scholarly journals Extreme Ecological Niche Differences Lead to Extreme Postzygotic Ecological Isolation: A Case of Hybridization Between Carnivorous and Herbivorous Cyprinidae Fishes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haoran Gu ◽  
Yuanfu Wang ◽  
Haoyu Wang ◽  
You He ◽  
Sihong Deng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Niche ◽  
F1 Hybrids ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Genetic Isolation ◽  
Foraging Activity ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Niche Differences ◽  
Ecological Isolation ◽  
Foraging Performance ◽  
Parental Resources

Abstract Background: Postzygote isolation is an important part of species isolation, especially for fish, and it can be divided into two aspects: genetic isolation and ecological isolation. With the increase in parental genetic distance, the intensity of genetic isolation between them also increases. Will the increase in parental ecological niche differences also lead to the increase in ecological isolation intensity between them? This question is difficult to answer based on the current literature due to the lack of hybridization cases of extreme ecological niche parents.Results: Cyprinidae fish parents (Schizothorax wangchiachii and Percocypris pingi) with extreme ecological niches (herbivorous and carnivorous) and their F1 hybrids were used as research objects. Fish and periphytic algae were selected as food corresponding to different parental resources. The foraging-related traits of these hybrids are generally the same between parents; however, the intermediate foraging traits of hybrids did not result in intermediate foraging performance for parental resources, and these hybrids could hardly forage for parental resources. The poor foraging performance of these hybrids for parental resources was caused not only by the decline in the foraging ability of these hybrids but, more importantly, by the decrease in foraging activity. Interestingly, these hybrids initially showed a high interest in foraging small fishes; however, after the first successful capture, these hybrids had difficulty ingesting fish and spit them out, which led to the subsequent decrease in foraging activity. We designed a series of experiments to explore the mechanism of the fish spitting of these hybrids, excluding the taste and the size of prey, and found that the decrease in their pharyngeal tooth puncture ability may be the reason. Conclusions: This study was the first to demonstrate that these parents with extreme niche differences will produce extreme postzygotic ecological isolation for parental resources. The poor foraging performance of these hybrids for parental resources is mainly due to the decrease in foraging activity. Interestingly, these hybrids have obvious fish-spitting behaviour, which is a typical example of the contradiction between intermediate traits and parental resources.

scholarly journals Contrasting ecological niches lead to great postzygotic ecological isolation: a case of hybridization between carnivorous and herbivorous cyprinid fishes

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haoran Gu ◽  
Yuanfu Wang ◽  
Haoyu Wang ◽  
You He ◽  
Sihong Deng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Niche ◽  
F1 Hybrids ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Genetic Isolation ◽  
Foraging Activity ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Subsequent Decrease ◽  
Ecological Isolation ◽  
Foraging Performance ◽  
Parental Resources

Abstract Background Postzygote isolation is an important part of species isolation, especially for fish, and it can be divided into two aspects: genetic isolation and ecological isolation. With the increase in parental genetic distance, the intensity of genetic isolation between them also increases. Will the increase in parental ecological niche differences also lead to the increase in ecological isolation intensity between them? This question is difficult to answer based on the current literature due to the lack of hybridization cases of contrasting ecological niche parents. Results Cyprinid fish parents (Schizothorax wangchiachii and Percocypris pingi) with contrasting ecological niches (herbivorous and carnivorous) and their F1 hybrids were used as research objects. Fish and periphytic algae were selected as food corresponding to different parental resources. The foraging-related traits of these hybrids are generally the same between parents; however, the intermediate foraging traits of hybrids did not result in intermediate foraging performance for parental resources, and these hybrids could hardly forage for parental resources. The poor foraging performance of these hybrids for parental resources was caused not only by the decline in the foraging ability of these hybrids but, more importantly, by the decrease in foraging activity. Interestingly, these hybrids initially showed a high interest in foraging small fishes; however, after the first successful capture, these hybrids had difficulty ingesting fish and spit them out, which led to the subsequent decrease in foraging activity. We designed a series of experiments to explore the mechanism of the fish spitting of these hybrids, excluding the taste and the size of prey, and found that the decrease in their pharyngeal tooth puncture ability may be the reason. Conclusions This study was the first to demonstrate that these parents with contrasting ecological niches will produce great postzygotic ecological isolation for parental resources. The poor foraging performance of these hybrids for parental resources is mainly due to the decrease in foraging activity. Interestingly, these hybrids have obvious fish-spitting behaviour, which is a typical example of the incompatibility between intermediate traits and genetic behaviors.

scholarly journals Variation in isotopic niche, digestive tract morphology, and mercury concentrations in two sympatric waterfowl species wintering in Atlantic Canada

FACETS ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 393-408
Author(s):  
Matthew D. English ◽  
Gregory J. Robertson ◽  
Nelson J. O’Driscoll ◽  
Sara J. Klapstein ◽  
Liam E. Peck ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Digestive Tract ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Ecological Niche ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Atlantic Canada ◽  
Isotopic Niche ◽  
Niche Differences ◽  
Blood Mercury ◽  
American Black ◽  
Physical And Chemical

Sympatric communities of organisms may exploit different ecological niches to avoid intra- and interspecific competition. We examined the isotopic niches of American black ducks ( Anas rubripes) and mallards ( A. platyrhynchos) wintering in coastal and urban areas of Atlantic Canada and compared isotopic niche with digestive tract morphologies and blood mercury (Hg) concentrations. Isotopic niche width (for δ13C and δ15N) varied between the three groups of ducks studied, with coastally foraging black ducks exhibiting the widest isotopic niche, followed by coastal mallards, while urban feeding black ducks had a narrow isotopic niche. These niche differences had physical and chemical consequences: coastal black ducks had longer digestive tracts, a larger range in gizzard sizes, and higher and more variable Hg concentrations than urban black ducks and coastal mallards. This plasticity in ecological niche may reduce competition among and within species, and subsequently explain why winter numbers of black ducks and mallards have increased in Atlantic Canada.

scholarly journals Ecological adaptation of an F1 hybrid cross of carnivorous and herbivorous Cyprinidae fishes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haoran Gu ◽  
You He ◽  
Sihong Deng ◽  
Xingheng He ◽  
Yi Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Niche ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Food Resources ◽  
Ecological Adaptation ◽  
F1 Hybrids ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Hybrid Speciation ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
F1 Hybrid ◽  
Species Isolation

Abstract Background Whether hybridization plays a positive or negative role in speciation remains a controversial issue to date. Genetic factors have been widely studied, but ecological factors also play an important role. Although studies on the ecological adaptation of hybrids between different niche parents have been widely reported, cases of extreme niche parental hybridization have not been documented, which may show more ecological phenomena in the fields of hybrid speciation and ecological species isolation. Results Taking Cyprinidae fish parents (Schizothorax wangchiachii and Percocypris pingi) with extreme ecological niches (herbivorous and carnivorous) and their F1 hybrids as research objects, fish, shrimp, blood worms and periphytic algae were selected as food correspond to four different ecological niches. Morphologically, most external and skeletal traits in the F1 hybrids were balanced between the parents, but digestive traits were closer to those of herbivorous parents. In terms of diet, the F1 hybrids weakly foraged for parental food resources, but can more effectively forage for intermediate food resources. In foraging abilities, the F1 hybrids showed low foraging enthusiasm and abilities for parent resources, although the former was the more important factor. Interestingly, the F1 hybrids showed high foraging enthusiasm and success rates when they first foraged for fish, but then they vomited fish debris as a result of mechanical difficulty in chewing rather than taste, and the reason was a contradiction between the genetic behaviours and intermediate morphology. This behaviour was harmful and was persistent in some individuals, representing a new mechanism in ecological species isolation. However, the F1 hybrids have also shown evidence of new ecological niche formation in favour of hybrid speciation by abandoning foraging parent resources and focusing more on foraging intermediate foods. Conclusions (1) Low foraging enthusiasm is an important reason for the fitness decrease of F1 hybrids to parent food. (2) The contradiction between genetic behavior and intermediate traits is reported for the first time. (3) F1 hybrids may form an intermediate ecological niche between parents proved experimentally.

scholarly journals Defining the niche for niche construction: evolutionary and ecological niches

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rose Trappes
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Ecological Niche ◽  
Niche Construction ◽  
Habitat Degradation ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Niche Concept ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Compare And Contrast ◽  
Extreme Habitat

AbstractNiche construction theory (NCT) aims to transform and unite evolutionary biology and ecology. Much of the debate about NCT has focused on construction. Less attention has been accorded to the niche: what is it, exactly, that organisms are constructing? In this paper I compare and contrast the definition of the niche used in NCT with ecological niche definitions. NCT’s concept of the evolutionary niche is defined as the sum of selection pressures affecting a population. So defined, the evolutionary niche is narrower than the ecological niche. Moreover, when contrasted with a more restricted ecological niche concept, it has a slightly different extension. I point out three kinds of cases in which the evolutionary niche does not coincide with realized ecological niches: extreme habitat degradation, commensalism, and non-limiting or super-abundant resources. These conceptual differences affect the role of NCT in unifying ecology and evolutionary biology.

scholarly journals An ecological niche shift for Neanderthal populations in Western Europe 70,000 years ago

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
William E. Banks ◽  
Marie-Hélène Moncel ◽  
Jean-Paul Raynal ◽  
Marlon E. Cobos ◽  
Daniel Romero-Alvarez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Ecological Niche ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Ecological Niche Modeling ◽  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Niche Shift ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Middle Paleolithic ◽  
Niche Dynamics ◽  
Anatomically Modern Humans

AbstractMiddle Paleolithic Neanderthal populations occupied Eurasia for at least 250,000 years prior to the arrival of anatomically modern humans. While a considerable body of archaeological research has focused on Neanderthal material culture and subsistence strategies, little attention has been paid to the relationship between regionally specific cultural trajectories and their associated existing fundamental ecological niches, nor to how the latter varied across periods of climatic variability. We examine the Middle Paleolithic archaeological record of a naturally constrained region of Western Europe between 82,000 and 60,000 years ago using ecological niche modeling methods. Evaluations of ecological niche estimations, in both geographic and environmental dimensions, indicate that 70,000 years ago the range of suitable habitats exploited by these Neanderthal populations contracted and shifted. These ecological niche dynamics are the result of groups continuing to occupy habitual territories that were characterized by new environmental conditions during Marine Isotope Stage 4. The development of original cultural adaptations permitted this territorial stability.

Distribution Patterns and Ecological Niches of the Red-tongued Pit Viper (Gloydius ussuriensis) and the Central Asian Pit Viper (Gloydius intermedius) in Cheonmasan Mountain, South Korea

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 348-354
Author(s):  
Min Seock Do ◽  
Ki-Baek Nam
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Ecological Niche ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Niche Differentiation ◽  
Habitat Characteristics ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Mountainous Area ◽  
Dry Land ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Geographical Environment

Studies on the distribution of species are important to understanding the interspecific ecological niche and habitat selection through geographic environmental information. Particularly, vipers in the same genus have been an important topic because they show differences in the preferred geographical environment, depending on the distance of the phylogenetic relationship. This study investigated the geographical environment of red-tongued pit vipers (Gloydius ussuriensis) and Central Asian pit vipers (Gloydius intermedius) in the mountainous area, Cheonmasan Mountain County Park, South Korea, from April 2012 to October 2014, to understand the relationships among their habitat characteristics and ecological niche. Red-tongued pit vipers mainly lived in low altitude, wet valley areas with a low solar reflectance, while Central Asian pit vipers inhabited high altitude, dry land with large amounts of sunshine. As a result, our study supports that the ecological niche of red-tongued pit vipers and Central Asian pit vipers, inhibiting in Cheonmasan Mountain was overlapped low according to the majority of geographical environmental variables. The differentiated diet preference might be took into consideration as one of the potential key factors to the ecological niche differentiation among two species.

Introduction

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Townsend Peterson ◽  
Jorge Soberón ◽  
Richard G. Pearson ◽  
Robert P. Anderson ◽  
Enrique Martínez-Meyer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Species Distribution ◽  
Ecological Niche ◽  
Ecological Niche Modeling ◽  
Species Distribution Modeling ◽  
Niche Modeling ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Distribution Modeling ◽  
Geographic Distributions ◽  
Complex Relationships

This book deals with ecological niche modeling and species distribution modeling, two emerging fields that address the ecological, geographic, and evolutionary dimensions of geographic distributions of species. It provides a conceptual overview of the complex relationships between ecological niches and geographic distributions of species, both across space and (perhaps to a lesser degree) through time. The emphasis is on how that conceptual framework relates to ecological niche modeling and species distribution modeling, which the book argues are complementary and are most broadly applicable to diverse questions regarding the ecology and geography of biodiversity phenomena. Part I of the book introduces the conceptual framework for thinking about and discussing the distributional ecology of species, Part II is concerned with the data and tools that have been used in the early development of the field, and Part III focuses on real-world situations to which these tools have been applied.

The Biography of the Earth

2021 ◽  
pp. 200-213
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Ervin-Blankenheim
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Ecological Niche ◽  
Late Jurassic ◽  
Big Bang ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Asteroid Impact ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The One ◽  
Extinction Events ◽  
The Universe

The story of the Phanerozoic Eon continues in this chapter with the Mesozoic Era. The first period in the Mesozoic, the Triassic, was bookended by two extinction events, the one at the beginning, discussed in the prior chapter at the end of the Permian Period, the Great Dying, and then another at the end of the period, related to the further breakup of Pangea. Dinosaurs evolved and diversified during the Mesozoic to occupy nearly each and every ecological niche on the planet, with large dinosaurs and small dinosaurs, ones that flew, those that ate vegetation, and those that preyed upon the herbivores—making this time a dino-dominated age. In the late Jurassic Period, small mammals, many of them insectivores, were starting to become prevalent. The era ended with a “big bang” of a different type than is theorized as the start of the universe—with the Chicxulub asteroid impact 66 million years ago that ended the lives of most of the dinosaurs, the non-avian lines, and opened up new ecological niches for the next “masters of the universe,” the mammals.

Biology of pathogenic microorganisms

2020 ◽  
pp. 651-656
Author(s):  
Duncan J. Maskell ◽  
James L.N. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Ecological Niche ◽  
Rich Source ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Pathogenic Microorganisms ◽  
Evolutionary Processes ◽  
Host Animal ◽  
Host Environment ◽  
The Rich

Microorganisms are present at most imaginable sites on the planet, and have evolved to occupy these ecological niches successfully. A host animal is simply another ecological niche to be occupied. This chapter describes how the ability to cause disease may in some cases be an accidental bystander event, or it may be the result of evolutionary processes that have led to specific mechanisms allowing the pathogen to exploit the rich source of nutrients present in the host, and then be transmitted to another fresh host. Pathogenicity often relies on a series of steps, with specific and often distinct mechanisms operating at each of them. Some types of pathogen must adapt to the host environment by altering gene expression, and most must retain the ability to be transmitted readily between hosts.

Effect of Ecological Pressures on Brains: Examples from Avian Neuroethology and General Meanings

1998 ◽  
Vol 53 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 560-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hermann Wagner ◽  
Harald Luksch
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Niche ◽  
Bird Song ◽  
Avian Species ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Ecological Situation ◽  
Life Styles ◽  
Attentional Switching ◽  
Food Storing ◽  
Barn Owls

Abstract Comparative neuroethological research emphasizes that brains of animals have been shaped by the specific demands and constraints imposed by the ecological niche that a species occupies. Since avian species have developed very diverse life styles and occupy extreme ecological niches, bird brains should show many specializations, which may be revealed in species that have survived under high ecological pressures. In this paper, we will give several examples of adaptations, in which we are able to correlate structural and physiological spe­cializations to the specific ecological demands: adaptations found to nocturnal hunting in barn owls, the characteristics of bird song and its underlying neurobiological correlates, retinopetal projections and their relation to peripheral attentional switching, looming detection, and adaptations related to memory capacities of food-storing birds. We stress especially that the analysis of the animal’s ecological situation is important in understanding the factors that shaped both behavior and the neuronal substrate.

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