The decorator worm Diopatra cuprea Bosc, 1802 (Annelid; Polycheate; Onuphidae) is an ecosystem engineer within high-salinity estuaries of the southern and eastern United States. A previous study revealed five morphologically cryptic mitochondrial lineages across its broad geographic distribution. Here, we explore mitonuclear concordance of these lineages using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) genotyped with RADseq. We ge...

Aim Biogeographers have used three primary data types to examine shifts in tree ranges in response to past climate change: fossil pollen, genetic data and contemporary occurrences. Although recent efforts have explored formal integration of these types of data, we have limited understanding of how integration affects estimates of range shift rates and their uncertainty. We compared estimates of biotic velocity (i.e. rate of sp...

The reproductive success of marine ectotherms is especially vulnerable in warming oceans due to alterations in adult physiology, as well as embryonic and larval survival prospects. These vital responses may, however, differ considerably across the species' geographical distribution. Here we investigated the life history, focusing on reproductive ecology, of three spatially distant populations (stocks) of Atlantic cod ( Gadus m...

Aim As within‐species genomic data have been shown useful in interpreting broader biogeographic trends, we analysed the mode of population genomic isolation involved in a well‐studied intertidal genomic cline to better understand the mechanisms maintaining it. These results were interpreted in the context of spatial variation in habitat use and availability as well as likely fitness consequences for hybridization between the t...

The genomic variation of an invasive species may be affected by complex demographic histories and evolutionary changes during the invasion. Here, we describe the relative influence of bottlenecks, clonality, and population expansion in determining genomic variability of the widespread red macroalga Agarophyton vermiculophyllum . Its introduction from mainland Japan to the estuaries of North America and Europe coincided with sh...

Aim If we are able to determine the geographic origin of an invasion, as well as its known area of introduction, we can better appreciate the innate environmental tolerance of a species and the strength of selection for adaptation that colonizing populations have undergone. It also enables us to maximize the success of searches for effective biological control agents. We determined the number of successful colonization events...

Plant‐soil feedback (PSF) theory provides a powerful framework for understanding plant dynamics by integrating growth assays into predictions of whether soil communities stabilise plant–plant interactions. However, we lack a comprehensive view of the likelihood of feedback‐driven coexistence, partly because of a failure to analyse pairwise PSF, the metric directly linked to plant species coexistence. Here, we determine the rel...

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources ( SCDNR ) began stocking red drum, Sciaenops ocellatus (Linnaeus), in 1989 to augment the abundance of juveniles available for recreational harvest in South Carolina estuaries. While stock enhancement can help supplement wild populations under high fishing pressure, releasing hatchery‐raised fish into the wild also presents the risk of decreased genetic diversity. An individua...

Baker's Law predicts uniparental reproduction will facilitate colonization success in novel habitats. While evidence supports this prediction among colonizing plants and animals, few studies have investigated shifts in reproductive mode in haplo‐diplontic species in which both prolonged haploid and diploid stages separate meiosis and fertilization in time and space. Due to this separation, asexual reproduction can yield the do...

Aim To unravel the genetic processes involved in a case of invasion by one species, the self‐incompatible Cakile maritima Scop. (Brassicaceae) in Australia, as it has replaced a related prior invader, Cakile edentula (Bigelow) Hook. Location Southern and eastern coastlines of Australia. Methods Genetic diversity within and between populations was characterized at a continental scale using microsatellite ( SSR ) markers to exam...

Large‐scale, long‐term FACE (Free‐Air CO 2 enrichment) experiments indicate that increases in atmospheric CO 2 concentrations will influence forest C cycling in unpredictable ways. It has been recently suggested that responses of mycorrhizal fungi could determine whether forest net primary productivity ( NPP ) is increased by elevated CO 2 over long time periods and if forests soils will function as sources or sinks of C in th...

Root systems are important for global models of below‐ground carbon and nutrient cycling. Notoriously difficult sampling methods and the fractal distribution of root diameters in the soil make data being used in these models especially susceptible to error resulting from under‐sampling. We applied the concept of species accumulation curves to root data to quantify the extent of under‐sampling inherent to minirhizotron and soil...

Efforts to characterize carbon (C) cycling among atmosphere, forest canopy, and soil C pools are hindered by poorly quantified fine root dynamics. We characterized the influence of free‐air‐CO 2 ‐enrichment (ambient +200 ppm) on fine roots for a period of 6 years (Autumn 1998 through Autumn 2004) in an 18‐year‐old loblolly pine ( Pinus taeda ) plantation near Durham, NC, USA using minirhizotrons. Root production and mortality...