Niche Specialization and Conservation Biology of Cicindela nevadica lincolniana
01 Jan 2010-
TL;DR: This work presents a meta-analysis of captive Rearing and Mortality Analysis of Cicindela nevadica lincolniana, a sympatric tiger beetle assemblage, and its role in the conservation of the Salt Creek tiger beetle.
Abstract: 13 Introduction 14 Methods and Materials 17 Results 20 Discussion 21 Tables and Figures 29 Chapter 2 Captive Rearing and Mortality Analysis of Cicindela nevadica lincolniana Abstract 35 Introduction 36 Methods and Materials 41 Results 44 Discussion 46 Tables and Figures 5835 Introduction 36 Methods and Materials 41 Results 44 Discussion 46 Tables and Figures 58 Chapter 3 Behavioral niche partitioning in a sympatric tiger beetle assemblage Abstract 62 Introduction 63 Methods and Materials 67 Results 6962 Introduction 63 Methods and Materials 67 Results 69 Discussion 71 Tables and Figures 75 Chapter 4 Using the visual arts to promote the conservation of the Salt Creek tiger beetle Abstract 89 Introduction 9089 Introduction 90 Methods and Materials 95 Results and Discussion 97 Tables and Figures 103 Summary and Conclusions 109 Literature Cited 112
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TL;DR: Results of this study strongly indicate that competition among these species for resources has been reduced by the adaptation of different thermoregulatory behaviors such as spending time in shallow water, avoiding the sun during the hottest parts of the day, and by positioning their body against or away from the soil.
Abstract: How behavioral patterns are related to niche partitioning is an important question in understanding how closely related species within ecological communities function. Behavioral niche partitioning associated with thermoregulation is well documented in tiger beetles as a group. Co-occurring species of salt flat tiger beetles have adapted many thermoregulatory behaviors to cope with this harsh ecosystem. On first examination these beetles appear to occur in overlapping microhabitats and therefore compete for resources. To determine if behavioral niche partitioning is allowing multiple species to occur within the same harsh salt flat ecosystem we observed Cicindela nevadica lincolniana, Cicindela circumpicta, Cicindela fulgida, and Cicindela togata between 8:00 h and 21:00 h and recorded all behaviors related to thermoregulation using a digital voice recorder. Results of this study strongly indicate that competition among these species for resources has been reduced by the adaptation of different thermoregulatory behaviors such as spending time in shallow water, avoiding the sun during the hottest parts of the day, and by positioning their body against or away from the soil. The endangered C. n. lincolniana appears to rely most heavily on the shallow water of seeps for their diurnal foraging behavior (potentially limiting their foraging habitat), but with the advantage of allowing foraging during the hottest times of the day when potential competitors are less frequent. Ironically, this association also may help explain C. n. lincolniana's susceptibility to extinction: beyond the loss of saline wetlands generally, limited seeps and pools even within remaining saline habitat may represent a further habitat limitation within an already limited habitat.
14 citations
TL;DR: Effective rearing methods are needed to recover the federally endangered Salt Creek tiger beetle, Cicindela (Ellipsoptera) nevadica lincolniana Casey, a subspecies that occurs exclusively in saline wetlands and seeps along Little Salt Creek in Lancaster County, Nebraska.
Abstract: Effective rearing methods are needed to recover the federally endangered Salt Creek tiger beetle, Cicindela (Ellipsoptera) nevadica lincolniana Casey, a subspecies that occurs exclusively in saline wetlands and seeps along Little Salt Creek in Lancaster County, Nebraska. Experiments were initiated to determine soil type and salinity concentrations appropriate for stimulating female oviposition in laboratory settings to produce larvae and/or adults for reintroduction to native habitats. In 2013, there were highly significant differences between native soil and a sand/loess soil mixture, but no differences between two salinity levels, 0.354 M and 0.5 M. In 2014, using only a sand/loess soil mixture, there were again no differences between the test salinity levels. A sand/loess soil mixture of either 0.354 M or 0.5 M salinity was determined to be optimum for egg production.
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University of California, Irvine1, University of Montana2, University of California, Riverside3, University of Notre Dame4, University of Vermont5, Kansas State University6, State University of New York at Plattsburgh7, Rockefeller University8, Vanderbilt University9, University of New Orleans10, University of California, Santa Cruz11
TL;DR: In this article, the introduction of invasive species and identifying life history stages where management will be most effective are discussed. And evolutionary processes may be key features in determining whether invasive species establish and spread.
Abstract: ■ Abstract Contributions from the field of population biology hold promise for understanding and managing invasiveness; invasive species also offer excellent opportunities to study basic processes in population biology. Life history studies and demographic models may be valuable for examining the introduction of invasive species and identifying life history stages where management will be most effective. Evolutionary processes may be key features in determining whether invasive species establish and spread. Studies of genetic diversity and evolutionary changes should be useful for
3,280 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1934
TL;DR: For three-quarters of a century past more has been written about natural selection and the struggle for existence that underlies the selective process, than perhaps about any other single idea in the whole realm of Biology as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: For three-quarters of a century past more has been written about natural selection and the struggle for existence that underlies the selective process, than perhaps about any other single idea in the whole realm of Biology. We have seen natural selection laid on its Sterbebett, and subsequently revived again in the most recent times to a remarkable degree of vigor. There can be no doubt that the old idea has great survival value.
2,641 citations
TL;DR: The evolution of "niche breadth" was a more popular topic in the evolutionary ecological literature of the 1960s and 1970s than it has been recently (109, 118, 120, 134, 155, 156) as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The evolution of "niche breadth," or "niche width," was a more popular topic in the evolutionary ecological literature of the 1960s and 1970s than it has been recently (109, 118, 120, 134, 155, 156). This review summarizes current hypotheses on the evolution of specialization and generalization and suggests areas in which future research might be rewarding. The topic is so broad that every area of biology bears on it. We cannot hope to offer an exhaustive review of evidence and in particular have slighted much of the ecological literature to emphasize genetic and evolutionary perspectives. We limit our discussion almost entirely to animals. We adopt Hutchinson's (86) representation of a population's ecological niche as an n-dimensional hypervolume, the axes of which are environmental variables or resources. Along each of these, the population displays a wide or narrow tolerance or pattern of utilization, relative to other populations or species. Specialization and generalization must be defined with reference to particular axes (e.g. temperature, range of food particle sizes). Brown (9) suggests that niche breadth along different axes is positively correlated and that this explains positive correlations across species between local abundance and breadth of geographic range. Multidimensional specialization might be expected if species arise in localized regions that differ in several ecological respects from those occupied by parent species. Cody (20), however, suggested that the breadth of habitat is negatively correlated with diet breadth among certain bird species. In practice, quantitative measurement of niche breadth can be difficult (22,
2,108 citations
"Niche Specialization and Conservati..." refers background in this paper
...Futuyma and Moreno (1988) point out that behavior is often a mechanism in which specialization is genetically exercised....
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TL;DR: The annual value of these ecological services provided by insects to the United States is estimated to be at least $57 billion, an amount that justifies greater investment in the conservation of these services.
Abstract: In this article we focus on the vital ecological services provided by insects. We restrict our focus to services provided by “wild” insects; we do not include services from domesticated or mass-reared insect species. The four insect services for which we provide value estimates—dung burial, pest control, pollination, and wildlife nutrition—were chosen not because of their importance but because of the availability of data and an algorithm for their estimation. We base our estimations of the value of each service on projections of losses that would accrue if insects were not functioning at their current level. We estimate the annual value of these ecological services provided in the United States to be at least $57 billion, an amount that justifies greater investment in the conservation of these services.
1,573 citations
"Niche Specialization and Conservati..." refers background in this paper
...(Losey and Vaughan 2006) Humans are predisposed to assigning value to organisms in relation to that organism‟s phylogenetic relation to themselfs....
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TL;DR: The notion of coevolutionary shaping of competitors' niches has little support at present, and theory and evidence suggest that it is probable only in low diversity communities.
Abstract: That niches of competitors in ecological communities are shaped by mutual coevolution, which thus allows many species to coexist, is a commonly-held view. Two species must live together consistently to coevolve, so since predators (or parasites) are dependent upon their prey, they will necessarily co-occur with them and so should coevolve. In contrast, competing species, which are not dependent on each other, need not consistently co-occur or coevolve. Increased diversity, by reducing the consistency of co-occurrence, also reduces the chance of coevolution. To demonstrate coevolutionary divergence of competitors one must show: 1) that divergence has actually occurred: this has been done for some fossil sequences but not for any extant competitors; 2) that competition, rather than some other mechanism, is responsible; and 3) that it has a genetic basis. To demonstrate 2) and 3) for natural populations requires appropriate field experiments, which are suggested in the paper. This has been done, in part, in only one case. Thus the notion of coevolutionary shaping of competitors' niches has little support at present. Theory and evidence suggest that it is probable only in low diversity communities.
1,390 citations
"Niche Specialization and Conservati..." refers background in this paper
...Indeed, because sessile organisms compete for space more intensively than most species (Connell 1980), tiger beetle larvae are likely to be especially susceptible to resource limitations, which may lead to greater niche differentiation than non-sessile species....
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