Traits reveal ecological strategies driving carrion insect community assembly
- Evans, Maldwyn, Wallman, James, Barton, Philip
- Authors: Evans, Maldwyn , Wallman, James , Barton, Philip
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Ecological Entomology Vol. 45, no. 5 (2020), p. 966-977
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: 1. The succession of carrion-associated (necrophilous) insects on decomposing carrion is well documented. To exploit the changing nutritious and dynamic resources available throughout the carrion decomposition process, different species colonise and consume carrion in a predictable temporal sequence. The traits of these necrophilous insects should reflect their ecological strategies. Morphological traits of these insects, such as body size and wing size, however, have not previously been examined during active and advanced decomposition. 2. We used fourth-corner multivariate generalised linear models to identify insect community morphological trait patterns and to quantify their change through time on decomposing rabbit carcasses in grassland and woodland environments. 3. We found that larger-bodied species of flies and carrion-specialist beetles were associated with the early stages of decomposition. The morphological traits of ants, in contrast, showed no changes at carcasses through time and instead showed body size differences between grassland and woodland environments. 4. Our findings indicate that specialist flies and beetles that arrive early in the decomposition process possess traits that enable rapid discovery of carrion at a large scale. Generalist beetles and ants do not share this same trait and are instead adapted to locate and consume a wider variety of resources in their preferred habitat type at their local scale. 5. Our results provide insights into the morphological adaptations linked to the ecological strategies of distinct components of carrion insect communities. Further, our results offer insights into the community assembly dynamics that structure the communities of necrophilous insect species. © 2020 The Royal Entomological Society
- Authors: Evans, Maldwyn , Wallman, James , Barton, Philip
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Ecological Entomology Vol. 45, no. 5 (2020), p. 966-977
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: 1. The succession of carrion-associated (necrophilous) insects on decomposing carrion is well documented. To exploit the changing nutritious and dynamic resources available throughout the carrion decomposition process, different species colonise and consume carrion in a predictable temporal sequence. The traits of these necrophilous insects should reflect their ecological strategies. Morphological traits of these insects, such as body size and wing size, however, have not previously been examined during active and advanced decomposition. 2. We used fourth-corner multivariate generalised linear models to identify insect community morphological trait patterns and to quantify their change through time on decomposing rabbit carcasses in grassland and woodland environments. 3. We found that larger-bodied species of flies and carrion-specialist beetles were associated with the early stages of decomposition. The morphological traits of ants, in contrast, showed no changes at carcasses through time and instead showed body size differences between grassland and woodland environments. 4. Our findings indicate that specialist flies and beetles that arrive early in the decomposition process possess traits that enable rapid discovery of carrion at a large scale. Generalist beetles and ants do not share this same trait and are instead adapted to locate and consume a wider variety of resources in their preferred habitat type at their local scale. 5. Our results provide insights into the morphological adaptations linked to the ecological strategies of distinct components of carrion insect communities. Further, our results offer insights into the community assembly dynamics that structure the communities of necrophilous insect species. © 2020 The Royal Entomological Society
Undiagnosed cryptic diversity in small, microendemic frogs (Leptolalax) from the Central Highlands of Vietnam
- Rowley, Jodi, Tran, Dao, Frankham, Greta, Dekker, Anthony, Le, Duong, Nguyen, Truong, Dau, Vinh, Hoang, Huy
- Authors: Rowley, Jodi , Tran, Dao , Frankham, Greta , Dekker, Anthony , Le, Duong , Nguyen, Truong , Dau, Vinh , Hoang, Huy
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: PLoS ONE Vol. 10, no. 5 (2015), p. 1-21
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: A major obstacle in prioritizing species or habitats for conservation is the degree of unrecognized diversity hidden within complexes of morphologically similar, "cryptic" species. Given that amphibians are one of the most threatened groups of organisms on the planet, our inability to diagnose their true diversity is likely to have significant conservation consequences. This is particularly true in areas undergoing rapid deforestation, such as Southeast Asia. The Southeast Asian genus Leptolalax is a group of small-bodied, morphologically conserved frogs that inhabit the forest-floor. We examined a particularly smallbodied and morphologically conserved subset, the Leptolalax applebyi group, using a combination of molecular, morphometric, and acoustic data to identify previously unknown diversity within. In order to predict the geographic distribution of the group, estimate the effects of habitat loss and assess the degree of habitat protection, we used our locality data to perform ecological niche modelling using MaxEnt. Molecular (mtDNA and nuDNA), acoustic and subtle morphometric differences revealed a significant underestimation of diversity in the L. applebyi group; at least two-thirds of the diversity may be unrecognised. Patterns of diversification and microendemism in the group appear driven by limited dispersal, likely due to their small body size, with several lineages restricted to watershed basins. The L. applebyi group is predicted to have historically occurred over a large area of the Central Highlands of Vietnam, a considerable portion of which has already been deforested. Less than a quarter of the remaining forest predicted to be suitable for the group falls within current protected areas. The predicted distribution of the L. applebyi group extends into unsurveyed watershed basins, each potentially containing unsampled diversity, some of which may have already been lost due to deforestation. Current estimates of amphibian diversity based on morphology alone are misleading, and accurate alpha taxonomy is essential to accurately prioritize conservation efforts. © 2015 Rowley et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
- Authors: Rowley, Jodi , Tran, Dao , Frankham, Greta , Dekker, Anthony , Le, Duong , Nguyen, Truong , Dau, Vinh , Hoang, Huy
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: PLoS ONE Vol. 10, no. 5 (2015), p. 1-21
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: A major obstacle in prioritizing species or habitats for conservation is the degree of unrecognized diversity hidden within complexes of morphologically similar, "cryptic" species. Given that amphibians are one of the most threatened groups of organisms on the planet, our inability to diagnose their true diversity is likely to have significant conservation consequences. This is particularly true in areas undergoing rapid deforestation, such as Southeast Asia. The Southeast Asian genus Leptolalax is a group of small-bodied, morphologically conserved frogs that inhabit the forest-floor. We examined a particularly smallbodied and morphologically conserved subset, the Leptolalax applebyi group, using a combination of molecular, morphometric, and acoustic data to identify previously unknown diversity within. In order to predict the geographic distribution of the group, estimate the effects of habitat loss and assess the degree of habitat protection, we used our locality data to perform ecological niche modelling using MaxEnt. Molecular (mtDNA and nuDNA), acoustic and subtle morphometric differences revealed a significant underestimation of diversity in the L. applebyi group; at least two-thirds of the diversity may be unrecognised. Patterns of diversification and microendemism in the group appear driven by limited dispersal, likely due to their small body size, with several lineages restricted to watershed basins. The L. applebyi group is predicted to have historically occurred over a large area of the Central Highlands of Vietnam, a considerable portion of which has already been deforested. Less than a quarter of the remaining forest predicted to be suitable for the group falls within current protected areas. The predicted distribution of the L. applebyi group extends into unsurveyed watershed basins, each potentially containing unsampled diversity, some of which may have already been lost due to deforestation. Current estimates of amphibian diversity based on morphology alone are misleading, and accurate alpha taxonomy is essential to accurately prioritize conservation efforts. © 2015 Rowley et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
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