What are the type, direction, and strength of species, community, and ecosystem responses to warming in aquatic mesocosm studies and their dependency on experimental characteristics? A systematic review protocol

Background Mesocosm experiments have become increasingly popular in climate change research as they bridge the gap between small-scale, less realistic, microcosm experiments, and large-scale, more complex, natural systems. Characteristics of aquatic mesocosm designs (e.g., mesocosm volume, study duration, and replication) vary widely, potentially affecting the magnitude and direction of effect sizes measured in experiments. In this global systematic review we aim to identify the type, direction and strength of climate warming effects on aquatic species, communities and ecosystems in mesocosm experiments. Furthermore, we will investigate the context-dependency of the observed effects on several a priori determined effect moderators (ecological and methodological). Our conclusions will provide recommendations for aquatic scientists designing mesocosm experiments, as well as guidelines for interpretation of experimental results by scientists, policy-makers and the general public. Methods We will conduct a systematic search using multiple online databases to gather evidence from the scientific literature on the effects of warming experimentally tested in aquatic mesocosms. Data from relevant studies will be extracted and used in a random effects meta-analysis to estimate the overall effect sizes of warming experiments on species performance, biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Experimental characteristics (e.g., mesocosm size and shape, replication-level, experimental duration and design, biogeographic region, community type, crossed manipulation) will be further analysed using subgroup analyses

Data from: Vegetation structure mediates a shift in predator avoidance behavior in a range-edge population

Where organisms encounter novel conditions during range expansion, behavioral changes suited to the new habitat can enhance survival. Behavioral changes that mitigate predation risk are particularly important for the persistence of range-edge populations, especially where plastic responses outpace genetic adaptation. We use a climate-driven spatial mismatch between the arboreal mangrove tree crab (Aratus pisonii) and its primary mangrove habitat to evaluate differences in predator avoidance behavior between populations in range-center mangroves and adjacent range-edge salt marshes. We expected that differences in vegetation stature and diameter mediate changes in Aratus behavior. We combined crab and vegetation surveys with tethering experiments and in situ behavioral trials to determine habitat-specific predation risk and predator avoidance via evasion and autotomy. Tethering trials revealed that predation risk was always greater from aquatic sources than terrestrial sources and that aquatic risk was enhanced in marsh habitat. Vegetation structural form constrained Aratus predator avoidance during in situ behavioral assays: in mangroves, Aratus escaped upward into the canopy, but short statured marsh grass restricted evasion to downward movement towards the higher risk aquatic environment. Given this restricted evasion route, Aratus in salt marsh were less likely to evade and showed more evidence of secondary escape via leg-dropping. Shifting predator avoidance behavior away from a fleeing escape strategy may ameliorate the fitness costs of reduced escape opportunities for Aratus in novel marsh habitat along the range-edge. Similar changes in behavior to match local habitat conditions could be integral to the persistence of many range-edge populations that encounter novel habitats

Mosaic Analysis in Drosophila

Since the founding of Drosophila genetics by Thomas Hunt Morgan and his colleagues over 100 years ago, the experimental induction of mosaicism has featured prominently in its recognition as an unsurpassed genetic model organism. The use of genetic mosaics has facilitated the discovery of a wide variety of developmental processes, identified specific cell lineages, allowed the study of recessive embryonic lethal mutations, and demonstrated the existence of cell competition. Here, we discuss how genetic mosaicism in Drosophila became an invaluable research tool that revolutionized developmental biology. We describe the prevailing methods used to produce mosaic animals, and highlight advantages and disadvantages of each genetic system. We cover methods ranging from simple "twin-spot" analysis to more sophisticated systems of multicolor labeling

Foraging connections: Patterns of prey use linked to invasive predator diel movement.

Invasive predators can profoundly impact native communities, especially in insular ecosystems where functionally equivalent predators were evolutionarily absent. Beyond direct consumption, predators can affect communities indirectly by creating or altering food web linkages among existing species. Where invasive predators consume prey from multiple distinct resource channels, novel links may couple the dynamics of disjunct modules and create indirect interactions between them. Our study focuses on invasive populations of Eleutherodactylus coqui (Anura: Leptodactylidae) on Hawaii Island. Coqui actively forage in the understory and lower canopy at night but return to the forest floor and belowground retreats by day. Recent dietary studies using gut contents and naturally occurring stable isotopes indicate higher than expected consumption of litter arthropods, which in these Hawaiian forests are primarily non-native species. We used laboratory studies to observe diurnal and nocturnal foraging behavior, and experimental field additions of C4 vegetation as a litter tracer to distinguish epigaeic sources from food web pools in the C3 canopy. Lab trials revealed that prey consumption during diurnal foraging was half that consumed during nocturnal foraging. Analysis of δ13C isotopes showed incorporation of C4 carbon into litter arthropods within one month, and Bayesian mixing models estimated that 15-25% of the carbon in coqui tissue was derived from litter sources. These results support recent findings that E. coqui are not quiescent diurnally but instead actively forage. Such activity by a mobile invasive predator may introduce a novel linkage that integrates detrital and foliar resource pools, potentially distributing influences of invasive litter arthropods through the broader system to amplify impacts on native species

Ecological drivers and habitat associations of estuarine bivalves

Community composition of the infaunal bivalve fauna of the St. Lucie Estuary and southern Indian River Lagoon, eastern Florida was sampled quarterly for 10 years as part of a long-term benthic monitoring program. A total of 38,514 bivalves of 137 taxa were collected and identified. We utilized this data, along with sediment samples and environmental measurements gathered concurrently, to assess the community composition, distribution, and ecological drivers of the infaunal bivalves of this estuary system. Salinity had the strongest influence on bivalve assemblage across the 15 sites, superseding the influences of sediment type, water turbidity, temperature and other environmental parameters. The greatest diversity was found in higher salinity euhaline sites, while the greatest abundance of individual bivalves was found in medium salinity mixohaline sites, the lowest diversity and abundances were found in the low salinity oligohaline sites, demonstrating a strong positive association between salinity and diversity/abundance. Water management decisions for the estuary should incorporate understanding of the role of salinity on bivalve diversity, abundance, and ecosystem function

Mosquito trap results from Palmyra Atoll, by date, island and trap type from Local extinction of the Asian tiger mosquito (<i>Aedes albopictus</i>) following rat eradication on Palmyra Atoll

Mosquito trap dat

Sampling locations, types, and effort for mosquitoes before and after rat eradication from Local extinction of the Asian tiger mosquito (<i>Aedes albopictus</i>) following rat eradication on Palmyra Atoll

Sample location

Annual rainfall on Palmyra Atoll taken from the station rain gauge from Local extinction of the Asian tiger mosquito (<i>Aedes albopictus</i>) following rat eradication on Palmyra Atoll

Rainfall dat