Search results for " speciation"
showing 10 items of 272 documents
Chemical speciation of Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cu, Co, Ni and Cr in the suspended particulate matter off the Mejerda River Delta (Gulf of Tunis, Tunisia)
2016
International audience; Fluxes of suspended particulate matter (SPM) and their associated metals were performed off the Mejerda River Delta during both the wet (March) and the dry (July) seasons in 2012, using sediment traps at study stations at depths of 10, 20 and 40 m. Fluxes nearest to the Mejerda outlet were more significant, especially during winter (36 g m−2 day−1), but dissipated further offshore, 24.5–6 g m−2 day−1 at the 20 m and 21.8–4.8 g m−2 day−1 at the 40 m stations. Many variations observed in seasonal and spatial metal fluxes are similar to those of SPM, in particular Pb and Zn, probably because they are associated with the mining activity characteristic of the Mejerda catc…
Non‐linearity in interspecific interactions in response to climate change: cod and haddock as an example
2020
Climate change has profound ecological effects, yet our understanding of how trophic interactions among species are affected by climate change is still patchy. The sympatric Atlantic haddock and cod are co-occurring across the North Atlantic. They compete for food at younger stages and thereafter the former is preyed by the latter. Climate change might affect the interaction and coexistence of these two species. Particularly, the increase in sea temperature (ST) has been shown to affect distribution, population growth and trophic interactions in marine systems. We used 33-year long time series of haddock and cod abundances estimates from two data sources (acoustic and trawl survey) to analy…
Staying cool: preadaptation to temperate climates required for colonising tropical alpine-like environments.
2018
Plant species tend to retain their ancestral ecology, responding to temporal, geographic and climatic changes by tracking suitable habitats rather than adapting to novel conditions. Nevertheless, transitions into different environments or biomes still seem to be common. Especially intriguing are the tropical alpine-like areas found on only the highest mountainous regions surrounded by tropical environments. Tropical mountains are hotspots of biodiversity, often with striking degrees of endemism at higher elevations. On these mountains, steep environmental gradients and high habitat heterogeneity within small spaces coincide with astounding species diversity of great conservation value. The …
Frequent colonization and little in situ speciation in Senecio in the tropical alpine-like islands of eastern Africa.
2016
Premise of the study Floras of continental habitat islands, like those of islands, originate mostly through colonization, which can be followed by in situ speciation. We here address the question of the relative importance of colonization and in situ diversification in the high-altitude areas of the eastern African high mountains, the tropical Afroalpine Region, using the most species-rich genus in the region, Senecio, as an example. Methods We expanded earlier Senecioneae phylogenies by adding more tropical African species and analyzed our phylogenetic tree biogeographically. Key results Senecio contains at least five clades with tropical African species, all of them containing tropical af…
Understanding processes at the origin of species flocks with a focus on the marine Antarctic fauna
2017
Species flocks (SFs) fascinate evolutionary biologists who wonder whether such striking diversification can be driven by normal evolutionary processes. Multiple definitions of SFs have hindered the study of their origins. Previous studies identified a monophyletic taxon as a SF if it displays high speciosity in an area in which it is endemic (criterion 1), high ecological diversity among species (criterion 2), and if it dominates the habitat in terms of biomass (criterion 3); we used these criteria in our analyses. Our starting hypothesis is that normal evolutionary processes may provide a sufficient explanation for most SFs. We thus clearly separate each criterion and identify which biolog…
Experimental contact zones reveal causes and targets of sexual selection in hybridizing lizards
2016
Divergence in sexually selected traits in allopatry should affect the degree and direction of hybridization. However, few studies have established the causes and targets of sexual selection during secondary contact. Common wall lizards (Podarcis muralis) from north-central Italy have highly exaggerated male sexual traits compared to populations in Western Europe. Using experimental populations, we show that this creates asymmetries in male dominance, spatial habitat use and reproductive success upon secondary contact. Hybridization occurred almost exclusively between males of the Italian lineage and females of the Western European lineage. We provide evidence to suggest stronger ongoing sel…
Long-Distance Travellers: Phylogeography of a Generalist Parasite, Pholeter gastrophilus, from Cetaceans
2017
We studied the phylogeography and historical demography of the most generalist digenean from cetaceans, Pholeter gastrophilus, exploring the effects of isolation by distance, ecological barriers and hosts' dispersal ability on the population structure of this parasite. The ITS2 rDNA, and the mitochondrial COI and ND1 from 68 individual parasites were analysed. Worms were collected from seven oceanic and coastal cetacean species from the south western Atlantic (SWA), central eastern Atlantic, north eastern Atlantic (NEA), and Mediterranean Sea. Pholeter gastrophilus was considered a single lineage because reciprocal monophyly was not detected in the ML cladogram of all individuals, and seque…
Origin and distribution of desert ants across the Gibraltar Straits
2017
The creation of geographic barriers has long been suspected to contribute to the formation of new species. We investigated the phylogeography of desert ants in the western Mediterranean basin in order to elucidate their mode of diversification. These insects which have a low dispersal capacity are recently becoming important model systems in evolutionary studies. We conducted an extensive sampling of species belonging to the Cataglyphis albicans group in the Iberian Peninsula (IP) and the northern Morocco (North Africa; NA). We then combined genetic, chemical and morphological analyses. The results suggest the existence of at least three and five clades in the IP and NA, respectively, whose…
Integrative taxonomy of root aphid parasitoids from the genus Paralipsis (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Aphidiinae) with description of new species
2019
Species from the genus Paralipsis are obligatory endoparasitoids of root aphids in the Palaearctic. It is known that these species are broadly distributed, parasitizing various aphid hosts and showing great biological and ecological diversity. On the other hand, this group of endoparasitoids is understudied and was thought to be represented by a single species in Europe, viz., Paralipsisenervis (Nees). However, recent description of two new species indicated the possibility of cryptic speciation and recognition of additional Paralipsis species in Europe. In this research, Paralipsis specimens collected during the last 60 years from eight European countries, as well as one sample from Morocc…
Temperature-dependent mutational robustness can explain faster molecular evolution at warm temperatures, affecting speciation rate and global pattern…
2015
Distribution of species across the Earth shows strong latitudinal and altitudinal gradients with the number of species decreasing with declining temperatures. While these patterns have been recognized for well over a century, the mechanisms generating and maintaining them have remained elusive. Here, we propose a mechanistic explanation for temperature-dependent rates of molecular evolution that can influence speciation rates and global biodiversity gradients. Our hypothesis is based on the effects of temperature and temperature-adaptation on stability of proteins and other catalytic biomolecules. First, due to the nature of physical forces between biomolecules and water, stability of biomo…