Differences in spatial versus temporal reaction norms for spring and autumn phenological events

European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant 205905 (to O.O.) and Synergy Grant 856506—LIFEPLAN (to O.O. and T.R.); Spanish Ramón y Cajal Grant RYC-2014-16263 (to M.M.D.) (...)Delgado, M.D.M., Roslin, T., Tikhonov, G., Meyke, E., Lo, C., Gurarie, E., Abadonova, M., Abduraimov, O., Adrianova, O., Akimova, T., Akkiev, M., Ananin, A., Andreeva, E., Andriychuk, N., Antipin, M., Arzamascev, K., Babina, S., Babushkin, M., Bakin, O., Barabancova, A., Basilskaja, I., Belova, N., Belyaeva, N., Bespalova, T., Bisikalova, E., Bobretsovz, A., Bobrov, V., Bobrovskyi, V., Bochkareva, E., Bogdanov, G., Bolshakov, V., Bondarchuk, S., Bukharova, E., Butunina, A., Buyvolov, Y., Buyvolova, A., Bykov, Y., Chakhireva, E., Chashchina, O., Cherenkova, N., Chistjakov, S., Chuhontseva, S., Davydov, E.A., Demchenko, V., Diadicheva, E., Dobrolyubov, A., Dostoyevskaya, L., Drovnina, S., Drozdova, Z., Dubanaev, A., Dubrovsky, Y., Elsukov, S., Epova, L., Ermakova, O.S., Ermakova, O., Esengeldenova, A., Evstigneev, O., Fedchenko, I., Fedotova, V., Filatova, T., Gashev, S., Gavrilov, A., Gaydys, I., Golovcov, D., Goncharova, N., Gorbunova, E., Gordeeva, T., Grishchenko, V., Gromyko, L., Hohryakov, V., Hritankov, A., Ignatenko, E., Igosheva, S., Ivanova, U., Ivanova, N., Kalinkin, Y., Kaygorodova, E., Kazansky, F., Kiseleva, D., Knorrem, A., Kolpashikov, L., Korobov, E., Korolyova, H., Korotkikh, N., Kosenkov, G., Kossenko, S., Kotlugalyamova, E., Kozlovsky, E., Kozsheechkin, V., Kozurak, A., Kozyr, I., Krasnopevtseva, A., Krugliko, S., Kuberskaya, O., Kudryavtsev, A., Kulebyakina, E., Kulsha, Y., Kupriyanova, M., Kurbanbagamaev, M., Kutenkov, A., Kutenkova, N., Kuyantseva, N., Kuznetsov, A., Larin, E., Lebedev, P., Litvinov, K., Luzhkova, N., Mahmudov, A., Makovkina, L., Mamontov, V., Mayorova, S., Megalinskaja, I., Meydus, A., Minin, A., Mitrofanov, O., Motruk, M., Myslenkov, A., Nasonova, N., Nemtseva, N., Nesterova, I., Nezdoliy, T., Niroda, T., Novikova, T., Panicheva, D., Pavlov, A., Pavlova, K., Van, P., Podolski, S., Polikarpova, N., Tatiana Polyanskaya81, Pospelov, I., Pospelova, E., Prokhorov, I., Prokosheva, I., Puchnina, L., Putrashyk, I., Raiskaya, J., Rozhkov, Y., Rozhkova, O., Rudenko, M., Rybnikova, I., Rykova, S., Sahnevich, M., Samoylov, A., Sank, V., Sapelnikova, I., Sazonov, S., Selyunina, Z., Shalaeva, K., Shashkov, M., Shcherbakov, A., Shevchyk, V., Shubin, S., Shujskaja, E., Sibgatullin, R., Sikkilah, N., Sitnikova, E., Sivkov, A., Skok, N., Skorokhodova, S., Smirnova, E., Sokolova, G., Sopin, V., Spasovski, Y., Stepanov, S., Stratiy, V., Strekalovskaya, V., Sukhov, A., Suleymanova, G., Sultangareeva, L., Teleganova, V., Teplov, V., Teplova, V., Tertitsa, T., Timoshkin, V., Tirski, D., Tolmachev, A., Tomilin, A., Tselishcheva, L., Turgunov, M., Tyukh, Y., Van, V., Ershkova, E., Vasin, A., Vasina, A., Vekliuk, A., Vetchinnikova, L., Vinogradov, V., Volodchenko, N., Voloshina, I., Xoliqov, T., Yablonovska-Grishchenko, E., Yakovlev, V., Yakovleva, M., Yantser, O., Yarema, Y., Zahvatov, A., Zakharov, V., Zelenetskiy, N., Zheltukhin, A., Zubina, T., Kurhinen, J., Ovaskainen, O

Interaction webs in arctic ecosystem : Determinants of arctic change?

Peer reviewe

The identity of the Finnish Osmoderma (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Cetoniinae) population established by COI sequencing

The hermit beetle Osmoderma eremita (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) is a flagship species for invertebrate conservation efforts by the European Union. This taxon has recently been revealed as a species complex likely encompassing five cryptic species. The northernmost population of Osmoderma is found on the island of Ruissalo in Turku, Finland. This population has been protected as species 0. eremita, but its true species affinity has never been established. To resolve its identity, we sequenced the mitochondrial COI gene from seven specimens sampled in Ruissalo. Based on a phylogenetic hypothesis generated from the sequences combined with previously published data, the Finnish hermit beetle was identified as Osmoderma barnabita. Information regarding the ecology and life cycle of 0. eremita should then not uncritically be assumed to apply to the Finnish population. Rather, the Finnish population should be treated as a separate entity in conservation and management of European Osmoderma

Does urbanization explain differences in interactions between an insect herbivore and its natural enemies and mutualists?

Urbanization can alter the composition of arthropod communities. However, little is known about how urbanization affects ecological interactions. Using experimental colonies of the black bean aphid Aphis fabae Scopoli reared on Vicia faba L, we asked if patterns of predator-prey, host-parasitoid and ant-aphid mutualisms varied along an urbanization gradient across a large town in southern England. We recorded the presence of naturally occurring predators, parasitoid wasps and mutualistic ants together with aphid abundance. We examined how biotic (green areas and plant richness) and abiotic features (impervious surfaces and distance to town center) affected (1) aphid colony size, (2) the likelihood of finding predators, mutualistic ants and aphid mummies (indicating the presence of parasitoids), and (3) how the interplay among these factors affected patterns of parasitoid attack, predator abundance, mutualistic interactions and aphid abundance. The best model to predict aphid abundance was the number of mutualistic ants attending the colonies. Aphid predators responded negatively to both the proportion of impervious surfaces and to the number of mutualistic ants farming the colonies, and positively to aphid population size, whereas parasitized aphids were found in colonies with higher numbers of aphids and ants. The number of mutualistic ants attending was positively associated with aphid colony size and negatively with the number of aphid predators. Our findings suggest that for insect-natural enemy interactions, urbanization may affect some groups, while not influencing others, and that local effects (mutualists, host plant presence) will also be key determinants of how urban ecological communities are formed

Pellets of proof: First glimpse of the dietary composition of adult odonates as revealed by metabarcoding of feces

Recent advances in molecular techniques allow us to resolve the diet of unstudied taxa. Odonates are potentially important top-down regulators of many insects. Yet, to date, our knowledge of odonate prey use is based mainly on limited observations of odonates catching or eating their prey. In this study, we examine the potential use of metabarcoding in establishing the diet of three adult odonate species (Lestes sponsa, Enallagma cyathigerum, and Sympetrum danae) at a site in southwestern Finland. To this purpose, we compared three different methods for extracting DNA from fecal samples: the Macherey-Nagel Nucleospin XS kit, a traditional salt extraction, and the Zymo Research Fecal Microprep kit. From these extracts, we amplified group-specific mitochondrial markers (COI and 16S rRNA) from altogether 72 odonate individuals, and compared them to comprehensive reference libraries. The three odonate species show major overlap in diet, with no significant differences between individuals of different size and/or gender, reflecting opportunistic foraging of adult odonates. Of a total of 41 different prey species detected, the most frequently consumed ones were Diptera, with additional records of six other orders. Based on our data, the best DNA extraction method is the traditional salt extraction, as it provides the most information on prey content while also being the most economical. To our knowledge, this is the first study to resolve the species-level diet of adult odonates. Armed with the appropriate methodological caveats, we are ready to examine the ecological role of odonates in both terrestrial and aquatic food webs, and in transferring subsidies between these two realms

Data Integration in Genetics and Genomics: Methods and Challenges

Due to rapid technological advances, various types of genomic and proteomic data with different sizes, formats, and structures have become available. Among them are gene expression, single nucleotide polymorphism, copy number variation, and protein-protein/gene-gene interactions. Each of these distinct data types provides a different, partly independent and complementary, view of the whole genome. However, understanding functions of genes, proteins, and other aspects of the genome requires more information than provided by each of the datasets. Integrating data from different sources is, therefore, an important part of current research in genomics and proteomics. Data integration also plays important roles in combining clinical, environmental, and demographic data with high-throughput genomic data. Nevertheless, the concept of data integration is not well defined in the literature and it may mean different things to different researchers. In this paper, we first propose a conceptual framework for integrating genetic, genomic, and proteomic data. The framework captures fundamental aspects of data integration and is developed taking the key steps in genetic, genomic, and proteomic data fusion. Secondly, we provide a review of some of the most commonly used current methods and approaches for combining genomic data with focus on the statistical aspects

Unveiling the complexity and ecological function of aquatic macrophyte–animal networks in coastal ecosystems

Network theory offers innovative tools to explore the complex ecological mechanisms regulating species associations and interactions. Although interest in ecological networks has grown steadily during the last two decades, the application of network approaches has been unequally distributed across different study systems: while some kinds of interactions (e.g. plant-pollinator and host-parasite) have been extensively investigated, others remain relatively unexplored. Among the latter, aquatic macrophyte-animal associations in coastal environments have been largely neglected, despite their major role in littoral ecosystems. The ubiquity of macrophyte systems, their accessibility and multi-faceted ecological, economical and societal importance make macrophyte-animal systems an ideal subject for ecological network science. In fact, macrophyte-animal networks offer an aquatic counterpart to terrestrial plant-animal networks. In this review, we show how the application of network analysis to aquatic macrophyte-animal associations has the potential to broaden our understanding of how coastal ecosystems function. Network analysis can also provide a key to understanding how such ecosystems will respond to on-going and future threats from anthropogenic disturbance and environmental change. For this, we: (i) identify key issues that have limited the application of network theory and modelling to aquatic animal-macrophyte associations; (ii) illustrate through examples based on empirical data how network analysis can offer new insights on the complexity and functioning of coastal ecosystems; and (iii) provide suggestions for how to design future studies and establish this new research line into network ecology

Evidence for geographic substructuring of mtDNA variation in the East European Hermit beetle (Osmoderma barnabita)

The genus Osmoderma is a flagship taxon of invertebrate conservation in Europe and encompasses a complex of four accepted species. While species limits amongst Osmoderma have been intensively studied, patterns of intraspecific variation are poorly known. In this paper, the authors focus on clarifying the phylogeographic structure of the East European Osmoderma barnabita using samples from Croatia to Finland. Samples of hind legs were collected from populations in Latvia and Finland (n=186) and combined with previously-published sequences from GenBank and museum specimens (n=10). In a partial sequence of the mitochondrial COI gene (759 bp), 26 closely related haplotypes were found. Beetle samples from different parts of Europe were distinct and showed no overlap in haplotype composition. The solitary population of Finland proved to be monomorphic and all 97 individuals sampled here belonged to a single haplotype unique to this region. The results suggest the Northern parts of Eastern Europe to be dominated by a single COI haplotype to which most of the other haplotypes are linked by one or two mutations. The pattern seems to reflect a founder effect or a strong bottleneck event. While O. barnabita is widely distributed over Eastern Europe, current patterns of mitochondrial genetic diversity appear influenced by population history and little homogenisation by ongoing gene flow. From a conservation perspective, the patterns suggest that regional populations might need to be managed as subunits and that the population of Finland may be affected by low genetic diversity

Agricultural specialisation increases the vulnerability of pollination services for smallholder farmers

1. Smallholder farms make up 84% of all farms worldwide and feed 2 billion people. These farms are heavily reliant on ecosystem services and vulnerable to environmental change, yet under-represented in the ecological literature. The high diversity of crops in these systems makes it challenging to identify and manage the best providers of an ecosystem service, such as the best pollinators to meet the needs of multiple crops. It is also unclear whether ecosystem service requirements change as smallholders transition towards more specialised commercial farming—an increasing trend worldwide. 2. Here, we present a new metric for predicting the species providing ecosystem services in diverse multi-crop farming systems. Working in 10 smallholder villages in rural Nepal, we use this metric to test whether key pollinators, and the management actions that support them, differ based on a farmers' agricultural priority (producing nutritious food to feed the family vs. generating income from cash crops). We also test whether the resilience of pollination services changes as farmers specialise on cash crops. 3. We show that a farmers' agricultural priority can determine the community of pollinators they rely upon. Wild insects including bumblebees, solitary bees and flies provided the majority of the pollination service underpinning nutrient production, while income generation was much more dependent on a single species—the domesticated honeybee Apis cerana. The significantly lower diversity of pollinators supporting income generation leaves cash crop farmers more vulnerable to pollinator declines. 4. Regardless of a farmers' agricultural priority, the same collection of wild plant species (mostly herbaceous weeds and shrubs) were important for supporting crop pollinators with floral resources. Promoting these wild plants is likely to enhance pollination services for all farmers in the region. 5. Synthesis and applications. We highlight the increased vulnerability of pollination services when smallholders transition to specialised cash crop farming and emphasise the role of crop, pollinator and wild plant diversity in mitigating this risk. The method we present could be readily applied to other smallholder settings across the world to help characterise and manage the ecosystem services underpinning the livelihoods and nutritional health of smallholder families

A network approach for managing ecosystem services and improving food and nutrition security on smallholder farms

Smallholder farmers are some of the poorest and most food insecure people on Earth. Their high nutritional and economic reliance on home-grown produce makes them particularly vulnerable to environmental stressors such as pollinator loss or climate change which threaten agricultural productivity. Improving smallholder agriculture in a way that is environmentally sustainable and resilient to climate change is a key challenge of the 21st century. Ecological intensification, whereby ecosystem services are managed to increase agricultural productivity, is a promising solution for smallholders. However, smallholder farms are complex socio-ecological systems with a range of social, ecological and environmental factors interacting to influence ecosystem service provisioning. To truly understand the functioning of a smallholder farm and identify the most effective management options to support household food and nutrition security, a holistic, systems-based understanding is required. In this paper, we propose a network approach to understand, visualise and model the complex interactions occurring among wild species, crops and people on smallholder farms. Specifically, we demonstrate how networks may be used to (a) identify wild species with a key role in supporting, delivering or increasing the resilience of an ecosystem service; (b) quantify the value of an ecosystem service in a way that is relevant to the food and nutrition security of smallholders; and (c) understand the social interactions that influence the management of shared ecosystem services. Using a case study based on data from rural Nepal, we demonstrate how this framework can be used to connect wild plants, pollinators and crops to key nutrients consumed by humans. This allows us to quantify the nutritional value of an ecosystem service and identify the wild plants and pollinators involved in its provision, as well as providing a framework to predict the effects of environmental change on human nutrition. Our framework identifies mechanistic links between ecosystem services and the nutrients consumed by smallholder farmers and highlights social factors that may influence the management of these services. Applying this framework to smallholder farms in a range of socio-ecological contexts may provide new, sustainable and equitable solutions to smallholder food and nutrition security. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article