The accelerated rate of disease emergence in recent decades underscores the need to understand conditions that promote or dampen epidemics. Theoretical models consistently show that epidemics are smaller in populations with higher among‐individual heterogeneity in susceptibility. Experimental tests of these predictions are rare but critical for understanding how heterogeneity in susceptibility shapes epidemics in natural syste...

Variability in acquired protection, whether from prior infection or vaccination, helps drive inter‐individual level variation in disease traits. It remains unclear, however, whether this extends to the within‐host regulatory environment and what the consequences are for reinfecting pathogens. Here, we asked whether prior pathogen exposure of hosts induces gene expression heterogeneity in host and/or pathogen during infection....

The minimum size of particles being efficiently captured in the gills of filter-feeding bivalves differs between mussels with well-developed laterofrontal cirri (lfc) and scallops having only simple pro-laterofrontal cilia (pro-lfc). The presence of branching compound lfc increases the particle retention efficiency below the lower limit of about 4 µm for 100% retention, whereas the simple pro-lfc cilia in scallops are less eff...

Here, we present published data on the influence of ambient current on the pumping rate of sponges, and subsequently, we make interpretations based on a fluid-mechanical approach for analyzing the sponge–pump system. Ambient water flow past a benthic filter-feeding sponge can give rise to an increased osculum out-flow rate (pumping rate = filtration rate) of the sponge. The mechanism at play is the change in pressure distribut...

The effect of temperature on the filtration rate of filter-feeding bivalves is controversial. Some studies show a clear increase in filtration with an increase in temperature, in agreement with a decrease in kinematic viscosity with increasing temperature and a simultaneous increase in beat frequency of the water-pumping lateral cilia. However, other studies show little or no effect. Here, we present our understanding of the e...

Northern ecosystems are warming rapidly, but the effects on soil carbon (C) dynamics are not fully understood. In particular, it is unclear whether warming effects on soil respiration (SR) –the primary source of atmospheric CO 2 from terrestrial ecosystems– persist throughout the year or vary seasonally. While both summer and cold‐season processes shape annual soil C fluxes, the long cold season, which dominates high‐latitude...