Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) are obligate parasites of soil-dwelling insects and are used as biological control agents for many insect pests. These nematodes have a free-living third growth stage called infective ...
Oosthuizen, Tasha; Pillay, Neville; Oosthuizen, Maria Kathleen(Taylor and Francis, 2024)
Urbanization, and the accompanying artificial light at night (ALAN), can disrupt the activity of animals. Such disruptions at the base of a food web can ripple through the ecosystem. Most studies of ALAN are performed in ...
Mammals have evolved to occupy spatial and temporal niches in order to optimize resource utilization and minimize predation risk or competition. Subsequently, niche partitioning may be influenced by phylogenetic associations, ...
Cladogenic diversification is often explained by referring to climatic oscillations and geomorphic shifts that cause allopatric speciation. In this regard, southern Africa retains a high level of landscape heterogeneity ...
Fletcher Jr, Robert J.; O’Brien, Amanda; Hall, Timothy F.; Jones, Maggie; Potash, Alex D.; Kruger, Laurence; Simelane, Phumlile; Roques, Kim; Monadjem, Ara; McCleery, Robert A.(Royal Society, 2023-10)
Animals are faced with a variety of dangers or threats, which are increasing
in frequency with ongoing environmental change. While our understanding
of fearfulness of such dangers is growing in the context of predation ...
Arid-dwelling mammals are exposed to extreme daily temperatures, which puts these mammals at risk of overheating and dehydration, particularly while active, these risks are increased as the body size is reduced. Consequently, ...
AIM : The mosaic of savannas that persists in the forest-dominant Congo Basin is thought to be palaeoclimatic relics, but past biogeographical processes that have formed and maintained these systems are poorly understood. ...
The detoxification limitation hypothesis posits that, unless plant defense compounds interact synergistically or additively to increase their harmful effects, generalist herbivores will prefer consuming combinations of ...
Gwokyalya, Rehemah; Weldon, Christopher William; Herren, Jeremy Keith; Gichuhi, Joseph; Makhulu, Edward Edmond; Ndlela, Shepard; Mohamed, Samira Abuelgasim(MDPI, 2023-02-09)
Parasitoids are promising biocontrol agents of the devastating fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis.
However, parasitoid performance is a function of several factors, including host-associated symbiotic
bacteria. Providencia ...
The science guiding design and evaluation of restoration interventions in tropical
landscapes is dominated by ecological processes and outcomes and lacks
indicators and methods that integrate human wellbeing into the ...
Mynhardt, Samantha; Matthew, Esther; Le Roux, Jean Pierre; Little, Ian; Bloomer, Paulette; Theron, Cobus(Springer, 2024-01)
Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling has attracted worldwide attention over the past few years as an emerging approach to characterising and monitoring biodiversity, and has become particularly important for species that are ...
Barten, Harm; Schroder, Michelle L.; Slippers, Bernard; Howe, Andy G.; Lawson, Simon A.; Hurley, Brett Phillip(Elsevier, 2023-12)
Introductions of natural enemies in classical biocontrol programs potentially cause genetic bottlenecks which can be detrimental for biocontrol. This can be mitigated by introducing multiple populations of a natural enemy, ...
Payne, Stephanie L.; Cunningham, Susan J.; Howes, Caroline G.; McKechnie, Andrew E.(Elsevier, 2023-11)
Trait-based assessments allow rapid evaluation of species’ vulnerability to climate change, but often overlook
subtle yet consequential interspecific variation in behavioural and physiological traits. We assessed 241 ...
Abundance and trait-driven processes have both been identified as potential mechanisms in determining the occurrence of species
interactions. However, little is known about how these two mechanisms interact to determine ...
Lemerle, Marie Anna; Wiesel, Ingrid; Somers, Michael J.(Routledge, 2024)
This study examined the daily and monthly activity patterns of brown hyenas (Hyaena brunnea) and black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas) at a Cape fur seal colony in southern Namibia, to provide recommendations for developing ...
Allen, Benjamin L.; Bobier, Christopher; Dawson, Stuart; Fleming, Peter J.S.; Hampton, Jordan; Jachowski, David; Kerley, Graham I.H.; Linnell, John D.C.; Marnewick, Kelly; Minnie, Liaan; Muthersbaugh, Mike; O'Riain, M. Justin; Parker, Dan; Proulx, Gilbert; Somers, Michael J.; Titus, Keifer(Elsevier, 2023-10)
Killing animals has been a ubiquitous human behaviour throughout history, yet it is becoming increasingly controversial and criticised in some parts of contemporary human society. Here we review 10 primary reasons why ...
Aging, often considered a result of random cellular damage, can be accurately estimated using DNA methylation profiles, the foundation of pan-tissue epigenetic clocks. Here, we demonstrate the development of universal ...
Pessato, Anais; Udino, Eve; McKechnie, Andrew E.; Bennett, Andrew T.D.; Mariette, Mylene M.(Nature Reseach, 2023-10)
Under climate change, increasing air temperature average and variability pose substantial thermal
challenges to animals. While plasticity in thermoregulatory traits could potentially attenuate this
impact, whether thermal ...
Biodiversity loss is recognized as a grand challenge of the twenty-first century but ascertaining
when a species is “lost” can be incredibly difficult—since the absence of evidence is not evidence of
absence. This may ...