmentalization: dendrites receive inputs whereas axons transmit them. Axons and dendrites likewise contain structurally and functionally distinct subcompartments. ... -
The rise of modern mammalian faunas: tempo and mode of faunal turnover in western Montana during the Oligocene
The ongoing biodiversity crisis affects almost one in four mammal species. The main threat affecting them is the loss of their habitat with changes in their environment. Paleontological data allow an exploration of the ... -
Mollusca Non-Grata: The influence of top-down control and residence time on the abundance, distribution, and behavior of non-native marine snails in Washington State
Invasive species can cause complex, unpredictable changes in ecological community dynamics because they do not share a long evolutionary history with resident species, meaning interactions could be much stronger or weaker ... -
Effects of the mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum on ecosystem structure and plant-animal interactions: a phytolith and stable isotope perspective
The mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum (MMCO, 17–14.75 Ma) is one of Earth’s most recent, prolonged global warming events that is thought to have promoted ecological change across the globe. Although there is general agreement ... -
Late Cretaceous and Paleocene Lissamphibia and Squamata of Montana and the end-Cretaceous mass extinction
Late Cretaceous and Paleocene lissamphibians (e.g., salamanders and albanerpetontids) and squamates (e.g., lizards and snakes) are common components of the nonmarine vertebrate fossil record of North America. However, ... -
Tidal migration patterns moderate thermal risk in the intertidal snail Nucella ostrina
Physical environmental characteristics place limits on when and where organisms can survive, thereby shaping distributions and abundances of species. A thermal performance curve is often used to describe the organism’s ... -
Shape matters: corolla curvature improves nectary discovery in the hawkmoth Manduca sexta
I measured the effects of variation in corolla curvature and nectary aperture radius on pollinator foraging ability using the hawkmoth Manduca sexta and 3D-printed artificial flowers whose shapes were mathematically ...
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