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Original leaf gas exchange and absorptance data used in the Collison et al. (2020) Light, Not Age, Underlies the Q9 Maladaptation of Maize and Miscanthus Photosynthesis to Self-Shading - Frontiers in Plant Science doi: 10.3389/fpls.2020.00783

Monocultural rubber plantations have replaced tropical forest, causing biodiversity loss. While protecting intact or semi-intact biodiverse forest is paramount, improving biodiversity value within the 11.4 million hectares of existing rubber plantations could offer important conservation benefits, if yields are also maintained. Some farmers practice agroforestry with high-yielding clonal rubber varieties to increase and diversify incomes. Here, we ask whether such rubber agroforestry improves biodiversity value or affects rubber yields relative to monoculture. We surveyed birds, fruit-feeding butterflies and reptiles in 25 monocultural and 39 agroforest smallholder rubber plots in Thailand, the world’s biggest rubber producer. Management and vegetation structure data were collected from each plot, and landscape composition around plots was quantified. Rubber yield data were collected for a separate set of 34 monocultural and 47 agroforest rubber plots in the same region. Reported rubber yields did not differ between agroforests and monocultures, meaning adoption of agroforestry in this context should not increase land demand for natural rubber. Butterfly richness was greater in agroforests, where richness increased with greater natural forest extent in the landscape. Bird and reptile richness were similar between agroforests and monocultures, but bird richness increased with the height of herbaceous vegetation inside rubber plots. Species composition of butterflies differed between agroforests and monocultures, and in response to natural forest extent, while bird composition was influenced by herbaceous vegetation height within plots, the density of non-rubber trees within plots (representing agroforestry complexity), and natural forest extent in the landscape. Reptile composition was influenced by canopy cover and open habitat extent in the landscape. Conservation priority and forest-dependent birds were not supported within rubber. Synthesis and applications. Rubber agroforestry using clonal varieties provides modest biodiversity benefits relative to monocultures, without compromising yields. Agroforests may also generate ecosystem service and livelihood benefits. Management of monocultural rubber production to increase inter-row vegetation height and complexity may further benefit biodiversity. However, biodiversity losses from encroachment of rubber onto forests will not be offset by rubber agroforestry or rubber plot management. This evidence is important for developing guidelines around biodiversity-friendly rubber and sustainable supply chains, and for farmers interested in diversifying rubber production. The accompanying ReadMe.txt file explains the contents of each .csv file, including definitions of each column. Sampling protocols are outlined in the paper in Journal of Applied Ecology.

Theoretical models predict that lizards adjust their body temperature through behavioral thermoregulation as a function of food availability. However, behavioral thermoregulation is also governed by interactions among physiological and ecological factors other than food availability, such as hydration state, and sometimes it can even conflict with the locomotor activity of animals. Here, we aimed to investigate the role of food intake and hydration state on behavioral thermoregulation and voluntary locomotor activity in the lizard Tropidurus catalanensis. We hypothesized that food intake can influence behavioral thermoregulation via an interaction with hydration state.We also hypothesized that lizards should endeavor to spend as little time as possible to reach their preferred body temperature to defend other physiological and/or ecological functions. We collected lizards in the field and brought them to the laboratory to measure the preferred temperature selected in a thermal gradient and the total distance traveled by them in fed and unfed conditions and with variable hydration state. Our results showed that food consumption was the most important predictor of preferred temperature. In contrast, either the hydration state alone or its interaction with food consumption did not have important effects on the lizards’ thermal preference. Also, we found that the total distance traveled by lizards was not affected by food intake and was barely affected by the hydration state. We provide an experimental approach and a robust analysis of the factors that influence behavioral thermoregulation and locomotor activity in a tropical lizard.

Hydrologic implications of the conversion of agricultural or conservation lands for annual vs. perennial bioenergy crop production are scarce. We converted three 22 year-old Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) grasslands and three 50+ year-old conventionally tilled corn-soybean rotation agricultural (AGR) lands to no-till corn, switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) or restored prairie. A seventh site was maintained in the preexisting CRP grassland dominated by smooth brome grass (Bromus inermis L.). We measured evapotranspiration (ET) using the eddy covariance method on all fields for over more than nine years (2009-2018). The ET data are presented for annual, growing season, and non-growing seasons. The difference in ET between corn and perennial crops is also presented for all seasons. In addition, aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) during peak growing season is presented. Water vapor concentrations (LI-7500 IRGA, LI-COR Biosciences, Lincoln, NE, USA) and wind velocity (CSAT3 three-dimensional sonic anemometer, Campbell Scientific Inc. Logan, UT, USA) were sampled at 10 Hz frequency using open-path eddy covariance (EC) method in southwest Michigan at seven agricultural fields over 10 years (2009–2018). The data were analyzed using EdiRe software (University of Edinburgh, v 1.5.0.32, 2012) to compute half-hourly evapotranspiration (ET) from all fields. Missing or poor quality data were replaced using a standardized gap-filling algorithm. The study was conducted at the Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) Scale-up fields.

1. Predicted changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events in the UK have the potential to disrupt terrestrial ecosystem function. However, responses of different trophic levels to these changes in rainfall patterns, and the underlying mechanisms, are not well characterised. 2. This study aimed to investigate how changes in both the quantity and frequency of rainfall events will affect the outcome of interactions between plants, insect herbivores (above- and below- ground) and natural enemies. 3. Hordeum vulgare L. plants were grown in controlled conditions and in the field, and subjected to three precipitation scenarios: ambient (based on a local 10 year average rainfall); continuous drought (40% reduction compared to ambient); drought/ deluge (40% reduction compared to ambient at a reduced frequency). The effects of these watering regimes and wireworm (Agriotes species) root herbivory on the performance of the plants, aphid herbivores above-ground (Sitobion avenae, Metapolophium dirhodum and Rhopalosiphum padi), and natural enemies of aphids including ladybirds (Harmonia axyridis) were assessed from measurements of plant growth, insect abundance and mass, and assays of feeding behaviour. 4. Continuous drought decreased plant biomass, whereas reducing the frequency of watering events did not affect plant biomass but did alter plant chemical composition. In controlled conditions, continuous drought ameliorated the negative impact of wireworms on plant biomass. 5. Compared to the ambient treatment, aphid mass was increased by 15% when feeding on plants subjected to drought/ deluge; and ladybirds were 66% heavier when feeding on these aphids but this did not affect ladybird prey choice. In field conditions, wireworms feeding below-ground reduced the number of shoot-feeding aphids under ambient and continuous drought conditions but not under drought/ deluge. 6. Predicted changes in both the frequency and intensity of precipitation events under climate change have the potential to limit plant growth, but reduce wireworm herbivory, while simultaneously promoting above-ground aphid numbers and mass, with these effects transferring to the third trophic level. Understanding the effect of future changes in precipitation on species interactions is critical for determining their potential impact on ecosystem functioning and constructing accurate predictions under global change scenarios. Controlled environment and field experimental dataData file containing all data reported in the paper including plant, soil and insect data from controlled environment and field experiments. First spreadsheet in the data file contains a key to explain all abbreviations used throughout the file.Experimental data.xlsx

How do rising temperatures affect long-term labor reallocation in developing economies? In this paper, we examine how increases in temperature impact structural transformation and urbanization within Indian districts between 1951 and 2011. We find that rising temperatures are associated with lower shares of workers in non-agriculture, with effects intensifying over a longer time frame. Supporting evidence suggests that local demand effects play an important role: declining agricultural productivity under higher temperatures reduces the demand for non-agricultural goods and services, which subsequently lowers non-agricultural labor demand. Our results illustrate that rising temperatures limit sectoral and rural-urban mobility for isolated households. Districts in India .

Understanding variation in the diet of widely distributed species can help us to predict how they respond to future environmental and anthropogenic changes. We studied the diet of the red fox Vulpes vulpes, one of the world’s most widely distributed carnivores. We compiled dietary data from 217 studies at 276 locations in five continents to assess how fox diet composition varied according to geographic location, climate, anthropogenic impact and sampling method. The diet of foxes showed substantial variation throughout the species’ range, but with a general trend for small mammals and invertebrates to be the most frequently occurring dietary items. The incidence of small and large mammals and birds in fox diets was greater away from the equator. The incidence of invertebrates and fruits increased with mean elevation, while the occurrence of medium-sized mammals and birds decreased. Fox diet differed according to climatic and anthropogenic variables. Diet richness decreased with increasing temperature and precipitation. The incidence of small and large mammals decreased with increasing temperature. The incidence of birds and invertebrates decreased with increasing mean annual precipitation. Higher Human Footprint Index was associated with lower incidence of large mammals and higher incidence of birds and fruit in fox diet. Sampling method influenced fox diet estimation: estimated percentage of small and medium-sized mammals and fruit was lower in studies based on stomach contents, while large mammals were more likely to be recorded in studies of stomach contents than in studies of scats. Our study confirms the flexible and opportunistic dietary behaviour of foxes at the global scale. This behavioural trait allows them to thrive in a range of climatic conditions, and in areas with different degrees of human-induced habitat change. This knowledge can help place the results of local-scale fox diet studies into a broader context and to predict how foxes will respond to future environmental changes. Castañeda et al. 2022 Mammal Review (Variation in red fox Vulpes vulpes diet in five continents)

Does drought stress in temperate grasslands alter the relationship between plant structure and function? Here we report data from an experiment focusing on growth form and species traits that affect the critical functions of water‐ and nutrient‐use efficiency in prairie and pasture plant communities. A total of 139 individuals of 12 species (11 genera and four families) were sampled in replicated plots maintained for three years across a 520-km latitudinal gradient in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Rain exclusion did not alter the interspecific relationship between foliar traits and stoichiometry or intrinsic water‐use efficiency (iWUE). Rain exclusion reduced iWUE in grasses, and effect was primarily species‐specific, although leaf morphology, life history strategy, and phylogenetic distance predicted iWUE for all 12 species when analyzed together. Variation in specific leaf area explained most of the variation in iWUE between different functional groups, with annual forbs and annual grasses at opposite ends of the resource‐use spectrum. Our findings are consistent with expected trait‐driven tradeoffs between productivity and resource‐use efficiency and provide insight into strategies for the sustainable use and conservation of temperate grasslands.

1. Diversification of fisheries and agroecosystems can increase and stabilize production and revenue, despite unpredictable changes in ecosystems and markets. Recent work suggests that diversification can provide multiple benefits simultaneously, but empirical evidence of relationships between catch or crop diversification and the provision of multiple benefits is scarce. The effect of diversification on multiple benefits may vary temporally and among systems. 2. Using long-term (11–54 years) capture fishery statistics from five Japanese lakes, we examined whether catch diversity increased multiple benefits, including revenue, nitrogen and phosphorus removal, and seasonal commercial species diversity. We also assessed whether catch species diversity increased the stability of each benefit via a portfolio effect. 3. Our study revealed positive relationships between catch diversity and the bundle of benefits (the mean of all normalized benefits; i.e., the provisioning of multiple benefits) in all five lakes, even after controlling for the total catch. The effects of catch diversity on individual benefits were positive or insignificant and differed among the study lakes. These differences were likely caused by the range and variation of functional characteristics among catch species. The influence of the annual mean price on revenue, suggested that market forces did have an effect. 4. We also found that aggregated revenue as well as N and P removal were 1.6-2.1 times (four lakes), 1.5-2.2 times (four lakes), and 1.4-2.2 times (all five lakes) more stable, respectively, than would be expected if only a single species were harvested. This greater stability suggests that maintaining catch species diversity may increase the stability of multiple benefits through portfolio effects. 5. Synthesis and applications. Our analysis suggests that catch diversification has great potential to increase the magnitude and stability of multiple benefits. Although total catch alone was sufficient to provide multiple benefits, a goal of maximization with specialization may decrease stability and deplete resources. Under fluctuating environmental and economic conditions, diversification strategies promise to be an effective management option for achieving resilient and sustainable inland fisheries. In places, such as Japan, that have experienced decreased demand, both demand diversification and maintenance would be needed as part of a diversification strategy.14-Nov-2018 Japanese_inland_fiseries_data_Matsuzaki_JAE2018