Mechanistic and experimental analysis of condition and reproduction in a polymorphic lizard

The importance of genetic and environmental variation in condition in shaping evolutionary trade-offs have recently been subject to much theoretical discussion, but is very difficult to investigate empirically in most field-based systems. We present the results from mechanistic experimental manipulations of reproductive investment and condition in two female colour morphs (orange and yellow) of side-blotched lizards (Uta stansburiana). We investigated the interactions between throat colour morphs, condition, local social environment and female survival using path-analysis. Using follice-ablation experiments, we show that large clutch size has a negative effect on field survival among yellow females, and that this effect is partly mediated by immunosuppressive effects of large clutches. In orange females these effects were less pronounced, and there was a negative survival effect of strong antibody responses. Hence, we experimentally confirmed our previous findings of correlational selection between female morphotype and immunocompetence, an important condition trait. Manipulation of corticosterone revealed multiple (pleiotropic) direct and indirect effects of this hormone on both condition and reproductive traits. We argue that interaction effects (e.g. between local environments and genotypes) could explain a substantial fraction of variation in condition and reproduction in natural populations. Increased attention to such interaction effects and their fitness consequences will provide novel insights in field studies of selection and reproductive allocation

Scale-free memory model for multiagent reinforcement learning. Mean field approximation and rock-paper-scissors dynamics

A continuous time model for multiagent systems governed by reinforcement learning with scale-free memory is developed. The agents are assumed to act independently of one another in optimizing their choice of possible actions via trial-and-error search. To gain awareness about the action value the agents accumulate in their memory the rewards obtained from taking a specific action at each moment of time. The contribution of the rewards in the past to the agent current perception of action value is described by an integral operator with a power-law kernel. Finally a fractional differential equation governing the system dynamics is obtained. The agents are considered to interact with one another implicitly via the reward of one agent depending on the choice of the other agents. The pairwise interaction model is adopted to describe this effect. As a specific example of systems with non-transitive interactions, a two agent and three agent systems of the rock-paper-scissors type are analyzed in detail, including the stability analysis and numerical simulation. Scale-free memory is demonstrated to cause complex dynamics of the systems at hand. In particular, it is shown that there can be simultaneously two modes of the system instability undergoing subcritical and supercritical bifurcation, with the latter one exhibiting anomalous oscillations with the amplitude and period growing with time. Besides, the instability onset via this supercritical mode may be regarded as "altruism self-organization". For the three agent system the instability dynamics is found to be rather irregular and can be composed of alternate fragments of oscillations different in their properties.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figur

Top Quark Physics at the Tevatron

We review the field of top-quark physics with an emphasis on experimental techniques. The role of the top quark in the Standard Model of particle physics is summarized and the basic phenomenology of top-quark production and decay is introduced. We discuss how contributions from physics beyond the Standard Model could affect top-quark properties or event samples. The many measurements made at the Fermilab Tevatron, which test the Standard Model predictions or probe for direct evidence of new physics using the top-quark event samples, are reviewed here.Comment: 50 pages, 17 figures, 2 tables; version accepted by Review of Modern Physic

Temperature drives pre-reproductive selection and shapes the biogeography of a female polymorphism

Acknowledgements We are grateful to the many field assistants, PhD students and postdocs who have participated in the field work and thereby directly and indirectly contributed to this study over many years, since 2000 when it was started. We also wish to thank David and Rosalyn Sparrow who kindly hosted B. Willink during a field trip to Cyprus in 2017 and who provided valuable field work help and guidance, enabling us to gather information about morph frequencies of I. elegans at one of the southernmost localities of this species in Europe. Funding information Funding for this study has been provided by research grants from The Swedish Research Council (VR: grant no. 2016‐03356), Carl Tryggers Foundation (CTS), Gyllenstiernska Krapperupstiftelsen (grant no. KR2018‐0038), Stina Werners Foundation and Erik Philip Sörensens Stiftelse to E.I.S.Peer reviewedPostprin

Defensive alliances in spatial models of cyclical population interactions

As a generalization of the 3-strategy Rock-Scissors-Paper game dynamics in space, cyclical interaction models of six mutating species are studied on a square lattice, in which each species is supposed to have two dominant, two subordinated and a neutral interacting partner. Depending on their interaction topologies, these systems can be classified into four (isomorphic) groups exhibiting significantly different behaviors as a function of mutation rate. On three out of four cases three (or four) species form defensive alliances which maintain themselves in a self-organizing polydomain structure via cyclic invasions. Varying the mutation rate this mechanism results in an ordering phenomenon analogous to that of magnetic Ising model.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Phase transition in a spatial Lotka-Volterra model

Spatial evolution is investigated in a simulated system of nine competing and mutating bacterium strains, which mimics the biochemical war among bacteria capable of producing two different bacteriocins (toxins) at most. Random sequential dynamics on a square lattice is governed by very symmetrical transition rules for neighborhood invasion of sensitive strains by killers, killers by resistants, and resistants by by sensitives. The community of the nine possible toxicity/resistance types undergoes a critical phase transition as the uniform transmutation rates between the types decreases below a critical value $P_c$ above which all the nine types of strain coexist with equal frequencies. Passing the critical mutation rate from above, the system collapses into one of the three topologically identical states, each consisting of three strain types. Of the three final states each accrues with equal probability and all three maintain themselves in a self-organizing polydomain structure via cyclic invasions. Our Monte Carlo simulations support that this symmetry breaking transition belongs to the universality class of the three-state Potts model.Comment: 4 page

Evolutionary instability of Zero Determinant strategies demonstrates that winning isn't everything

Zero Determinant (ZD) strategies are a new class of probabilistic and conditional strategies that are able to unilaterally set the expected payoff of an opponent in iterated plays of the Prisoner's Dilemma irrespective of the opponent's strategy, or else to set the ratio between a ZD player's and their opponent's expected payoff. Here we show that while ZD strategies are weakly dominant, they are not evolutionarily stable and will instead evolve into less coercive strategies. We show that ZD strategies with an informational advantage over other players that allows them to recognize other ZD strategies can be evolutionarily stable (and able to exploit other players). However, such an advantage is bound to be short-lived as opposing strategies evolve to counteract the recognition.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures. Change in title (again!) to comply with Nature Communications requirements. To appear in Nature Communication

Vulnerability to climate change of a microendemic lizard species from the central Andes

Given the rapid loss of biodiversity as consequence of climate change, greater knowledge of ecophysiological and natural history traits are crucial to determine which environmental factors induce stress and drive the decline of threatened species. Liolaemus montanezi (Liolaemidae), a xeric-adapted lizard occurring only in a small geographic range in west-central Argentina, constitutes an excellent model for studies on the threats of climate change on such microendemic species. We describe feld data on activity patterns, use of microhabitat, behavioral thermoregulation, and physiology to produce species distribution models (SDMs) based on climate and ecophysiological data. Liolaemus montanezi inhabits a thermally harsh environment which remarkably impacts their activity and thermoregulation. The species shows a daily bimodal pattern of activity and mostly occupies shaded microenvironments. Although the individuals thermoregulate at body temperatures below their thermal preference they avoid high-temperature microenvironments probably to avoid overheating. The population currently persists because of the important role of the habitat physiognomy and not because of niche tracking, seemingly prevented by major rivers that form boundaries of their geographic range. We found evidence of habitat opportunities in the current range and adjacent areas that will likely remain suitable to the year 2070, reinforcing the relevance of the river foodplain for the species’ avoidance of extinction.Fil: Laspiur, Julio Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; ArgentinaFil: Santos, J. C.. St. Johns University; Estados UnidosFil: Medina, Susana Marlin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagóica. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Facultad de Ciencias Naturales - Sede Esquel. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica; ArgentinaFil: Pizarro, Jesús Ezequiel. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan; ArgentinaFil: Sanabria, Eduardo Alfredo. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Filosofía, Humanidades y Artes. Instituto de Ciencias Básicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan; ArgentinaFil: Sinervo, B.. University of California; Estados UnidosFil: Ibarguengoytía, Nora. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentin

Clutch Frequency Affects the Offspring Size-Number Trade-Off in Lizards

Background: Studies of lizards have shown that offspring size cannot be altered by manipulating clutch size in species with a high clutch frequency. This raises a question of whether clutch frequency has a key role in influencing the offspring sizenumber trade-off in lizards. Methodology/Principal Findings: To test the hypothesis that females reproducing more frequently are less likely to tradeoff offspring size against offspring number, we applied the follicle ablation technique to female Eremias argus (Lacertidae) from Handan (HD) and Gonghe (GH), the two populations that differ in clutch frequency. Follicle ablation resulted in enlargement of egg size in GH females, but not in HD females. GH females switched from producing a larger number of smaller eggs in the first clutch to a smaller number of larger eggs in the second clutch; HD females showed a similar pattern of seasonal shifts in egg size, but kept clutch size constant between the first two clutches. Thus, the egg sizenumber trade-off was evident in GH females, but not in HD females. Conclusions/Significance: As HD females (mean = 3.1 clutches per year) reproduce more frequently than do GH females (mean = 1.6 clutches per year), our data therefore validate the hypothesis tested. Our data also provide an inference that maximization of maternal fitness could be achieved in females by diverting a large enough, rather than a higher-than-usual

Mobility promotes and jeopardizes biodiversity in rock-paper-scissors games

Biodiversity is essential to the viability of ecological systems. Species diversity in ecosystems is promoted by cyclic, non-hierarchical interactions among competing populations. Such non-transitive relations lead to an evolution with central features represented by the `rock-paper-scissors' game, where rock crushes scissors, scissors cut paper, and paper wraps rock. In combination with spatial dispersal of static populations, this type of competition results in the stable coexistence of all species and the long-term maintenance of biodiversity. However, population mobility is a central feature of real ecosystems: animals migrate, bacteria run and tumble. Here, we observe a critical influence of mobility on species diversity. When mobility exceeds a certain value, biodiversity is jeopardized and lost. In contrast, below this critical threshold all subpopulations coexist and an entanglement of travelling spiral waves forms in the course of temporal evolution. We establish that this phenomenon is robust, it does not depend on the details of cyclic competition or spatial environment. These findings have important implications for maintenance and evolution of ecological systems and are relevant for the formation and propagation of patterns in excitable media, such as chemical kinetics or epidemic outbreaks.Comment: Final submitted version; the printed version can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature06095 Supplementary movies are available at http://www.theorie.physik.uni-muenchen.de/lsfrey/images_content/movie1.AVI and http://www.theorie.physik.uni-muenchen.de/lsfrey/images_content/movie2.AV