Long-distance Dispersal Research Articles

Plant-level establishment can result from a single female Acanthococcus lagerstroemiae propagule

AbstractCrapemyrtle bark scale (CMBS), Acanthococcus lagerstroemiae (Kuwana) (Hemiptera: Eriococcidae), is a non-native scale insect that has spread throughout many urban areas of the Southeast and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States following its initial detection near Dallas, Texas in 2004, severely reducing the aesthetic value and health of the popular ornamental crapemyrtle tree (Lagerstroemia spp.). We infested crapemyrtles with known numbers of CMBS to determine the minimum number of individuals required for establishment after initial arrival on plants. We also investigated how netting—implemented to understand differences in establishment when scale dispersal and predation are inhibited—influenced population growth. We determined that one female CMBS egg sac can successfully establish a new population ~ 92% of the time and that netting had negligible effects on establishment. Our results underscore the importance of surveying and managing CMBS and scale insects with similar biology when attempting to prevent infestation of nursery stock, which is widely implicated as a vector for long-distance dispersal of scale insects.

Tailored Metal-Organic Frameworks for Water Purification: Perfluorinated Fe-MOFs for Enhanced Heterogeneous Catalytic Ozonation.

An industrially viable catalyst for heterogeneous catalytic ozonation (HCO) in water purification requires the characteristics of good dispersion of active species on its surface, efficient electron transfer for ozone decay, and maximum active species utilization. While metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) represent an attractive platform for HCO, the metal nodes in the unmodified MOFs exhibit low catalytic activity. Herein, we present a perfluorinated Fe-MOF catalyst by substituting H atoms on the metalated ligands with F atoms (termed 4F-MIL-88B) to induce structure evolution. The Lewis acidity of 4F-MIL-88B was enhanced via the formation of Fe nodes, tailoring the electron distribution on the catalyst surface. As a result of catalyst modification, the rate constant for degradation of the target compounds examined increased by ∼700% compared with that observed for the unmodified catalyst. Experimental evidence and theoretical calculations showed that the modulated polarity and the enhanced electron transfer between the catalyst and ozone molecules contributed to the adsorption and transformation of O3 to •OH on the catalyst surface. Overall, the results of this study highlight the significance of tailoring the metalated ligands to develop highly efficient and stable MOF catalysts for HCO and provide an in-depth mechanistic understanding of their structure-function evolution, which is expected to facilitate the applications of nanomaterial-based processes in water purification.

Using biophysical modelling and marine connectivity to assess the risk of natural dispersal of non-indigenous species to comply with the Ballast Water Management Convention

AbstractThe introduction of Marine Non-Indigenous Species (NIS) poses a significant threat to global marine biodiversity and ecosystems. To mitigate this risk, the Ballast Water Management Convention (BWMC) was adopted by the UN International Maritime Organisation (IMO), setting strict criteria for discharges of ballast water. However, the BWMC permits exemptions for shipping routes operating within a geographical area, known as a Same-Risk-Area (SRA). An SRA can be established in areas where a risk assessment (RA) can conclude that the spread of NIS via ballast water is low relative to the predicted natural dispersal. Despite the BWMC's requirement for RAs to be based on modelling of the natural dispersal of NIS, no standard procedures have been established. This paper presents a methodology utilizing biophysical modelling and marine connectivity analyses to conduct SRA RA and delineation. Focusing on the Kattegat and Øresund connecting the North Sea and Baltic Sea, we examine two SRA candidates spanning Danish and Swedish waters. We provide an example on how to conduct an RA including an RA summary, and addressing findings, challenges, and prospects. Our study aims to advance the development and adoption of consistent, transparent, and scientifically robust SRA assessments for effective ballast water management.

Capture of single Ag atoms through high-temperature-induced crystal plane reconstruction

The “terminal hydroxyl group anchoring mechanism” has been studied on metal oxides (Al2O3, CeO2) as well as a variety of noble and transition metals (Ag, Pt, Pd, Cu, Ni, Fe, Mn, and Co) in a number of generalized studies, but there is still a gap in how to regulate the content of terminal hydroxyl groups to influence the dispersion of the active species and thus to achieve optimal catalytic performance. Herein, we utilized AlOOH as a precursor for γ-Al2O3 and induced the transformation of the exposed crystal face of γ-Al2O3 from (110) to (100) by controlling the calcination temperature to generate more terminal hydroxyl groups to anchor Ag species. Experimental results combined with AIMD and DFT show that temperature can drive the atomic rearrangement on the (110) crystal face, thereby forming a structure similar to the atomic arrangement of the (100) crystal face. This resulted in the formation of more terminal hydroxyl groups during the high-temperature calcination of the support (Al-900), which can capture Ag species to form single-atom dispersions, and ultimately develop a stable and efficient single-atom Ag-based catalyst.

Ancient mitogenomes reveal evidence for the Late Miocene dispersal of mergansers to the Southern Hemisphere

Abstract Mergansers are riverine and coastal piscivorous ducks that are widespread throughout North America and Eurasia but uncommon in the Southern Hemisphere. One species occurs in South America and at least two extinct species are known from New Zealand. It has been proposed that these Southern Hemisphere merganser lineages were founded by at least two independent dispersal events from the Northern Hemisphere. However, some morphological and behavioural evidence suggests that Southern Hemisphere mergansers may form a monophyletic clade that descended from only a single dispersal event from the Northern Hemisphere. For example, Southern Hemisphere mergansers share several characteristics that differ from Northern Hemisphere mergansers (e.g. non-migratory vs. migratory, sexual monochromatism vs. sexual dichromatism, long vs. short pair bonds). We sequenced complete mitogenomes from the Brazilian merganser and an extinct merganser from New Zealand—the Auckland Island merganser. Our results show that the Brazilian and Auckland Island mergansers are not sister-taxa, and probably descend from two separate colonization events from the Northern Hemisphere at least 7 Mya. Nuclear (palaeo)genomic data may help to further resolve the relationship between living and extinct mergansers, including merganser fossils from New Zealand that have not been subjected to palaeogenetic analysis.

Asymmetric drift in MaNGA: Mass and radially-dependent stratification rates in galaxy disks

Abstract We measure the age-velocity relationship from the lag between ionized gas and stellar tangential speeds in ∼500 nearby disk galaxies from MaNGA in SDSS-IV. Selected galaxies are kinematically axisymmetric. Velocity lags are asymmetric drift, seen in the Milky Way’s (MW) solar neighborhood and other Local Group galaxies; their amplitude correlates with stellar population age. The trend is qualitatively consistent in rate ($\dot{\sigma }$) with a simple power-law model where σ ∝ tb that explains the dynamical phase-space stratification in the solar neighborhood. The model is generalized based on disk dynamical times to other radii and other galaxies. We find in-plane radial stratification parameters σ0, r (dispersion of the youngest populations) in the range of 10-40 km s−1 and 0.2 < br < 0.5 for MaNGA galaxies. Overall br increases with galaxy mass, decreases with radius for galaxies above 10.4 dex (M⊙) in stellar mass, but is ∼constant with radius at lower mass. The measurement scatter indicates the stratification model is too simple to capture the complexity seen in the data, unsurprising given the many possible astrophysical processes that may lead to stellar population dynamical stratification. Nonetheless, the data show dynamical stratification is broadly present in the galaxy population, with systematic trends in mass and density. The amplitude of the asymmetric drift signal is larger for the MaNGA sample than the MW, and better represented in the mean by what is observed in the disks of M31 and M33. Either typical disks have higher surface-density or, more likely, are dynamically hotter (hence thicker) than the MW.

Assessing the Conservation Value of Artificial and Natural Reefs via Ichthyoplankton Spatio-Temporal Dynamics

Assessing the Conservation Value of Artificial and Natural Reefs via Ichthyoplankton Spatio-Temporal Dynamics

Towards document-level event extraction via Binary Contrastive Generation

In this study, we explored the complexities of document-level event extraction, a process that involves identifying multiple events and their associated arguments within a document. The primary challenges include (1) the distribution of event arguments across numerous sentences, resulting in long-distance dependencies, and (2) the complex relationships between multiple events due to the overlapping and dispersion of event arguments throughout the document. To address these issues, we propose the Binary Contrastive Generation (BCG) method. BCG utilizes binary auto-regressive generation in both the original and reversed sequences to learn binary-directed interdependency, thereby capturing the long-distance dependency of dispersed event arguments. To handle intricate multi-event relationships, BCG enhances the global semantic representation of multiple events by extraction-oriented contrastive learning. Specifically, event representations derived from identical event arguments in varying sequences are deemed positive pairs, while those from different event arguments in the same sequence are classified as negative pairs. Experimental results on three public datasets demonstrate that BCG outperforms existing methods, achieving an increase of 2.6 in absolute F1 score. Further analysis revealed that BCG effectively models the dependency of dispersed event arguments and enhances the semantic representation of multiple events.

Primer registro del coral copo de nieve, Carijoa riisei (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Octocorallia) en una laguna costera del Pacífico sur de México

A small colony of the snowflake coral, Carijoa riisei, was collected from Corralero Lagoon in June 2015. This species is native to the Indo-West Pacific and, as invasive species, spread into Tropical Western Atlantic, Hawaii, Western Africa and Tropical Eastern Pacific. This record suggests that the invasion of C. riisei in the Mexican Pacific could be earlier than inferred and by means other than biofou-ling or ballast water, as Corralero Lagoon at least 190 km away from any port. Monitoring is recommended in the reefs, coastal lagoons, ports and marinas of the Mexican Pacific to evaluate the dispersion of this inva-sive species, in addition to proposing mitigation and management measures.

Non-invasive surveillance of shared pathogens in the Eurasian brown bear (Ursus arctos) human interface

Multi-host communities are perfect scenarios for the emergence and spread of pathogens, threatening the recovery of endangered, isolated, or inbred populations, such as the brown bear (Ursus arctos) in northwestern Spain. The population recovery in recent years has forced bears to occupy highly anthropized areas, increasing their interaction with human and domestic animals, with potential consequences for global health. During 2022–2023 a survey of parasites, bacteria and viruses shared between wildlife, domestic animals and humans was performed in this population using non-invasive surveillance, i.e., bear fecal samples (n = 73) and sponge-based sampling of trees (n = 42; 14 rubbed trees and 28 control trees). Pathogen detection rates were defined as the percentage of qPCR or culture-positive samples. Generalized linear models were fitted to assess their relationship with environmental variables including dispersion of the human population, and percentage of agricultural and periurban habitats in a 6 km-buffer around each sample. Canine Adenovirus type 1 (45.2%), Giardia spp. (15.1%), Salmonella spp. (12.3%), and extended-spectrum-beta-lactamases (ESBL) Escherichia coli (1.4%) were identified in fecal samples. In contrast, only five sponges from three rubbed and two control trees resulted positive to E. coli (14.3%). The results suggest that several pathogens are common in the Cantabrian brown bear population and that anthropization of the territory modulates their prevalence and richness.The effective design of management programs for bear conservation will require a one-health approach, in which genetic analysis of non-invasive samples can be key tools for the sanitary surveillance at the wildlife-livestock-human interface.

Plant dispersal in the Devonian world (c. 419–359 Ma)

AbstractDispersal, whether active or passive, plays a crucial role in biogeography by facilitating the movement of propagules away from their original location. Botanical geographical zonation, resulting from the co‐evolution of plants and their environment, has been established since the remarkable plant diversification during the Devonian Period (c. 419–359 Ma). However, a significant knowledge gap exists in understanding plant dispersal between living and fossil organisms due to the rarity of opportunities for tracing plant dispersal in geological history. In this study, we present evidence of two plant dispersal routes and verify their occurrence through the examination of geographical zonation, changes in plant diversity, and latitudinal and longitudinal gradients during the Devonian. We analyse global occurrence data from widely‐distributed and extensively‐studied Devonian plants. The two dispersal routes, namely clockwise and anticlockwise, connect the South China and Euramerica–Siberia realms. These routes clearly demonstrate inland and inter‐land dispersal models, closely linked to Devonian sea–land topography and dispersal vectors such as wind and ocean currents. Moreover, these models probably apply to all Devonian plants. Our comprehensive synthesis of plant dispersal in deep time reveals that propagule diversity and dispersal vectors have progressively increased and become more complex over time, facilitating plant colonization and diversity changes. Importantly, our study unveils the dispersal models of fossil plants, demonstrating the equivalent models observed in extant plants that have been established since the Devonian Period.

Deactivation of nickel/biochar catalyst through metal-volatiles interaction in pyrolysis of poplar sawdust loaded with nickel salt

Metal/biochar is an important category of catalyst that can be prepared via direct impregnation of metal salt to a biomass feedstock. However, during pyrolysis of metal salt@biomass for catalyst preparation, metal-volatiles interaction might affect exposure or dispersion of metal species. To verify this, loading of nickel acetate to poplar sawdust directly and to the sawdust-derived biochar was conducted to prepare Ni/biochar and biochar/Ni at 500 or 750 °C, aiming to understand the effect of metal-volatiles interaction on exposure of nickel species in resulting Ni/biochar. The results indicated Ni species catalyzed cracking, dehydrogenation, and reforming reactions in sawdust pyrolysis, producing more bio-oil/gases at the expense of biochar and also making biochar of higher aromatic degree with improved thermal stability. The in-situ IR characterizations also evidenced high activity of Ni towards dehydration and cracking of carbonyls for enhancing aromatization of biochar. In biochar/Ni catalysts prepared via loading nickel to biochar, little metal-volatiles interaction existed and nickel species weakly interacted with the biochar, resulting in remarkable migration and agglomeration of nickel, forming nickel size of 2–3 times larger than that in Ni/biochar. However, biochar/Ni possessed higher capability for adsorption/activation of H2, thus exhibiting superior catalytic activity than Ni/biochar for hydrogenation of phenolics.

Spatial distribution of benthic taxonomic and functional diversity in the Yellow River Basin: From ecological processes to associated determinant factors

One of the fundamental objectives in ecology is to investigate the ecological processes and associated factors governing the abundance and spatial distribution patterns of biodiversity. However, the reaction of biological communities to environmental degradation remains relatively unknown, even for ecologically crucial communities like macroinvertebrates in aquatic ecosystems. Here, we sampled 117 locations to quantify relative contributions of geographical and environmental factors, including water quality, land use, climate, and hydrological factors, to determine the absolute and relative compositions of macroinvertebrate communities and their spatial distribution in the Yellow River Basin (YRB), the sixth-longest river system on Earth. We assessed relative roles of species sorting and dispersal in determining macroinvertebrate community structure along YRB. Our results demonstrated that alpha and beta diversity indices showed an increase from the up- to low-reaches of YRB. The middle and low-reaches exhibited elevated species diversity and both regions exhibited relatively stable community compositions. The biodiversity of macroinvertebrates was influenced by a combination of geographical factors and environmental variables, with environmental factors predominantly serving as the principal determinants. Results of multiple linear regression and variance decomposition showed that the effect of environmental factors was approximately three times greater than that of spatial factors. These findings provide support for the hypothesis that species sorting, driven by environmental gradients, plays a significant role in shaping the community structure of macroinvertebrates in running water ecosystems at the basin scales. Moreover, the factors contributing to substantial shifts in biodiversity across different segments of YRB indicate that distinct river sections have been influenced by varying stressors, with downstream areas being more susceptible to the impacts of water pollution and urbanization resulting from human activities.

Unique role of silica in MOF-Derived High-Loading Palladium-on-Ceria single atom catalysts with excellent efficiency and durability

In most cases, the sintering tendency of supported metal single atoms could be attributed to the unstable structural characteristics of supports in demanding operating conditions, particularly for high-loading single-atom catalysts (SACs), ultimately resulting in deactivation. To address this issue, SiO2 is employed to enhance the structural stability of both supports and the supported Pd single atoms. SiO2 serves not only to prevent the collapse of support structures but also to promote the activation of surface oxygen species by facilitating electron transfer with the supports. This, in turn, establishes strong metal-support interactions (MSIs) to stabilize and activate atomically dispersed Pd species. Additionally, the electrons donated from Ce-O and Si-O to Pd atoms further catalyze the formation of oxygen vacancies, ultimately leading to significantly improved activity and durability in CO oxidation. Without SiO2, the instability of support structure, coupled with the weak MSIs, promotes the aggregation of Pd atoms, resulting in relatively lower catalytic activity and durability.

Female-biased birth sex ratio in a female dispersal primate suggests local resource competition.

Group living may entail local resource competition (LRC) which can be reduced if the birth sex ratio (BSR) is biased towards members of the dispersing sex who leave the group and no longer compete locally with kin. In primates, the predicted relationship between dispersal and BSR is generally supported although data for female dispersal species are rare and primarily available from captivity. Here, we present BSR data for Phayre's leaf monkeys (Trachypithecus phayrei crepusculus) at the Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand (N = 104). In this population, nearly all natal females dispersed, while natal males stayed or formed new groups nearby. The slower reproductive rate in larger groups suggests that food can be a limiting resource. In accordance with LRC, significantly more females than males were born (BSR 0.404 males/all births) thus reducing future competition with kin. This bias was similar in 2-year-olds (no sex-differential mortality). It became stronger in adults, supporting our impression of particularly fierce competition among males. To better evaluate the importance of BSR, more studies should report sex ratios throughout the life span, and more data for female dispersal primates need to be collected, ideally for multiple groups of different sizes and for several years.

Long-distance dispersal in the short-distance dispersing house sparrow (Passer domesticus).

The house sparrow (Passer domesticus) is a small passerine known to be highly sedentary. Throughout a 30-year capture-mark-recapture study, we have obtained occasional reports of recoveries far outside our main metapopulation study system, documenting unusually long dispersal distances. Our records constitute the highest occurrence of long-distance dispersal events recorded for this species in Scandinavia. Such long-distance dispersals radically change the predicted distribution of dispersal distances and connectedness for our study metapopulation. Moreover, it reveals a much greater potential for colonization than formerly recorded for the house sparrow, which is an invasive species across four continents. These rare and occasional long-distance dispersal events are challenging to document but may have important implications for the genetic composition of small and isolated populations and for our understanding of dispersal ecology and evolution.

First report of Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (a bipartite begomovirus) from round gourd plant in Swat region of Pakistan: its phylogenetic and biogeographic analysis

Background: The family Geminiviridae contains plant viruses commonly referred to as geminiviruses, which cause diseases in numerous important plants. Geminiviridae is one of the most important family of plant-infecting viruses that has been divided into fourteen recognized genera. Amongst these, the genus Begomovirus is the largest and economically most important one, viruses of the genus are further categorized into bipartite (two genomic components called DNA-A and DNA-B) and monopartite (single genomic component or DNA-A) begomoviruses.Method: The genomic DNA was extracted from symptomatic plant samples and both the DNA-(B and A) components of a bipartite begomovirus were amplified via rolling circular amplification (RCA) and PCR. The amplified DNA-A and DNA-B were cloned and sequenced by Primer walking, Sanger sequencing, and Illumina sequencing methods. The phylogenetic and biogeographic analyses of both components were performed by various bioinformatics tools.Results: DNA-A (accession number MW722701) and DNA-B (accession number MW722782) of begomoviruses that were sequenced shared >95% sequence similarity with the bipartite begomovirus known as Tomato Leaf Curl New Delhi virus (TLCuNDV). Phylogenetic and biogeographic analyses proposed several possible ancestors, and multiple dispersal and vicariance events may be involved in the evolution of this virus. Conclusions: This is the first time a bipartite begomovirus has been found to infect a plant in the study area (District Swat, Pakistan). The existence of ToLCNDV may pose a major danger to other important crops in the region.Keywords: Bipartite Begomoviruses; Phylogeny; Biogeography; BLAST; S-DIVA; BBM; DEC

Historical Demography and Climate Driven Range Shifts in the Blue-spotted Salamander Under the Climate Change Scenarios

This study integrates phylogeography with distributional analysis to understand the demographic history and range dynamics of a limited dispersal capacity amphibian species, Blue-spotted Salamander (Ambystoma laterale), under several climate change scenarios. For this we used an ecological niche modeling approach, together with Bayesian based demographic analysis, to develop inferences regarding this species' demographic history and range dynamics. The current model output was mostly congruent with the present distribution of the Blue-spotted Salamander. However, under both the Last Interglacial and the Last Glacial Maximum bioclimatic conditions, the model predicted a substantially narrower distribution than the present. These predictions showed almost no suitable area in the current distribution range of the species during almost the last 22.000 y before present (ybp). The predictions indicated that the distribution of this species shifted from eastern coast of northern North America to the southern part of the current distribution range of the species. The Bayesian Skyline Plot analysis, which provided good resolution of the effective population size changes over the Blue-spotted Salamander history, was mostly congruent with ecological niche modeling predictions for this species. This study provides the first investigation of the Blue-spotted Salamander’s late-Quaternary history based on ecological niche modeling and Bayesian-based demographic analysis. In terms of the main result of this study, we found that the species' present genetic structure has been substantially affected by past climate changes, and this species has reached current distribution range almost from nothing since the Last Glacial Maximum.

Body size responses to urban temperature variations are driven by life history traits in spiders

Abstract Urban ecosystems exhibit altered environmental conditions compared to the rural surroundings, including higher temperatures, the so‐called urban heat island (UHI) effect. Along urbanisation gradients, temperature variations occur at various scales ranging from the landscape to the microhabitat, with possible consequences on living organisms. As ectothermic animals, arthropods are particularly affected by UHIs because warming may directly induce physiological effects on their metabolism. Body size is a commonly used metric to investigate arthropod responses to thermal stress, but the scale‐dependent role of temperature variation as predictor of body size remains unclear. To assess temperature–size relationships across spatial scales and test if a common pattern to several species emerges, we performed morphological measurements on 2283 individuals representing 11 spider species belonging to Hahniidae, Linyphiidae, Lycosidae and Tetragnathidae. Spiders were collected on 36 grasslands distributed along a broad UHI gradient. Intraspecific shifts in body size were related to temperature in the Lycosids Pardosa prativaga and Pardosa pullata at the landscape and local scales, respectively, whereas no clear effects were observed regarding the other examined species. In both species, sex was an important endogenous factor that modulated individual responses; females were more affected than males by temperature. The contrasting amplitudes of the responses observed among Lycodids and the other species indicate that large, low dispersive and univoltine species are under a stronger influence of temperature than small bivotline species that can disperse aerially. Our results on spiders highlight that considering species‐specific life history traits helps to understand contrasting responses among species, and this may be essential for drawing general patterns of phenotypic changes among arthropods under anthropogenic warming. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Bryophytes of Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, Western Australia

Context Although the vascular flora of Western Australia is renowned for high species diversity and endemism, very little is known about the state’s moss and liverwort flora. Aims In 1984 we conducted surveys of bryophytes in Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve. Methods We searched comprehensively for bryophytes at seven major habitats on the Reserve, collecting voucher specimens subsequently identified with modern literature and with the help of Australian bryophyte experts. We updated the text to reflect modern taxonomy and considering modern literature on phytogeography and hypotheses associated with OCBIL (Old, Climatically Buffered, Infertile Landscapes) theory. Key results A total of 38 species of mosses representing 25 genera from 13 families were identified along with 10 species of liverworts representing nine genera and six families. Two moss species (Distichium inclinatum and Tortella dakinii) were previously unknown from Western Australia. Another represented a new species (Pleurophascum occidentale) in a heretofore monotypic genus, family, and order. The Pottiaceae, with 11 species, was the most diverse family of mosses. The Lepidoziaceae, with three species, was the most diverse family of liverworts. Conclusions Lower levels of endemism in bryophytes versus vascular plants may reflect the bryophytes’ capacity for wide and long-distance dispersal of spores and fragments. Bryophyte diversity and endemism may be less than on extensive OCBILs because much of the Reserve emerged from the ocean as recently as the mid-Pleistocene. Implications This, the first listing published of bryophytes on a Reserve in WA, indicates the potential rewards for further survey of mosses and liverworts.