Some parasites may modify the behavior of their
hosts. Altered behaviors may: 1) benefit the host in
that they defend against the pathogen, 2) benefit the
pathogen and represent manipulations of the host
response, and 3) benefit neither the host or the
pathogen and simply be a product of the...
Parasitic infections and immune challenges can affect host reproductive fitness and, ultimately, the evolution of host populations in a myriad of ways. The fitness implications of parasitic infections range from increased host mortality to subtle changes in reproductive investment. From alterations of behaviors, sexual signaling, and competitive ability to changes...
Most vertebrates exhibit seasonality in many life history traits. Such seasonal rhythms are temporally organized via the transduction of environmental cues (e.g., photoperiod, temperature) into appropriate endocrine signals. However, among ectothermic vertebrates that undergo continuous winter dormancy, temperature is the only environmental cue available for synchronizing seasonal rhythms. Most intriguing...
Biological invasions and climate change represent two preeminent threats to ecological communities and biodiversity, altering the distribution and abundance of species, disrupting existing species interactions and forming unprecedented ones, and creating novel ecological communities. Many of the most successful invasive species are also ecosystem engineers, species that physically modify the...
The size, shape, and stability of a species’ dietary niche can both influence and reflect a variety of biological patterns, including species interactions, extinction risk, and ecosystem function. This is particularly apparent when dietary changes manifest at ecosystem and clade scales to profoundly affect macroecological and macroevolutionary trajectories. However, many...
Interface habitats are considered valuable natural systems, tightly linked to adjacent habitats through the flow of matter and energy. However, there is limited research on mechanisms of connectivity such as movement of organisms and particulate matter and ways in which anthropogenic disturbance to interface habitats may affect immediate and adjacent...