Volume 2 Issue 11, November 2018

Indigenous knowledge and ecological science have complementary differences that can be fruitfully combined to better understand the past and predict the future of social-ecological systems. Cooperation among scientific and Indigenous perspectives can improve conservation and resource management policies.

Ecologist who co-founded the discipline of macroecology.

Sponges are believed by many researchers to be the earliest living animal group, but there is conflicting evidence for the timing of their origin. A molecular fossil discovery supports the contention that sponges appeared very early, but starkly contradicts the body fossil record.

Genomic gigantism in amphibians originated through a single extraordinary jump overlying otherwise gradual change; genome size variation is related to both the external environment and life history in frogs, but may not be in salamanders.

The identification of a set of conserved genes that has had stable expression patterns over 120 million years of ant evolution provides a glimpse into the mechanisms that generate queen and worker castes in ants.

Priority effects refer to changes in the diversity, composition or function of a community according to the arrival order of species. Here, the authors show that only effects that are compatible with coexistence theory are characterized by positive frequency-dependence.

How and why individuals of the same species may differ in the way they form pair bonds is not well understood. The authors show that the individual personalities of male great tits (Parus major) regulate how quickly they meet their future partner, and the rate at which they bond with them.

Microbial mats in extreme environments are analogues of Precambrian ecosystems. Here, the authors analyse metagenomes of microbial mats from a pond along a steep redox gradient and apply a space-for-time approach to infer early Earth metabolic transitions.

26-methylstigmastane, a new fossil sterane biomarker sourced from demosponges, evidences Precambrian animals in marine shelf settings.

DNA metabarcoding data from the Tara Oceans expedition are combined with palaeoenvironmental data and phylogenetic models of diversification to analyse the diversity dynamics of marine diatoms since the Jurassic period.

A global-scale synthesis reveals how nitrogen resorption and mineralization interact to influence the biogeography of nitrogen conservation and acquisition in different biomes.

Foliar nitrogen (N) concentrations and isotope ratios obtained from >43,000 samples acquired over 37 years suggest global declines in N supply relative to plant demand, consistent with elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Marine aquaculture is a rapidly growing global source of food, but is likely to be affected by climate change. Here, the effect of warming oceans on the production potential of 180 cultured finfish and bivalve species is mapped over the next century.

Adaptive differentiation is poorly understood in marine systems. Here, the authors combine genome sequencing with gene expression and physiology to show that genetic divergence and plasticity contribute to local adaptation of Pacific oyster populations.

Genomic resources for cartilaginous fishes are scarce. Here, the authors sequence the genome of three sharks and provide insights on the molecular basis of adaptation to underwater lifestyle and the evolutionary origins of vertebrates.

Female preference is associated with male colour in the Trinidadian guppy. By comparing gene expression patterns in the brains of females with and without preference for colourful males while they evaluate males, the authors identify neurogenomic elements associated with female preference.

Ant colonies include reproductive queens and sterile workers. Based on brain transcriptomes from five ant species, the authors identify an ancestral gene network for caste differentiation that has been modified over time as ant societies evolved.

Comparative quantitative analysis of factors shaping genome size evolution in amphibians reveals multiple (but rare) jumps in size against a background of gradual, time-dependent evolution.

Age at maturity in Atlantic salmon has been associated with a single locus with sex-specific effects. Here, the authors show rapid evolution towards early maturity in males of a large salmon population induced by sex-specific selection during sea migration.

Phylogenetic distribution and phenotypic traits of livestock and crops reveal that domesticated species explore a reduced portion of the phenotypic space occupied by their wild counterparts and have particular traits in common.

The loss of an essential gene may promote genome evolution. Here, the authors show that fitness of yeast cells that have lost an essential splicing factor can be restored by compensatory mutations that alter the splicing machinery or a transcription co-activator complex.