Density‐dependent effects on individual vital rates play a critical role in determining a population's equilibrium size and rate of return following stochastic disturbances. In fragmented landscapes, spatial variation in density dependence across life‐history stages causes heterogeneity in limitations of population growth, which influences extinction‐persistence dynamics. As habitat loss leads to increased landscape fragmentat...

Habitat loss is leading to smaller fragmented populations, increasing their susceptibility to stochasticity. Quantifying the effects of demographic and environmental stochasticity on population dynamics and the contribution of selection versus drift to phenotypic change is essential to assess the potential consequences of environmental change. We examined how stochasticity influenced population growth and body mass changes ove...

Non-indigenous species (NIS) are on a rise globally. They can pose strong impacts on ecosystems in their non-native range and can therefore be a serious threat to biodiversity. Here, we compile the existing information available regarding the extent to which commercially and recreationally used fish stocks (exploited fish species) are affected by NIS. To do so, we conducted a literature review to summarize the known and presum...

Bird communities in agroecosystems bring both ecosystem services (e.g., pollination) and disservices (e.g., crop exploitation) to farmers. However, in the proximity of wetland reserves, farmers disproportionately experience harvest yield loss due to large aggregation of bird species that can utilize various agricultural resources. This often results in negative human–wildlife interactions which lower conservation support among...

Wetland ecosystems host an extensive number of avian species and play therefore a key role in biodiversity conservation. However, avifauna in wetlands is severely impacted by the anthropogenic transformation of natural habitats into other land uses. Understanding how habitat changes influence avian community dynamics is crucial for effective management and conservation of bird habitats. Here, we assessed spatio-temporal variat...

Dispersal has a crucial role determining ecoevolutionary dynamics through both gene flow and population size regulation. However, to study dispersal and its consequences, one must distinguish immigrants from residents. Dispersers can be identified using telemetry, capture‐mark‐recapture (CMR) methods, or genetic assignment methods. All of these methods have disadvantages, such as high costs and substantial field efforts needed...

Generation time determines the pace of key demographic and evolutionary processes. Quantified as the weighted mean age at reproduction, it can be studied as a life‐history trait that varies within and among populations and may evolve in response to ecological conditions. We combined quantitative genetic analyses with age‐ and density‐dependent models to study generation time variation in a bird metapopulation. Generation time...

Seasonal prey bursts are important for the life cycles and energy budgets of many predators. This study documents the diet and, especially, the importance of the ephemeral occurrence of capelin as prey for Atlantic cod ( Gadus morhua ) in Godthaabsfjord, west Greenland, over an annual cycle. The cod showed clear differences in diet composition on the 11 sampling dates resulting in a spring–summer, late summer–autumn and winter...

Translocation of conspecific individuals to reduce extinction risk of small, isolated populations and prevent genetic depletion is a powerful tool in conservation biology. An important question is how the translocated individuals influence the long-term genetic composition of the recipient population. Here, we experimentally reinforced a house sparrow ( Passer domesticus ) population, and examined the impact of this translocat...

Understanding the genetic architecture of quantitative traits can provide insights into the mechanisms driving phenotypic evolution. Bill morphology is an ecologically important and phenotypically variable trait, which is highly heritable and closely linked to individual fitness. Thus, bill morphology traits are suitable candidates for gene mapping analyses. Previous studies have revealed several genes that may influence bill...

Widespread ocean acidification ( OA ) is modifying the chemistry of the global ocean, and the Arctic is recognized as the region where the changes will progress at the fastest rate. Moreover, Arctic species show lower capacity for cellular homeostasis and acid‐base regulation rendering them particularly vulnerable to OA . In the present study, we found physiological differences in OA response across geographically separated po...

Ocean acidification (OA) caused by anthropogenic CO 2 emission is projected for thousands of years to come, and significant effects are predicted for many marine organisms. While significant evolutionary responses are expected during such persistent environmental change, most studies consider only short‐term effects. Little is known about the transgenerational effects of parental environments or natural selection on the capaci...

We show that Skeletonema marinoi suppresses chain formation in response to copepod cues. The presence of three different copepod species ( Acartia tonsa , Centropages hamatus , or Temora longicornis ) significantly reduced chain length. Furthermore, chain length was significantly reduced when S. marinoi was exposed to chemical cues from caged A. tonsa without physical contact with the responding cells. The reductions in chain...

We constructed a general relationship between prey concentration and absorption efficiency (AE; previously termed assimilation efficiency) in the cosmopolitan calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa . The relationships between observed AEs and prey concentrations developed differently on different prey species. While AEs decreased asymptotically with prey concentration on the cryptophyte Rhodomonas baltica , the chlorophyte Dunaliella...

Comparative analyses of survival senescence by using life tables have identified generalizations including the observation that mammals senesce faster than similar‐sized birds. These generalizations have been challenged because of limitations of life‐table approaches and the growing appreciation that senescence is more than an increasing probability of death. Without using life tables, we examine senescence rates in annual ind...