A5036013808- Species Distribution and Climate Change
- Amphibian and Reptile Biology
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
- Plant and animal studies
- Animal Ecology and Behavior Studies
- Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies
- Evolution and Paleontology Studies
- Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation
- Marriage and Sexual Relationships
- Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Genetic diversity and population structure
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Avian ecology and behavior
Nottingham Trent University
2018-2023
University of Lincoln
2015
Abstract Protected Areas (PAs) are the cornerstone of biodiversity conservation. Here, we collated distributional data for >14,000 (~70% of) species amphibians and reptiles (herpetofauna) to perform a global assessment conservation effectiveness PAs using distribution models. Our analyses reveal that >91% herpetofauna currently distributed in PAs, this proportion will remain unaltered under future climate change. Indeed, loss species’ ranges be lower inside than outside them....
Adaptive radiation theory posits that ecological opportunity promotes rapid proliferation of phylogenetic and diversity. Given adaptive proceeds via occupation available niche space in newly accessed zones, predicts that: (i) evolutionary diversification follows an 'early-burst' process, i.e., it accelerates early the history a clade (when facilitates speciation), subsequently slows down as becomes saturated by new species; (ii) branching is accompanied ecologically relevant phenotypic...
Abstract Aim The diversity of brood size across animal species exceeds the most other life‐history traits. In some environments, reproductive success increases with size, whereas in others it smaller broods. dominant hypothesis explaining such predicts that selection on varies along climatic gradients, creating latitudinal fecundity patterns. Another arises among adapted to different microhabitats within assemblages. A more recent concerned consequences these evolutionary processes era...
Abstract Aim Body size explains most of the variation in fitness within animal populations and is therefore under constant selection from ecological reproductive pressures, which often promote its evolution sex‐specific directions, leading to sexual dimorphism (SSD). Several hypotheses have been proposed explain vast diversity SSD across species. These emphasize: (a) mate competition benefits larger male (sexual selection); (b) female for fecundity (fecundity (c) simultaneous niche...
Abstract Aim The emergence of large‐scale patterns animal body size is the central expectation a wide range (macro)ecological and evolutionary hypotheses. drivers shaping these include climate (e.g. Bergmann's rule), resource availability ‘resource rule’), biogeographic settings niche partitioning adaptive radiation). However, hypotheses often make opposing predictions about trajectories evolution. Therefore, whether underlying evolution can be identified remains an open question. Here, we...
Abstract Variation in genome size spans multiple orders of magnitude among animals. Despite the longstanding debate regarding adaptive value or costs genomic complexity, has been proposed to influence extinction risk under rapidly changing environments Anthropocene. The main hypothesis suggests that enlargement increases accumulation deleterious mutations while reducing rates organismal growth and development. These combined effects larger are predicted trigger population declines can lead...
Chemical communication plays a pivotal role in shaping sexual and ecological interactions among animals. In lizards, fundamental mechanisms of selection such as female mate choice have rarely been shown to be influenced by quantitative phenotypic traits (e.g., ornaments), while chemical signals found potentially influence multiple forms social interactions, including territoriality. lizards are secreted glands primarily located on the edge cloacae (precloacal glands, PG) thighs (femoral...
Abstract The human-induced annihilation of modern biodiversity is dragging the planet into a mass extinction that has already altered patterns life globally. Among vertebrates, over 500 species have become extinct or possibly in last five centuries – an rate would taken several millennia without human intervention. Vertebrate extinctions often been quantified as cumulative counts reveal sharp increases losses time. Here, we quantify global tetrapod since 1400s using numbers across successive...