Authorship in Ecology: Attribution, Accountability, and Responsibility

Quality and quantity of publications are among the most important measures determining the success of ecologists. The past 50 years have seen a steady rise in the number of researchers and collaborative manuscripts, and a corresponding increase in multi-authored articles. Despite these increases, there remains a shortage of useful and definitive guidelines to aid ecologists in addressing authorship issues, leading to a lack of consistency in what the term “author” really means. Deciding where to draw the line between those who have earned authorship and those who are more appropriately credited in the acknowledgments may be one of the more challenging aspects of authorship. Here, we borrow ideas from other scientific disciplines and propose a simple solution to help ecologists who are making such decisions. We recommend improving communication between co-authors throughout the research process, and propose that authors publish their contributions to a manuscript in a separate byline

A new approach to generating research-quality data through citizen science: The USA National Phenology Monitoring System

Phenology is one of the most sensitive biological responses to climate change, and recent changes in phenology have the potential to shake up ecosystems. In some cases, it appears they already are. Thus, for ecological reasons it is critical that we improve our understanding of species’ phenologies and how these phenologies are responding to recent, rapid climate change. Phenological events like flowering and bird migrations are easy to observe, culturally important, and, at a fundamental level, naturally inspire human curiosity— thus providing an excellent opportunity to engage citizen scientists. The USA National Phenology Network has recently initiated a national effort to encourage people at different levels of expertise—from backyard naturalists to professional scientists—to observe phenological events and contribute to a national database that will be used to greatly improve our understanding of spatio-temporal variation in phenology and associated phenological responses to climate change.

Traditional phenological observation protocols identify specific dates at which individual phenological events are observed. The scientific usefulness of long-term phenological observations could be improved with a more carefully structured protocol. At the USA-NPN we have developed a new approach that directs observers to record each day that they observe an individual plant, and to assess and report the state of specific life stages (or phenophases) as occurring or not occurring on that plant for each observation date. Evaluation is phrased in terms of simple, easy-to-understand, questions (e.g. “Do you see open flowers?”), which makes it very appropriate for a citizen science audience. From this method, a rich dataset of phenological metrics can be extracted, including the duration of a phenophase (e.g. open flowers), the beginning and end points of a phenophase (e.g. traditional phenological events such as first flower and last flower), multiple distinct occurrences of phenophases within a single growing season (e.g multiple flowering events, common in drought-prone regions), as well as quantification of sampling frequency and observational uncertainties. These features greatly enhance the utility of the resulting data for statistical analyses addressing questions such as how phenological events vary in time and space, and in response to global change. This new protocol is an important step forward, and its widespread adoption will increase the scientific value of data collected by citizen scientists.
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Differential α4(+)/(-)β2 Agonist-Binding Site Contributions To α4β2 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Function Within And Between Isoforms

Two α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α4β2-nAChR) isoforms exist with (α4)2(β2)3 and (α4)2(β2)3 subunit stoichiometries and high versus low agonist sensitivities (HS and LS), respectively. Both isoforms contain a pair of α4(+)/(-)β2 agonist- binding sites. The LS isoform also contains a unique α4(+)/(-)α4 site with lower agonist affinity than the α4(+)/(-)β2 sites. However, the relative roles of the conserved α4(+)/(-)β2 agonist-binding sites in and between the isoforms have not been studied. We used a fully linked subunit concatemeric nAChR approach to express pure populations of HS or LS isoform α4β2∗-nAChR. This approach also allowed us to mutate individual subunit interfaces, or combinations thereof, on each isoform background. We used this approach to systematically mutate a triplet of β2 subunit (-)-face E-loop residues to their non-conserved α4 subunit counterparts or vice versa (β2HQT and α4VFL, respectively). Mutant-nAChR constructs (and unmodified controls) were expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Acetylcholine concentration-response curves and maximum function were measured using two-electrode voltage clamp electrophysiology. Surface expression was measured with 125I-mAb 295 binding and was used to define function/nAChR. If the α4(+)/(-)β2 sites contribute equally to function, making identical β2HQT substitutions at either site should produce similar functional outcomes. Instead, highly differential outcomes within the HS isoform, and between the two isoforms, were observed. In contrast, α4VFL mutation effects were very similar in all positions of both isoforms. Our results indicate that the identity of subunits neighboring the otherwise equivalent α4(+)/(-)β2 agonist sites modifies their contributions to nAChR activation and that E-loop residues are an important contributor to this neighbor effect

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Exposing the Science in Citizen Science:Fitness to Purpose and Intentional Design

Citizen science is a growing phenomenon. With millions of people involved and billions of in-kind dollars contributed annually, this broad extent, fine grain approach to data collection should be garnering enthusiastic support in the mainstream science and higher education communities. However, many academic researchers demonstrate distinct biases against the use of citizen science as a source of rigorous information. To engage the public in scientific research, and the research community in the practice of citizen science, a mutual understanding is needed of accepted quality standards in science, and the corresponding specifics of project design and implementation when working with a broad public base. We define a science-based typology focused on the degree to which projects deliver the type(s) and quality of data/work needed to produce valid scientific outcomes directly useful in science and natural resource management. Where project intent includes direct contribution to science and the public is actively involved either virtually or hands-on, we examine the measures of quality assurance (methods to increase data quality during the design and implementation phases of a project) and quality control (post hoc methods to increase the quality of scientific outcomes). We suggest that high quality science can be produced with massive, largely one–off, participation if data collection is simple and quality control includes algorithm voting, statistical pruning, and/or computational modeling. Small to mid-scale projects engaging participants in repeated, often complex, sampling can advance quality through expert-led training and well-designed materials, and through independent verification. Both approaches—simplification at scale and complexity with care—generate more robust science outcomes

Facilitation or Competition? Tree Effects on Grass Biomass across a Precipitation Gradient

Savanna ecosystems are dominated by two distinct plant life forms, grasses and trees, but the interactions between them are poorly understood. Here, we quantified the effects of isolated savanna trees on grass biomass as a function of distance from the base of the tree and tree height, across a precipitation gradient in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. Our results suggest that mean annual precipitation (MAP) mediates the nature of tree-grass interactions in these ecosystems, with the impact of trees on grass biomass shifting qualitatively between 550 and 737 mm MAP. Tree effects on grass biomass were facilitative in drier sites (MAP≤550 mm), with higher grass biomass observed beneath tree canopies than outside. In contrast, at the wettest site (MAP = 737 mm), grass biomass did not differ significantly beneath and outside tree canopies. Within this overall precipitation-driven pattern, tree height had positive effect on sub-canopy grass biomass at some sites, but these effects were weak and not consistent across the rainfall gradient. For a more synthetic understanding of tree-grass interactions in savannas, future studies should focus on isolating the different mechanisms by which trees influence grass biomass, both positively and negatively, and elucidate how their relative strengths change over broad environmental gradients. © 2013 Moustakas et al

Variable strength of forest stand attributes and weather conditions on the questing activity of Ixodes ricinus ticks over years in managed forests

Given the ever-increasing human impact through land use and climate change on the environment, we crucially need to achieve a better understanding of those factors that influence the questing activity of ixodid ticks, a major disease-transmitting vector in temperate forests. We investigated variation in the relative questing nymph densities of Ixodes ricinus in differently managed forest types for three years (2008–2010) in SW Germany by drag sampling. We used a hierarchical Bayesian modeling approach to examine the relative effects of habitat and weather and to consider possible nested structures of habitat and climate forces. The questing activity of nymphs was considerably larger in young forest successional stages of thicket compared with pole wood and timber stages. Questing nymph density increased markedly with milder winter temperatures. Generally, the relative strength of the various environmental forces on questing nymph density differed across years. In particular, winter temperature had a negative effect on tick activity across sites in 2008 in contrast to the overall effect of temperature across years. Our results suggest that forest management practices have important impacts on questing nymph density. Variable weather conditions, however, might override the effects of forest management practices on the fluctuations and dynamics of tick populations and activity over years, in particular, the preceding winter temperatures. Therefore, robust predictions and the detection of possible interactions and nested structures of habitat and climate forces can only be quantified through the collection of long-term data. Such data are particularly important with regard to future scenarios of forest management and climate warming

Citizen science can improve conservation science, natural resource management, and environmental protection

Citizen science has advanced science for hundreds of years, contributed to many peer-reviewed articles, and informed land management decisions and policies across the United States. Over the last 10 years, citizen science has grown immensely in the United States and many other countries. Here, we show how citizen science is a powerful tool for tackling many of the challenges faced in the field of conservation biology. We describe the two interwoven paths bywhich citizen science can improve conservation efforts, natural resource management, and environmental protection. The first path includes building scientific knowledge, while the other path involves informing policy and encouraging public action. We explore how citizen science is currently used and describe the investments needed to create a citizen science program. We find that: 1. Citizen science already contributes substantially to many domains of science, including conservation, natural resource, and environmental science. Citizen science informs natural resource management, environmental protection, and policymaking and fosters public input and engagement. 2. Many types of projects can benefit fromcitizen science, but one must be careful tomatch the needs for science and public involvement with the right type of citizen science project and the right method of public participation. 3. Citizen science is a rigorous process of scientific discovery, indistinguishable from conventional science apart from the participation of volunteers.When properly designed, carried out, and evaluated, citizen science can provide sound science, efficiently generate high-quality data, and help solve problems

Eating disorders: from twin studies to candidate genes and beyond

Substantial effort has been put into the exploration of the biological background of eating disorders, through family, twin and molecular genetic studies. Family studies have shown that anorexia (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) are strongly familial, and that familial etiologic factors appear to be shared by both disorders. Twin studies often focus on broader phenotypes or subthreshold eating disorders. These studies consistently yielded moderate to substantial heritabilities. In addition, there has been a proliferation of molecular genetic studies that focused on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) AN and BN. Seven linkage regions have been identified in genome-wide screens. Many genetic association studies have been performed, but no consistent association between a candidate gene and AN or BN has been reported. Larger genetic association studies and collaborations are needed to examine the involvement of several candidate genes and biological pathways in eating disorders. In addition, twin studies should be designed to assist the molecular work by further exploring genetic determinants of endophenotypes, evaluating the magnitude of contribution to liability of measured genotypes as well as environmental risk factors related to eating disorders. In this manner twin and molecular studies can move the field forward in a mutually informative way