12 Matching Annotations
  1. Oct 2025
    1. Moreover, when mosquito parasitism is intense, many birds leave the cliffs before they succumb, exposing their eggs to predation by gulls. Simultaneously, because of the earlier disappearance of sea ice in northern Hudson Bay, polar bears have been forced to come ashore earlier and in poorer condition (Stirling et al., 1999, Regehr et al., 2007). This change has led them to exploit unusual food resources, especially birds and their eggs and nestlings (e.g., Rockwell and Gormezano, 2009; Smith et al., 2010; Rockwell et al., 2011).

      With this, the authors demonstrate the compounding effects of the biological impacts of climate change.

    2. Although the biological consequences of climate change have recently received much attention (Cheung et al., 2009; Chin et al., 2010; Ji et al., 2010; Jiguet et al., 2010; McMahon et al., 2011), they are generally acknowledged to be less predictable than the physical consequences

      With this, the authors highlight that while climate change is recognized, changes to the physical environment like temperature and rising sea levels are much more predictable. However, the resulting biological changes, such as changes to migration routes, adaptions, and the ranges organisms can live in, are much less predictable as they are the result of many interacting variables such as predation, making them much more unpredictable.

    1. Nocturnal organisms may respond directly to changes in lunar illumination as the moon cycles through the phases; they can also anticipate changes that accompany the lunar cycle by means of an endogenous oscillator (“clock”) synchronized to the ∼29.5 day circalunar rhythm (Raible et al., 2017). The primary environmental cues that change with the lunar cycle are moonlight intensity and tidal force (Andreatta & Tessmar-Raible, 2020), and these cues (or ‘zeitgebers’) act on endogenous oscillators to regulate biological processes such as mating, feeding, activity, predator avoidance, and many others

      The ability to anticipate the changes in the lunar cycles allow for the regulation of biological processes that require specific light conditions to protect from predators

    2. Current evidence indicates that 69% of mammals are nocturnal, with only 20% of mammals displaying a diurnal activity pattern

      This is interesting to note as it shows how common an adaptation that evolved 100 million years prior to mammals became within the class.

  2. Sep 2025
    1. These clonal studies demonstrate the existence of heritability for pCO2-related traits, but only in the broad sense, meaning they include heritable plastic, epigenetic, or genetic components of variation in pCO2 responses.

      This section highlights the ability of clonal organisms to inherit traits related to pCO2 in both epigenetic and genetic senses, suggesting an adaptation to ocean acidification is more than just changes in genes.

    2. Although we use ocean acidification as a case study, the methods reviewed are equally applicable to other aspects of ocean change and we highlight the utility of considering multiple drivers simultaneously (see [10] and [11] for reviews that focus on broader aspects of ocean change).

      I like how the authors emphasizes that ocean acidification commonly used for a case study that is applicible to many aspects of ocean change. I also like how they highlight the multipule drives that contribute to ocean acidification

    1. All snails were collected in September 2016, although the “Crab” ecotype sampled from Silleiro had a small proportion of gravid females and a second sampling of the same micro-habitat was carried out in March 2017.

      Would the presence of gravid females impact the results of this experiment in a notable way?

    2. Therefore, it would be highly informative to compare PST and QST in a system where both can be directly measured, so that the mechanisms behind their relationship can be revealed and provide valuable evidence for the causes shaping the phenotypic/genetic variation, or even testing the utility of PST as a general proxy for QST in a particular species.

      This method of comparing Qst and Pst creates a more accessible study environment for other organisms that are not greatly suited for the laboratory environment

    1. Previous studies have shown that the loss of a biogenic habitat in an ecosystem can be functionally replaced (or the loss of function is slowed to some extent) by another habitat-forming organism (Nagelkerken et al., 2016; Sunday et al., 2017).

      What would happen if another habitat-forming organism was introduces to the area? Would it benefit the overall ecology of the area or would it prove to be detrimental to the organisms that already exist in that area? Would it be ethical to perform this in order to prevent the replacement of a habitat?

    2. For example, under acidification, fleshy seaweeds outcompete calcareous species

      How would this potential change impact the organisms that rely on the calcareous species for food or protection?

    3. Molluscs actively chose to colonise T. hirsuta and actively avoided M. galloprovincialis, regardless of warming or pCO2 levels (Table 1).

      What caused molluscs to choose to colonize T. hisuta regardless of warming or pCO2 levels? What deterred them from colonizing M. galloprovincialis?

    4. The native mussel T. hirsuta grew more under warming (Fig. 1; ANOVA Species × Temperature F1,32 = 6.13, P < 0.05; Supplementary Table 2). In contrast, M. galloprovincialis grew the same at ambient and elevated temperatures (Fig. 1; Supplementary Table 2). There was no effect of elevated pCO2 on growth in either of the mussel species (ANOVA CO2 F1,32 = 0.53, P > 0.05; Supplementary Table 2).

      The authors present an interesting point here. The research suggests that temperature is the primary driver for the difference in growth between the native T. hisuta and the M. galloprovincialis. Based on these results, would these results be consistent in another shellfish species with the same tolerance for temperature and sensitivities to carbon dioxide?