Albert Smith Bickmore

Many studies have quantified ecological impacts of individual foundation species (FS). However, emerging data suggest that FS often co‐occur, potentially inhibiting or facilitating one another, thereby causing indirect, cascading effects on surrounding communities. Furthermore, global warming is accelerating, but little is known about how interactions between co‐occurring FS vary with temperature.Shallow aquatic sedimentary systems are often dominated by three types of FS: slower‐growing clonal angiosperms, faster‐growing solitary seaweeds, and shell‐forming filter‐ and deposit‐feeding bivalves. Here, we tested the impacts of one FS on another by analyzing manipulative interaction experiments from 148 papers with a global meta‐analysis.We calculated 1,942 (non‐independent) Hedges’ g effect sizes, from 11,652 extracted values over performance responses, such as abundances, growths or survival of FS, and their associated standard deviations and replication levels. Standard aggregation procedures generated 511 independent Hedges’ g that was classified into six types of reciprocal impacts between FS.We found that (i) seaweeds had consistent negative impacts on angiosperms across performance responses, organismal sizes, experimental approaches, and ecosystem types; (ii) angiosperms and bivalves generally had positive impacts on each other (e.g., positive effects of angiosperms on bivalves were consistent across organismal sizes and experimental approaches, but angiosperm effect on bivalve growth and bivalve effect on angiosperm abundance were not significant); (iii) bivalves positively affected seaweeds (particularly on growth responses); (iv) there were generally no net effects of seaweeds on bivalves (except for positive effect on growth) or angiosperms on seaweeds (except for positive effect on ‘other processes’); and (v) bivalve interactions with other FS were typically more positive at higher temperatures, but angiosperm‐seaweed interactions were not moderated by temperature.Synthesis: Despite variations in experimental and spatiotemporal conditions, the stronger positive interactions at higher temperatures suggest that facilitation, particularly involving bivalves, may become more important in a future warmer world. Importantly, addressing research gaps, such as the scarcity of FS interaction experiments from tropical and freshwater systems and for less studied species, as well as testing for density‐dependent effects, could better inform aquatic ecosystem conservation and restoration efforts and broaden our knowledge of FS interactions in the Anthropocene.

Ophiuroidea is one of the most suitable marine groups for exploring diversity partitioning in the ocean due to its wide distribution and particular lifestyles. Nevertheless, diversity and its variation have yet to be investigated, and even basic information for large areas such as the eastern tropical Pacific (ETP) is still lacking. The present contribution explores α, β, and γ-diversity patterns of Ophiuroidea from the ETP at four spatial scales (Operational Geographic Units, Ecoregions, Provinces, and Realms). Based on literature records, databases, and scientific collections, an occurrence matrix was constructed for 69 shallow water (0–200 m) Ophiuroidea of the ETP (Mexico–Peru). Diversity evaluation based on rarefaction curves indicated that the observed richness tends to reach the asymptote. At the province and the ecoregion levels, β-diversity was the most important component explaining γ-diversity. The components that mainly contributed to the differentiation between provinces and ecoregions were the intersection of nestedness and β-diversity. PERMANOVA and SIMPER results showed that species composition presented significant differences at all spatial levels. The PCO ordination indicated that the first component (PCO1) explained the variation in species composition in a longitudinal gradient between coastal and oceanic ecoregions, while PCO2 showed a latitudinal gradient. The shade plot yielded three clusters (northern, southern, and widely distributed species). In general, α-diversity was explained by differences in sampling effort and methods; in contrast, β-diversity and its components were mainly explained by patterns and processes occurring at different spatial scales (provinces and ecoregions) such as oceanographic conditions, geographic extension, dispersal, and environmental heterogeneity. This work represents the first attempt to analyze the distribution patterns of shallow-water Ophiuroidea from the ETP.

Abstract The gray wolf, Canis lupus, once inhabited much of the northern hemisphere worldwide; however, persecution drove its populations almost to extinction. In North America, diverse conservation programs have been implemented in the last decades to recover its populations in the wild, many of them guided by the historical distribution of the gray wolf subspecies. Over time, several authors have proposed different subspecies classifications. Nevertheless, most of them are mutually inconsistent regarding the number and distribution of subspecies, creating controversy when implementing conservation programs. This study used niche-based distribution models and cluster analysis to explore the bioclimatic profiles of C. lupus across North America and compare them with different subspecies classifications to identify environmental correlatives that support the proposed designations. Our cluster analysis results indicate that the optimal number of climatic groups was five, designated as Northern, Eastern, Western, Coastal, and Southern groups, with transitional overlap boundaries located at their peripheries, indicating climatic gradients between them and supporting the idea of intergrading zones. The geographic ranges of these groups mismatched to a different extent with all subspecies delimitations. In general, the boundaries of putative subspecies did not match the climatic patterns of North America. Our results may contribute to the recovery programs underway for this carnivore by identifying suitable areas for the release of individuals from specific lineages. New approaches to characterizing the intraspecific variation of the gray wolf should include all evidence available, including genetic, morphological, and ecological information.

The potential distribution of tropical fish species in Eastern Europe—Gambusia holbrooki Girarg, 1859 (introduced for biological control) and Poecilia reticulata Peters, 1859 (aquarium species, found in wastewaters of big cities)—tends to be of particular interest in terms of global climate change. After GIS modeling of our own data and findings listed in the GBIF databases (2278 points for G. holbrooki and 1410 points for P. reticulata) by using the Maxent package and 18 uncorrelated variables of 35 Bioclim climatic parameters from the CliMond dataset, it was found that by 2090, guppies will appear in the south of Ukraine (Danube River estuary, as well as in several places in the Caucasus and Turkey with habitat suitability of >0.3–0.5). G. holbrooki will also slightly expand its range in Europe. Limiting factors for G. holbrooki distribution are as follows: bio1 (annual mean temperature, optimum +12–+23 °C) and bio19 (precipitation of coldest quarter (mm)). Limiting factors for guppies are as follows: bio1 (optimum +14–+28 °C), bio4 (temperature seasonality), and bio3 (isothermality). Guppies, unlike G. holbrooki, prefer warmer waters (correlation 0.02). Such thermophilic fish species do not compete with the native ichthyofauna, but they can occupy niches in anthropogenically transformed habitats, playing an important role as agents of biological control.

Non-native (invasive) species offer a unique opportunity to study the geographical distribution and range limits of species, wherein the evolutionary change driven by interspecific interactions between native and non-native closely related species is a key component. The red-eared slider turtle, Tra…

Aim: Formerly introduced for their presumed value in controlling mosquito-borne diseases, the two mosquitofish Gambusia affinis and G. holbrooki (Poeciliidae) are now among the world's most widespread invasive alien species, negatively impacting aquatic ecosystems around the world. These inconspicuo…

Mangroves are an ideal habitat for brachyuran crabs because of nutritional and shelter support. Using maximum entropy (MaxEnt) modeling technique, we projected the potential global distributions of 10 dominant species of mangrove crabs from the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman under future climate c…

Mollusca is the largest marine phylum, comprising about 23% of all named marine organisms, Mollusca systematics are still in flux, and an increase in human activities has affected Molluscan reproduction and development, strongly impacting diversity and classification. Therefore, it is necessary to e…

The potential distribution of tropical fish species in Eastern Europe—Gambusia holbrooki (introduced for biological control) and Poecilia reticulata (aquarium species, found in waste waters of big cities)—tend to be of particular interest in terms of global climate change. After GIS modeling of our …

During the Quaternary, large climate oscillations impacted the distribution and demography of species globally. Two approaches have played a major role in reconstructing changes through time: Bayesian Skyline Plots (BSPs), which reconstruct population fluctuations based on genetic data, and Species …