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Habitat fragmentation is a key driver of reduced genetic connectivity and loss of genetic variation among populations, elevating the risk of inbreeding depression and reduced adaptive potential. The black-throated finch ( Poephila cincta ) is an endemic Australian finch with two recognised subspecies, a northern ( P. c. atropygialis ) and southern form ( P. c. cincta ) separated by a biogeographic barrier in northern Australia...
Animals regularly experience periods of food uncertainty due to seasonal changes and environmental variability. Further, the changing climate is leading to more variable weather patterns, which alter environmental conditions, and can result in resource distributions being less predictable in space and time. How animals respond to uncertain conditions, and in particular a changing distribution of food resources, remains largely...
Factors influencing species reintroduction successNARA Subscribed
Conservation reintroductions are widespread in species conservation but evaluation of their success, and particularly the reporting of failures is lacking. Here we evaluate aspects of species reintroduction that influence success and how conservation practitioners measure success. We analysed trends and reasons for perceived failure and success across 341 documented reintroduction case studies from across the globe. Reintroduc...
Quantifying placebo and trial participation effects on cognitive outcome measures in aging dogsNARA Subscribed
The placebo effect, or the positive effects observed after an inert treatment which result from patients’ expectations for the therapy, is well documented in human medicine. However, in veterinary medicine, where owner’s expectations serve as a proxy for their pets, it remains underexplored, particularly for elderly dogs with cognitive decline. To address this gap, we examined 21 dogs (mean age: 12.85 years, SD: 1.46) from a p...
Pollinators receive considerable interest due to their fundamental role in ecosystem functioning and human well‐being. Unlike farmlands, studies of urban pollinator‐promoting interventions are scarce and have not been synthesised, hampering policy implementation. To fill this gap, we compared pollinator‐promoting interventions (treatment) with conventionally managed (control) sites regarding vegetation, floral resources, and p...
The interconnecting links between individuals in an animal social network are often defined by discrete, directed behaviours, but where these are difficult to observe, a network link (edge) may instead be defined by individuals sharing a space at the same time, which can then be used to infer a social association. The method by which these associations are defined should be informed by the biological significance of edges, and...
Optimising the reintroduction of a specialist peatland butterfly Coenonympha tullia onto peatland restoration sitesNARA Subscribed
The two main goals of peatland restoration are habitat improvement and climate change mitigation by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from damaged peatlands and providing a net carbon sink. The biodiversity of specialist peatland species is threatened because of habitat destruction and the large heath butterfly Coenonympha tullia has become a flagship species for peatland ecosystem restoration, with a species reintroduction pr...
The use of plant genetic resources (PGR)—wild relatives, landraces, and isolated breeding gene pools—has had substantial impacts on wheat breeding for resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, while increasing nutritional value, end‐use quality, and grain yield. In the Global South, post‐Green Revolution genetic yield gains are generally achieved with minimal additional inputs. As a result, production has increased, and milli...
Understanding genetic incompatibilities and genetic introgression between incipient species are major goals in evolutionary biology. Mitochondrial genes evolve rapidly and exist in dense gene networks with coevolved nuclear genes, suggesting that mitochondrial respiration may be particularly susceptible to disruption in hybrid organisms. Mitonuclear interactions have been demonstrated to contribute to hybrid dysfunction betwee...
Exposure to Sublethal Concentrations of Lead (Pb) Affects Ecologically Relevant Behaviors in House Sparrows (Passer domesticus)NARA Subscribed
Global contamination of environments with lead (Pb) poses threats to many ecosystems and populations. While exposure to Pb is toxic at high concentrations, recent literature has shown that lower concentrations can also cause sublethal, deleterious effects. However, there remains relatively little causal investigation of how exposure to lower concentrations of environmental Pb affects ecologically important behaviors. Behaviors...
Heat waves are predicted to be detrimental for organismal physiology with costs for survival that could be reflected in markers of biological state such as telomeres. Changes in early life telomere dynamics driven by thermal stress are of particular interest during the early post‐natal stages of altricial birds because nestlings quickly shift from being ectothermic to endothermic after hatching. Telomeres of ectothermic and en...
Short- and long-term consequences of heat exposure on mitochondrial metabolism in zebra finches (Taeniopygia castanotis)NARA Subscribed
Understanding the consequences of heat exposure on mitochondrial function is crucial as mitochondria lie at the core of metabolic processes, also affecting population dynamics. In adults, mitochondrial metabolism varies with temperature but can also depend on thermal conditions experienced during development. We exposed zebra finches to two alternative heat treatments during early development: “constant”, maintained birds at a...