Humidity and gap history drive predation pressure on large carabids in a managed temperate forest Predation is one of the key ecological processes that shape animal communities and ecosystem functioning. However, its strength and variability across structurally heterogeneous forest habitats remain poorly understood, especially in ground-dwelling insects. Using 3D-printed decoys…
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Publication-Růžičková & Elek, Movement Ecology
Challenges and approaches in tracking and analyzing movement of ground-dwelling insects The movement ecology of ground-dwelling insects is essential for understanding their behavior and population dynamics. These insects, especially flightless beetles and orthopterans, exhibit cryptic lifestyles and fine-scale movements that pose unique challenges to tracking and recording their movement paths…
Continue Reading....Publication – Katzke et al., Nature Methods
High-throughput phenomics of global ant biodiversity The big data era in biology is underway, but the study of organismal form has been slow to capitalize on advances in imaging and computation. Imaging approaches can digitize whole organisms, but low throughput has limited the effort to document morphological diversity. Here, within…
Continue Reading....Publication – Biró et al., Frontiers in Ecology and Evoution
Morphological variance in cave and surface populations of Asellus aquaticus challenges the fluctuating selection and greater male variability hypotheses Introduction: Fluctuating selection, the changes in the strength and/or direction of natural selection stemming from fine-scale spatio-temporal environmental variation, is a fundamental, yet rarely tested explanation for the maintenance of phenotypic variation within…
Continue Reading....Publication – Csősz et al., Ecology and Evolution
Hungary’s Current Climate Conditions Converge With the North-Mediterranean of the 1980s: A Case Study in Mediterranean Ant Species New to Hungary Climate change reshapes our environment, affects species distributions, and threatens biodiversity. Our warming climate allows species to broaden their ranges naturally by expanding or shifting their distribution areas towards…
Continue Reading....Publication – Vilizzi et al., Management of Biological Invasions
Global framework for communication of biological invasion risks Biological invasions, driven by the spread of non-native species, have become a critical global issue because of their far-reaching ecological and socioeconomic impacts. Effective communication of the risks of biological invasions is essential for implementing robust policy and legislation and gaining public…
Continue Reading....Publication – Wagner & Csősz, Ecology and Evolution
The “Chameleon Ant” Colobopsis imitans Adapts Its Mimetic Appearance to Local Model Species Across the Mediterranean Basin (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Mimicry, where an organism (the mimic) convergently evolves traits resembling another (the model), is one of the most compelling phenomena in evolutionary biology. Despite ants frequently serving as models for Batesian…
Continue Reading....Publication – Csősz et al., Insect Systematics and Diversity,
Taxonomic revision of the Mediterranean Temnothorax rottenbergii species group via integrated morphological and molecular approaches The Temnothorax rottenbergii species group of myrmicine ants is characterized and revised in the current revisionary work. Twenty species belonging to this group—ranging across Anatolia and Levant, the European Mediterranean region, the Maghreb, and the…
Continue Reading....Publication – Varga-Szilay et al., Urban Forestry & Urban Greening
Improving biodiversity in Central and Eastern European gardens needs regionally scaled strategies Amid ongoing urbanisation, gardens are expected to play an increasing role in enhancing urban biodiversity by supplementing green areas and improving landscape connectivity. Biodiversity-friendly gardens also improve human well-being and foster connections between nature and people. To study…
Continue Reading....Publication – Balogh et al., Aquatic Toxicology
Effects of pyrethroid insecticides on sex ratios in agile frogs (Rana dalmatina) Environmental pollutants have the potential to alter sex ratios in wildlife through sex-biased mortality. Furthermore, endocrine disruptors may cause sex reversal during early ontogeny in ectothermic vertebrates, resulting in a phenotypic sex that is not concordant with the…
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