Striving for transparent and credible research: practical guidelines for behavioral ecologists

Science is meant to be the systematic and objective study of the world but evidence suggests that scientific practices are sometimes falling short of this expectation. In this invited idea, we argue that any failure to conduct research according to a documented plan (lack of reliability) and/or any failure to ensure that reconducting the same project would provide the same finding (lack of reproducibility), will result in a low probability of independent studies reaching the same outcome (lack of replicability). After outlining the challenges facing behavioral ecology and science more broadly and incorporating advice from international organizations such as the Center for Open Science (COS), we present clear guidelines and tutorials on what we think open practices represent for behavioral ecologists. In addition, we indicate some of the currently most appropriate and freely available tools for adopting these practices. Finally, we suggest that all journals in our field, such as Behavioral Ecology, give additional weight to transparent studies and therefore provide greater incentives to align our scientific practices to our scientific values. Overall, we argue that producing demonstrably credible science is now fully achievable for the benefit of each researcher individually and for our community as a whole

Predictably Philandering Females Prompt Poor Paternal Provisioning

One predicted cost of female infidelity in socially monogamous species is that cuckolded males should provide less parental care. This relationship is robust across species, but evidence is ambiguous within species. We do not know whether individual males reduce their care when paired with cheating females compared with when paired with faithful females (within-male adjustment) or, alternatively, if the males that pair with cheating females are the same males that provide less parental care in general (between-male effect). Our exceptionally extensive long-term data set of repeated observations of a wild passerine allows us to disentangle paternal care adjustment within males—within pairs and between males—while accounting for environmental variables. We found a within-male adjustment of paternal provisioning, but not incubation effort, relative to the cuckoldry in their nest. This effect was mainly driven by females differing consistently in their fidelity. There was no evidence that this within-male adjustment also took place across broods with the same female, and we found no between-male effect. Interestingly, males that gained more extrapair paternity provided less care. Data from a cross-foster experiment suggested that males did not use kin recognition to assess paternity. Our results provide insight into the role of individual variation in parental care and mating systems

Teachers\u27 Perceptions And Realizations Of Critical Literacy

This dissertation examines teachers\u27 perceptions and realizations of critical literacy learning as they engaged in collaborative inquiry into their students\u27 learning. Participants used critical discourse analysis (CDA) of student writing and student talk to uncover the ideologies at work in their classrooms. This study also investigated teachers\u27 perceptions of tensions related to their work with critical literacy. This study extends ideas from the research literature about teachers\u27 perceptions and realizations of critical literacy and the potential of CDA for critical literacy and professional learning. This qualitative study was guided by ethnographic principles to understand participants\u27 perspectives through their experiences with CDA and critical literacy learning. The investigation involved 11 participants from the existing critical literacy teacher group of 20 teachers. A focus group of five teachers was selected from the larger group to participate in focus group interviews, classroom observations and informal interviews. Data sources included interview data, classroom observation fieldnotes, participant reflection journals, and transcripts from teacher group working sessions provided descriptive data about teachers\u27 perceptions of their work with critical literacy across professional learning, classroom practice and personal reflections. Data were analyzed with two different methods: grounded theory and existing typologies for content analysis. Evidence from the data suggests that through CDA, tensions emerged that led to changes in participants\u27 perceptions and realizations of critical literacy. CDA also contributed to changes in participants\u27 perceptions and realizations of critical literacy learning, in particular in how they recognized multiple perspectives, how they envisioned discourse in other aspects of critical literacy, and how they engaged in learning for critical literacy. This study raises implications for the use of CDA for critical literacy and professional learning, and the use of short texts for CDA. This study also points to the value of focusing on tensions as sites for professional learning

Crossing the Red Sea: phylogeography of the hamadryas baboon, Papio hamadryas hamadryas

International audienceThe hamadryas baboon (Papio hamadryas hamadryas) is found both in East Africa and western Arabia and is the only free-ranging nonhuman primate in Arabia. It has been hypothesized that hamadryas baboons colonized Arabia in the recent past and were possibly even transported there by humans. We investigated the phylogeography of hamadryas baboons by sequencing a portion of the control region of mtDNA in 107 baboons from four Saudi Arabian populations and combing these data with published data from Eritrean (African) P. h. hamadryas. Analysis grouped sequences into three distinct clades, with clade 1 found only in Arabia, clade 3 found only in Africa, but clade 2 found in both Arabian and African P. h. hamadryas and also in the olive baboon, P. h. anubis. Patterns of variation within Arabia are neither compatible with the recent colonization of Arabia, implying that baboons were not transported there by humans, nor with a northerly route of colonization of Arabia. We propose that hamadryas baboons reached Arabia via land bridges that have formed periodically during glacial maxima at the straits of Bab el Mandab in the southern Red Sea. We suggest that the genetic differentiation of Arabian from African populations suggests that Arabian populations have a higher conservation status than recognized previously

Attosecond Spectroscopy Probing Electron Correlation Dynamics

Electrons are the driving force behind every chemical reaction. The exchange, ionization, or even relaxation of electrons is behind every bond broken or formed. According to the Bohr model of the atom, it takes an electron 150 as to orbit a proton[6]. With this as a unit time scale for an electron, it is clear that a pulse duration of several femtoseconds will not be sufficient to understanding electron dynamics. Our work demonstrates both technical and scientific achievements that push the boundaries of attosecond dynamics. TDSE studies show that amplification the yield of high harmonic generation (HHG) may be possible with transverse confinement of the electron. XUV-pump-XUV-probe shows that the yield of APT train can be sufficient for 2-photon double ionization studies. A zero dead-time detection system allows for the measurement of state-resolved double ionization for the first time. Exploiting attosecond angular streaking[7] probes sequential and non-sequential double ionization via electron-electron correlations with attosecond time resolution. Finally, using recoil frame momentum correlation, the fast dissociation of CH3I reveals important orbital ionization dynamics of non-dissociative & dissociative, single & double ionization

Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon genomes from East England reveal British migration history

British population history has been shaped by a series of immigrations, including the early Anglo-Saxon migrations after 400 CE. It remains an open question how these events affected the genetic composition of the current British population. Here, we present whole-genome sequences from 10 individuals excavated close to Cambridge in the East of England, ranging from the late Iron Age to the middle Anglo-Saxon period. By analysing shared rare variants with hundreds of modern samples from Britain and Europe, we estimate that on average the contemporary East English population derives 38% of its ancestry from Anglo-Saxon migrations. We gain further insight with a new method, rarecoal, which infers population history and identifies fine-scale genetic ancestry from rare variants. Using rarecoal we find that the Anglo-Saxon samples are closely related to modern Dutch and Danish populations, while the Iron Age samples share ancestors with multiple Northern European populations including Britain

Age-dependent trajectories differ between within-pair and extra-pair paternity success.

Reproductive success is associated with age in many taxa, increasing in early life followed by reproductive senescence. In socially monogamous, but genetically polygamous species, this generates the interesting possibility of differential trajectories of within-pair and extra-pair siring success with age in males. We investigate these relationships simultaneously using within-individual analyses with 13 years of data from an insular house sparrow (Passer domesticus) population. As expected, we found that both within- and extra-pair paternity success increased with age, followed by a senescence-like decline. However, the age trajectories of within- and extra-pair paternity successes differed significantly, with the extra-pair paternity success increasing faster, albeit non-significantly so, in early life, and showing a delayed decline by 1.5 years on average later in life compared to within-pair paternity success. These different trajectories indicate that the two alternative mating tactics should have age-dependent payoffs. Males may partition their reproductive effort between within- and extra-pair matings depending on their current age in order to reap the maximal combined benefit from both strategies. The interplay between these mating strategies and age-specific mortality may explain the variation in rates of extra-pair paternity observed within and between-species. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved