Male Montagu’s Harrier Edwin on the hunt for grasshoppers near Djilas, Senegal. Ellinor Schlaich et al. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12583
Issue 85:6 is now online and for the first time we have two In Focus papers in the issue as we no longer want to limit ourselves to championing only one great paper!
The First is by Pedro Jardano and takes a look at the paper by Sazatornil et al. on morphological matches and the assembly of mutualistic hawkmoth–plant networks. The second is by Shawn Wilder and Punidan Jeyasingh and they review the paper by Zhang et al. on how warming and predation risk shape stoichiometry.
To make the most of all the great photos from our authors we have included a slideshow of the best images.
Read the full November 2016 issue here.
The authors used 38 years of songbird data to estimate sex-specific additive genetic variances (VA) in breeding date while accounting for fine-scale location-based variance (VLoc). They found significant sex-specific VA, a strongly positive cross-sex genetic correlation and that modelling VLoc did not alter estimated VA when relatives breed in separate locations. Ryan R. Germain et al. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12575
Spatial scales of population structure are challenging to identify because of phenotypic and temporal variation in movements. Using network modularity, the authors test for variation in structure and connectivity among different types of movements of an endangered bird. The results suggest that population structure can be robust despite movement heterogeneity. Brian E. Reichert et al. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12571
Protective effects of microbial symbionts are known from laboratory studies, but little is known about how they affect host fitness in the field. The authors show that protective symbiosis does work in nature and can affect food web structure and dynamics. However, symbionts do not necessarily increase host fitness. Jan Hrček et al. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12586
The authors demonstrate that the pattern of reproductive energy allocation with age and maternal characteristics is markedly different in the pre-natal and post-natal phases of maternal care in a long-lived mammal. This has implications for the study of age-related patterns of reproductive effort insofar as the pattern. John T. Paterson et al. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12577
IN FOCUS PAPER The authors assessed whether hawkmoths more frequently visit plants with floral tube lengths similar to their proboscis lengths beyond abundance-based processes and ecological trait mismatches constraints. The findings highlight the importance of morphological traits matching, revealing that the role of niche-based processes can be much more complex than previously known. Federico D. Sazatornil et al. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12509 In Focus by Pedro Jordano http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12584
Increasing or decreasing reproductive effort in migratory birds in a controlled experiment results in oppositely directed carry-over effects, affecting migratory and wintering behaviour, and future breeding performance. This study helps understand how carry-over effects develop and affect the annual cycle of long-lived migratory animals, a central question in life-history theory. Annette L. Fayet et al. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12580
This paper provides new insights into how the disease chytridiomycosis impacts amphibian demography and ecology. The authors show that the disease is associated with the truncation of adult age structure. Loss of individuals capable of reproducing across multiple years effectively reduces niche breadth through reduced capacity to tolerate recruitment failure. Ben C. Scheele et al. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12569
Emerging infectious diseases are a growing concern in wildlife conservation. This paper uses innovative methods developed for the real-time study of disease epidemics in humans and applies them to an Arctic seabird species experiencing a new series of highly virulent outbreaks of avian cholera to predict disease dynamics and assess the threat to population viability. Samuel A. Iverson et al. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12585
This study examines trade-offs in parasitoid virulence in a hymenopteran attacking three closely related beetles, revealing a higher parasitism success when infecting larvae of the same species as the previous host. These observations are linked to changes in the larval hemocyte composition when infected by more or less virulent parasitoids. Lisa Fors et al. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12579
Parasite competition and facilitation are expected to occur across many host systems, yet evidence from wildlife is limited and strongly biased towards mammal hosts. Using hierarchical multivariate modelling, the authors show that interspecific parasite interactions are common and may be important drivers of blood parasite distributions in wild avian hosts. Nicholas J. Clark et al. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12578
IN FOCUS PAPER This paper demonstrates that global warming and size-selective predation risk can independently shape Daphnia magna body stoichiometry, which are largely driven by changes in energy storage molecules. Also, the trade-offs between energy storage and rapid development and the increased investment in fecundity under size-selective predation could explain deviations from ecological stoichiometry predictions. Photo credit: Joachim Mergeay. Chao Zhang et al. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12573 In Focus by Shawn M. Wilder and Punidan D. Jeyasingh http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12573
Developing a new methodological approach, the authors show how spatial patterns of animal distributions at a resource-patch scale provide useful insights into the potential costs of interspecific interference competition. Considering a large temporal window in a seasonal ecosystem, the authors suggest mechanisms which are likely to be important for animal communities functioning. Nicolas Ferry et al. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12571
Simon Hoggart
Assistant Editor, Journal of Animal Ecology
Animal Ecology in Focus 