Basic Ecological Principles Research Articles

Epidemiologic Approaches to Evaluating the Potential for Human Papillomavirus Type Replacement Postvaccination

Currently, 2 vaccines exist that prevent infection by the genotypes of human papillomavirus (HPV) responsible for approximately 70% of cervical cancer cases worldwide. Although vaccination is expected to reduce the prevalence of these HPV types, there is concern about the effect this could have on the distribution of other oncogenic types. According to basic ecological principles, if competition exists between ≥2 different HPV types for niche occupation during natural infection, elimination of 1 type may lead to an increase in other type(s). Here, we discuss this issue of "type replacement" and present different epidemiologic approaches for evaluation of HPV type competition. Briefly, these approaches involve: 1) calculation of the expected frequency of coinfection under independence between HPV types for comparison with observed frequency; 2) construction of hierarchical logistic regression models for each vaccine-targeted type; and 3) construction of Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox models to evaluate sequential acquisition and clearance of HPV types according to baseline HPV status. We also discuss a related issue concerning diagnostic artifacts arising when multiple HPV types are present in specific samples (due to the inability of broad-spectrum assays to detect certain types present in lower concentrations). This may result in an apparent increase in previously undetected types postvaccination.

Cystic Fibrosis Therapy: A Community Ecology Perspective

Current therapy for cystic fibrosis (CF) focuses on minimizing the microbial community and the host's immune response through the aggressive use of airway clearance techniques, broad-spectrum antibiotics, and treatments that break down the pervasive endobronchial biofilm. Antibiotic selection is typically based on the susceptibility of individual microbial strains to specific antibiotics in vitro. Often this approach cannot accurately predict medical outcomes because of factors both technical and biological. Recent culture-independent assessments of the airway microbial and viral communities demonstrated that the CF airway infection is considerably more complex and dynamic than previously appreciated. Understanding the ecological and evolutionary pressures that shape these communities is critically important for the optimal use of current therapies (in both the choice of therapy and timing of administration) and the development of newer strategies. The climax-attack model (CAM) presented here, grounded in basic ecological principles, postulates the existence of two major functional communities. The attack community consists of transient viral and microbial populations that induce strong innate immune responses. The resultant intense immune response creates microenvironments that facilitate the establishment of a climax community that is slower-growing and inherently resistant to antibiotic therapy. Newer methodologies, including sequence-based metagenomic analysis, can track not only the taxonomic composition but also the metabolic capabilities of these changing viral and microbial communities over time. Collecting this information for CF airways will enable the mathematical modeling of microbial community dynamics during disease progression. The resultant understanding of airway communities and their effects on lung physiology will facilitate the optimization of CF therapies.

Ecological Restoration in a Developing Island Nation: How Useful is the Science?

AbstractRestoration science is a relatively young branch of ecology that is growing in importance owing to the sheer scale and trend of habitat degradation worldwide and the range of strong benefits that it is seen to potentially carry. Although spearheaded mainly by developed countries, its usefulness at least for the conservation of biodiversity may be greatest in the developing world. Here we examine how Mauritius, a developing island nation that may be regarded as well equipped among developing countries in terms of access to restoration science, is using science to inform the ecological restoration of its degraded native habitats for biodiversity conservation. While Mauritius is known for a number of proactive and at times innovative approaches that may even be setting the pace worldwide, we found that the restoration activities which are impacting the largest areas and an overwhelming proportion of native biodiversity of the country sometimes remain averse to even basic ecological principles. This includes the removal from restoration areas of fast growing native pioneer species with proven nurse‐tree potential to be replaced by a multitude of nursery grown and much slower growing plants that would have naturally grown anyway. Besides representing setbacks to areas undergoing restoration, this elevates restoration costs in the face of scarcity of conservation resources and urgency to restore more than the tiny and isolated areas currently targeted. Research worldwide continues to improve restoration science but blockages to knowledge transfer can seriously undermine its impact where it is most needed.

EDUCATION PRINCIPLES IN A MODEL OF STRONG SUSTAINABILITY

In the past decades, in all the world schools and faculties of economics, it was taught that the main objective of economic policy is to ensure continuous economic growth. However, for reasons of limited absorption capacity of the environment and increasing reduction of the original ecosystems, models of economic growth are in opposition to the basic ecological principles. This is primarily the consequence of learning and applying the conventional economic paradigm which disregards the relationship between economy and environment. Therefore, the authors of this paper, proceeding from the correlation between economy and environment from the aspect of fundamental natural laws, analysed the basic determinants of the strong sustainability paradigm which implies that natural capital resources should be maintained in the constant flow of time. The research also includes analysis of the correlation between specific economic and ecological challenges of sustainable development in global regions. The authors concluded that sustainable economy may exist only in the sustainable symbiosis with the natural system. Taking into account the complex relationship between nature, society, technology and economy, the authors concluded the paper with the proposition of concrete guidelines for a reform of economic education, in accordance with the concept of strong sustainability. Key words: economy, education, environment, strong sustainability, weak sustainability.

Ecohydrology and Fish-Passage Engineering: Legacy of Denil and the Call for a More Inclusive Paradigm

Ecohydrology and Fish-Passage Engineering: Legacy of Denil and the Call for a More Inclusive Paradigm

Special Topics in Biology: Ecology of Greater Yellowstone

Special Topics in Biology: Ecology of Greater Yellowstone is a freshman level, non-majors biology course emphasizing basic ecological principles with specific application to the ecosystems found in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. This course is offered during Maymester at Oklahoma City University. The field portion of the course took place from May 22-31, 2012.

Special Topics in Ecology: Ecology of Greater Yellowstone

Special Topics in Ecology: Ecology of Greater Yellowstone is a sophomore level college course emphasizing basic ecological principles with specific application to the ecosystems found in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. This course is offered during spring intersession using a hybrid format. The field portion of the course took place from May 20-29, 2011.

“I Learn More at School”: A Critical Perspective on Workplace‐Related Second Language Learning In and Out of School

This article presents a case study of a student involved in language learning at a work placement, as part of the basic Swedish language programme for adult immigrants, Svenska för invandrare (Sfi), in Gothenburg, Sweden. In accordance with the predominant economic agenda, this system is assumed to accelerate labour market entrance as well as language acquisition for the newcomer. The article describes some macrolevel aspects important for the outcome of the work placement and discusses some tensions in the system, before exploring an ecological framework and the concept of affordances as a tool for analysing the agents' situated interactions at the work placement. The analysis shows that affordances offered by the environment at the work placement were explored as meaning‐making material and as action potentials but not as learning opportunities, because the student's activities were limited to tasks and she had insufficient support for evaluating her work placement interactions. The article suggests some basic ecological principles for the reframing of the Sfi programme, built on affordance‐focusing tasks that enable students to learn from discourse practices that they come across at workplaces and other out‐of‐classroom contexts.

Ant traffic rules

Many animals take part in flow-like collective movements. In most species, however, the flow is unidirectional. Ants are one of the rare group of organisms in which flow-like movements are predominantly bidirectional. This adds to the difficulty of the task of maintaining a smooth, efficient movement. Yet, ants seem to fare well at this task. Do they really? And if so, how do such simple organisms succeed in maintaining a smooth traffic flow, when even humans experience trouble with this task? How does traffic in ants compare with that in human pedestrians or vehicles? The experimental study of ant traffic is only a few years old but it has already provided interesting insights into traffic organization and regulation in animals, showing in particular that an ant colony as a whole can be considered as a typical self-organized adaptive system. In this review we will show that the study of ant traffic can not only uncover basic principles of behavioral ecology and evolution in social insects but also provide new insights into the study of traffic systems in general.

Is envronmental knowledge enough to motvate the acton

Developing environmental education curricula needs integrating many dimensions of learning and behavior. Environmental knowledge does not always lead to environmentally responsible behavior. However environmentally responsible behavior is necessary for active participation of citizens to environmental issues. Although Turkey does not have a specific environmental education curriculum, basic environmental and ecological issues are included mainly within three courses in the elementary curriculum. Despite environmental knowledge being well integrated within the curriculum, it is not sufficient in developing cognitive skills and behavioral intentions. In this paper we present results of an observation study, which was carried out during a seminar at a public elementary school in Ankara. Students’ knowledge on basic ecological principles and environmental issues was adequate, however they did not realize their roles and responsibilities on the environment. Younger children seemed to have more positive attitudes towards the environment and were willing to take action. It is concluded that active learning should be included more often within the curriculum and environmentally responsible behavior should be promoted through environmental education. Key words: Environmental education, environmental knowledge, environmentally responsible behavior.

Plants in Your Ants: Using Ant Mounds to Test Basic Ecological Principles

Urban students often have limited access to field sites for ecological studies. Ubiquitous ants and their mounds can be used to study and test ecology-based questions. We describe how soil collected from ant mounds can be used to investigate how biotic factors (ants) can affect abiotic factors in the soil that can, in turn, influence plant growth.

BRIDGES: evolution of basic and applied linkages in benthic science

AbstractGrowing awareness of environmental degradation resulted in stricter environmental regulations and laws for aquatic ecosystems. These regulations were followed by an increase in applied research and monitoring beginning in the early 1970s. The number of applied scientists who were members of the North American Benthological Society grew at a commensurate rate. The editors of J-NABS recognized that, despite these increases, submitted manuscripts mostly addressed basic science. In response, the BRIDGES section of J-NABS was created in 1994 to provide a forum for linking basic ecological principles to applied science problems and issues. We examined the emergence of applied science topics in J-NABS and its predecessor, Freshwater Invertebrate Biology, from their beginning in 1982 to 2009. We classified papers among 11 categories that included a basic/applied science linkage. In the 1980s, applied papers were predominantly on effects of eutrophication/pollution and landuse changes. When BRIDGES was est...

Science Galls Me: What Is a Niche Anyway?

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] During many backyard barbecues, nature walks, and other outdoor activities, we are often approached by people fascinated by an odd bulb-like structure they have found on a nearby plant. They ask, What is this? These bulbs are actually specialized growths, galls, that have been caused by insects. Since so much natural curiosity surrounds these phenomena, why not use them to educate students about plant insect interactions? We've developed a lesson to investigate basic principles of ecology, more specifically niche partitioning, while using a jigsaw activity that explores galling insects' interactions with goldenrods. Not only does this lesson capture secondary students' interest and keeps them engaged in hands-on activities, the content addresses two Content Standards (of the National Science Education Standards) for 9-12 life sciences: (1) Organisms both cooperate and compete in ecosystems. The interrelationships and interdependencies of these organisms may generate ecosystems that are stable for hundreds or thousands of years (NRC, 1996, p. 186). (2) Living organisms have the capacity to produce populations of infinite size, but environments and resources are finite. This fundamental tension has profound effects on the interactions between organisms (NRC, 1996, p. 186). Organisms often must compete for food and resources access in natural communities in order to survive. This is true especially for insects that live on the tall goldenrod (Solidago altissima). Hundreds of insects have overcome resource limitations by out-competing other herbivores and making use of the same plant in various ways. These ecological interactions take place at the level of the individual, the population, the community, and the ecosystem. We offer an introduction to principles of ecology, plant insect interactions, and provide a classroom activity that highlights niche partitioning by galling insects to help provide secondary science educators with a way to share and explore these interactions with their students. Investigating trophic relationships among goldenrod plants and gall inducing insects offers rich learning opportunities for high school life science classes (Heinrich et al., 2001; Sandro & Lee, 2006). Our investigation focuses on gall collection, gall identification, measurement skills, and observation. These skills support the development of content knowledge as well as scientific process skills such as prediction, developing and testing hypotheses, gathering empirical data, and inference. Understanding variation in resource use is directly related to resource partitioning. Using wildlife in classroom experiments improves content retention, problem solving, and decision making (Millenbah & Millspaugh, 2003). Because a single goldenrod plant often has multiple insects associated with it, and is common within most of the United States, goldenrods are an optimal choice for investigating niche partitioning. One way multiple species are able to interact in a single environment and limit competition is a strategy called niche partitioning (Albrecht & Gotelli, 2001). Ecologists approach the problem of quantifying niches by focusing on one or more aspects of competition between species. For example, there may be many different food sources, growth resources, or habitat regions available in the environment; yet, a particular species may only use a narrow range of the environmental resources available. There are two different descriptions of a species' niche, the fundamental and the realized. These can be thought of as the and realistic niches. The fundamental niche of a species includes all of the conditions in which it could live, all of the geographic regions it could occupy, and all of the potential food sources it could consume. This type of niche is typically very broad, because many species are capable of being generalists. More specifically, a fundamental niche is determined by the morphological and physiological capacity to deal with variation in the environment, in the absence of antagonists. …

Community responses to contaminants: Using basic ecological principles to predict ecotoxicological effects

Community ecotoxicology is defined as the study of the effects of contaminants on patterns of species abundance, diversity, community composition, and species interactions. Recent discoveries that species diversity is positively associated with ecosystem stability, recovery, and services have made a community-level perspective on ecotoxicology more important than ever. Community ecotoxicology must explicitly consider both present and impending global change and shift from a purely descriptive to a more predictive science. Greater consideration of the ecological factors and threshold responses that determine community resistance and resilience should improve our ability to predict how and when communities will respond to, and recover from, xenobiotics. A better understanding of pollution-induced community tolerance, and of the costs of this tolerance, should facilitate identifying contaminant-impacted communities, thus forecasting the ecological consequences of contaminant exposure and determining the restoration effectiveness. Given the vast complexity of community ecotoxicology, simplifying assumptions, such as the possibility that the approximately 100,000 registered chemicals could be reduced to a more manageable number of contaminant classes with similar modes of action, must be identified and validated. In addition to providing a framework for predicting contaminant fate and effects, food-web ecology can help to identify communities that are sensitive to contaminants, contaminants that are particularly insidious to communities, and species that are crucial for transmitting adverse effects across trophic levels. Integration of basic ecological principles into the design and implementation of ecotoxicological research is essential for predicting contaminant effects within the context of rapidly changing, global environmental conditions.

The Emergence of Predators in Early Life: There was No Garden of Eden

BackgroundEukaryote cells are suggested to arise somewhere between 0.85∼2.7 billion years ago. However, in the present world of unicellular organisms, cells that derive their food and metabolic energy from larger cells engulfing smaller cells (phagocytosis) are almost exclusively eukaryotic. Combining these propositions, that eukaryotes were the first phagocytotic predators and that they arose only 0.85∼2.7 billion years ago, leads to an unexpected prediction of a long period (∼1–3 billion years) with no phagocytotes – a veritable Garden of Eden.MethodologyWe test whether such a long period is reasonable by simulating a population of very simple unicellular organisms - given only basic physical, biological and ecological principles. Under a wide range of initial conditions, cellular specialization occurs early in evolution; we find a range of cell types from small specialized primary producers to larger opportunistic or specialized predators.ConclusionsBoth strategies, specialized smaller cells and phagocytotic larger cells are apparently fundamental biological strategies that are expected to arise early in cellular evolution. Such early predators could have been ‘prokaryotes’, but if the earliest cells on the eukaryote lineage were predators then this explains most of their characteristic features.

Identifying across‐system sources of variation in a generalist freshwater fish: correlates of total and size‐specific abundance of yellow perch

Abstract – Variation in fish abundance across systems presents a challenge to our understanding of fish populations because it limits our ability to predict and transfer basic ecological principles to applied problems. Yellow perch (Perca flavescens) is an ideal species for exploring environmental and biotic correlates across system because it is widely distributed and physiologically tolerant. In 16 small, adjacent systems that span a wide range of environmental and biotic conditions, yellow perch were sampled with a standard suite of gear. Water quality, morphometry, vegetation, invertebrates and fish communities were concurrently measured. Multimodel inference was used to prioritise regressors for the entire yellow perch sample and three size groups (35–80, 81–180, ≥181 mm TL). Across systems, pH and fish richness were identified as the key drivers of yellow perch abundance. At very low pH (<4.0), few fish species and few yellow perch individuals were found. At ponds with moderately low pH (4.0–4.8), numbers of yellow perch increased. Ponds with high pH (>4.8) had many other species and few yellow perch. Similar patterns for pH and fish community were observed for the two largest‐size classes. Negative interactions were observed between the medium‐ and large‐sized yellow perch and between the largest and smallest yellow perch, although interspecific interactions were weaker than expected. This examination of variability for an indicator species and its component‐size classes provides ecological understanding that can help frame the larger‐scale sampling programs needed for the conservation of freshwater fish.

Responses of insect pests, pathogens, and invasive plant species to climate change in the forests of northeastern North America: What can we predict?This article is one of a selection of papers from NE Forests 2100: A Synthesis of Climate Change Impacts on Forests of the Northeastern US and Eastern Canada.

Climate models project that by 2100, the northeastern US and eastern Canada will warm by approximately 3–5 °C, with increased winter precipitation. These changes will affect trees directly and also indirectly through effects on “nuisance” species, such as insect pests, pathogens, and invasive plants. We review how basic ecological principles can be used to predict nuisance species’ responses to climate change and how this is likely to impact northeastern forests. We then examine in detail the potential responses of two pest species (hemlock woolly adelgid ( Adelges tsugae Annand) and forest tent caterpillar ( Malacosoma disstria Hubner)), two pathogens (armillaria root rot ( Armillaria spp.) and beech bark disease ( Cryptococcus fagisuga Lind. + Neonectria spp.)), and two invasive plant species (glossy buckthorn ( Frangula alnus Mill.) and oriental bittersweet ( Celastrus orbiculatus Thunb.)). Several of these species are likely to have stronger or more widespread effects on forest composition and structure under the projected climate. However, uncertainty pervades our predictions because we lack adequate data on the species and because some species depend on complex, incompletely understood, unstable relationships. While targeted research will increase our confidence in making predictions, some uncertainty will always persist. Therefore, we encourage policies that allow for this uncertainty by considering a wide range of possible scenarios.

Guided Inquiry Learning Unit on Aquatic Ecosystems for Seventh Grade Students

Using mini-aquaria experiments, a learning unit on the effects of light period on aquatic ecosystems was developed for 7th grade students. This guided inquiry unit was aimed at helping students understand basic ecological principles involved in relationships among physical, chemical, and biological components in aquatic ecosystems. It involved asking guiding questions to direct students' investigations and experimental designs, providing experimental data for analysis and interpretation, and facilitating students' construction of explanations. The students' achievements were assessed through a questionnaire, written documents, interviews, and classroom observation. In this study, students were encouraged to ask questions throughout the learning sequence, in which they did ask more intelligent questions, generate fruitful ideas, and finally develop their own understanding. Students gradually accumulated conceptual understanding through the designed learning activities, and both students and teachers had a positive attitude toward the learning unit. The minimum and maximum values of the students' perceptions on the learning unit were found to be 4.14 and 4.65 (on a 5-point scale). The mean and standard deviation of the 15 items on perception were 4.41 and 0.41, indicating a moderate level of approval. One advantage of this learning unit is in its low cost for implementation while producing effective learning activities, especially in schools with budgetary and time constraints. This study should inspire teachers to adapt and adopt the proposed activities to enhance students' understanding of the ecosystems.

Lessons Learned about Research and Management: A Case Study from a Midwest Lowland Savanna, U.S.A.

Abstract Integrating research and practice is a fundamental challenge for restoration and conservation. Scientists recognize restoration as an opportunity to test basic ecological principles, and that core scientific practices such as establishing control plots, replication, monitoring, and data management are fundamental to learning from restoration and management. However, practical constraints inherent to many projects often work against fully integrating research and management. In 2005, we had the opportunity to evaluate a lowland savanna that had been undergoing restoration by The Nature Conservancy since 1997. We used the data generated as a case study to evaluate how the restoration process might have changed had scientists been involved from the outset. Prescribed fire is the primary tool used to restore upland savanna and was chosen by The Nature Conservancy to manage the lowland savanna. In open areas dominated by Reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea), fire was associated with reduced cover of this highly invasive species and an increase in native species richness. However, other results suggested that management options beyond the use of fire are needed to restore this lowland savanna. In retrospect, an approach that integrated the skills of researchers and managers at the outset of the study would have altered many of the restoration goals and processes. Pretreatment data, greater replication, and systematically varying treatments could have provided a more robust assessment of treatment effects. We recognize, however, that impediments in staffing, funding, and time were barriers to following this course of action.

Perspective: Communicating our science to influence public policy

We ask 3 questions that bear on the ability of aquatic scientists to influence public perceptions and public policy related to important environmental issues: 1) Why should scientists become better communicators? 2) What can we do to promote effective communication? 3) How can scientific societies help scientists meet this communication challenge? Shareholders in the environment include watershed groups, environmental interest groups, water-quality agencies, the general public, and the scientific community. These shareholders often are not professional scientists, but they influence the formation of natural resource policies. Individual aquatic scientists should be able to explain their science to other shareholders in a way that disabuses misconceptions of scientific principles, fosters informed dialogue concerning actions that affect aquatic ecosystems, and prevents poor decisions that can result from inaccurate information or short-sightedness. Scientific societies can effectively communicate the concerns of individual scientists by: 1) articulating the links between basic research and ecological principles to applied science, thereby building the foundation of science needed to support informed decision-making; 2) translating and disseminating results of scientific research to nonscientists to minimize inaccuracies, thereby fostering scientific literacy; and 3) taking proactive positions that promote infusion of sound science into policy debates on pressing environmental issues, especially those that bear on freshwater ecosystems.