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.

Cultivated exotic plants are often introduced for their aesthetic value and today comprise a substantial fraction of the flora of urban domestic gardens. Yet, their relative contribution to the functional diversity of domestic gardens and how it changes across different climate zones is insufficiently understood. Here, we investigated whether the effects of cultivated exotics on functional diversity of three plant traits related to plant aesthetics (that is, plant showiness, plant height, and leaf area) varied in suburban domestic gardens in three regions (Minnesota, USA; Alt Emporda, Spain; and central South Africa) that differ in aridity. For each garden, we calculated the mean and variance of each plant trait considering all co-occurring species and also splitting them into co-occurring cultivated exotics and natives. Our results revealed that mean plant showiness increased linearly with the proportion of cultivated exotics both across and within studied regions. Moreover, co-occurring cultivated exotics were, on average, showier than natives in all regions, but differences in their trait variances were context-dependent. The interaction between cultivated exotics and aridity explained variation in mean plant height and leaf area better than either predictor alone, with the effect of cultivated exotics being stronger in more arid regions. Accordingly, co-occurring cultivated exotics were taller and had larger leaves than natives in warmer and drier regions, while the opposite was true in cooler and wetter regions. Our study highlights the need to consider the combined effects of exotic species and climate in future studies of urban ecology.

/pdf/contrasting-impacts-of-cultivated-exotics-on-the-functional-3k724c79fd.pdf

Contrasting Impacts of Cultivated Exotics on the Functional Diversity of Domestic Gardens in Three Regions with Different Aridity

Behavioral innovation and problem solving are widely considered important mechanisms by which animals respond to novel environmental challenges, including those induced by human activities. Despite its functional and ecological relevance, much of our current understanding of these processes comes from studies in vertebrates. Understanding these processeses in invertebrates has lagged behind partly because they are not perceived to have the cognitive machinery required. This perception is however challenged by recent evidence demonstrating sophisticated cognitive capabilities in insects despite their small brains. Here, we study innovation, understood as the capacity of solving a new task, of a solitary bee (Osmia cornuta) in the laboratory by exposing naive individuals to an obstacle removal task. We also studied the underlying cognitive and non-cognitive mechanisms through a battery of experimental tests designed to measure associative learning, exploration, shyness and activity levels. We found that solitary bees can innovate, with 11 of 29 individuals (38%) being able to solve a new task consisting in lifting a lid to reach a reward. However, the propensity to innovate was uncorrelated with the measured learning capacities, but increased with exploration, boldness and activity. These results provide solid evidence that non-social insects can solve new tasks, and highlight the importance of interpreting innovation in the light of non-cognitive processes.

Innovation in solitary bees is driven by exploration, shyness and activity levels.

INFRAESTRUCTURAS EN CATALUÑA Panorámica y oportunidades

Ecologia del gavià argentat: causas de la seva expansió i baes per a la planificació d'un programa de control

/pdf/retraction-statement-paper-by-lefebvre-marino-sol-lemieux-3hw8tb5tu2.pdf

Daniel Sol

Papers

Contrasting Impacts of Cultivated Exotics on the Functional Diversity of Domestic Gardens in Three Regions with Different Aridity

Innovation in solitary bees is driven by exploration, shyness and activity levels.

INFRAESTRUCTURAS EN CATALUÑA Panorámica y oportunidades

Ecologia del gavià argentat: causas de la seva expansió i baes per a la planificació d'un programa de control

Retraction Statement. Paper by Lefebvre, Marino, Sol, Lemieux-Lefebvre and Arshad [Brain Behav Evol 2006;68:218–228]