Northwestward range expansion of the bumblebee Bombus haematurus into Central Europe is associated with warmer winters and niche conservatism

Species range expansions are crucial for understanding niche formation and the interaction with the environment.Here,we studied the bumblebee Bombus haematurus Kriechbaumer,1870,a species historically distributed from northern Serbia through northern Iran which has very recently started expanding northwestward into Central Europe without human-mediated dispersal(i.e.,it is a natural spread).After updating the global distribution of this species,we investigated if niche shifts took place during this range expansion between newly colonized and historical areas.In addition,we have explored which climatic factors may have favored the natural range expansion of the species.Our results indicated that Bombus haematurus has colonized large territories in 7 European countries outside the historical area in the period from the 1980s to 2018,a natural expansion over an area that equals 20%of the historical distribution.In addition,this bumblebee performs generalism in flower visitation and it occurs in different habitats,although a preference for forested areas clearly emerges.The land-use associated with the species in the colonized areas is similar to the historical distribution,indicating that no major niche shifts occurred during the spread.Furthermore,in recently colonized localities,the range expansion was associated with warming temperatures during the winter and also during both queen overwintering and emergence phases.These findings document a case of natural range expansion due to environmental change rather than due to niche shifts,and specifically they suggest that warmer winters could be linked to the process of natural colonization of new areas.

Dynamic range expansion for optical frequency shift detection based on multiple harmonics

Sensors based on optical resonators often have their measurement range limited by their cavity linewidth,particularly in the measurement of time-varying signals.This paper introduces a method for optical frequency shift detection using multiple harmonics to expand the dynamic range of sensors based on optical resonators.The proposed method expands the measurement range of optical frequency shift beyond the cavity linewidth while maintaining measurement accuracy.The theoretical derivation of this method is carried out based on the equation of motion for an optical resonator and the recursive relationship of the Bessel function.Experimental results show that the dynamic range is expanded to 4 times greater than the conventional first harmonic method while still maintaining accuracy.Furthermore,we present an objective analysis of the correlation between the expansion factor of the method and the linewidth and free spectrum of the optical resonator.

Flexible nest site selection of the endangered Oriental Storks(Ciconia boyciana):Trade-off from adaptive strategies

Nest site selection is a vital component of bird reproduction success,and an adaptive behavior conducted to decrease nest predation risk with avoiding external disturbances.Understanding patterns of nest site selection can provide insights into how species adapt to changes in their habitat and has important conservation implications.In this study,we used microhabitat variables and multi-scale data with a field survey of nest occurrence to determine nest site selection patterns and adaptive strategies of the breeding Oriental Storks(Ciconia boyciana)in different nest areas.Results demonstrate that the nest site microhabitat characteristics of the breeding Oriental Storks significantly differed among the three nesting areas,and nest height was higher in the middle and lower Yangtze River floodplain than in the Northeast China and Bohai Bay nest areas.The food resources and intensity of human disturbance had the greatest effects on the nest site selection of the breeding Oriental Storks.The intensity of human disturbance was positively correlated with the nest height of the breeding Oriental Storks in Bohai Bay and the middle and lower Yangtze River floodplain;however,nest height decreased with the abundance of food resources in the Northeast China nest area.Our findings indicate that the nest site selection patterns of Oriental Storks showed flexible adaptive strategies.In safer environments,nests were lower and closer to food resources,which allows parent storks to invest more in the nestlings.However,in areas where human activity was intense,nests were higher to ensure the safety of their offspring.Some measures that could be taken to improve the breeding habitat of Oriental Storks include increasing the percentage of wetland areas in nesting areas to enhance food resources availability and setting artificial nests at suitable heights in potential nesting grounds to encourage nesting.Finally,the establishment of soft barriers around the nesting areas could increase the safety of nests.

Early performance of two tropical dry forest species after assisted migration to pine-oak forests at different altitudes:strategic response to climate change

Assisted migration has been proposed as a strategy for adaptive management of forest species in response to expected effects of climate change,but it is controversial for several reasons.Tropical dry forests are among the most threatened ecosystems in the world.In Mexico,historically,land-use change and deforestation have been decreasing forest cover,and climate change is shifting the potential distribution of different forest types,exacerbating the risk of local extinctions.Assisted altitudinal migration could be a feasible strategy for reducing local extinctions in response to climate change and lack of landscape connectivity.Our objective was to evaluate survival and growth of Albizia plurijuga and Ceiba aesculifolia,two tropical deciduous forests species in Mexico.We transplanted 4-month-old seedlings to experimental raised beds at three altitudes(2100,2400 and 2700 m a.s.l.),exceeding their upper regional limit of distribution(2000 m a.s.l.).We also tested seed germination at each altitude.We monitored the experiment for 10 months.For both species,as altitude increased and cold weather was more prevalent,plant performance declined.Within species,differences in individual growth were significant among altitudes.Overall survival was 18.5%for A.plurijuga and 24.5%for C.aesculifolia.Both species had higher survival and better growth at lower altitude,and no seedling emergence at any altitude.We conclude that assisted migration can be implemented for each species by an upward attitudinal shift within,and not exceeding,400 m beyond their present upper altitudinal limit of distribution.Our results indicate that for many species that show altitudinal gradients at regional scales,unless current climate conditions change,the potential to establish outside their range is minimal.

Clustering-based adaptive low-power subframe configuration with load-aware offsetting in dense heterogeneous networks

Heterogeneous Networks(HetNets)and cell densification represent promising solutions for the surging data traffic demand in wireless networks.In dense HetNets,user traffic is steered toward the Low-Power Node(LPN)when possible to enhance the user throughput and system capacity by increasing the area spectral efficiency.However,because of the transmit power differences in different tiers of HetNets and irregular service demand,a load imbalance typically exists among different serving nodes.To offload more traffic to LPNs and coordinate the Inter-Cell Interference(ICI),Third-Generation Partnership Project(3GPP)has facilitated the development of the Cell Range Expansion(CRE),enhanced Inter-Cell Interference Coordination(eICIC)and Further enhanced ICIC(FeICIC).In this paper,we develop a cell clustering-based load-aware offsetting and an adaptive Low-Power Subframe(LPS)approach.Our solution allows the separation of User Association(UA)functions at the User Equipment(UE)and network server such that users can make a simple cell-selection decision similar to that in the maximum Received Signal Strength(max-RSS)based UA scheme,where the network server computes the load-aware offsetting and required LPS periods based on the load conditions of the system.The proposed solution is evaluated using system-level simulations wherein the results correspond to performance changes in different service regions.Results show that our method effectively solves the offloading and interference coordination problems in dense HetNets.

Siberian silkmoth outbreaks surpassed geoclimatic barrier in Siberian Mountains

Siberian silkmoth(SSM,Dendrolimus sibiricus Tschetv.)is the most important defoliator of Siberian pine(Pinus sibirica Du Tour)and fir(Abies sibirica Ledeb.)stands.Warming-induced SSM outbreaks are one of the major driving factors of successions within the taiga zone.It is suggested that climate change impacted the SSM range and life cycle.We analyzed the migration of alpine and northerly SSM outbreak boundaries in Siberia and the impact of the climate variables and topography on the outbreak dynamics.We used time-series scenes(multispectral data,and vegetation indexes EVI and NDII)in combination with field studies,climate variables,and GIS techniques.We found that SSM outbreaks in the area of alpine boundary shifted about 370 m uphill since the mid of 1950.The outbreak onset was promoted by increased dryness and active temperatures and decreased root zone moisture content in the spring-early summer period.The terrain topography strongly affected SSM outbreak onset and dynamics.Initially,the outbreak was located at the middle elevations on the gentle concave southeastern slopes,which are the favorable insect habitats between outbreaks.Then the outbreak expanded uphill and downhill,to steeper slopes,and both concave and convex terrains.Alongside with elevation range expansion,SSM surpassed its northern historical outbreak boundary:the potential outbreaks’boundary moved about 300 km northward.Climate warming contributes to SSM migration into former outbreak free conifer stands located in highlands and at northern latitudes.

Demographic Processes Linked to Genetic Diversity and Positive Selection across a Species’ Range

Demography determines the strength of genetic drift,which generally reduces genetic variation and the efficacy of selection.Here,we disentangled the importance of demographic processes at a local scale(census size and mating system)and at a species-range scale(old split between population clusters,recolonization after the last glaciation cycle,and admixture)in determining within-population genomic diversity and genomic signatures of positive selection.Analyses were based on re-sequence data from 52 populations of North American Arabidopsis lyrata collected across its entire distribution.The mating system and range dynamics since the last glaciation cycle explained around 60%of the variation in genomic diversity among populations and 52%of the variation in the signature of positive selection.Diversity was lowest in selfing compared with outcrossing populations and in areas further away from glacial refugia.In parallel,reduced positive selectionwas found in selfing populations and in populations with a longer route of postglacial range expansion.The signature of positive selection was also reduced in populations without admixture.We conclude that recent range expansion can have a profound influence on diversity in coding and non-coding DNA,similar in magnitude to the shift toward selfing.Distribution limits may in fact be caused by reduced effective population size and compromised positive selection in recently colonized parts of the range.