We compared the historic and current geographical ranges of 43 North American carnivores and ungulates to identify large-scale patterns in range
contractions and expansions. Seventeen of the species had experienced range contractions over more than 20% of their historic range. In areas of
higher human influence, species were more likely...
The ubiquity and importance of parasite co-infections in populations of free-living animals is beginning to be recognized, but few studies have demonstrated differential fitness effects of single infection versus co-infection in free-living populations. We investigated interactions between the emerging bacterial disease bovine tuberculosis (BTB) and the previously existing viral disease...
Accurate estimation of historical abundance provides an essential baseline for judging the recovery of the great whales. This is particularly challenging for whales hunted prior to twentieth century modern whaling, as population-level catch records are often incomplete. Assessments of whale recovery using pre-modern exploitation indices are therefore rare, despite the...
Disease dilution (reduced disease prevalence with increasing biodiversity) has been described for
many different pathogens. Although the mechanisms causing this phenomenon remain unclear,
the disassembly of communities to predictable subsets of species, which can be caused by
changing climate, land use, or invasive species, underlie one important hypothesis. In this...
Apex predators have experienced catastrophic declines throughout the world as a result of human persecution and habitat loss. These collapses in
top predator populations are commonly associated with dramatic increases in the abundance of smaller predators. Known as “mesopredator release,”
this trophic interaction has been recorded across a range of...
Sexual conflict over mating can result in sex specific morphologies and behaviors that
allow each sex to exert control over the outcome of reproduction. Genital traits, in
particular, are often directly involved in conflict interactions. Via genital manipulation,
we experimentally investigated whether genital traits in red-sided garter snakes influence
copulation...
A critical seasonal event for anadromous Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) is the time at which adults migrate from the ocean to breed in freshwater. We investigated whether allelic variation at the circadian rhythm genes, OtsClock1a and OtsClock1b, underlies genetic control of migration timing among 42 populations in North America. We...
Some eyespots are thought to deflect attack away from the vulnerable body, yet there is limited empirical evidence for this function and its adaptive advantage. Here, we demonstrate the conspicuous ventral hindwing eyespots found on Bicyclus anynana butterflies protect against invertebrate predators, specifically praying mantids. Wet season (WS) butterflies with...
Marine renewable energy promises to assist in the effort to reduce
carbon emissions worldwide. As with any large-scale development in the marine
environment, however, it comes with uncertainty about potential environmental
impacts, most of which have not been adequately evaluated—in part because many of
the devices have yet to be...
Few studies to date have demonstrated widespread biological impacts of ocean
acidification (OA) under conditions currently found in the natural environment.
From a combined survey of physical and chemical water properties
and biological sampling along the Washington–Oregon–California coast in
August 2011, we show that large portions of the shelf waters...