Particle Backtracking Improves Breeding Subpopulation Discrimination and Natal-Source Identification in Mixed Populations

Michael E. Fraker, Eric J. Anderson, Reed M. Brodnik, Lucia Carreon-Martinez, Kristen M. DeVanna, Brian J. Fryer, Daniel D. Heath, Julie M. Reichert, Stuart A. Ludsin.  2015. PLoSONE. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0120752

Abstract

We provide a novel method to improve the use of natural tagging approaches for subpopulation discrimination and source-origin identification in aquatic and terrestrial animals with a passive dispersive phase. Our method integrates observed site-referenced biological information on individuals in mixed populations with a particle-tracking model to retrace likely dispersal histories prior to capture (i.e., particle backtracking). To illustrate and test our approach, we focus on western Lake Erie’s yellow perch (Perca flavescens) population during 2006–2007, using microsatellite DNA and otolith microchemistry from larvae and juveniles as natural tags. Particle backtracking showed that not all larvae collected near a presumed hatching location may have originated there, owing to passive drift during the larval stage that was influenced by strong river- and wind-driven water circulation. Re-assigning larvae to their most probable hatching site (based on probabilistic dispersal trajectories from the particle backtracking model) improved the use of genetics and otolith microchemistry to discriminate among local breeding subpopulations. This enhancement, in turn, altered (and likely improved) the estimated contributions of each breeding subpopulation to the mixed population of juvenile recruits. Our findings indicate that particle backtracking can complement existing tools used to identify the origin of individuals in mixed populations, especially in flow-dominated systems.

AEL

Fauna Europaea: Hymenoptera – Apocrita (excl. Ichneumonoidea)

Mircea-Dan Mitroiu, John Noyes, Aleksandar Cetkovic, Guido Nonveiller, Alexander Radchenko, Andrew Polaszek, Fredrick Ronquist, Mattias Forshage, Guido Pagliano, Josef Gusenleitner, Mario Boni Bartalucci, Massimo Olmi, Lucian Fusu, Michael Madl, Norman F Johnson, Petr Jansta, Raymond Wahis, Villu Soon, Paolo Rosa, Till Osten, Yvan Barbier, Yde de Jong. 2015. Biodiversity Data Journal 3: e4186. doi: 10.3897/BDJ.3.e4186

Abstract

Fauna Europaea provides a public web-service with an index of scientific names (including important synonyms) of all living European land and freshwater animals, their geographical distribution at country level (up to the Urals, excluding the Caucasus region), and some additional information. The Fauna Europaea project covers about 230,000 taxonomic names, including 130,000 accepted species and 14,000 accepted subspecies. This represents a huge effort by more than 400 contributing specialists throughout Europe and is a unique (standard) reference suitable for many users in science, government, industry, nature conservation and education. Hymenoptera is one of the four largest orders of insects, with about 130,000 described species. In the Fauna Europaea database, ‘Hymenoptera - Apocrita (excluding Ichneumonoidea)’ comprises 13 superfamilies, 52 families, 91 subfamilies, 38 tribes and 13,211 species. The paper includes a complete list of taxa dealt with, the number of species in each and the name of the specialist responsible for data acquisition. As a general conclusion about the European fauna of Hymenoptera, the best  known countries in terms of recorded species are those from  northwestern Europe, with the least known fauna probably in the more eastern and southeastern parts of Europe.
 

Triplehorn Insect Collection

Ectoparasites of Propithecus diadema (Primates: Indriidae) With Notes on Unusual Attachment Site Selection by Haemaphysalis lemuris (Parasitiformes: Ixodidae)

Hans Klompen , Randall E. Junge , Cathy V. Williams. 2015. Journal of Medical Entomology. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjv032

Abstract

An examination of ectoparasite loads in two populations of wild diademed sifakas, Propithecus diadema Bennett, yielded seven species—four mite species, a louse, a hippoboscid fly, and a leech. Prevalence of the tick Haemaphysalis lemuris Hoogstraal, the mites Liponyssella madagascariensis (Hirst) and Lemuralges propithecus Bochkov et al., and the louse Trichophilopterus babakotophilus Stobbe was quite high, at least 20%. H. lemuris was the most common ectoparasite in one population, while completely absent in a second one. When present, the most common attachment site for H. lemuris males was in the nares of their hosts.

OSU Acarology

Simple movement rules result in ideal free distribution of mobile pastoralists

Mark Moritz, Ian M. Hamilton, Andrew J. Yoak, Paul Scholte, Jeff Cronley, Paul Maddock, Hongyang Pi. 2015. Ecological Modelling 305:54-63. doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2015.03.010

Abstract

While open access to common-pool resources has been equated with a tragedy of the commons, we have found that mobile pastoralists in the Logone Floodplain in Cameroon are sustain ably managing open access to common-pool grazing resources. We have described this pastoral system as a self-organizing complex adaptive system (CAS) in which mobile pastoralists distribute themselves over common-pool grazing resources without central or collective decision-making. We have found evidence of management of open access in the form of an ideal free distribution (IFD). Here we discuss the results of an agent-based model (ABM) simulation and show how pastoralists are able to achieve an IFD with relatively simple movement rules. We describe this system as an Emergent Commons (EC).

“Sky islands” in the eastern U.S.A.? -- Strong phylogenetic structure in the Heuchera parviflora group (Saxifragaceae)

Ryan Andrew Folk. 2015. Taxon 64(2):1-56.

Abstract

Lineage delimitation using multiple sources of data has received renewed emphasis owing to the new possibilities offered by multi-locus datasets and model-based analyses. Species complexes displaying interrupted sky island-like distribu- tions may be especially under-assessed by current taxonomies, warranting reexamination with new data and methodologies. We present a molecular and morphological study of the discontinuously distributed Heuchera parviflora complex (Saxi- fragaceae), with the aim of identifying genetic lineages that correlate with geography and morphology and may be worthy of taxonomic recognition in this contentious group. Concatenated analyses of the molecular data suggest four genetic lineages that are allopatric or (in one case) parapatric and correlate with major physiographic provinces. These lineages also correlate with morphological differentiation in the group and suggest taxonomically useful morphological characters. Independent, confirmatory coalescent approaches strongly support the four lineages identified by concatenation. However, morphological differentiation, though involving multiple characters, is relatively weak between two of the identified lineages. For this reason, in contrast with most coalescent studies we advocate the use of both specific and varietal rank, recognizing in total three species, one with two varieties.

Freudenstein Lab