Wildlife, Fisheries, & Conservation Biology_Draft Recommendations for Field Work During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Draft copy of recommendations for field work during the COVID-19 pandemic, authored by Brian J. Olsen, Chair, Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Conservation Biology, Interim Director of the Ecology and Environmental Sciences Program, and Associate Professor of Ornithology. In developing the recommendations Professor Olsen queried 100 University of Maine faculty members who conduct field research and collected comments from over two dozen. The guidelines were sent for review to Frederick Servello, Dean of the University of Maine College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture, and Director of the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station, Christopher Gerbi, Associate Dean for Research in the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture, and Associate Director of the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station, and Mark Hutton, Associate Dean for Research in the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture, and Associate Director of the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station

Book Review: \u3ci\u3eEffects of Climate Change on Birds\u3c/i\u3e, Edited by Anders Pape Meller, Wolfgang Fiedler, and Peter Berthold

Book review of Effects of Climate Change on Birds, edited by Anders Pape Meller, Wolfgang Fiedler, and Peter Berthold. Climate scientists from across the globe predict vast changes during the next century in the planet\u27s temperatures, precipitation, storm intensities, fire regimes, hydrologic cycles, and atmospheric, water, and soil chemistries. The changes will be global, but their effects will be felt locally everywhere. To find a scientifically and socially engaging bellwether of these events, we need to look only through the lens of avian biology. Birds are found from pole to pole; their movements connect continents. They are loud, colorful symbols of the changing of the seasons, and the body of work describing how changes to our climate are altering their evolution and ecology is growing nearly as quickly as the changes are occurring. Anders Meller, Wolfgang Fiedler, and Peter Berthold have put together a compilation of review papers on climate change as seen through that ornithological lens. In a text written for ecological professionals and graduate student study, the authors show the breadth of ways that birds illustrate the implications of climate change for wildlife, layout numerous needs to improve our predictive abilities, and provide some brief descriptions of the quantitative tools that might be used to answer those needs

Wildlife, Fisheries, & Conservation Biology_Ecology and Environmental Sciences Program_COVID-19 News

Email from Brian J. Olsen, Chair, Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Conservation Biology, Interim Director of the Ecology and Environmental Sciences Program, and Associate Professor of Ornithology, University of Maine to students in the Ecology and Environmental Sciences Program (EES) with updates and information regarding the Program in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Differential introgression and the maintenance of species boundaries in an advanced generation avian hybrid zone

Background: Evolutionary processes, including selection and differential fitness, shape the introgression of genetic material across a hybrid zone, resulting in the exchange of some genes but not others. Differential introgression of molecular or phenotypic markers can thus provide insight into factors contributing to reproductive isolation. We characterized patterns of genetic variation across a hybrid zone between two tidal marsh birds, Saltmarsh (Ammodramus caudacutus) and Nelson’s (A. nelsoni) sparrows (n = 286), and compared patterns of introgression among multiple genetic markers and phenotypic traits. Results: Geographic and genomic cline analyses revealed variable patterns of introgression among marker types. Most markers exhibited gradual clines and indicated that introgression exceeds the spatial extent of the previously documented hybrid zone. We found steeper clines, indicating strong selection for loci associated with traits related to tidal marsh adaptations, including for a marker linked to a gene region associated with metabolic functions, including an osmotic regulatory pathway, as well as for a marker related to melanin-based pigmentation, supporting an adaptive role of darker plumage (salt marsh melanism) in tidal marshes. Narrow clines at mitochondrial and sex-linked markers also offer support for Haldane’s rule. We detected patterns of asymmetrical introgression toward A. caudacutus, which may be driven by differences in mating strategy or differences in population density between the two species. Conclusions: Our findings offer insight into the dynamics of a hybrid zone traversing a unique environmental gradient and provide evidence for a role of ecological divergence in the maintenance of pure species boundaries despite ongoing gene flow

Differential introgression and the maintenance of species boundaries in an advanced generation avian hybrid zone

Background: Evolutionary processes, including selection and differential fitness, shape the introgression of genetic material across a hybrid zone, resulting in the exchange of some genes but not others. Differential introgression of molecular or phenotypic markers can thus provide insight into factors contributing to reproductive isolation. We characterized patterns of genetic variation across a hybrid zone between two tidal marsh birds, Saltmarsh (Ammodramus caudacutus) and Nelson’s (A. nelsoni) sparrows (n = 286), and compared patterns of introgression among multiple genetic markers and phenotypic traits. Results: Geographic and genomic cline analyses revealed variable patterns of introgression among marker types. Most markers exhibited gradual clines and indicated that introgression exceeds the spatial extent of the previously documented hybrid zone. We found steeper clines, indicating strong selection for loci associated with traits related to tidal marsh adaptations, including for a marker linked to a gene region associated with metabolic functions, including an osmotic regulatory pathway, as well as for a marker related to melanin-based pigmentation, supporting an adaptive role of darker plumage (salt marsh melanism) in tidal marshes. Narrow clines at mitochondrial and sex-linked markers also offer support for Haldane’s rule. We detected patterns of asymmetrical introgression toward A. caudacutus, which may be driven by differences in mating strategy or differences in population density between the two species. Conclusions: Our findings offer insight into the dynamics of a hybrid zone traversing a unique environmental gradient and provide evidence for a role of ecological divergence in the maintenance of pure species boundaries despite ongoing gene flow

Microcontroller and Memory Card Survivability in Space Conditions

The USU Materials Physics Group (MPG) has conducted survivability tests of the effects of space and upper atmosphere environments on electronic components including microcontrollers, sensors, and memory cards. High-energy electrons or ionizing radiation from the space radiation environment can cause signal spikes and noisy data in electronics and also cause displacement damage to sensitive electronics on an atomic scale. Microprocessors exposed to radiation can experience different types of failure ranging from soft errors to total system failure. CubeSats are small satellites, can be highly susceptible to radiation damage due to minimal shielding for satellites weighing only a couple kilograms. They are an increasingly popular choice for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) missions because of the low cost of building and deploying them compared to larger, traditional satellites. CubeSats often use microprocessors as the primary controller of taking measurements and operating the satellite. The objective of this research was to monitor a microprocessor (an Arduino Uno, in this case) for evidence of soft errors or permanent failure during radiation exposures of up to ~2 kGy inside the MPG Space Survivability Test (SST) chamber. The electronics functionality was compared to an identical control setup outside the chamber. Attached to the Arduino was a Hall sensor, a photodetector, and an accelerometer as well as a memory card reader. The software ran a self-diagnostic test on the microcontroller and read the incoming data from the sensors. The program also read from the memory cards to show that the interface of the port was working properly and determine if the memory card was damaged

Genotype-environment associations support a mosaic hybrid zone between two tidal marsh birds

Local environmental features can shape hybrid zone dynamics when hybrids are bounded by ecotones or when patchily distributed habitat types lead to a corresponding mosaic of genotypes. We investigated the role of marsh-level characteristics in shaping a hybrid zone between two recently diverged avian taxa – Saltmarsh (Ammodramus caudacutus) and Nelson\u27s (A. nelsoni) sparrows. These species occupy different niches where allopatric, with caudacutus restricted to coastal marshes and nelsoni found in a broader array of wetland and grassland habitats and co-occur in tidal marshes in sympatry. We determined the influence of habitat types on the distribution of pure and hybrid sparrows and assessed the degree of overlap in the ecological niche of each taxon. To do this, we sampled and genotyped 305 sparrows from 34 marshes across the hybrid zone and from adjacent regions. We used linear regression to test for associations between marsh characteristics and the distribution of pure and admixed sparrows. We found a positive correlation between genotype and environmental variables with a patchy distribution of genotypes and habitats across the hybrid zone. Ecological niche models suggest that the hybrid niche was more similar to that of A. nelsoni and habitat suitability was influenced strongly by distance from coastline. Our results support a mosaic model of hybrid zone maintenance, suggesting a role for local environmental features in shaping the distribution and frequency of pure species and hybrids across space

Genotype-environment associations support a mosaic hybrid zone between two tidal marsh birds

Local environmental features can shape hybrid zone dynamics when hybrids are bounded by ecotones or when patchily distributed habitat types lead to a corresponding mosaic of genotypes. We investigated the role of marsh-level characteristics in shaping a hybrid zone between two recently diverged avian taxa – Saltmarsh (Ammodramus caudacutus) and Nelson\u27s (A. nelsoni) sparrows. These species occupy different niches where allopatric, with caudacutus restricted to coastal marshes and nelsoni found in a broader array of wetland and grassland habitats and co-occur in tidal marshes in sympatry. We determined the influence of habitat types on the distribution of pure and hybrid sparrows and assessed the degree of overlap in the ecological niche of each taxon. To do this, we sampled and genotyped 305 sparrows from 34 marshes across the hybrid zone and from adjacent regions. We used linear regression to test for associations between marsh characteristics and the distribution of pure and admixed sparrows. We found a positive correlation between genotype and environmental variables with a patchy distribution of genotypes and habitats across the hybrid zone. Ecological niche models suggest that the hybrid niche was more similar to that of A. nelsoni and habitat suitability was influenced strongly by distance from coastline. Our results support a mosaic model of hybrid zone maintenance, suggesting a role for local environmental features in shaping the distribution and frequency of pure species and hybrids across space