65 research outputs found
Collapse of an ecological network in Ancient Egypt
The dynamics of ecosystem collapse are fundamental to determining how and why
biological communities change through time, as well as the potential effects of
extinctions on ecosystems. Here we integrate depictions of mammals from
Egyptian antiquity with direct lines of paleontological and archeological
evidence to infer local extinctions and community dynamics over a 6000-year
span. The unprecedented temporal resolution of this data set enables
examination of how the tandem effects of human population growth and climate
change can disrupt mammalian communities. We show that the extinctions of
mammals in Egypt were nonrandom, and that destabilizing changes in community
composition coincided with abrupt aridification events and the attendant
collapses of some complex societies. We also show that the roles of species in
a community can change over time, and that persistence is predicted by measures
of species sensitivity, a function of local dynamic stability. Our study is the
first high-resolution analysis of the ecological impacts of environmental
change on predator-prey networks over millennial timescales, and sheds light on
the historical events that have shaped modern animal communities
A buccal mucosa carcinoma treated with high dose rate brachytherapy
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135251/1/acm20008.pd
The Lantern Vol. 15, No. 3, Summer 1947
⢠On Sleeping at Lectures ⢠So You Want Security ⢠Mild and Bitters ⢠The Child April ⢠Helgoland ⢠His Majesty, Tabby ⢠January Interval ⢠A Friend or Two ⢠Wish in June ⢠The Search ⢠Jack of 54 and Davey Jones ⢠Song of the Earth ⢠Donald Gay Baker ⢠The Dilemma by the Horns ⢠Psychologyhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/lantern/1042/thumbnail.jp
Ecogeographical rules and the macroecology of food webs
AimHow do factors such as space, time, climate and other ecological drivers influence food web structure and dynamics? Collections of wellâstudied food webs and replicate food webs from the same system that span biogeographical and ecological gradients now enable detailed, quantitative investigation of such questions and help integrate food web ecology and macroecology. Here, we integrate macroecology and food web ecology by focusing on how ecogeographical rules [the latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG), Bergmannâs rule, the island rule and Rapoportâs rule] are associated with the architecture of food webs.LocationGlobal.Time periodCurrent.Major taxa studiedAll taxa.MethodsWe discuss the implications of each ecogeographical rule for food webs, present predictions for how food web structure will vary with each rule, assess empirical support where available, and discuss how food webs may influence ecogeographical rules. Finally, we recommend systems and approaches for further advancing this research agenda.ResultsWe derived testable predictions for some ecogeographical rules (e.g. LDG, Rapoportâs rule), while for others (e.g., Bergmannâs and island rules) it is less clear how we would expect food webs to change over macroecological scales. Based on the LDG, we found weak support for both positive and negative relationships between food chain length and latitude and for increased generality and linkage density at higher latitudes. Based on Rapoportâs rule, we found support for the prediction that species turnover in food webs is inversely related to latitude.Main conclusionsThe macroecology of food webs goes beyond traditional approaches to biodiversity at macroecological scales by focusing on trophic interactions among species. The collection of food web data for different types of ecosystems across biogeographical gradients is key to advance this research agenda. Further, considering food web interactions as a selection pressure that drives or disrupts ecogeographical rules has the potential to address both mechanisms of and deviations from these macroecological relationships. For these reasons, further integration of macroecology and food webs will help ecologists better understand the assembly, maintenance and change of ecosystems across space and time.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151318/1/geb12925_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151318/2/geb12925.pd
Merging Resource Availability with Isotope Mixing Models: The Role of Neutral Interaction Assumptions
Background: Bayesian mixing models have allowed for the inclusion of uncertainty and prior information in the analysis of trophic interactions using stable isotopes. Formulating prior distributions is relatively straightforward when incorporating dietary data. However, the use of data that are related, but not directly proportional, to diet (such as prey availability data) is often problematic because such information is not necessarily predictive of diet, and the information required to build a reliable prior distribution for all prey species is often unavailable. Omitting prey availability data impacts the estimation of a predator's diet and introduces the strong assumption of consumer ultrageneralism (where all prey are consumed in equal proportions), particularly when multiple prey have similar isotope values. Methodology: We develop a procedure to incorporate prey availability data into Bayesian mixing models conditional on the similarity of isotope values between two prey. If a pair of prey have similar isotope values (resulting in highly uncertain mixing model results), our model increases the weight of availability data in estimating the contribution of prey to a predator's diet. We test the utility of this method in an intertidal community against independently measured feeding rates. Conclusions: Our results indicate that our weighting procedure increases the accuracy by which consumer diets can be inferred in situations where multiple prey have similar isotope values. This suggests that the exchange of formalism for predictive power is merited, particularly when the relationship between prey availability and a predator's diet cannot be assumed for all species in a system.National Science Foundation (NSF) [DEB-0608178]U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyDepartment of EducationSigma XiUniversity of ChicagoFundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP)(CAPES) Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superiori
Mechanical Properties of Plant Underground Storage Organs and Implications for Dietary Models of Early Hominins
The diet of early human ancestors has received renewed theoretical interest since the discovery of elevated d13C values in the enamel of Australopithecus africanus and Paranthropus robustus. As a result, the hominin diet is hypothesized to have included C4 grass or the tissues of animals which themselves consumed C4 grass. On mechanical grounds, such a diet is incompatible with the dental morphology and dental microwear of early hominins. Most inferences, particularly for Paranthropus, favor a diet of hard or mechanically resistant foods. This discrepancy has invigorated the longstanding hypothesis that hominins consumed plant underground storage organs (USOs). Plant USOs are attractive candidate foods because many bulbous grasses and cormous sedges use C4 photosynthesis. Yet mechanical data for USOsâor any putative hominin foodâare scarcely known. To fill this empirical void we measured the mechanical properties of USOs from 98 plant species from across sub-Saharan Africa. We found that rhizomes were the most resistant to deformation and fracture, followed by tubers, corms, and bulbs. An important result of this study is that corms exhibited low toughness values (mean = 265.0 J m-2) and relatively high Youngâs modulus values (mean = 4.9 MPa). This combination of properties fits many descriptions of the hominin diet as consisting of hard-brittle objects. When compared to corms, bulbs are tougher (mean = 325.0 J m-2) and less stiff (mean = 2.5 MPa). Again, this combination of traits resembles dietary inferences, especially for Australopithecus, which is predicted to have consumed soft-tough foods. Lastly, we observed the roasting behavior of Hadza hunter-gatherers and measured the effects of roasting on the toughness on undomesticated tubers. Our results support assumptions that roasting lessens the work of mastication, and, by inference, the cost of digestion. Together these findings provide the first mechanical basis for discussing the adaptive advantages of roasting tubers and the plausibility of USOs in the diet of early hominins
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