How do altitude and soil properties influence the taxonomic and phylogenetic structure and diversity of Brazilian páramo vegetation?

Altitude and environmental variables such as edaphic properties are considered determinants of species distribution and community composition in mountain ecosystems.Here,we aimed to outline the effects of distinct mountain peaks,altitude and soil properties on community composition,species density,phylogenetic structure and diversity of angiosperm páramo communities from the Serra do Brigadeiro State Park,Minas Gerais,southeastern Brazil.For that,we identified all angiosperm species found in 300 plots(1 m×1 m)from three mountain peaks,measured soil depth and analyzed soil fertility and texture in each plot.To reduce the number of soil variables and species composition,we computed principal coordinates based on soil properties and principal coordinates based on species-plot matrix for each plot.Furthermore,we computed the standard effect sizes of the mean phylogenetic pairwise distance and the mean nearest phylogenetic taxon distance for each plot to investigate differences in the degree of relatedness among coexisting species.We compared differences in response variables between peaks and modelled them in function of altitude and principle components of soil properties using mixed effect models.Species density and phylogenetic diversity differed between peaks,but,contrary to the previous findings,no relationships between species richness or phylogenetic diversity and altitude or soil properties were found,indicating that further investigations are necessary to understand the altitude-biodiversity relationship in Brazilian páramo vegetation.Community composition differed between peaks and depended on altitude,soil properties and interactions between them,indicating that upward shifting of bioclimatic conditions due to climate changes may alter communities of this ecosystem.Phylogenetic structure differed between peaks and was influenced by altitude and soil properties.As phylogenetic clustering increased with altitude,eventual upward movements of species in Brazilian páramo vegetation due to climate change may alter community composition and the degree of relatedness among coexisting species,increasing the risk of species from higher altitudes to disappear.Therefore,conservation priorities arise for higher landscape portions,where these high altitude species may find refuges.

The transcriptomic signature of responses to larval crowding in Drosophila melanogaster

Intraspecific competition at the larval stage is an important ecological factor affecting life-history,adaptation and evolutionary trajectory in holometabolous insects.However,the molecular pathways underpinning these ecological processes are poorly characterized.We reared Drosophila melanogaster at three egg densities(5,60,and 300 eggs/mL)and sequenced the transcriptomes of pooled third-instar larvae.We also examined emergence time,egg-to-adult viability,adult mass,and adult sex-ratio at each density.Medium crowding had minor detrimental effects on adult phenotypes compared to low density and yielded 24 differentially expressed genes(DEGs),including several chitinase enzymes.In contrast,high crowding had substantial detrimental effects on adult phenotypes and yielded 2107 DEGs.Among these,upregulated gene sets were enriched in sugar,steroid and amino acid metabolism as well as DNA replication pathways,whereas downregulated gene sets were enriched in ABC transporters,taurine,Toll/Imd signaling,and P450 xenobiotics metabolism pathways.Overall,our findings show that larval crowding has a large consistent effect on several molecular pathways(i.e.,core responses)with few pathways displaying density-specific regulation(i.e.,idiosyncratic responses).This provides important insights into how holometabolous insects respond to intraspecific competition during development.

Differences between species in seed bank and vegetation helps to hold functional diversity in a floodable Neotropical savanna

Aims Our objective was to quantify the contributions of the seed bank and the established vegetation to the species composition,functional composition and diversity,and discuss the implications of these differences in regeneration and persistence of floodplain plant communities.Methods We sampled all ground cover vegetation up to 1.5 m height and seed bank in 25 plots(10 m×1 m)distributed across five sites in dry and rainy seasons in a periodically flooded savanna in the Pantanal wetland,Brazil.We evaluated the soil seed bank by seedling emergence method.Important Findings The seed bank species had traits that conferred regeneration to the communities,while persistence traits characterized the vegetation.The seed bank had higher functional richness and lower functional evenness than the vegetation.The existence of different plant traits between seed bank and vegetation allowed the coexistence of species with functionally contrasting persistence and regeneration traits,which may help maintain functional diversity.It may allow the community to be more resilient when dealing with different environmental filters such as drought,fire and flood.