Delving deeper: Questioning the decline of long-tongued bumble bees, long-tubed flowers and their mutualisms with climate change

Miller-Struttmann et al. (2015) suggest that, in a North American alpine ecosystem, reduced flower abundance due to climate change has driven the evolution of shorter tongues in two bumble bee species. We accept the evidence that tongue length has decreased, but are unconvinced by the adaptive explanation offered. It posits foraging responses and competitive relationships not seen in other studies and interprets phenotypic change as evidence of evolutionary adaptation. By oversimplifying a complex phenomenon, it may exaggerate the potential for bees to quickly adapt to environmental changes

Intake and dietary sources of haem and non-haem iron in Flemish preschoolers

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES:In the absence of biochemical data on iron status in preschoolers, data on the adequacy of iron intake may be used to assess the possible risk of iron deficiency in this population group. Therefore, this study aims to investigate iron intake and its food sources in Flemish preschoolers.SUBJECTS/METHODS:A total of 661 Flemish preschoolers 2.5-6.5 years old were recruited via a random cluster sampling design, using schools as primary sampling units. Three-day estimated diet records were used to assess dietary intakes. The contribution to iron intake (haem and non-haem) of 57 food groups was computed by summing the amount provided by the food group for all individuals divided by the total intake for all individuals.RESULTS:Mean total iron intake (s.d.) was 7.4 (2.3) and 6.7 (2.8) mg/day for boys and girls, respectively. In all 65% of the children 4 years old and 45% of those 4-6.5 years old presented adequate iron intakes. The food groups with the highest mean proportional contribution to total iron intake were bread, meat and meat products, breakfast cereals and sweet snacks (in that order). Children from small families whose mother had a low educational level had higher iron intakes.CONCLUSION:Iron intakes were similar for boys and girls and almost half of the Flemish preschoolers do not comply with the dietary iron recommendations. © 2012 Macmillan Publishers Limited.Peer Reviewe

A roadmap for urban evolutionary ecology

Urban ecosystems are rapidly expanding throughout the world, but how urban growth affects the evolutionary ecology of species living in urban areas remains largely unknown. Urban ecology has advanced our understanding of how the development of cities and towns change environmental conditions and alter ecological processes and patterns. However, despite decades of research in urban ecology, the extent to which urbanization influences evolutionary and eco-evolutionary change has received little attention. The nascent field of urban evolutionary ecology seeks to understand how urbanization affects the evolution of populations, and how those evolutionary changes in turn influence the ecological dynamics of populations, communities, and ecosystems. Following a brief history of this emerging field, this Perspective article provides a research agenda and roadmap for future research aimed at advancing our understanding of the interplay between ecology and evolution of urban-dwelling organisms. We identify six key questions that, if addressed, would significantly increase our understanding of how urbanization influences evolutionary processes. These questions consider how urbanization affects nonadaptive evolution, natural selection, and convergent evolution, in addition to the role of urban environmental heterogeneity on species evolution, and the roles of phenotypic plasticity versus adaptation on species' abundance in cities. Our final question examines the impact of urbanization on evolutionary diversification. For each of these six questions, we suggest avenues for future research that will help advance the field of urban evolutionary ecology. Lastly, we highlight the importance of integrating urban evolutionary ecology into urban planning, conservation practice, pest management, and public engagement

Genetic studies of body mass index yield new insights for obesity biology

Note: A full list of authors and affiliations appears at the end of the article. Obesity is heritable and predisposes to many diseases. To understand the genetic basis of obesity better, here we conduct a genome-wide association study and Metabochip meta-analysis of body mass index (BMI), a measure commonly used to define obesity and assess adiposity, in up to 339,224 individuals. This analysis identifies 97 BMI-associated loci (P 20% of BMI variation. Pathway analyses provide strong support for a role of the central nervous system in obesity susceptibility and implicate new genes and pathways, including those related to synaptic function, glutamate signalling, insulin secretion/action, energy metabolism, lipid biology and adipogenesis.</p