Search results for "Ecological model"
showing 10 items of 322 documents
Morphological traits predict host-tree specialization in wood-inhabiting fungal communities
2020
Tree species is one of the most important determinants of wood-inhabiting fungal community composition, yet its relationship with fungal reproductive and dispersal traits remains poorly understood. We studied fungal communities (total of 657 species) inhabiting broadleaved and coniferous dead wood (total of 192 logs) in 12 semi-natural boreal forests. We utilized a trait-based hierarchical joint species distribution model to examine how the relationship between dead wood quality and species occurrence correlates with reproductive and dispersal morphological traits. Broadleaved trees had higher species richness than conifers, due to discomycetoids and pyrenomycetoids specializing in them. Re…
Effects of a mobile disturbance pattern on dynamic patch networks and metapopulation persistence
2021
Abstract Motivation Certain early-succession habitats may emerge only at restricted locations following disturbance. Therefore, whether disturbances tend to occur at certain sites or not can significantly affect habitat availability and metapopulation persistence of early-successional habitat specialists. Available models that combine metapopulation and landscape processes do not address how to model mobile, spatially shifting disturbance intensities independent of factors of site suitability. We present a model that allows the study on how a mobile disturbance pattern, of either natural or anthropogenic origin, affects patch network and metapopulation dynamics in realistic, heterogeneous l…
Null models for animal social network analysis and data collected via focal sampling: Pre‐network or node network permutation?
2020
In social networks analysis, two different approaches have predominated in creating null models for hypothesis testing, namely pre‐network and node network permutation approaches. Although the pre‐network permutation approach appears more advantageous, its use has mainly been restricted to data on associations and sampling methods such as ‘group follows’. The pre‐network permutation approach has recently been adapted to data on interactions and the focal sampling method, but its performance in different scenarios has not been thoroughly explored. Here, we assessed the performance of the pre‐network and node network permutation approach in several simulated scenarios based on proneness to fa…
Interpreting immunological indices: the importance of taking parasite community into account. An example in blackbirds Turdus merula.
2015
13 pages; International audience; Despite the intensive use of immune indices in immunoecology, whether to interpret the results of immune indices in terms of actual immune competence (i.e. ability to control and clear parasite infections as indicated by high values of immune indices associated with low parasite loads) or current immune activation (pathogenic infection being associated with high parasite load and high values of immune indices) is still an open question. Most studies to date have produced contrasting results focused on the effect of a single parasite species despite the fact that hosts usually harbour a community of parasites that influences one another's impact on host immu…
Effects of mowing on fungal endophytes and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in subalpine grasslands
2013
International audience; In French subalpine grasslands, cessation of mowing promotes dominance of Festuca paniculata, which alters plant diversity and ecosystem functioning. One of the mechanisms underpinning such effects may be linked to simultaneous changes in the abundance of fungal symbionts such as endophytes and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. In field conditions, mowing reduced the abundance of the endophyte Neotyphodium sp. in leaves of F. paniculata by a factor of 6, and increased mycorrhizal densities by a factor of 15 in the soil. In greenhouse experiments, the mycorrhizal colonization of Trifolium pratense and Allium porrum increased 3- fold and 3.8- fold respectively in mown vs u…
Wood-decaying fungi in old-growth boreal forest fragments: extinctions and colonizations over 20 years
2021
According to ecology theory, isolated habitat fragments cannot maintain populations of specialized species. Yet, empirical evidence based on monitoring of the same fragments over time is still limited. We studied the colonizationâextinction dynamics of eight wood-decaying fungal species in 16 old-growth forest fragments (<14 ha) over a 20-year period (1997â2017). We observed 19 extinctions and 5 colonizations; yet, the distribution of extinctions and colonizations did not differ from the one expected by chance for any of the species. Twenty-six percent of the extinctions took place in two natural fragments amid large forestâpeatland complexes. (Romell) Bourdot and Galzin decreased …
Carbon dynamics modelization and biological community sensitivity to temperature in an oligotrophic freshwater Antarctic lake
2016
Lake Limnopolar, located in one of the areas on Earth experiencing the strongest local warming, has been studied as a maritime Antarctic lake model by the Limnopolar Research Team during the last decade. Data collected during this period revealed the existence of an important meteorological interannual variability in the area of Byers Peninsula. With the aim of increasing the knowledge of this ecosystem and its sensibility to climate change as a model ecosystem, as well as to calibrate the extent of the interannual variability, a carbon flow model was developed partly describing its microbial food web. This preliminary model aims to describe part of the carbon dynamics, especially for bacte…
Fruit body based inventories in wood-inhabiting fungi: Should we replicate in space or time?
2016
We assessed the effect of survey design on the results when conducting fruit body surveys of wood-inhabiting fungi. Our results demonstrate that the optimal design depends on the ecological question to be addressed, as well as the group of fungal species under research. If the aim is to record the total species richness in a dead wood unit or to estimate the population size of a species, repeating the survey over time is generally necessary. However, if the aim is to estimate the total species richness in the forest or to assess how environmental covariates influence species richness or community composition, it is generally more efficient to increase the number of dead wood units than to r…
Non-linear biological responses to disturbance: consequences on population dynamics
2003
Abstract We assessed how non-linear biological responses to environmental noise, or “noise filtering”, impact the spectra of density-dependent population dynamics, and the correlation between noise and population dynamics. The noise was assumed to affect population growth rate in a discrete-time population model by Hassell [J. Anim. Ecol. 44 (1975) 283–295] where the population growth rate was linked to the environment with an optimum type filter. When compared to unfiltered noise, the filtered noise can distort the stationary distribution of population values. The optimum type filter can make cyclic population dynamics more regular and low population values can become more frequent or rare…
Adapted conservation measures are required to save the Iberian lynx in a changing climate
2013
The Iberian lynx ( Lynx pardinus ) has suffered severe population declines in the twentieth century and is now on the brink of extinction 1 . Climate change could further threaten the survival of the species 2 , but its forecast effects are being neglected in recovery plans 3,4 . Quantitative estimates of extinction risk under climate change have so far mostly relied on inferences from correlative projections of species’ habitat shifts 5 . Here we use ecological niche models coupled to metapopulation simulations with source–sink dynamics 6,7 to directly investi- gate the combined effects of climate change, prey availabil- ity and management intervention on the persistence of the Iberian lyn…