Ecological equivalence: a realistic assumption for niche theory as a testable alternative to neutral theory

Hubbell's 2001 neutral theory unifies biodiversity and biogeography by modelling steady-state distributions of species richness and abundances across spatio-temporal scales. Accurate predictions have issued from its core premise that all species have identical vital rates. Yet no ecologist believes that species are identical in reality. Here I explain this paradox in terms of the ecological equivalence that species must achieve at their coexistence equilibrium, defined by zero net fitness for all regardless of intrinsic differences between them. I show that the distinction of realised from intrinsic vital rates is crucial to evaluating community resilience. An analysis of competitive interactions reveals how zero-sum patterns of abundance emerge for species with contrasting life-history traits as for identical species. I develop a stochastic model to simulate community assembly from a random drift of invasions sustaining the dynamics of recruitment following deaths and extinctions. Species are allocated identical intrinsic vital rates for neutral dynamics, or random intrinsic vital rates and competitive abilities for niche dynamics either on a continuous scale or between dominant-fugitive extremes. Resulting communities have steady-state distributions of the same type for more or less extremely differentiated species as for identical species. All produce negatively skewed log-normal distributions of species abundance, zero-sum relationships of total abundance to area, and Arrhenius relationships of species to area. Intrinsically identical species nevertheless support fewer total individuals, because their densities impact as strongly on each other as on themselves. Truly neutral communities have measurably lower abundance/area and higher species/abundance ratios. Neutral scenarios can be parameterized as null hypotheses for testing competitive release, which is a sure signal of niche dynamics. Ignoring the true strength of interactions between and within species risks a substantial misrepresentation of community resilience to habitat los

Metabolic flexibility as a major predictor of spatial distribution in microbial communities

A better understand the ecology of microbes and their role in the global ecosystem could be achieved if traditional ecological theories can be applied to microbes. In ecology organisms are defined as specialists or generalists according to the breadth of their niche. Spatial distribution is often used as a proxy measure of niche breadth; generalists have broad niches and a wide spatial distribution and specialists a narrow niche and spatial distribution. Previous studies suggest that microbial distribution patterns are contrary to this idea; a microbial generalist genus (Desulfobulbus) has a limited spatial distribution while a specialist genus (Methanosaeta) has a cosmopolitan distribution. Therefore, we hypothesise that this counter-intuitive distribution within generalist and specialist microbial genera is a common microbial characteristic. Using molecular fingerprinting the distribution of four microbial genera, two generalists, Desulfobulbus and the methanogenic archaea Methanosarcina, and two specialists, Methanosaeta and the sulfate-reducing bacteria Desulfobacter were analysed in sediment samples from along a UK estuary. Detected genotypes of both generalist genera showed a distinct spatial distribution, significantly correlated with geographic distance between sites. Genotypes of both specialist genera showed no significant differential spatial distribution. These data support the hypothesis that the spatial distribution of specialist and generalist microbes does not match that seen with specialist and generalist large organisms. It may be that generalist microbes, while having a wider potential niche, are constrained, possibly by intrageneric competition, to exploit only a small part of that potential niche while specialists, with far fewer constraints to their niche, are more capable of filling their potential niche more effectively, perhaps by avoiding intrageneric competition. We suggest that these counter-intuitive distribution patterns may be a common feature of microbes in general and represent a distinct microbial principle in ecology, which is a real challenge if we are to develop a truly inclusive ecology

Aβ efflux impairment and inflammation linked to cerebrovascular accumulation of amyloid-forming amylin secreted from pancreas

Impairment of vascular pathways of cerebral β-amyloid (Aβ) elimination contributes to Alzheimer disease (AD). Vascular damage is commonly associated with diabetes. Here we show in human tissues and AD-model rats that bloodborne islet amyloid polypeptide (amylin) secreted from the pancreas perturbs cerebral Aβ clearance. Blood amylin concentrations are higher in AD than in cognitively unaffected persons. Amyloid-forming amylin accumulates in circulating monocytes and co-deposits with Aβ within the brain microvasculature, possibly involving inflammation. In rats, pancreatic expression of amyloid-forming human amylin indeed induces cerebrovascular inflammation and amylin-Aβ co-deposits. LRP1-mediated Aβ transport across the blood-brain barrier and Aβ clearance through interstitial fluid drainage along vascular walls are impaired, as indicated by Aβ deposition in perivascular spaces. At the molecular level, cerebrovascular amylin deposits alter immune and hypoxia-related brain gene expression. These converging data from humans and laboratory animals suggest that altering bloodborne amylin could potentially reduce cerebrovascular amylin deposits and Aβ pathology

Predator Dispersal Determines the Effect of Connectivity on Prey Diversity

Linking local communities to a metacommunity can positively affect diversity by enabling immigration of dispersal-limited species and maintenance of sink populations. However, connectivity can also negatively affect diversity by allowing the spread of strong competitors or predators. In a microcosm experiment with five ciliate species as prey and a copepod as an efficient generalist predator, we analysed the effect of connectivity on prey species richness in metacommunities that were either unconnected, connected for the prey, or connected for both prey and predator. Presence and absence of predator dispersal was cross-classified with low and high connectivity. The effect of connectivity on local and regional richness strongly depended on whether corridors were open for the predator. Local richness was initially positively affected by connectivity through rescue of species from stochastic extinctions. With predator dispersal, however, this positive effect soon turned negative as the predator spread over the metacommunity. Regional richness was unaffected by connectivity when local communities were connected only for the prey, while predator dispersal resulted in a pronounced decrease of regional richness. The level of connectivity influenced the speed of richness decline, with regional species extinctions being delayed for one week in weakly connected metacommunities. While connectivity enabled rescue of prey species from stochastic extinctions, deterministic extinctions due to predation were not overcome through reimmigration from predator-free refuges. Prey reimmigrating into these sink habitats appeared to be directly converted into increased predator abundance. Connectivity thus had a positive effect on the predator, even when the predator was not dispersing itself. Our study illustrates that dispersal of a species with strong negative effects on other community members shapes the dispersal-diversity relationship. When connections enable the spread of a generalist predator, positive effects of connectivity on prey species richness are outweighed by regional extinctions through predation

In Vitro Efficacy of Myxococcus fulvus ANSM068 to Biotransform Aflatoxin B1

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is commonly found in cereals and animal feeds and causes a significant threat to the food industry and animal production. Several microbial isolates with high AFB1 transformation ability have been identified in our previous studies. The aim of this research was to characterize one of those isolates, Myxococcus fulvus ANSM068, and to explore its biotransformation mechanism. The bacterial isolate of M. fulvus ANSM068, isolated from deer feces, was able to transform AFB1 by 80.7% in liquid VY/2 medium after incubation at 30 °C for 72 h. The supernatant of the bacterial culture was more effective in transforming AFB1 as compared to the cells alone and the cell extract. The transformation activity was significantly reduced and eradicated after the culture supernatant was treated with proteinase K, proteinase K plus SDS and heating. Culture conditions, including nitrogen source, initial pH and incubation temperature were evaluated for an optimal AFB1 transformation. Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LCMS) analyses showed that AFB1 was transformed to a structurally different compound. Infrared analysis (IR) indicated that the lactone ring on the AFB1 molecule was modified by the culture supernatant. Chromatographies on DEAE-Ion exchange and Sephadex-Molecular sieve and SDS-PAGE electrophoresis were used to determine active components from the culture supernatant, indicating that enzyme(s) were responsible for the AFB1 biotransformation. This is the first report on AFB1 transformation by a strain of myxobacteria through enzymatic reaction(s)

Life-Cycle Switching and Coexistence of Species with No Niche Differentiation

The increasing evidence of coexistence of cryptic species with no recognized niche differentiation has called attention to mechanisms reducing competition that are not based on niche-differentiation. Only sex-based mechanisms have been shown to create the negative feedback needed for stable coexistence of competitors with completely overlapping niches. Here we show that density-dependent sexual and diapause investment can mediate coexistence of facultative sexual species having identical niches. We modelled the dynamics of two competing cyclical parthenogens with species-specific density-dependent sexual and diapause investment and either equal or different competitive abilities. We show that investment in sexual reproduction creates an opportunity for other species to invade and become established. This may happen even if the invading species is an inferior competitor. Our results suggests a previously unnoticed mechanism for species coexistence and can be extended to other facultative sexual species and species investing in diapause where similar density-dependent life-history switches could act to promote coexistence

Extinction Debt in Source-Sink Metacommunities

In an increasingly modified world, understanding and predicting the consequences of landscape alteration on biodiversity is a challenge for ecologists. To this end, metacommunity theory has developed to better understand the complexity of local and regional interactions that occur across larger landscapes. While metacommunity ecology has now provided several alternative models of species coexistence at different spatial scales, predictions regarding the consequences of landscape alteration have been done exclusively for the competition-colonization trade off model (CC). In this paper we investigate the effects of landscape perturbation on source-sink metacommunities. We show that habitat destruction perturbs the equilibria among species competitive effects within the metacommunity, driving both direct extinctions and an indirect extinction debt. As in CC models, we found a time lag for extinction following habitat destruction that varied in length depending upon the relative importance of direct and indirect effects. However, in contrast to CC models, we found that the less competitive species are more affected by habitat destruction. The best competitors can sometimes even be positively affected by habitat destruction, which corresponds well with the results of field studies. Our results are complementary to those results found in CC models of metacommunity dynamics. From a conservation perspective, our results illustrate that landscape alteration jeopardizes species coexistence in patchy landscapes through complex indirect effects and delayed extinctions patterns

Diversity and community biomass depend on dispersal and disturbance in microalgal communities

The evidence for species diversity effects on ecosystem functions is mainly based on studies not explicitly addressing local or regional processes regulating coexistence or the importance of community structure in terms of species evenness. In experimental communities of marine benthic microalgae, we altered the successional stages and thus the strength of local species interactions by manipulating rates of dispersal and disturbance. The treatments altered realized species richness, evenness and community biomass. For species richness, dispersal mattered only at high disturbance rates; when opening new space, dispersal led to maximized richness at intermediate dispersal rates. Evenness, in contrast, decreased with dispersal at low or no disturbance, i.e. at late successional stages. Community biomass showed a nonlinear hump-shaped response to increasing dispersal at all disturbance levels.We found a positive correlation between richness and biomass at early succession, and a strong negative correlation between evenness and biomass at late succession. In early succession both community biomass and richness depend directly on dispersal from the regional pool, whereas the late successional pattern shows that if interactions allow the most productive species to become dominant, diverting resources from this species (i.e. higher evenness) reduces production. Our study emphasizes the difference in biodiversity–function relationships over time, as different mechanisms contribute to the regulation of richness and evenness in early and late successional stages

Sleep Enforces the Temporal Order in Memory

BACKGROUND: Temporal sequence represents the main principle underlying episodic memory. The storage of temporal sequence information is thought to involve hippocampus-dependent memory systems, preserving temporal structure possibly via chaining of sequence elements in heteroassociative networks. Converging evidence indicates that sleep enhances the consolidation of recently acquired representations in the hippocampus-dependent declarative memory system. Yet, it is unknown if this consolidation process comprises strengthening of the temporal sequence structure of the representation as well, or is restricted to sequence elements independent of their temporal order. To address this issue we tested the influence of sleep on the strength of forward and backward associations in word-triplets. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Subjects learned a list of 32 triplets of unrelated words, presented successively (A-B-C) in the center of a screen, and either slept normally or stayed awake in the subsequent night. After two days, retrieval was assessed for the triplets sequentially either in a forward direction (cueing with A and B and asking for B and C, respectively) or in a backward direction (cueing with C and B and asking for B and A, respectively). Memory was better for forward than backward associations (p<0.01). Sleep did not affect backward associations, but enhanced forward associations, specifically for the first (AB) transitions (p<0.01), which were generally more difficult to retrieve than the second transitions. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our data demonstrate that consolidation during sleep strengthens the original temporal sequence structure in memory, presumably as a result of a replay of new representations during sleep in forward direction. Our finding suggests that the temporally directed replay of memory during sleep, apart from strengthening those traces, could be the key mechanism that explains how temporal order is integrated and maintained in the trace of an episodic memory

Coexistence via Resource Partitioning Fails to Generate an Increase in Community Function

Classic ecological theory suggests that resource partitioning facilitates the coexistence of species by reducing inter-specific competition. A byproduct of this process is an increase in overall community function, because a greater spectrum of resources can be used. In contrast, coexistence facilitated by neutral mechanisms is not expected to increase function. We studied coexistence in laboratory microcosms of the bactivorous ciliates Paramecium aurelia and Colpidium striatum to understand the relationship between function and coexistence mechanism. We quantified population and community-level function (biomass and oxygen consumption), competitive interactions, and resource partitioning. The two ciliates partitioned their bacterial resource along a size axis, with the larger ciliate consuming larger bacteria than the smaller ciliate. Despite this, there was no gain in function at the community level for either biomass or oxygen consumption, and competitive effects were symmetrical within and between species. Because other potential coexistence mechanisms can be ruled out, it is likely that inter-specific interference competition diminished the expected gain in function generated by resource partitioning, leading to a system that appeared competitively neutral even when structured by niche partitioning. We also analyzed several previous studies where two species of protists coexisted and found that the two-species communities showed a broad range of biomass levels relative to the single-species states