Global biogeography of warning coloration in the butterfly Danaus chrysippus

Warning coloration provides a textbook example of natural selection, but the frequent observation of polymorphism in aposematic species presents an evolutionary puzzle. We investigated biogeography and polymorphism of warning patterns in the widespread butterfly Danaus chrysippus using records from citizen science (n = 5467), museums (n = 8864) and fieldwork (n = 2586). We find that polymorphism in three traits controlled by known mendelian loci is extensive. Broad allele frequency clines, hundreds of kilometres wide, suggest a balance between long-range dispersal and predation of unfamiliar morphs. Mismatched clines for the white hindwing and forewing tip in East Africa are consistent with a previous finding that the black wingtip allele has spread recently in the region through hitchhiking with a heritable endosymbiont. Light/dark background coloration shows more extensive polymorphism. The darker genotype is more common in cooler regions, possibly reflecting a trade-off between thermoregulation and predator warning. Overall, our findings show how studying local adaptation at the global scale provides a more complete picture of the evolutionary forces involved

A non-destructive approach to collect nest material data using photographs

Funding: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Grant Number(s): H28/1018); Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (Grant Number(s): BB/S01019X/1, EASTBIO scholarship).The materials that birds use to build their nests have a profound effect on nest quality and consequently on the builder’s reproductive success. Given that the common method to quantify nest materials by dismantling nests takes time and limits study species, we developed a non‐destructive and much quicker method for quantifying nest materials using nest photographs. Using our photographic method, the proportions of the main materials in 45 Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleus and 20 Dartford Warbler Sylvia undata nests, including grass, heather, and moss, matched those found by dismantling the nests, while the proportions of rarer animal‐derived materials differed between the two methods. Provided that there is an initial calibration with the dismantling method, the photographic method offers the two key advantages: the reduction in time it takes to quantify the major components of nests, and the application to previously inaccessible data including museum collections. Together, these advantages encourage further study of nesting materials and enable a better understanding of avian nest diversification.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Are rare species useful species? Obstacles to the conservation of tree diversity in the dry forest zone agro-ecosystems of Mesoamerica

Aim To test the potential to conserve rare dry forest tree and shrub species circa situm.Location Oaxaca, Mexico and Southern Honduras.Methods Local uses (timber, posts and firewood) of species were determined principally through semistructured interviews with 20 rural householders in each of four communities in Honduras and four in Oaxaca. Tree and shrub diversity inventories were carried out in a total of 227 forest patches and parcels of farmland in those eight communities. Species’ conservation priorities were determined using the star system of Hawthorne (1996) and IUCN listings.Results Despite a large number of useful species, remarkably few were also conservation priorities. Useful species were found to be substitutable as is illustrated by Bombacopsis quinata, Cordia alliodora, Guaiacum sanctum and G. coulteri.Conclusions In these areas, circa situm conservation is inhibited by the lack of species that are both rare and useful. Usefulness must be interpreted as a function of substitutability. Natural regeneration provides an abundance of diversity, farmers are unlikely to invest in the management of a species when suitable substitutes are freely available. The key to conserving rare species may be in maintaining or enhancing the value of the landscape elements in which they are found

BioTIME:a database of biodiversity time series for the Anthropocene

Abstract Motivation: The BioTIME database contains raw data on species identities and abundances in ecological assemblages through time. These data enable users to calculate temporal trends in biodiversity within and amongst assemblages using a broad range of metrics. BioTIME is being developed as a community‐led open‐source database of biodiversity time series. Our goal is to accelerate and facilitate quantitative analysis of temporal patterns of biodiversity in the Anthropocene. Main types of variables included: The database contains 8,777,413 species abundance records, from assemblages consistently sampled for a minimum of 2 years, which need not necessarily be consecutive. In addition, the database contains metadata relating to sampling methodology and contextual information about each record. Spatial location and grain: BioTIME is a global database of 547,161 unique sampling locations spanning the marine, freshwater and terrestrial realms. Grain size varies across datasets from 0.0000000158 km² (158 cm²) to 100 km² (1,000,000,000,000 cm²). Time period and grain: BioTIME records span from 1874 to 2016. The minimal temporal grain across all datasets in BioTIME is a year. Major taxa and level of measurement: BioTIME includes data from 44,440 species across the plant and animal kingdoms, ranging from plants, plankton and terrestrial invertebrates to small and large vertebrates. Software format: .csv and .SQL