Decision making in uncertain times: what can cognitive and decision sciences say about or learn from economic crises?

B.M. was supported by a Visiting Scholar Award from the British Academy and Grant ME 3717/2 from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) as part of the priority program ‘New Frameworks of Rationality’ (SPP 1516)

Genetic diversity in invasive populations of Argentine stem weevil associated with adaptation to biocontrol

Modified, agricultural landscapes are susceptible to damage by insect pests. Biological control of pests is typically successful once a control agent has established, but this depends on the agent’s capacity to co-evolve with the host. Theoretical studies have shown that different levels of genetic variation between the host and the control agent will lead to rapid evolution of resistance in the host. Although this has been reported in one instance, the underlying genetics have not been studied. To address this, we measured the genetic variation in New Zealand populations of the pasture pest, Argentine stem weevil (Listronotus bonariensis), which is controlled with declining effectiveness by a parasitoid wasp, Microctonus hyperodae. We constructed a draft reference genome of the weevil, collected samples from a geographical survey of 10 sites around New Zealand, and genotyped them using a modified genotyping-by-sequencing approach. New Zealand populations of Argentine stem weevil have high levels of heterozygosity and low population structure, consistent with a large effective population size and frequent gene flow. This implies that Argentine stem weevils were able to evolve more rapidly than their biocontrol agent, which reproduces asexually. These findings show that monitoring genetic diversity in biocontrol agents and their targets is critical for long-term success of biological control

Population genomics of the critically endangered kākāpō

Summary The kākāpō is a flightless parrot endemic to New Zealand. Once common in the archipelago, only 201 individuals remain today, most of them descending from an isolated island population. We report the first genome-wide analyses of the species, including a high-quality genome assembly for kākāpō, one of the first chromosome-level reference genomes sequenced by the Vertebrate Genomes Project (VGP). We also sequenced and analyzed 35 modern genomes from the sole surviving island population and 14 genomes from the extinct mainland population. While theory suggests that such a small population is likely to have accumulated deleterious mutations through genetic drift, our analyses on the impact of the long-term small population size in kākāpō indicate that present-day island kākāpō have a reduced number of harmful mutations compared to mainland individuals. We hypothesize that this reduced mutational load is due to the island population having been subjected to a combination of genetic drift and purging of deleterious mutations, through increased inbreeding and purifying selection, since its isolation from the mainland ∼10,000 years ago. Our results provide evidence that small populations can survive even when isolated for hundreds of generations. This work provides key insights into kākāpō breeding and recovery and more generally into the application of genetic tools in conservation efforts for endangered species

Mise en place d'une expérience avec le grand public: entre recherche, vulgarisation et pédagogie

Methodological considerations on implementing a participative experimentWe present the implementation of an economic experiment conducted simultaneously in 11 French cities, with over 2700 participants, during four uninterrupted hours, during a popular-science event held in September 2015. Our goal is both to provide a roadmap for a possible replication and to discuss how the discipline can be used in new fields (science popularization, popular education, public communication)

Influence of management practice on the microbiota of a critically endangered species: A longitudinal study of kākāpō chick faeces and associated nest litter

Background: The critically endangered kākāpō is a flightless, nocturnal parrot endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand. Recent efforts to describe the gastrointestinal microbial community of this threatened herbivore revealed a low-diversity microbiota that is often dominated by Escherichia-Shigella bacteria. Given the importance of associated microbial communities to animal health, and increasing appreciation of their potential relevance to threatened species conservation, we sought to better understand the development of this unusual gut microbiota profile. To this end, we conducted a longitudinal analysis of faecal material collected from kākāpō chicks during the 2019 breeding season, in addition to associated nest litter material. Results: Using an experimental approach rarely seen in studies of threatened species microbiota, we evaluated the impact of a regular conservation practice on the developing kākāpō microbiota, namely the removal of faecal material from nests. Artificially removing chick faeces from nests had negligible impact on bacterial community diversity for either chicks or nests (p > 0.05). However, the gut microbiota did change significantly over time as chick age increased (p < 0.01), with an increasing relative abundance of Escherichia-Shigella coli over the study period and similar observations for the associated nest litter microbiota (p < 0.01). Supplementary feeding substantially altered gut bacterial diversity of kākāpō chicks (p < 0.01), characterised by a significant increase in Lactobacillus bacteria. Conclusions: Overall, chick age and hand rearing conditions had the most marked impact on faecal bacterial communities. Similarly, the surrounding nest litter microbiota changed significantly over time since a kākāpō chick was first placed in the nest, though we found no evidence that removal of faecal material influenced the bacterial communities of either litter or faecal samples. Taken together, these observations will inform ongoing conservation and management of this most enigmatic of bird species

High-Quality Assemblies for Three Invasive Social Wasps from the Vespula Genus

Social wasps of the genus Vespula have spread to nearly all landmasses worldwide and have become significant pests in their introduced ranges, affecting economies and biodiversity. Comprehensive genome assemblies and annotations for these species are required to develop the next generation of control strategies and monitor existing chemical control. We sequenced and annotated the genomes of the common wasp (Vespula vulgaris), German wasp (Vespula germanica), and the western yellowjacket (Vespula pensylvanica). Our chromosome-level Vespula assemblies each contain 176-179 Mb of total sequence assembled into 25 scaffolds, with 10-200 unanchored scaffolds, and 16,566-18,948 genes. We annotated gene sets relevant to the applied management of invasive wasp populations, including genes associated with spermatogenesis and development, pesticide resistance, olfactory receptors, immunity and venom. These genomes provide evidence for active DNA methylation in Vespidae and tandem duplications of venom genes. Our genomic resources will contribute to the development of next-generation control strategies, and monitoring potential resistance to chemical control

High-Quality Assemblies for Three Invasive Social Wasps from the Vespula Genus

Social wasps of the genus Vespula have spread to nearly all landmasses worldwide and have become significant pests in their introduced ranges, affecting economies and biodiversity. Comprehensive genome assemblies and annotations for these species are required to develop the next generation of control strategies and monitor existing chemical control. We sequenced and annotated the genomes of the common wasp (Vespula vulgaris), German wasp (Vespula germanica), and the western yellowjacket (Vespula pensylvanica). Our chromosome-level Vespula assemblies each contain 176–179 Mb of total sequence assembled into 25 scaffolds, with 10–200 unanchored scaffolds, and 16,566–18,948 genes. We annotated gene sets relevant to the applied management of invasive wasp populations, including genes associated with spermatogenesis and development, pesticide resistance, olfactory receptors, immunity and venom. These genomes provide evidence for active DNA methylation in Vespidae and tandem duplications of venom genes. Our genomic resources will contribute to the development of next-generation control strategies, and monitoring potential resistance to chemical control