Untangling the Tangled Bank: A Novel Method for Partitioning the Effects of Phylogenies and Traits on Ecological Networks

Phylogenetic uncertainty and the inference of patterns in community ecology and comparative studies

Progress in phylogenetic community ecology is often limited by the availability of phylogenetic information and the lack of appropriate methods and solutions to deal with this problem. We estimate the effect of the lack of phylogenetic information on the relations among taxa measured by commonly used phylogenetic metrics in comparative studies and community ecology, namely: Blomberg's K phylogenetic signal, Faith's Phylogenetic Diversity (PD), Mean Phylogenetic Distance (MPD) and Mean Nearest Taxon Distance (MNTD). To overcome this problem, we tested two possible solutions: Polytomic trees and Operational trees. Our results show that the effects on K values strongly depended on the level of phylogenetic signal. In the case of the community metrics, the effects were insensitive to the patterns of species distribution in the communities. Community metrics tended to be overestimated with both Polytomic and Operational trees, but the overestimation was higher with Polytomic trees. PD and MPD metrics were less biased than MNTD metric. We show that the lack of phylogenetic resolution is not necessarily problematic for all analyses and that its effect will depend on the chosen metric and on the solutions used to deal with the problem. Based on our results, we suggest that ecologists should prefer the Operational tree solution to remove polytomies in the phylogenetic tree and take careful consideration while designing experiments, and analyzing and interpreting the results of phylogenetic metrics.

K. VP, Vijay N, Sharma VK. Genomic Insights Into the Molecular Basis of Sexual Selection in Birds

Sexual selection is a well-known biological process, yet the genomic basis and patterns of sexual selection are not fully understood. The extravagant ornamental plumage of peacock (Pavo cristatus) was instrumental in shaping Charles Darwin's theory of sexual selection and is considered to be an honest signal of its immunocompetence. Here, we used the recently generated draft genome sequence of peafowl (Pavo cristatus) and carried out a comparative analysis across 11 bird genomes that encompass a range of sexual selection and also had high-quality genomic and phenotypic data publically available to study the genomic basis of sexual selection. We found that varying degree of purifying selection was the predominant mechanism of action for sexual selection at the genome-wide scale and observed that sexual selection mostly influences genes regulating gene expression and protein processing. Specifically, the genome-wide phylogenetically corrected regression analysis supported the continuous or ongoing model of sexual selection. Genes involved in nucleic acid binding and gene expression regulation, including a specific regulator of sex-determination known as TRA2A to be under positive selection in the species with high post-copulatory sexual selection manifested as high sperm competition. We also detected specific feather-related and immune-related gene-pairs evolving under similar selection pressures across the 11 species, including peacock (Pavo cristatus), which is consistent with the Hamilton-Zuk hypothesis. The comparative genomics analysis of 11 avian taxa has provided new insights on the molecular underpinnings of sexual selection and identifies specific genomic regions for future in-depth analysis.

Strength of niche processes for species interactions is lower for generalists and exotic species

Niche and neutral processes jointly influence species interactions. Predictions of interactions based on these processes assume that they operate similarly across all species. However, species characteristics could systematically create differences in the strength of niche or neutral processes for each interspecific interaction. We used national-level records of plant-frugivore interactions, species traits, biogeographic status (native vs. exotic), phylogenies and species range sizes to test the hypothesis that the strength of niche processes in species interactions changes in predictable ways depending on trophic generalism and biogeographic status of the interacting species. The strength of niche processes (measured as trait matching) decreased when the generalism of the interacting partners increased. Furthermore, the slope of this negative relationship between trait matching and generalism of the interacting partners was steeper (more negative) for interactions between exotic species than those between native species. These results remained significant after accounting for the potential effects of neutral processes (estimated by species range size). These observed changes in the strength of niche processes in generating species interactions, after accounting for effects of neutral processes, could improve predictions of ecological networks from species trait data. Specifically, due to their shorter co-evolutionary history, exotic species tend to interact with native species even when lower trait matching occurs than in interactions among native species. Likewise, interactions between generalist bird species and generalist plant species should be expected to occur despite low trait matching between species, whereas interactions between specialist species involve higher trait matching.

Analysing ecological networks of species interactions

Network approaches to ecological questions have been increasingly used, particularly in recent decades. The abstraction of ecological systems - such as communities - through networks of interactions between their components indeed provides a way to summarize this information with single objects. The methodological framework derived from graph theory also provides numerous approaches and measures to analyze these objects and can offer new perspectives on established ecological theories as well as tools to address new challenges. However, prior to using these methods to test ecological hypotheses, it is necessary that we understand, adapt, and use them in ways that both allow us to deliver their full potential and account for their limitations. Here, we attempt to increase the accessibility of network approaches by providing a review of the tools that have been developed so far, with - what we believe to be - their appropriate uses and potential limitations. This is not an exhaustive review of all methods and metrics, but rather, an overview of tools that are robust, informative, and ecologically sound. After providing a brief presentation of species interaction networks and how to build them in order to summarize ecological information of different types, we then classify methods and metrics by the types of ecological questions that they can be used to answer from global to local scales, including methods for hypothesis testing and future perspectives. Specifically, we show how the organization of species interactions in a community yields different network structures (e.g., more or less dense, modular or nested), how different measures can be used to describe and quantify these emerging structures, and how to compare communities based on these differences in structures. Within networks, we illustrate metrics that can be used to describe and compare the functional and dynamic roles of species based on their position in the network and the organization of their interactions as well as associated new methods to test the significance of these results. Lastly, we describe potential fruitful avenues for new methodological developments to address novel ecological questions.

Conceptual and empirical advances in Neotropical biodiversity research

The unparalleled biodiversity found in the American tropics (the Neotropics) has attracted the attention of naturalists for centuries. Despite major advances in recent years in our understanding of the origin and diversification of many Neotropical taxa and biotic regions, many questions remain to be answered. Additional biological and geological data are still needed, as well as methodological advances that are capable of bridging these research fields. In this review, aimed primarily at advanced students and early-career scientists, we introduce the concept of "trans-disciplinary biogeography," which refers to the integration of data from multiple areas of research in biology (e.g., community ecology, phylogeography, systematics, historical biogeography) and Earth and the physical sciences (e.g., geology, climatology, palaeontology), as a means to reconstruct the giant puzzle of Neotropical biodiversity and evolution in space and time. We caution against extrapolating results derived from the study of one or a few taxa to convey general scenarios of Neotropical evolution and landscape formation. We urge more coordination and integration of data and ideas among disciplines, transcending their traditional boundaries, as a basis for advancing tomorrow's ground-breaking research. Our review highlights the great opportunities for studying the Neotropical biota to understand the evolution of life.