TY - JOUR TI - Dark matter annihilation in the circumgalactic medium at high redshifts AU - Schön, S. AU - Mack, K.J. AU - Wyithe, J.S.B. T2 - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society AB - Annihilating dark matter (DM) models offer promising avenues for future DM detection, in particular via modification of astrophysical signals. However, when modelling such potential signals at high redshift, the emergence of both DM and baryonic structure, as well as the complexities of the energy transfer process, needs to be taken into account. In the following paper, we present a detailed energy deposition code and use this to examine the energy transfer efficiency of annihilating DM at high redshift, including the effects on baryonic structure. We employ the pythia code to model neutralino-like DM candidates and their subsequent annihilation products for a range of masses and annihilation channels. We also compare different density profiles and mass–concentration relations for 105–107 M⊙ haloes at redshifts 20 and 40. For these DM halo and particle models, we show radially dependent ionization and heating curves and compare the deposited energy to the haloes’ gravitational binding energy. We use the ‘filtered’ annihilation spectra escaping the halo to calculate the heating of the circumgalactic medium and show that the mass of the minimal star-forming object is increased by a factor of 2–3 at redshift 20 and 4–5 at redshift 40 for some DM models. DA - 2018/// PY - 2018/// DO - 10.1093/mnras/stx2968 VL - 474 IS - 3 SP - 3067-3079 UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85040248589&partnerID=MN8TOARS KW - dark ages, reionization, first stars KW - dark matter ER - TY - CONF TI - Keynote AU - Cooper, Caren T2 - Australian Citizen Science Association C2 - 2018/2// CY - Adelaide, South Australia DA - 2018/2// PY - 2018/2/7/ ER - TY - CONF TI - Paul F-Brandwein Lecture AU - Cooper, Caren T2 - National Science Teachers Association C2 - 2018/3// CY - Atlanta, Georgia DA - 2018/3// PY - 2018/3/15/ ER - TY - CHAP TI - Pathways in Ornithology AU - Colón, M.R. AU - Long, A.M. AU - Blanc, L.A. AU - Cooper, C.B. T2 - Ornithology : foundation, analysis, and application A2 - Morrison, M.L. A2 - Rodewald, A.D. A2 - Voelker, G. A2 - Prather, J. A2 - Colón, M.R. PY - 2018/// PB - Johns Hopkins University Press SN - 9781421424712 9781421424729 ER - TY - BOOK TI - Never home alone: from microbes to millipedes, camel crickets, and honeybees, the natural history of where we live AU - Dunn, Rob R. DA - 2018/// PY - 2018/// PB - Basic Books ER - TY - RPRT TI - Expanded view of the ecological genomics of ant responses to climate change AU - Lau, Matthew K. AU - Ellison, Aaron M. AU - Nguyen, Andrew AU - Penick, Clint AU - DeMarco, Bernice AU - Gotelli, Nicholas J. AU - Sanders, Nathan J. AU - Dunn, Robert AU - Cahan, Sarah Helms AB - ABSTRACT Given the abundance, broad distribution, and diversity of roles that ants play in many ecosystems, they are an ideal group to serve as ecosystem indicators of climatic change. At present, only a few whole-genome sequences of ants are available (19 of > 16,000 species), mostly from tropical and sub-tropical species. To address this limited sampling, we sequenced genomes of temperate-latitude species from the genus Aphaenogaster , a genus with important seed dispersers. In total, we sampled seven colonies of six species: A. ashmeadi , A. floridana , A. fulva , A. miamiana , A. picea , and A. rudis . The geographic ranges of these species collectively span eastern North America from southern Florida to southern Canada, which encompasses a latitudinal gradient in which many climatic variables are changing rapidly. For the six genomes, we assembled an average of 271,039 contigs into 47,337 scaffolds. The mean genome size was 370.5 Mb, ranging from 310.3 to 429.7, which is comparable to that of other sequenced ant genomes (212.8 to 396.0 Mb) and flow cytometry estimates (210.7 to 690.4 Mb). In an analysis of currently sequenced ant genomes and the new Aphaenogaster sequences, we found that after controlling for both spatial autocorrelation and phylogenetics ant genome size was marginally correlated with sample site climate similarity. Of all examined climate variables, minimum temperature showed the strongest correlation with genome size, with ants from locations with colder minimum temperatures having larger genomes. These results suggest that temperature extremes could be a selective force acting on ant genomes and point to the need for more extensive sequencing of ant genomes. C6 - 302679 DA - 2018/4/18/ PY - 2018/4/18/ DO - 10.1101/302679 M1 - 302679 M3 - Preprint SN - 302679 ER - TY - JOUR TI - Citizen science engagerer børn i naturvidenskab AU - Sheard, Julie Koch AU - Quistgaard, Nana AU - Dunn, Robert R. AU - Tøttrup, Anders P. T2 - MONA - Matematik- Og Naturfagsdidaktik DA - 2018/// PY - 2018/// VL - 2018 IS - 3 SP - 25-40 UR - https://tidsskrift.dk/mona/article/view/107171 ER - TY - ER - TY - JOUR TI - The role of citizen science in addressing grand challenges in food and agriculture research AU - Ryan, S. F. AU - Adamson, N. L. AU - Aktipis, A. AU - Andersen, L. K. AU - Austin, R. AU - Barnes, L. AU - Beasley, M. R. AU - Bedell, K. D. AU - Briggs, S. AU - Chapman, B. AU - Cooper, C. B. AU - Corn, J. O. AU - Creamer, N. G. AU - Delborne, J. A. AU - Domenico, P. AU - Driscoll, E. AU - Goodwin, J. AU - Hjarding, A. AU - Hulbert, J. M. AU - Isard, S. AU - Just, M. G. AU - Kar Gupta, K. AU - López-Uribe, M. M. AU - O'Sullivan, J. AU - Landis, E. A. AU - Madden, A. A. AU - McKenney, E. A. AU - Nichols, L. M. AU - Reading, B. J. AU - Russell, S. AU - Sengupta, N. AU - Shapiro, L. R. AU - Shell, L. K. AU - Sheard, J. K. AU - Shoemaker, D. D. AU - Sorger, D. M. AU - Starling, C. AU - Thakur, S. AU - Vatsavai, R. R. AU - Weinstein, M. AU - Winfrey, P. AU - Dunn, R. R. T2 - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences AB - The power of citizen science to contribute to both science and society is gaining increased recognition, particularly in physics and biology. Although there is a long history of public engagement in agriculture and food science, the term 'citizen science' has rarely been applied to these efforts. Similarly, in the emerging field of citizen science, most new citizen science projects do not focus on food or agriculture. Here, we convened thought leaders from a broad range of fields related to citizen science, agriculture, and food science to highlight key opportunities for bridging these overlapping yet disconnected communities/fields and identify ways to leverage their respective strengths. Specifically, we show that (i) citizen science projects are addressing many grand challenges facing our food systems, as outlined by the United States National Institute of Food and Agriculture, as well as broader Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations Development Programme, (ii) there exist emerging opportunities and unique challenges for citizen science in agriculture/food research, and (iii) the greatest opportunities for the development of citizen science projects in agriculture and food science will be gained by using the existing infrastructure and tools of Extension programmes and through the engagement of urban communities. Further, we argue there is no better time to foster greater collaboration between these fields given the trend of shrinking Extension programmes, the increasing need to apply innovative solutions to address rising demands on agricultural systems, and the exponential growth of the field of citizen science. DA - 2018/11/21/ PY - 2018/11/21/ DO - 10.1098/rspb.2018.1977 VL - 285 IS - 1891 SP - 20181977 J2 - Proc. R. Soc. B. LA - en OP - SN - 0962-8452 1471-2954 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.1977 DB - Crossref KW - citizen science KW - agriculture KW - grand challenges KW - sustainable development goals KW - extension KW - food science ER - TY - JOUR TI - The Exoskeletons in our Closets: A synthesis of research from the ‘Arthropods of our Homes’ project in Raleigh, NC AU - Leong, Misha AU - Bertone, Matthew A. AU - Bayless, Keith M. AU - Dunn, Robert R. AU - Trautwein, Michelle D. T2 - Zoosymposia AB - The history of people living with insects, spiders and their relatives is long, probably as long as humans have been using fixed domiciles (e.g., caves). Studies of caves inhabited by prehistoric people 26,000 years ago suggest arthropod pests already lived alongside our ancestors in those caves (Araújo et al. 2009). Arthropods are also both abundant and diverse in domestic archaeological sites from agricultural civilizations in Egypt, Israel and Europe (Switzerland and Greenland). Arthropods are especially common in association with stored food products and livestock (Panagiotakopulu 2001; Overgaard Nielsen, Mahler, and Rasmussen 2000; Kislev, Hartmann, and Galili 2004). DA - 2018/3/25/ PY - 2018/3/25/ DO - 10.11646/zoosymposia.12.1.7 VL - 12 IS - 1 SP - 64-68 J2 - Zoosymposia OP - SN - 1178-9913 1178-9905 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zoosymposia.12.1.7 DB - Crossref ER - TY - JOUR TI - Inbreeding tolerance as a pre-adapted trait for invasion success in the invasive ant Brachyponera chinensis AU - Eyer, Pierre-Andre AU - Matsuura, Kenji AU - Vargo, Edward L. AU - Kobayashi, Kazuya AU - Yashiro, Toshihisa AU - Suehiro, Wataru AU - Himuro, Chihiro AU - Yokoi, Tomoyuki AU - Guenard, Benoit AU - Dunn, Robert R. AU - Tsuji, Kazuki T2 - MOLECULAR ECOLOGY AB - Abstract Identifying traits that facilitate species introductions and successful invasions of ecosystems represents a key issue in ecology. Following their establishment into new environments, many non‐native species exhibit phenotypic plasticity with post‐introduction changes in behaviour, morphology or life history traits that allow them to overcome the presumed loss of genetic diversity resulting in inbreeding and reduced adaptive potential. Here, we present a unique strategy in the invasive ant Brachyponera chinensis (Emery) , in which inbreeding tolerance is a pre‐adapted trait for invasion success, allowing this ant to cope with genetic depletion following a genetic bottleneck. We report for the first time that inbreeding is not a consequence of the founder effect following introduction, but it is due to mating between sister queens and their brothers that pre‐exists in native populations which may have helped it circumvent the cost of invasion. We show that a genetic bottleneck does not affect the genetic diversity or the level of heterozygosity within colonies and suggest that generations of sib‐mating in native populations may have reduced inbreeding depression through purifying selection of deleterious alleles. This work highlights how a unique life history may pre‐adapt some species for biological invasions. DA - 2018/12// PY - 2018/12// DO - 10.1111/mec.14910 VL - 27 IS - 23 SP - 4711-4724 SN - 1365-294X KW - colony breeding system KW - genetic bottleneck KW - inbreeding KW - invasive species KW - sib-mating ER - TY - JOUR TI - Microbial nitrogen limitation in the mammalian large intestine AU - Reese, Aspen T. AU - Pereira, Fatima C. AU - Schintlmeister, Arno AU - Berry, David AU - Wagner, Michael AU - Hale, Laura P. AU - Wu, Anchi AU - Jiang, Sharon AU - Durand, Heather K. AU - Zhou, Xiyou AU - Premont, Richard T. AU - Diehl, Anna Mae AU - Thomas M. O'Connell, AU - Alberts, Susan C. AU - Kartzinel, Tyler R. AU - Pringle, Robert M. AU - Dunn, Robert R. AU - Wright, Justin P. AU - David, Lawrence A. T2 - NATURE MICROBIOLOGY AB - Resource limitation is a fundamental factor governing the composition and function of ecological communities. However, the role of resource supply in structuring the intestinal microbiome has not been established and represents a challenge for mammals that rely on microbial symbionts for digestion: too little supply might starve the microbiome while too much might starve the host. We present evidence that microbiota occupy a habitat that is limited in total nitrogen supply within the large intestines of 30 mammal species. Lowering dietary protein levels in mice reduced their faecal concentrations of bacteria. A gradient of stoichiometry along the length of the gut was consistent with the hypothesis that intestinal nitrogen limitation results from host absorption of dietary nutrients. Nitrogen availability is also likely to be shaped by host–microbe interactions: levels of host-secreted nitrogen were altered in germ-free mice and when bacterial loads were reduced via experimental antibiotic treatment. Single-cell spectrometry revealed that members of the phylum Bacteroidetes consumed nitrogen in the large intestine more readily than other commensal taxa did. Our findings support a model where nitrogen limitation arises from preferential host use of dietary nutrients. We speculate that this resource limitation could enable hosts to regulate microbial communities in the large intestine. Commensal microbiota may have adapted to nitrogen-limited settings, suggesting one reason why excess dietary protein has been associated with degraded gut-microbial ecosystems. Faecal carbon:nitrogen measurements and manipulation of nitrogen availability via diet and host secretions in a murine model suggest that intestinal nitrogen limitation occurs due to host absorption and microbial use, leading to benefits for specific taxa. DA - 2018/12// PY - 2018/12// DO - 10.1038/s41564-018-0267-7 VL - 3 IS - 12 SP - 1441-1450 SN - 2058-5276 ER - TY - JOUR TI - Antibiotic and pesticide susceptibility and the Anthropocene operating space AU - Jorgensen, Peter Sogaard AU - Aktipis, Athena AU - Brown, Zachary AU - Carriere, Yves AU - Downes, Sharon AU - Dunn, Robert R. AU - Epstein, Graham AU - Frisvold, George B. AU - Hawthorne, David AU - Grohn, Yrjo T. AU - Gujar, Govind Tikaramsa AU - Jasovsky, Dusan AU - Klein, Eili Y. AU - Klein, Franziska AU - Lhermie, Guillaume AU - Mota-Sanchez, David AU - Omoto, Celso AU - Schluter, Maja AU - Scott, H. Morgan AU - Wernli, Didier AU - Carroll, Scott P. T2 - NATURE SUSTAINABILITY DA - 2018/11// PY - 2018/11// DO - 10.1038/s41893-018-0164-3 VL - 1 IS - 11 SP - 632-641 SN - 2398-9629 ER - TY - JOUR TI - Ecological Analyses of Mycobacteria in Showerhead Biofilms and Their Relevance to Human Health AU - Gebert, Matthew J. AU - Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel AU - Oliverio, Angela M. AU - Webster, Tara M. AU - Nichols, Lauren M. AU - Honda, Jennifer R. AU - Chan, Edward D. AU - Adjemian, Jennifer AU - Dunn, Robert R. AU - Fierer, Noah T2 - MBIO AB - Bacteria within the genus Mycobacterium can be abundant in showerheads, and the inhalation of aerosolized mycobacteria while showering has been implicated as a mode of transmission in nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lung infections. Despite their importance, the diversity, distributions, and environmental predictors of showerhead-associated mycobacteria remain largely unresolved. To address these knowledge gaps, we worked with citizen scientists to collect showerhead biofilm samples and associated water chemistry data from 656 households located across the United States and Europe. Our cultivation-independent analyses revealed that the genus Mycobacterium was consistently the most abundant genus of bacteria detected in residential showerheads, and yet mycobacterial diversity and abundances were highly variable. Mycobacteria were far more abundant, on average, in showerheads receiving municipal water than in those receiving well water and in U.S. households than in European households, patterns that are likely driven by differences in the use of chlorine disinfectants. Moreover, we found that water source, water chemistry, and household location also influenced the prevalence of specific mycobacterial lineages detected in showerheads. We identified geographic regions within the United States where showerheads have particularly high abundances of potentially pathogenic lineages of mycobacteria, and these "hot spots" generally overlapped those regions where NTM lung disease is most prevalent. Together, these results emphasize the public health relevance of mycobacteria in showerhead biofilms. They further demonstrate that mycobacterial distributions in showerhead biofilms are often predictable from household location and water chemistry, knowledge that advances our understanding of NTM transmission dynamics and the development of strategies to reduce exposures to these emerging pathogens.IMPORTANCE Bacteria thrive in showerheads and throughout household water distribution systems. While most of these bacteria are innocuous, some are potential pathogens, including members of the genus Mycobacterium that can cause nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lung infection, an increasing threat to public health. We found that showerheads in households across the United States and Europe often harbor abundant mycobacterial communities that vary in composition depending on geographic location, water chemistry, and water source, with households receiving water treated with chlorine disinfectants having particularly high abundances of certain mycobacteria. The regions in the United States where NTM lung infections are most common were the same regions where pathogenic mycobacteria were most prevalent in showerheads, highlighting the important role of showerheads in the transmission of NTM infections. DA - 2018/// PY - 2018/// DO - 10.1128/mBio.01614-18 VL - 9 IS - 5 SP - SN - 2150-7511 KW - Mycobacterium KW - NTM lung disease KW - nontuberculous mycobacterial infection KW - plumbing biofilms ER - TY - JOUR TI - Macroecology to Unite All Life, Large and Small AU - Shade, Ashley AU - Dunn, Robert R. AU - Blowes, Shane A. AU - Keil, Petr AU - Bohannan, Brendan J. M. AU - Herrmann, Martina AU - Kusel, Kirsten AU - Lennon, Jay T. AU - Sanders, Nathan J. AU - Storch, David AU - Chase, Jonathan T2 - TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION AB - Macroecology is the study of the mechanisms underlying general patterns of ecology across scales. Research in microbial ecology and macroecology have long been detached. Here, we argue that it is time to bridge the gap, as they share a common currency of species and individuals, and a common goal of understanding the causes and consequences of changes in biodiversity. Microbial ecology and macroecology will mutually benefit from a unified research agenda and shared datasets that span the entirety of the biodiversity of life and the geographic expanse of the Earth. DA - 2018/10// PY - 2018/10// DO - 10.1016/j.tree.2018.08.005 VL - 33 IS - 10 SP - 731-744 SN - 1872-8383 UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85052993616&partnerID=MN8TOARS ER - TY - JOUR TI - Bridging the nature gap: can citizen science reverse the extinction of experience? AU - Schuttler, Stephanie G. AU - Sorensen, Amanda E. AU - Jordan, Rebecca C. AU - Cooper, Caren AU - Shwartz, Assaf T2 - FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT AB - Opportunities for people to interact with nature have declined over the past century, as many now live in urban areas and spend much of their time indoors. Conservation attitudes and behaviors largely depend on experiences with nature, and this “extinction of experience” ( EOE ) is a threat to biodiversity conservation. In this paper, we propose that citizen science, an increasingly popular way to integrate public outreach with data collection, can potentially mitigate EOE . Our review of the literature on volunteers’ motivations and/or outcomes indicates that nature‐based citizen science ( NBCS ) fosters cognitive and emotional aspects of experiences in nature. Although these experiences can change participants’ behaviors and attitudes toward the natural world, this field remains largely unstudied. As such, even though NBCS can complement efforts to increase opportunities for people to interact with nature, further research on the mechanisms that drive this relationship is needed to strengthen our understanding of various outcomes of citizen science. DA - 2018/9// PY - 2018/9// DO - 10.1002/fee.1826 VL - 16 IS - 7 SP - 405-411 SN - 1540-9309 ER - TY - JOUR TI - Dominance-diversity relationships in ant communities differ with invasion AU - Arnan, Xavier AU - Andersen, Alan N. AU - Gibb, Heloise AU - Parr, Catherine L. AU - Sanders, Nathan J. AU - Dunn, Robert R. AU - Angulo, Elena AU - Baccaro, Fabricio B. AU - Bishop, Tom R. AU - Boulay, Raphael AU - Castracani, Cristina AU - Cerda, Xim AU - Del Toro, Israel AU - Delsinne, Thibaut AU - Donoso, David A. AU - Elten, Emilie K. AU - Fayle, Tom M. AU - Fitzpatrick, Matthew C. AU - Gomez, Crisanto AU - Grasso, Donato A. AU - Grossman, Blair F. AU - Guenard, Benoit AU - Gunawardene, Nihara AU - Heterick, Brian AU - Hoffmann, Benjamin D. AU - Janda, Milan AU - Jenkins, Clinton N. AU - Klimes, Petr AU - Lach, Lori AU - Laeger, Thomas AU - Leponce, Maurice AU - Lucky, Andrea AU - Majer, Jonathan AU - Menke, Sean AU - Mezger, Dirk AU - Mori, Alessandra AU - Moses, Jimmy AU - Munyai, Thinandavha Caswell AU - Paknia, Omid AU - Pfeiffer, Martin AU - Philpott, Stacy M. AU - Souza, Jorge L. P. AU - Tista, Melanie AU - Vasconcelos, Heraldo L. AU - Retana, Javier T2 - GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY AB - Abstract The relationship between levels of dominance and species richness is highly contentious, especially in ant communities. The dominance‐impoverishment rule states that high levels of dominance only occur in species‐poor communities, but there appear to be many cases of high levels of dominance in highly diverse communities. The extent to which dominant species limit local richness through competitive exclusion remains unclear, but such exclusion appears more apparent for non‐native rather than native dominant species. Here we perform the first global analysis of the relationship between behavioral dominance and species richness. We used data from 1,293 local assemblages of ground‐dwelling ants distributed across five continents to document the generality of the dominance‐impoverishment rule, and to identify the biotic and abiotic conditions under which it does and does not apply. We found that the behavioral dominance–diversity relationship varies greatly, and depends on whether dominant species are native or non‐native, whether dominance is considered as occurrence or relative abundance, and on variation in mean annual temperature. There were declines in diversity with increasing dominance in invaded communities, but diversity increased with increasing dominance in native communities. These patterns occur along the global temperature gradient. However, positive and negative relationships are strongest in the hottest sites. We also found that climate regulates the degree of behavioral dominance, but differently from how it shapes species richness. Our findings imply that, despite strong competitive interactions among ants, competitive exclusion is not a major driver of local richness in native ant communities. Although the dominance‐impoverishment rule applies to invaded communities, we propose an alternative dominance‐diversification rule for native communities. DA - 2018/10// PY - 2018/10// DO - 10.1111/gcb.14331 VL - 24 IS - 10 SP - 4614-4625 SN - 1365-2486 UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85053867776&partnerID=MN8TOARS KW - ants KW - behavioral dominance KW - coexistence KW - dominance-impoverishment rule KW - global scale KW - invasive species KW - precipitation KW - species richness KW - temperature ER - TY - JOUR TI - Drivers of Microbiome Biodiversity: A Review of General Rules, Feces, and Ignorance AU - Reese, Aspen T. AU - Dunn, Robert R. T2 - MBIO AB - The alpha diversity of ecologic communities is affected by many biotic and abiotic drivers and, in turn, affects ecosystem functioning. Yet, patterns of alpha diversity in host-associated microbial communities (microbiomes) are poorly studied and the appropriateness of general theory is untested. DA - 2018/// PY - 2018/// DO - 10.1128/mBio.01294-18 VL - 9 IS - 4 SP - SN - 2150-7511 KW - diversity KW - gut KW - microbiome ER - TY - JOUR TI - Ecology of sleeping: the microbial and arthropod associates of chimpanzee beds AU - Thoemmes, Megan S. AU - Stewart, Fiona A. AU - Hernandez-Aguilar, R. Adriana AU - Bertone, Matthew A. AU - Baltzegar, David A. AU - Borski, Russell J. AU - Cohen, Naomi AU - Coyle, Kaitlin P. AU - Piel, Alexander K. AU - Dunn, Robert R. T2 - ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE AB - The indoor environment created by the construction of homes and other buildings is often considered to be uniquely different from other environments. It is composed of organisms that are less diverse than those of the outdoors and strongly sourced by, or dependent upon, human bodies. Yet, no one has ever compared the composition of species found in contemporary human homes to that of other structures built by mammals, including those of non-human primates. Here we consider the microbes and arthropods found in chimpanzee beds, relative to the surrounding environment ( n = 41 and 15 beds, respectively). Based on the study of human homes, we hypothesized that the microbes found in chimpanzee beds would be less diverse than those on nearby branches and leaves and that their beds would be primarily composed of body-associated organisms. However, we found that differences between wet and dry seasons and elevation above sea level explained nearly all of the observed variation in microbial diversity and community structure. While we can identify the presence of a chimpanzee based on the assemblage of bacteria, the dominant signal is that of environmental microbes. We found just four ectoparasitic arthropod specimens, none of which appears to be specialized on chimpanzees or their structures. These results suggest that the life to which chimpanzees are exposed while in their beds is predominately the same as that of the surrounding environment. DA - 2018/5// PY - 2018/5// DO - 10.1098/rsos.180382 VL - 5 IS - 5 SP - SN - 2054-5703 UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85047125198&partnerID=MN8TOARS KW - chimpanzee KW - nest KW - bed KW - microbiome KW - hygiene hypothesis KW - built environment ER - TY - JOUR TI - American Gut: an Open Platform for Citizen Science Microbiome Research AU - McDonald, Daniel AU - Hyde, Embriette AU - Debelius, Justine W. AU - Morton, James T. AU - Gonzalez, Antonio AU - Ackermann, Gail AU - Aksenov, Alexander A. AU - Behsaz, Bahar AU - Brennan, Caitriona AU - Chen, Yingfeng AU - Goldasich, Lindsay DeRight AU - Dorrestein, Pieter C. AU - Dunn, Robert R. AU - Fahimipour, Ashkaan K. AU - Gaffney, James AU - Gilbert, Jack A. AU - Gogu, Grant AU - Green, Jessica L. AU - Hugenholtz, Philip AU - Humphrey, Greg AU - Huttenhower, Curtis AU - Jackson, Matthew A. AU - Janssen, Stefan AU - Jeste, Dilip V. AU - Jiang, Lingjing AU - Kelley, Scott T. AU - Knights, Dan AU - Kosciolek, Tomasz AU - Ladau, Joshua AU - Leach, Jeff AU - Marotz, Clarisse AU - Meleshko, Dmitry AU - Melnik, Alexey V. AU - Metcalf, Jessica L. AU - Mohimani, Hosein AU - Montassier, Emmanuel AU - Navas-Molina, Jose AU - Nguyen, Tanya T. AU - Peddada, Shyamal AU - Pevzner, Pavel AU - Pollard, Katherine S. AU - Rahnavard, Gholamali AU - Robbins-Pianka, Adam AU - Sangwan, Naseer AU - Shorenstein, Joshua AU - Smarr, Larry AU - Song, Se Jin AU - Spector, Timothy AU - Swafford, Austin D. AU - Thackray, Varykina G. AU - Thompson, Luke R. AU - Tripathi, Anupriya AU - Vazquez-Baeza, Yoshiki AU - Vrbanac, Alison AU - Wischmeyer, Paul AU - Wolfe, Elaine AU - Zhu, Qiyun AU - Knight, Rob T2 - MSYSTEMS AB - We show that a citizen science, self-selected cohort shipping samples through the mail at room temperature recaptures many known microbiome results from clinically collected cohorts and reveals new ones. Of particular interest is integrating n = 1 study data with the population data, showing that the extent of microbiome change after events such as surgery can exceed differences between distinct environmental biomes, and the effect of diverse plants in the diet, which we confirm with untargeted metabolomics on hundreds of samples. DA - 2018/// PY - 2018/// DO - 10.1128/msystems.00031-18 VL - 3 IS - 3 SP - SN - 2379-5077 KW - citizen science KW - microbiome ER - TY - JOUR TI - ‘Green incubation': avian offspring benefit from aromatic nest herbs through improved parental incubation behaviour AU - Gwinner, Helga AU - Capilla-Lasheras, Pablo AU - Cooper, Caren AU - Helm, Barbara T2 - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences AB - Development of avian embryos requires thermal energy, usually from parents. Parents may, however, trade off catering for embryonic requirements against their own need to forage through intermittent incubation. This dynamically adjusted behaviour can be affected by properties of the nest. Here, we experimentally show a novel mechanism by which parents, through incorporation of aromatic herbs into nests, effectively modify their incubation behaviour to the benefit of their offspring. Our study species, the European starling, includes in its nest aromatic herbs which promote offspring fitness. We provided wild starlings with artificial nests including or excluding the typically selected fresh herbs and found strong support for our prediction of facilitated incubation. Herb effects were not explained by thermal changes of the nests per se , but by modified parental behaviours. Egg temperatures and nest attendance were higher in herb than herbless nests, egg temperatures dropped less frequently below critical thresholds and parents started their active day earlier. These effects were dynamic over time and particularly strong during early incubation. Incubation period was shorter in herb nests, and nestlings were heavier one week after hatching. Aromatic herbs hence influenced incubation in beneficial ways for offspring, possibly through pharmacological effects on incubating parents. DA - 2018/6/6/ PY - 2018/6/6/ DO - 10.1098/rspb.2018.0376 VL - 285 IS - 1880 SP - 20180376 J2 - Proc. R. Soc. B. LA - en OP - SN - 0962-8452 1471-2954 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.0376 DB - Crossref KW - egg temperature KW - European starling KW - prenatal KW - medicinal herbs KW - timing KW - volatile ER - TY - JOUR TI - Variation in photosynthesis and stomatal conductance among red maple (Acer rubrum) urban planted cultivars and wildtype trees in the southeastern United States AU - Lahr, Eleanor C. AU - Dunn, Robert R. AU - Frank, Steven D. T2 - PLOS ONE AB - Photosynthesis is a fundamental process that trees perform over fluctuating environmental conditions. This study of red maple (Acer rubrum L.) characterizes photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, and water use efficiency in planted cultivars relative to wildtype trees. Red maple is common in cities, yet there is little understanding of how physiological processes affect the long-term growth, condition, and ecosystem services provided by urban trees. In the first year of our study, we measured leaf-level gas exchange and performed short-term temperature curves on urban planted cultivars and on suburban and rural wildtype trees. In the second year, we compared urban planted cultivars and urban wildtype trees. In the first year, urban planted trees had higher maximum rates of photosynthesis and higher overall rates of photosynthesis and stomatal conductance throughout the summer, relative to suburban or rural wildtype trees. Urban planted trees again had higher maximum rates of photosynthesis in the second year. However, urban wildtype trees had higher water use efficiency as air temperatures increased and similar overall rates of photosynthesis, relative to cultivars, in mid and late summer. Our results show that physiological differences between cultivars and wildtype trees may relate to differences in their genetic background and their responses to local environmental conditions, contingent on the identity of the horticultural variety. Overall, our results suggest that wildtype trees should be considered for some urban locations, and our study is valuable in demonstrating how site type and tree type can inform tree planting strategies and improve long-term urban forest sustainability. DA - 2018/5/24/ PY - 2018/5/24/ DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0197866 VL - 13 IS - 5 SP - SN - 1932-6203 UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85047493933&partnerID=MN8TOARS ER - TY - JOUR TI - Place-Based Pathways to Proenvironmental Behavior: Empirical Evidence for a Conservation-Recreation Model AU - Larson, Lincoln R. AU - Cooper, Caren B. AU - Stedman, Richard C. AU - Decker, Daniel J. AU - Gagnon, Ryan J. T2 - SOCIETY & NATURAL RESOURCES AB - This study expands existing models of proenvironmental behavior (PEB) to examine the potentially important and interacting influences of nature-based recreation and sense of place on participation in conservation-oriented activities. We tested hypothesized relationships using a structural equation modeling approach that accounted for common behavioral antecedents within a sample of 1,124 nature-based recreationists and property owners in rural counties of New York, USA. We found that place attachment played an important role in strengthening connections between nature-based recreation and PEB. Birdwatching and hunting participation contributed independently and significantly to PEB, both directly and indirectly through effects on place meanings and place attachment. While birdwatching appeared to influence place attachment by impacting environmental place meanings, hunting exerted similar effects by affecting sociocultural place meanings. Ultimately, our synthesis results in the articulation of a comprehensive conservation–recreation model that could help researchers and practitioners identify and explore novel pathways to PEB. DA - 2018/// PY - 2018/// DO - 10.1080/08941920.2018.1447714 VL - 31 IS - 8 SP - 871-891 SN - 1521-0723 KW - Birdwatching KW - conservation behavior KW - hunting KW - place attachment KW - place meanings ER - TY - JOUR TI - Habitat disturbance selects against both small and large species across varying climates AU - Gibb, H. AU - Sanders, N. J. AU - Dunn, R. R. AU - Arnan, X. AU - Vasconcelos, H. L. AU - Donoso, D. A. AU - Andersen, A. N. AU - Silva, R. R. AU - Bishop, T. R. AU - Gomez, C. AU - Grossman, B. F. AU - Yusah, K. M. AU - Luke, S. H. AU - Pacheco, R. AU - Pearce-Duvet, J. AU - Retana, J. AU - Tista, M. AU - Parr, C. L. T2 - ECOGRAPHY AB - Global extinction drivers, including habitat disturbance and climate change, are thought to affect larger species more than smaller species. However, it is unclear if such drivers interact to affect assemblage body size distributions. We asked how these two key global change drivers differentially affect the interspecific size distributions of ants, one of the most abundant and ubiquitous animal groups on earth. We also asked whether there is evidence of synergistic interactions and whether effects are related to species’ trophic roles. We generated a global dataset on ant body size from 333 local ant assemblages collected by the authors across a broad range of climates and in disturbed and undisturbed habitats. We used head length (range: 0.22–4.55 mm) as a surrogate of body size and classified species to trophic groups. We used generalized linear models to test whether body size distributions changed with climate and disturbance, independent of species richness. Our analysis yielded three key results: 1) climate and disturbance showed independent associations with body size; 2) assemblages included more small species in warmer climates and fewer large species in wet climates; and 3) both the largest and smallest species were absent from disturbed ecosystems, with predators most affected in both cases. Our results indicate that temperature, precipitation and disturbance have differing effects on the body size distributions of local communities, with no evidence of synergistic interactions. Further, both large and small predators may be vulnerable to global change, particularly through habitat disturbance. DA - 2018/7// PY - 2018/7// DO - 10.1111/ecog.03244 VL - 41 IS - 7 SP - 1184-1193 SN - 1600-0587 UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85049238183&partnerID=MN8TOARS ER - TY - JOUR TI - Getting ahead of the curve: cities as surrogates for global change AU - Lahr, Eleanor C. AU - Dunn, Robert R. AU - Frank, Steven D. T2 - PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES AB - Urbanization represents an unintentional global experiment that can provide insights into how species will respond and interact under future global change scenarios. Cities produce many conditions that are predicted to occur widely in the future, such as warmer temperatures, higher carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations and exacerbated droughts. In using cities as surrogates for global change, it is challenging to disentangle climate variables-such as temperature-from co-occurring or confounding urban variables-such as impervious surface-and then to understand the interactive effects of multiple climate variables on both individual species and species interactions. However, such interactions are also difficult to replicate experimentally, and thus the challenges of cities are also their unique advantage. Here, we review insights gained from cities, with a focus on plants and arthropods, and how urban findings agree or disagree with experimental predictions and historical data. We discuss the types of hypotheses that can be best tested in cities, caveats to urban research and how to further validate cities as surrogates for global change. Lastly, we summarize how to achieve the goal of using urban species responses to predict broader regional- and ecosystem-level patterns in the future. DA - 2018/7/11/ PY - 2018/7/11/ DO - 10.1098/rspb.2018.0643 VL - 285 IS - 1882 SP - SN - 1471-2954 UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85050037726&partnerID=MN8TOARS KW - city KW - global change KW - multi-trophic interactions KW - urban KW - warming ER - TY - JOUR TI - The phylogenetic and functional diversity of regional breeding bird assemblages is reduced and constricted through urbanization AU - La Sorte, Frank A. AU - Lepczyk, Christopher A. AU - Aronson, Myla F. J. AU - Goddard, Mark A. AU - Hedblom, Marcus AU - Katti, Madhusudan AU - MacGregor-Fors, Ian AU - Mortberg, Ulla AU - Nilon, Charles H. AU - Warren, Paige S. AU - Williams, Nicholas S. G. AU - Yang, Jun T2 - DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS AB - Abstract Aim Urbanization broadly affects the phylogenetic and functional diversity of natural communities through a variety of processes including habitat loss and the introduction of non‐native species. Due to the challenge of acquiring direct measurements, these effects have been studied primarily using “space‐for‐time” substitution where spatial urbanization gradients are used to infer the consequences of urbanization occurring across time. The ability of alternative sampling designs to replicate the findings derived using space‐for‐time substitution has not been tested. Location Global. Methods We contrasted the phylogenetic and functional diversity of breeding bird assemblages in 58 cities worldwide with the corresponding regional breeding bird assemblages estimated using geographic range maps. Results Compared to regional assemblages, urban assemblages contained lower phylogenetic diversity, lower phylogenetic beta diversity, a reduction in the least evolutionary distinct species and the loss of the most evolutionarily distinct species. We found no evidence that these effects were related to the presence of non‐native species. Urban assemblages contained fewer aquatic species and fewer aquatic foraging species. The distribution of body size and range size narrowed for urban assemblages with the loss of species at both tails of the distribution, especially large bodied and broadly distributed species. Urban assemblages contained a greater proportion of species classified as passerines, doves or pigeons; species identified as granivores; species that forage within vegetation or in the air; and species with more generalized associations with foraging strata. Main conclusions Urbanization is associated with the overall reduction and constriction of phylogenetic and functional diversity, results that largely replicate those generated using space‐for‐time substitution, increasing our confidence in the quality of the combined inferences. When direct measurements are unavailable, our findings emphasize the value of developing independent sampling methods that broaden and reinforce our understanding of the ecological implications of urbanization. DA - 2018/7// PY - 2018/7// DO - 10.1111/ddi.12738 VL - 24 IS - 7 SP - 928-938 SN - 1472-4642 KW - breeding bird assemblages KW - evolutionary distinctiveness KW - functional diversity KW - phylogenetic diversity KW - traits KW - urbanization ER - TY - JOUR TI - The ecosystem services of animal microbiomes AU - McKenney, E. A. AU - Koelle, K. AU - Dunn, R. R. AU - Yoder, A. D. T2 - MOLECULAR ECOLOGY AB - Abstract Microbiologists often evaluate microbial community dynamics by formulating functional hypotheses based on ecological processes. Indeed, many of the methods and terms currently used to describe animal microbiomes derive from ecology and evolutionary biology. As our understanding of the composition and functional dynamics of “the microbiome” grows, we increasingly refer to the host as an ecosystem within which microbial processes play out. Even so, an ecosystem service framework that extends to the context of the host has thus far been lacking. Here, we argue that ecosystem services are a useful framework with which to consider the value of microbes to their hosts. We discuss those “microbiome services” in the specific context of the mammalian gut, providing a context from which to develop new hypotheses and to evaluate microbial functions in future studies and novel systems. DA - 2018/4// PY - 2018/4// DO - 10.1111/mec.14532 VL - 27 IS - 8 SP - 2164-2172 SN - 1365-294X UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85043510920&partnerID=MN8TOARS KW - ecosystem services KW - host-microbiome KW - microbial ecology KW - microbiome ER - TY - JOUR TI - Biodiversity and socioeconomics in the city: a review of the luxury effect AU - Leong, Misha AU - Dunn, Robert R. AU - Trautwein, Michelle D. T2 - BIOLOGY LETTERS AB - The ecological dynamics of cities are influenced not only by geophysical and biological factors, but also by aspects of human society. In cities around the world, a pattern of higher biodiversity in affluent neighbourhoods has been termed ‘the luxury effect'. The luxury effect has been found globally regarding plant diversity and canopy or vegetative cover. Fewer studies have considered the luxury effect and animals, yet it has been recognized in the distributions of birds, bats, lizards and indoor arthropods. Higher socioeconomic status correlates with higher biodiversity resulting from many interacting factors—the creation and maintenance of green space on private and public lands, the tendency of both humans and other species to favour environmentally desirable areas, while avoiding environmental burdens, as well as enduring legacy effects. The luxury effect is amplified in arid cities and as neighbourhoods age, and reduced in tropical areas. Where the luxury effect exists, benefits of urban biodiversity are unequally distributed, particularly in low-income neighbourhoods with higher minority populations. The equal distribution of biodiversity in cities, and thus the elimination of the luxury effect, is a worthy societal goal. DA - 2018/5// PY - 2018/5// DO - 10.1098/rsbl.2018.0082 VL - 14 IS - 5 SP - SN - 1744-957X UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85047348003&partnerID=MN8TOARS KW - luxury effect KW - biodiversity KW - socioeconomics KW - urban ecology ER - TY - JOUR TI - The ecology of insect–yeast relationships and its relevance to human industry AU - Madden, Anne A. AU - Epps, Mary Jane AU - Fukami, Tadashi AU - Irwin, Rebecca E. AU - Sheppard, John AU - Sorger, D. Magdalena AU - Dunn, Robert R. T2 - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences AB - Many species of yeast are integral to human society. They produce many of our foods, beverages and industrial chemicals, challenge us as pathogens, and provide models for the study of our own biology. However, few species are regularly studied and much of their ecology remains unclear, hindering the development of knowledge that is needed to improve the relationships between humans and yeasts. There is increasing evidence that insects are an essential component of ascomycetous yeast ecology. We propose a ‘dispersal–encounter hypothesis' whereby yeasts are dispersed by insects between ephemeral, spatially disparate sugar resources, and insects, in turn, obtain the benefits of an honest signal from yeasts for the sugar resources. We review the relationship between yeasts and insects through three main examples: social wasps, social bees and beetles, with some additional examples from fruit flies. Ultimately, we suggest that over the next decades, consideration of these ecological and evolutionary relationships between insects and yeasts will allow prediction of where new yeast diversity is most likely to be discovered, particularly yeasts with traits of interest to human industry. DA - 2018/3/21/ PY - 2018/3/21/ DO - 10.1098/rspb.2017.2733 VL - 285 IS - 1875 SP - 20172733 J2 - Proc. R. Soc. B LA - en OP - SN - 0962-8452 1471-2954 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.2733 DB - Crossref KW - diffuse mutualism KW - dispersal KW - Ascomycota ER - TY - JOUR TI - Homogenizing an urban habitat mosaic: arthropod diversity declines in New York City parks after Super Storm Sandy AU - Savage, Amy M. AU - Youngsteadt, Elsa AU - Ernst, Andrew F. AU - Powers, Shelby A. AU - Dunn, Robert R. AU - Frank, Steven D. T2 - ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS AB - Abstract The frequency and intensity of hurricanes are increasing globally, and anthropogenic modifications in cities have created systems that may be particularly vulnerable to their negative effects. Organisms living in cities are exposed to variable levels of chronic environmental stress. However, whether chronic stress ameliorates or exacerbates the negative effects of hurricanes remains an open question. Here, we consider two hypotheses about the simultaneous consequences of acute disturbances from hurricanes and chronic stress from urbanization for the structure of urban arthropod communities. The tipping point hypothesis posits that organisms living in high stress habitats are less resilient than those in low stress habitats because they are living near the limits of their environmental tolerances; while the disturbance tolerance hypothesis posits that high stress habitats host organisms pre‐adapted for coping with disturbance, making them more resilient to the effects of storms. We used a before‐after‐control‐impact design in the street medians and city parks of Manhattan (New York City, New York, USA) to compare arthropod communities before and after Super Storm Sandy in sites that were flooded and unflooded during the storm. Our evidence supported the disturbance tolerance hypothesis. Significant compositional differences between street medians and city parks before the storm disappeared after the storm; similarly, unflooded city parks had significantly different arthropod composition while flooded sites were indistinguishable. These differences were driven by reduced occurrences and abundances of arthropods in city parks. Finally, those arthropod groups that were most tolerant to urban stress were also the most tolerant to flooding. Our results suggest that the species that survive in high stress environments are likely to be the ones that thrive in response to acute disturbance. As storms become increasingly common and extreme, this juxtaposition in responses to storm‐associated disturbance may lead to diversity loss in cities, potentially leading entire urban landscapes to mirror the reduced diversity of street medians. DA - 2018/1// PY - 2018/1// DO - 10.1002/eap.1643 VL - 28 IS - 1 SP - 225-236 SN - 1939-5582 UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85040223231&partnerID=MN8TOARS KW - biotic homogenization KW - disturbance adapted KW - diversity KW - extreme weather KW - hurricane KW - New York City KW - Super Storm Sandy KW - tipping point KW - urban ecology ER - TY - JOUR TI - Urbanization disrupts latitude-size rule in 17-year cicadas AU - Beasley, DeAnna E. AU - Penick, Clint A. AU - Boateng, Nana S. AU - Menninger, Holly L. AU - Dunn, Robert R. T2 - ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION AB - Abstract Many ectotherms show a decrease in body size with increasing latitude due to changes in climate, a pattern termed converse Bergmann's rule. Urban conditions—particularly warmer temperatures and fragmented landscapes—may impose stresses on development that could disrupt these body size patterns. To test the impact of urbanization on development and latitudinal trends in body size, we launched a citizen science project to collect periodical cicadas ( Magicicada septendecim ) from across their latitudinal range during the 2013 emergence of Brood II . Periodical cicadas are long‐lived insects whose distribution spans a broad latitudinal range covering both urban and rural habitats. We used a geometric morphometric approach to assess body size and developmental stress based on fluctuating asymmetry in wing shape. Body size of rural cicadas followed converse Bergmann's rule, but this pattern was disrupted in urban habitats. In the north, urban cicadas were larger than their rural counterparts, while southern populations showed little variation in body size between habitats. We detected no evidence of differences in developmental stress due to urbanization. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence that urbanization disrupts biogeographical trends in body size, and this pattern highlights how the effects of urbanization may differ over a species’ range. DA - 2018/3// PY - 2018/3// DO - 10.1002/ece3.3879 VL - 8 IS - 5 SP - 2534-2541 SN - 2045-7758 UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85041238816&partnerID=MN8TOARS KW - Bergmann's rule KW - citizen science KW - fluctuating asymmetry KW - geometric morphometrics KW - periodical cicada KW - urban ecology ER - TY - JOUR TI - Leveraging natural capital to solve the shared education and conservation crisis AU - Stevenson, Kathryn T. AU - Peterson, M. Nils AU - Dunn, Robert R. T2 - CONSERVATION BIOLOGY AB - Article impact statement : Promoting natural capital in schools mitigates educational inequalities and preserves biodiversity. DA - 2018/4// PY - 2018/4// DO - 10.1111/cobi.13039 VL - 32 IS - 2 SP - 490-492 SN - 1523-1739 UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85033786403&partnerID=MN8TOARS ER - TY - JOUR TI - Collaboration: Ants, Art, and Science AU - Dunn, Robert R. T2 - AMERICAN SCIENTIST DA - 2018/// PY - 2018/// DO - 10.1511/2018.106.3.156 VL - 106 IS - 3 SP - 156-159 SN - 1545-2786 ER - TY - JOUR TI - Variation in range size and dispersal capabilities of microbial taxa AU - Choudoir, Mallory J. AU - Barberan, Albert AU - Menninger, Holly L. AU - Dunn, Rob R. AU - Fierer, Noah T2 - ECOLOGY AB - Geographic range size can span orders of magnitude for plant and animal species, with the study of why range sizes vary having preoccupied biogeographers for decades. In contrast, there have been few comparable studies of how range size varies across microbial taxa and what traits may be associated with this variation. We determined the range sizes of 74,134 bacterial and archaeal taxa found in settled dust collected from 1,065 locations across the United States. We found that most microorganisms have small ranges and few have large ranges, a pattern similar to the range size distributions commonly observed for macrobes. However, contrary to expectations, those microbial taxa that were locally abundant did not necessarily have larger range sizes. The observed differences in microbial range sizes were generally predictable from taxonomic identity, phenotypic traits, genomic attributes, and habitat preferences, findings that provide insight into the factors shaping patterns of microbial biogeography. DA - 2018/2// PY - 2018/2// DO - 10.1002/ecy.2094 VL - 99 IS - 2 SP - 322-334 SN - 1939-9170 UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85041452927&partnerID=MN8TOARS KW - biogeography KW - dispersal KW - dust-associated microbes KW - geographic range size KW - microbial dispersal KW - microbiology ER - TY - JOUR TI - External immunity in ant societies: sociality and colony size do not predict investment in antimicrobials AU - Penick, Clint A. AU - Halawani, Omar AU - Pearson, Bria AU - Mathews, Stephanie AU - Lopez-Uribe, Margarita M. AU - Dunn, Robert R. AU - Smith, Adrian A. T2 - ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE AB - Social insects live in dense groups with a high probability of disease transmission and have therefore faced strong pressures to develop defences against pathogens. For this reason, social insects have been hypothesized to invest in antimicrobial secretions as a mechanism of external immunity to prevent the spread of disease. However, empirical studies linking the evolution of sociality with increased investment in antimicrobials have been relatively few. Here we quantify the strength of antimicrobial secretions among 20 ant species that cover a broad spectrum of ant diversity and colony sizes. We extracted external compounds from ant workers to test whether they inhibited the growth of the bacterium Staphylococcus epidermidis . Because all ant species are highly social, we predicted that all species would exhibit some antimicrobial activity and that species that form the largest colonies would exhibit the strongest antimicrobial response. Our comparative approach revealed that strong surface antimicrobials are common to particular ant clades, but 40% of species exhibited no antimicrobial activity at all. We also found no correlation between antimicrobial activity and colony size. Rather than relying on antimicrobial secretions as external immunity to control pathogen spread, many ant species have probably developed alternative strategies to defend against disease pressure. DA - 2018/2// PY - 2018/2// DO - 10.1098/rsos.171332 VL - 5 IS - 2 SP - SN - 2054-5703 UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85042767466&partnerID=MN8TOARS KW - antimicrobial secretions KW - antibiotics KW - social immunity KW - social insects KW - ants KW - entomopathogens ER -