Disconnects between Communicated Impact and Ecological Impact of Biological Invasions

Kali Z Mattingly, Tara A Pelletier, Jessie Lanterman, Danielle Frevola, Benjamin Stucke, Kaitlin Kinney, Ross Schwartz, Drew Spacht, Graham Dixon, Stephen M Hovick. 2020. BioScience, biaa003, https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaa003

Abstract

Although scientists strive to accurately communicate their research, disconnects can arise between results and rhetoric. Some have regarded invasion scientists as particularly prone to using value-laden language incommensurate with the scientific facts or results. We addressed how authors used 10 near synonyms (words for which usage is similar but not completely overlapping) of the negative-value word invasive. We asked whether study findings (effect sizes) or other factors predicted language use. The use of negative-value words such as invasive was not associated with study findings but, instead, with contextual factors. For example, plant and invertebrate biologists used more negative language to describe nonnatives than did those studying vertebrates. The authors also tended to use more negative language in recently published papers than in older studies. Although many have called for impartial language when communicating research, some scientists use language imbued with value that may be inappropriate. Such use may affect how the public perceives scientific findings.

Cultivable, Host-Specific Bacteroidetes Symbionts Exhibit Diverse Polysaccharolytic Strategies

Arturo Vera-Ponce de León, Benjamin C. Jahnes, Jun Duan, Lennel A. Camuy-Vélez, Zakee L. Sabree. 2020. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. DOI: 10.1128/AEM.00091-20

ABSTRACT

Beneficial gut microbes can facilitate insect growth on diverse diets. The omnivorous American cockroach, Periplaneta americana (Insecta: Blattodea), thrives on a diet rich in plant polysaccharides and harbors a species-rich gut microbiota responsive to host diet. Bacteroidetes are among the most abundant taxa in P. americana and other cockroaches based on cultivation-independent gut community profiling and these potentially polysaccharolytic bacteria may contribute to host diet processing. Eleven Bacteroidetes isolates were cultivated from P. americana digestive tracts and phylogenomic analyses suggest that they were new Bacteroides, Dysgonomonas, Paludibacter and Parabacteroides species distinct from those previously isolated from other insects, humans and environmental sources. In addition, complete genomes were generated for each isolate and polysaccharide utilization loci (PUL) and several non-PUL associated CAZyme coding genes that putatively target starch, pectin and/or cellulose were annotated in each of the isolate genomes. Type IX secretion system (T9SS) and CAZyme coding genes tagged with the corresponding T9SS recognition and export C-terminal domain were observed in some isolates, suggesting that these CAZYmes were deployed via non-PUL outer membrane translocons. Additionally, Single-substrate growth and enzymatic assays confirmed genomic predictions that a subset of the Bacteroides and Dysgonomonas isolates could degrade starch, pectin, and/or cellulose and grow in the presence of these substrates as sole carbon sources. Plant polysaccharides enrich P. americana diets and many of these gut isolates are well-equipped to exploit host dietary inputs and potentially contribute to gut community and host nutrient accessibility.

Passive Re-colonization of the Spider Assemblage on an Ohio Restored Tall Grass Prairie Compared to Nearby Remnant Prairies and Old Fields

RICHARD A. BRADLEY, SHAUNA L. PRICE, WILLIAM L. HICKMAN, ROBERT A. KLIPS. 2020. OHIO J SCI 120(2):2-13. https://doi.org/10.18061/ojs.v120i2.6904 

ABSTRACT

The reconstructed prairie on the Marion Campus of The Ohio State University was established in 1977. Since then restoration has focused on plants. Animals on the site have recolonized without active management. Spider assemblages were sampled in 2000 and compared to those sampled at the time on 2 remnant prairies and 2 old fields. Pitfall traps and sweep nets were used for sampling. In 2000, spiders (n=1,541) representing 94 species were captured; 91% of these were captured with pitfall traps. The restored Marion Campus Prairie was inhabited by an assemblage of spiders resembling those on nearby remnant prairies and old fields.

The Elephant in the Room: Race and STEM Diversity

Maria N Miriti. 2020. BioScience, biz167, https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biz167

Abstract

Despite considerable efforts to enhance participation of underrepresented demographics, participation of scholars of color in STEM remains stagnant. In contrast to other academic disciplines, the experiences of STEM scholars of color are relatively unvoiced, which hinders examination of the factors that reduce participation and retention. Social science and education research reveal the importance of intersectional strategies to address institutional and cultural practices that reduce diverse participation. Institutional change requires the support of the STEM workforce. I summarize important issues that influence recruitment and retention and offer strategies that can improve recruitment and retention of faculty of color. Broad awareness among STEM practitioners of the relationship between race and the biases that reduce recruitment and retention of underrepresented scholars can support STEM diversity initiatives.

Nutritional symbiosis and ecology of host-gut microbe systems in the Blattodea

Benjamin C. Jahnes, Zakee L. Sabree. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2020.01.001

Abstract

Cockroaches and termites (Order: Blattodea) have been the subject of substantial research attention for over a century due, in part, to a subset of them having a strong propensity to cohabitate with humans and their structures. Recent research has led to numerous insights into their behavior, physiology, and ecology, as well as their ability to harbor taxonomically diverse microbial communities within their digestive systems, which include taxa that contribute to host growth and development. Further, recent investigations into the physiological and behavioral adaptations that enable recalcitrant polysaccharide digestion and the maintenance of microbial symbionts in cockroaches and termites suggests that symbionts contribute significantly to nutrient provisioning and processing.

Distribution and Habitat Use of the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee (Bombus affinis) and the Yellow-Banded Bumble Bee (Bombus terricola) in Ohio

Goodell, Karen; Mitchell, Randall; Lanterman, Jessie. 2020.
Record URL: https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p267401ccp2/id/18332/rec/1

Bumble bees contribute to Ohio’s economic success and natural resources by pollinating wildflowers and crop plants. Two formerly widespread species have recently declined in Ohio: the Rusty-Patched Bumble Bee (Bombus affinis), designated as federally endangered in 2017, and the Yellow-Banded Bumble Bee (Bombus terricola). Understanding their current distribution and habitat requirements is key to conservation and compliance with federal laws. The authors surveyed Ohio to assess the distribution of all bumble bee species and to determine whether the Rusty-Patched Bumble Bee and the YellowBanded Bumble Bee were present. They compiled information about the target species’ historic and current distributions and habitat requirements, including foraging, nesting, and overwintering. They suggest best management practices for roadside habitats and detailed a non-lethal survey protocol to aid in monitoring for bumble bees of conservation concern. In > 400 h of surveys in 300 sites across Ohio, the authors recorded > 23,000 bumble bees representing 11 species, but did not locate any individuals of the two target species. The authors found that proximity to wooded habitat promotes bumble bee abundance. Wildflower plantings promote bumble bee diversity, but management practices, such as the timing and frequency of mowing, influence the value of that habitat for bumble bees. Some, but not all, of the native plant species commonly planted for pollinators in the Midwest attract bumble bees.

Sickness effects on social interactions depend on the type of behaviour and relationship

Sebastian Stockmaier, Daniel.I. Bolnick, Rachel.A. Page, Gerald G. Carter. 2020. Journal of Animal Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13193

Abstract

(1) Infections can change social behaviour in multiple ways, with profound impacts on pathogen transmission. However, these impacts might depend on the type of behaviour, how sociality as a biological trait is defined (e.g. network degree versus mean edge strength), and the type of social relationship between the interacting individuals.

(2) We used the highly social common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) to test how an immune challenge by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injections affects two different social behaviors and three alternate measures of sociality, and whether the LPS effect differs by kinship relationship.

(3) Effects of sickness should be lower for social behaviours that bestow greater benefits to inclusive fitness, such as food sharing. As predicted, immune‐challenged bats experienced a greater reduction in allogrooming received than food sharing received.

(4) Sickness effects might also depend on how a social interaction is defined (e.g. the number of grooming partners versus the duration of grooming events). We predicted that sickness would impact both the number and duration of social encounters, but we only detected a decrease in the number of grooming partners.

(5) Finally, sickness effects might vary with social relationship type. We predicted that sickness effects should be smaller for interactions among close kin. As expected, the immune‐challenge had smaller effects on mother‐offspring interactions.

(6) In conclusion, our results highlight the need to explicitly consider how the effects of sickness on social network structure can differ depending on the “who, what, and how” of social interactions, because these factors are likely to influence how sickness behaviour alters pathogen transmission.