Preface to the Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols Used xiii 1. The Importance of Islands 3 2. Area and Number of Speicies 8 3. Further Explanations of the Area-Diversity Pattern 19 4. The Strategy of Colonization 68 5. Invasibility and the Variable Niche 94 6. Stepping Stones and Biotic Exchange 123 7. Evolutionary Changes Following Colonization 145 8. Prospect 181 Glossary 185 References 193 Index 201

The Theory of Island Biogeography

Statistics for Spatial Data.

Genetics and analysis of quantitative traits

Climate change 2014 - Synthesis Report

Recent studies suggest that populations and species often exhibit behavioral syndromes; that is, suites of correlated behaviors across situations. An example is an aggression syndrome where some individuals are more aggressive, whereas others are less aggressive across a range of situations and contexts. The existence of behavioral syndromes focuses the attention of behavioral ecologists on limited (less than optimal) behavioral plasticity and behavioral carryovers across situations, rather than on optimal plasticity in each isolated situation. Behavioral syndromes can explain behaviors that appear strikingly non-adaptive in an isolated context (e.g. inappropriately high activity when predators are present, or excessive sexual cannibalism). Behavioral syndromes can also help to explain the maintenance of individual variation in behavioral types, a phenomenon that is ubiquitous, but often ignored. Recent studies suggest that the behavioral type of an individual, population or species can have important ecological and evolutionary implications, including major effects on species distributions, on the relative tendencies of species to be invasive or to respond well to environmental change, and on speciation rates. Although most studies of behavioral syndromes to date have focused on a few organisms, mainly in the laboratory, further work on other species, particularly in the field, should yield numerous new insights.

/pdf/behavioral-syndromes-an-ecological-and-evolutionary-overview-53ct6xj1u3.pdf

Behavioral syndromes: an ecological and evolutionary overview.

We test the longstanding hypothesis, known as the dive constraint hypothesis, that the oxygenation demands of diving pose a constraint on aquatic mammal brain size.Using a sample of 23 cetacean species we examine the relationship among six different measures of relative brain size, body size, and maximum diving duration. Unlike previous tests we include body size as a covariate and perform independent contrast analyses to control for phylogeny. We show that diving does not limit brain size in cetaceans and therefore provide no support for the dive constraint hypothesis. Instead, body size is the main predictor of maximum diving duration in cetaceans. Furthermore, our findings show that it is important to conduct robust tests of evolutionary hypotheses by employing a variety of measures of the dependent variable, in this case, relative brain size.

/pdf/does-diving-limit-brain-size-in-cetaceans-4nn0dh4p00.pdf

Does diving limit brain size in cetaceans

La naturalisation d'especes etrangeres constitue une menace mondiale pour la biodiversite des zones de « hotspots ». L'Espagne constitue l'un des pays europeens possedant la plus grande diversite specifique. Cependant, il n'existe pas pour ce pays de synthese relative aux especes introduites et naturalisees. Ainsi, ce travail vise a dresser une synthese bibliographique concernant le nombre et l'origine biogeographique des vegetaux vasculaires et des vertebres naturalises presents dans la peninsule iberique. Ce bilan a permis de denombrer 637 vegetaux vasculaires naturalises, 20 poissons, 3 amphibiens, 8 reptiles, 9 oiseaux et 11 mammiferes non indigenes. La plus grande proportion de ces vegetaux xenophytes est d'origine americaine, tandis que l'origine biogeographique des vertebres depend du groupe taxonomique auquel ils appartiennent. Hormis les amphibiens et des mammiferes, la plupart des especes naturalisees se rencontrent dans des biotopes fortement perturbes. L'invasibilite de ces especes et leur impact sur les communautes et ecosystemes indigenes n'ont pas ete encore quantifies. Cependant, certaines especes presentes en Espagne s'averent tres dynamiques et envahissantes dans d'autres regions du Monde, et leurs impacts probables sur la biodiversite espagnole meritent d'etre examine de facon urgente.

Survey of the naturalised plants and vertebrates in peninsular Spain

Summary 1 Concern over the impact of invasive species has led to the development of risk assessment methodologies to identify potential invaders and prevent future ecological and economic problems However, developing a risk assessment tool is challenging because of the difficulties of accurately predicting the outcome of species introductions 2 In this study, we develop a global risk assessment for birds We integrate two approaches, generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) and hierarchical tree models, to help identify those introductions with the highest risk of establishment success 3 Past work has shown that the number of individuals released is the main factor influencing establishment success in animals, a conclusion that was supported in our analyses Establishment success was also higher for species with broader ecological niches and larger brains relative to body size These features should increase the likelihood of finding an appropriate niche in the region of introduction 4 The GLMM and tree model predicted the probability of establishment success of birds in Europe and Australia with high accuracy (over 80% of introductions correctly classified) This highlights that establishment risk can be reasonably assessed with information on general habitat use, brain size and the size of the founder population When compared with an alternative risk assessment tool based on a qualitative ranking, our quantitative approaches achieved higher accuracy with less information 5 Synthesis and applications Quantitative risk assessments based on traits related to establishment success are difficult but feasible, providing a useful tool for guiding preventive polices aimed at mitigating the impact of invasive species

https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2009.01674.x

A global risk assessment for the success of bird introductions

Feather mites (Astigmata) are distributed around the world, living on the feathers of birds, but their mechanisms for transmission among hosts are not fully understood. There is anecdotal evidence of feather mites attached to louseflies (Diptera: Hippoboscidae), suggesting that feather mites may use these flies as a mode of phoretic transmission among birds. Two bird–lousefly associations (alpine swift Apus melba–Crataerina melbae and feral pigeon Columba livia–Pseudolynchia canariensis) were inspected to test the hypothesis that feather mites use hippoboscid flies as major mode of transmission. Both bird species showed a high prevalence and abundance of feather mites and louseflies. However, no feather mites were found attached to the 405 louseflies inspected, although skin mites (Epidermoptidae and Cheyletiellidae) were found on louseflies collected from feral pigeons. This study suggests that feather mites do not use hippoboscid flies as a major mode of transmission among birds.

https://bioone.org/journals/journal-of-parasitology/volume-87/issue-5/0022-3395(2001)087[1187:AHFAMM]2.0.CO;2/Are-Hippoboscid-Flies-a-Major-Mode-of-Transmission-of-Feather/10.1645/0022-3395(2001)087[1187:AHFAMM]2.0.CO;2.pdf

Are Hippoboscid Flies a Major Mode of Transmission of Feather Mites

Many nonindigenous organisms, including birds, are often restricted to human-altered environments within the region of introduction. The classical explanation is that human-related alterations make the environment easier to invade by reducing biotic resistance and offering new niche opportunities. However, the pattern may also reflect that many more species have been introduced in human-altered environments and/or that traits associated with invasion success and the ability to thrive in these environments are related. In this chapter, we argue that if we want to fully understand why exotic organisms are mainly successful in human-altered environments, we need to see the invasion process as a set of stages with different probabilities of being transited. Applied to birds, this framework suggests that there is a high probability that an exotic species ends up associated with human-altered environments if the species: (1) is more abundant (and hence more available for introduction) in urbanized environments; (2) has a higher chance to be successfully transported, as it is already habituated to humans; and (3) has a higher probability to be introduced in an urbanized environment, where most humans live. If these arguments are true, then the exotic species is likely to successfully establish itself in the new region because the species should already have the traits needed to persist in the novel environment. Although more supporting evidence is needed, the proposed framework provides a general solution for the paradox that many invaders are more successful in the new environment than most native species.

Daniel Sol

Papers

Does diving limit brain size in cetaceans

Survey of the naturalised plants and vertebrates in peninsular Spain

A global risk assessment for the success of bird introductions

Are Hippoboscid Flies a Major Mode of Transmission of Feather Mites

Why Are Exotic Birds So Successful in Urbanized Environments