Showing papers in "The Quarterly Review of Biology in 2008"

Machine Learning Methods Without Tears: A Primer for Ecologists

Abstract: Machine learning methods, a family of statistical techniques with origins in the field of artificial intelligence, are recognized as holding great promise for the advancement of understanding and prediction about ecological phenomena. These modeling techniques are flexible enough to handle complex problems with multiple interacting elements and typically outcompete traditional approaches (e.g., generalized linear models), making them ideal for modeling ecological systems. Despite their inherent advantages, a review of the literature reveals only a modest use of these approaches in ecology as compared to other disciplines. One potential explanation for this lack of interest is that machine learning techniques do not fall neatly into the class of statistical modeling approaches with which most ecologists are familiar. In this paper, we provide an introduction to three machine learning approaches that can be broadly used by ecologists: classification and regression trees, artificial neural networks,...

Reproductive interference between animal species

Abstract: Although sexual interactions between species (reproductive interference) have been reported from a wide range of animal taxa, their potential for determining species coexistence is often disregarded. Here, we review evidence from laboratory and field studies illustrating that heterospecific sexual interactions are frequently associated with fitness loss and can have severe ecological and evolutionary consequences. We define reproductive interference as any kind of interspecific interaction during the process of mate acquisition that adversely affects the fitness of at least one of the species involved and that is caused by incomplete species recognition. We distinguish seven types of reproductive interference: signal jamming, heterospecific rivalry, misdirected courtship, heterospecific mating attempts, erroneous female choice, heterospecific mating, and hybridization. We then discuss the sex-specific costs of these types and highlight two typical features of reproductive interference: density-de...

Allergies: Their Role in Cancer Prevention

Abstract: The nature of the biological relationships between cancers and allergies has intrigued researchers and health care providers for five decades. Three hypotheses have been proposed: antigenic stimulation predicts positive associations between cancers and allergies (i.e., allergy sufferers are more likely to get cancer), whereas immunosurveillance and prophylaxis predict inverse associations (i.e., allergy sufferers are less likely to get cancer). Immunosurveillance predicts inverse associations for cancers of all tissues and organ systems, and prophylaxis predicts inverse associations specifically for cancers of tissues and organ systems that interface with the external environment. To comparatively evaluate these hypotheses, we comprehensively reviewed the literature on cancer and allergies. We located 148 papers published from 1955 through 2006 that reported results of 463 studies of relationships between patients' histories of 11 specific allergies and cancers of 19 tissues and organ systems, an...

Patterns of Variation in the Influence of Natal Experience on Habitat Choice

Abstract: The experience of animals in their natal or larval habitats has long been considered a potential source of variation in the habitat choices made later during dispersal. This idea has been of particular interest to evolutionary biologists because of the role such variation plays in the formation of host races and species. However, experiments that have tested for the effect of natal experience on habitat choice have produced widely variable results, leading to disagreement about the ecological importance of these effects. Here, I review the results of experiments within a broad range of animal taxa to assess the potential sources of variation in observed effects of natal experience on habitat choice. I provide a comprehensive summary of previous studies and demonstrate that when natal experience influences habitat choice, it nearly always increases the acceptance of the natal habitat type. Furthermore, I discuss mechanisms that allow natal experience to affect later habitat choice and describe how these mechanisms are influenced by various experimental design elements, such as the life stage at which early experience is provided to subjects. I conclude by reviewing the adaptive hypotheses for why animals might or might not respond to natal experience, and also how these hypotheses might explain interspecific differences in the importance of natal experience during habitat selection decisions. By understanding in what species, and in which contexts, experience influences habitat selection, we will be able to predict the ecological and evolutionary consequences of these effects more accurately.

The Emerald Planet: How Plants Changed Earth's History.ByDavid Beerling. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. $29.95. xvi + 288 p + 16 pl; ill.; index. ISBN: 978-0-19-280602-4. 2007.

Abstract: An electronic device is provided including at least one microphone, a communication circuit, a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores at least one application program or a software program executing a voice instruction, which is triggered in response to a voice input, upon the performance, the memory stores instructions to allow the processor to sequentially receive a plurality of utterances including a first speech element from a first user through the at least one microphone, generate a voice recognition model of the first user on the basis of at least some of the plurality of utterances, store the generated voice recognition model in the memory, and transmit the generated voice recognition model of the first user to the outside through the communication circuit so that a first external device uses the generated voice recognition model of the first user.

The evolution of flight in bats: narrowing the field of plausible hypotheses.

Abstract: The evolution of flapping flight in bats from an arboreal gliding ancestor appears on the surface to be a relatively simple transition. However, bat flight is a highly complex functional system from a morphological, physiological, and aerodynamic perspective, and the transition from a gliding precursor may involve functional discontinuities that represent evolutionary hurdles. In this review, I suggest a framework for a comprehensive treatment of the evolution of complex functional systems that emphasizes a mechanistic understanding of the initial state, the final state, and the proposed transitional states. In this case, bats represent the final state and extant mammalian gliders are used as a model for the initial state. To explore possible transitional states, I propose a set of criteria for evaluating hypotheses about the evolution of flight in vertebrates and suggest methods by which we can advance our understanding of the transition from gliding to flapping flight. Although it is impossible...

Biohumanities: Rethinking the Relationship Between Biosciences, Philosophy and History of Science, and Society

Abstract: We argue that philosophical and historical research can constitute a “Biohumanities” that deepens our understanding of biology itself, engages in constructive “science criticism,” helps formulate new “visions of biology,” and facilitates “critical science communication.” We illustrate these ideas with two recent “experimental philosophy” studies of the concept of the gene and of the concept of innateness conducted by ourselves and collaborators. We conclude that the complex and often troubled relations between science and society are critical to both parties, and argue that the philosophy and history of science can help to make this relationship work.

From philosophy to science (to natural philosophy): evolutionary developmental perspectives.

Abstract: This paper focuses on abstraction as a mode of reasoning that facilitates a productive relationship between philosophy and science. Using examples from evolutionary developmental biology, I argue that there are two areas where abstraction can be relevant to science: reasoning explication and problem clarification. The value of abstraction is characterized in terms of methodology (modeling or data gathering) and epistemology (explanatory evaluation or data interpretation).

The Borderlands Between Science And Philosophy: An Introduction

Abstract: Science and philosophy have a very long history, dating back at least to the 16th and 17th centuries, when the first scientist-philosophers, such as Bacon, Galilei, and Newton, were beginning the process of turning natural philosophy into science. Contemporary relationships between the two fields are still to some extent marked by the distrust that maintains the divide between the so-called “two cultures.” An increasing number of philosophers, however, are making conceptual contributions to sciences ranging from quantum mechanics to evolutionary biology, and a few scientists are conducting research relevant to classically philosophical fields of inquiry, such as consciousness and moral decision-making. This article will introduce readers to the borderlands between science and philosophy, beginning with a brief description of what philosophy of science is about, and including a discussion of how the two disciplines can fruitfully interact not only at the level of scholarship, but also when it comes to controversies surrounding public understanding of science.

When logic fails ecology.

Abstract: Ecology plays an important role in society, informing policy and management decisions across a variety of issues. As such, regularities in processes would indicate higher levels of predictive outcomes and would reduce the amount of research required for specific issues that policy makers need addressed. Scientific laws are considered the pinnacle of success and usefulness in addressing regularities or universal truths. Ecology studies complex interactions of individuals with unique behaviors, making the identification of laws problematic. Two equations, Malthusian growth and the logistic equation, continue to receive attention and are frequently cited as exemplar laws in ecology. However, an understanding of scientific laws shows that neither are good candidates for law status. In this paper, I will discuss why ecology is not well structured for scientific laws, as they are currently understood. Finally, I will consider alternative proposals for the role of laws in ecology and alternate forms of ...