Ecology

Bundling and segregation affect pheromone deposition, but not choice, in an ant

1. Massimo De Agrò
2. Chiara Matschunas
3. Tomer J Czaczkes

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This manuscript has the potential to be of interest to a broad range of behavioral scientists. It provides insights into how biases can affect value-based behavior in invertebrates, similar to what has been reported in humans. However, there are a number of potential confounders that need to be addressed before drawing robust conclusions from the data reported.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1, Reviewer #2 and Reviewer #4 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife, preLights

Tree species and genetic diversity increase productivity via functional diversity and trophic feedbacks

1. Ting Tang
2. Naili Zhang
3. Franca J Bongers
4. Michael Staab
5. Andreas Schuldt
6. Felix Fornoff
7. Hong Lin
8. Jeannine Cavender-Bares
9. Andrew L Hipp
10. Shan Li
11. Yu Liang
12. Baocai Han
13. Alexandra-Maria Klein
14. Helge Bruelheide
15. Walter Durka
16. Bernhard Schmid
17. Keping Ma
18. Xiaojuan Liu

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  Using an impressive experimental design, Tang et al. analyzed the effects of intraspecific (genetic) and interspecific (species) diversity in ecosystem processes carried out by forest communities. The results show that both species and genotype diversity influence productivity via changes in overall functional diversity, herbivory, and soil fungal diversity. This study will be important to ecologists and environmentalists interested in ecosystem processes and restoration efforts.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. The reviewers remained anonymous to the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

A social media-based framework for quantifying temporal changes to wildlife viewing intensity: Case study of sea turtles before and during COVID-19

1. Kostas Papafitsoros
2. Lukáš Adam
3. Gail Schofield

Reviewed by ScreenIT

COVID-19 lockdown reveals fish density may be much higher in marine reserves

1. Manuel Olán-González
2. Héctor Reyes-Bonilla
3. Isabel Montserrat Arreola-Alarcon
4. Regina Valdovinos Uribe
5. Damien Olivier

Reviewed by ScreenIT

Species clustering, climate effects, and introduced species in 5 million city trees across 63 US cities

1. Dakota E McCoy
2. Benjamin Goulet-Scott
3. Weilin Meng
4. Bulent Furkan Atahan
5. Hana Kiros
6. Misako Nishino
7. John Kartesz

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This paper will be of interest to urban foresters, ecologists, and planners. It provides an urban tree dataset across US cities that can be used to address questions on urban biodiversity and ecosystem services. It contains clear descriptions about the data processing and structures in general, but would need further clarifications about the sample completeness and representativeness of the data.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. The reviewers remained anonymous to the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Rapid transgenerational adaptation in response to intercropping reduces competition

1. Laura Stefan
2. Nadine Engbersen
3. Christian Schöb

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This paper is of potential interest to people working at the interface between agronomy, ecology, and evolution. By growing experimental mixtures of crop species, i.e., intercrops, the study aims at testing whether positive interactions between species grown in association strengthen over generations of coexistence. The data are original and of high quality, and the statistical analysis are rigorous. The interpretation of the Results as well as the Discussion and Conclusions currently ignore an important discrepancy in the results for competition versus overall yield.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #3 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Regional opportunities for tundra conservation in the next 1000 years

1. Stefan Kruse
2. Ulrike Herzschuh

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  Kruse and Herzschuh apply LAVESI, a machine-intensive and spatially-explicit simulation of individual Siberian trees at the tundra-forest boundary, to call attention to the rapid reduction in the tundra biome as climate warming pushes forests toward the Arctic Ocean. This detailed modelling study predicts dramatic losses of tundra area by the middle of the millenium even under an ambitious climate mitigation scenario and highlights considerable risks of extinction.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Mammals adjust diel activity across gradients of urbanization

1. Travis Gallo
2. Mason Fidino
3. Brian Gerber
4. Adam A Ahlers
5. Julia L Angstmann
6. Max Amaya
7. Amy L Concilio
8. David Drake
9. Danielle Gay
10. Elizabeth W Lehrer
11. Maureen H Murray
12. Travis J Ryan
13. Colleen Cassady St Clair
14. Carmen M Salsbury
15. Heather A Sander
16. Theodore Stankowich
17. Jaque Williamson
18. J Amy Belaire
19. Kelly Simon
20. Seth B Magle

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This study will be of interest to wildlife ecologists and conservation practitioners. The authors took a collaborative approach and collated a large dataset of wildlife camera trap recordings across cities in the USA. The analyses reveal variability in diel activity among species and cities, providing important insights into the effects of urbanization.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1 and Reviewer #2 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Windborne migration amplifies insect-mediated pollination services

1. Huiru Jia
2. Yongqiang Liu
3. Xiaokang Li
4. Hui Li
5. Yunfei Pan
6. Chaoxing Hu
7. Xianyong Zhou
8. Kris AG Wyckhuys
9. Kongming Wu

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  Hoverflies are a group of insects that provide crucial ecosystem services such as pollination and crop protection. Their migratory behavior in western countries is well characterized, but in eastern Asia, the annual summer monsoon provides a 'highway' of favorable winds for the airborne transport of migratory organisms, and the migration of hoverflies in this large region has not been well studied. This study addresses hoverfly migration in this region and its consequences using a variety of suitable methods. The work will be of great interest to insect migration biologists and pollination ecologists.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1, Reviewer #2 and Reviewer #3 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Lowland plant arrival in alpine ecosystems facilitates a decrease in soil carbon content under experimental climate warming

1. Tom WN Walker
2. Konstantin Gavazov
3. Thomas Guillaume
4. Thibault Lambert
5. Pierre Mariotte
6. Devin Routh
7. Constant Signarbieux
8. Sebastián Block
9. Tamara Münkemüller
10. Hanna Nomoto
11. Thomas W Crowther
12. Andreas Richter
13. Alexandre Buttler
14. Jake M Alexander

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  The manuscript reports that when lowland plants were transplanted into alpine turfs under lowland climatic conditions, they rapidly increase soil microbial decomposition of carbon stocks due to root exudates feeding the microbes. The authors conclude that when lowland plants migrate to alpine sites and these warm up, they may also cause a pulse of carbon loss from soil. An alternative explanation of their findings might be that when alpine plants are transplanted into alpine turfs under lowland climatic conditions, these are unable to increase soil microbial decomposition as much as lowland plants because the latter are better adapted to their climatic home environment.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1 and Reviewer #4 agreed to share their names with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife