• Leaf nutrients, not specific leaf area, are consistent indicators of elevated nutrient inputs 

  Firn, Jennifer; McGree, James M.; Harvey, Eric; Flores-Moreno, Habacuc; Schütz, Martin; Buckley, Yvonne M.; Borer, Elizabeth T.; Seabloom, Eric W.; La Pierre, Kimberly J.; MacDougall, Andrew M.; Prober, Suzanne M.; Stevens, Carly J.; Sullivan, Lauren L.; Porter, Erica; Ladouceur, Emma; Allen, Charlotte; Moromizato, Karine H.; Morgan, John W.; Harpole, W. Stanley; Hautier, Yann; Eisenhauer, Nico; Wright, Justin P.; Adler, Peter B.; Arnillas, Carlos Alberto; Bakker, Jonathan D.; Biederman, Lori; Broadbent, Arthur A.D.; Brown, Cynthia S.; Bugalho, Miguel N.; Caldeira, Maria C.; Cleland, Elsa E.; Ebeling, Anne; Fay, Philip A.; Hagenah, Nicole; Kleinhesselink, Andrew R.; Mitchell, Rachel; Moore, Joslin L.; Nogueira, Carla; Peri, Pablo Luis; Roscher, Christiane; Smith, Melinda D.; Wragg, Peter D.; Risch, Anita C. (Nature Research, 2019-02)

  Leaf traits are frequently measured in ecology to provide a ‘common currency’ for predicting how anthropogenic pressures impact ecosystem function. Here, we test whether leaf traits consistently respond to experimental ...
• More than $1 billion needed annually to secure Africa’s protected areas with lions 

  Lindsey, Peter Andrew; Miller, Jennifer R.B.; Petracca, Lisanne S.; Coad, Lauren; DIckman, Amy J.; Fitzgerald, Kathleen H.; Flyman, Michael V.; Funston, Paul J.; Henschel, Philipp; Kasiki, Samuel; Knights, Kathryn; Loveridge, Andrew J.; Macdonald, David W.; Mandisodza-Chikerema, Roseline L.; Nazerali, Sean; Plumptre, Andrew J.; Stevens, Riko; Van Zyl, Hugo W.; Hunter, Luke T.B. (National Academy of Sciences, 2018-11)

  Protected areas (PAs) play an important role in conserving biodiversity and providing ecosystem services, yet their effectiveness is undermined by funding shortfalls. Using lions (Panthera leo) as a proxy for PA health, ...
• Specialized mechanoreceptor systems in rodent glabrous skin 

  Walcher, Jan; Ojeda-Alonso, Julia; Haseleu, Julia; Oosthuizen, Maria Kathleen; Bennett, Nigel C., 1961-; Rowe, Ashlee H.; Bennett, Nigel C., 1961-; Lewin, Gary R. (Wiley, 2018-10)

  Rodents use their forepaws to actively interact with their tactile environment. Studies on the physiology and anatomy of glabrous skin that makes up the majority of the forepaw are almost non-existent in themouse.Here ...
• Evolution of green lacewings (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) : an anchored phylogenomics approach 

  Winterton, Shaun L.; Gillung, Jessica P.; Garzón-Orduña, Ivonne J.; Badano, Davide; Breitkreuz, Laura C.V.; Duelli, Peter; Engel, Michael S.; Liu, Xingyue; Machado, Renato J.P.; Mansell, M.W. (Mervyn); Mochizuki, Atsushi; Penny, Norman D.; Tauber, Catherine A.; Oswald, John D. (Wiley, 2019-02)

  A phylogeny of green lacewings (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) using anchored hybrid enrichment data is presented. Using this phylogenomic approach, we analysed 137 kb of sequence data (with < 10% missing) for 82 species in 50 ...
• Spotted hyaena visitation at anthropogenic sites in the Kruger National Park, South Africa 

  Belton, L.E. (Lydia); Cameron, Elissa Z.; Dalerum, Fredrik (NISC (Pty) Ltd and Informa UK Limited (trading as Taylor & Francis Group), 2018)

  Many large carnivores are attracted to anthropogenic sites, typically, because they offer easy access to anthropogenic resources, such as garbage. Such behaviour could lead to increased contacts between people and carnivores, ...
• Eyes on the future – evidence for trade‐offs between growth, storage and defense in Norway spruce 

  Huang, Jianbei; Hammerbacher, Almuth; Weinhold, Alexander; Reichelt, Michael; Gleixner, Gerd; Behrendt, Thomas; Van Dam, Nicole M.; Sala, Anna; Gershenzon, Jonathan; Trumbore, Susan; Hartmann, Henrik (Wiley, 2019-04)

  Carbon (C) allocation plays a central role in tree responses to environmental changes. Yet, fundamental questions remain about how trees allocate C to different sinks, for example, growth vs storage and defense. In ...
• Avian thermoregulation in the heat : is evaporative cooling more economical in nocturnal birds? 

  O'Connor, Ryan S.; Smit, Ben; Talbot, William A.; Gerson, Alexander R.; Brigham, R. Mark; Wolf, Blair O.; McKechnie, Andrew E. (Company of Biologists, 2018)

  Evaporative cooling is a prerequisite for avian occupancy of hot, arid environments, and is the only avenue of heat dissipation when air temperatures (Ta) exceed body temperature (Tb). Whereas diurnal birds can potentially ...
• The genus Urodontidius Louw (Anthribidae : Urodontinae) rediscovered and its biological secrets revealed : a tribute to Schalk Louw (1952–2018) 

  Oberprieler, Rolf G.; Scholtz, Clarke H. (MDPI, 2018-08-14)

  The paper records the rediscovery of the rare Urodontidius enigmaticus Louw, 1993 in South Africa, based on specimens reared from galls in the succulent leaves of Ruschia versicolor. The original account of some of the ...
• Helminth composition and prevalence of indigenous and invasive synanthropic murid rodents in urban areas of Gauteng Province, South Africa 

  Julius, R.S. (Rolanda); Schwan, E.V. (Volker); Chimimba, Christian Timothy (Cambridge University Press, 2018-07)

  Although synanthropic rodents such as the indigenous species, Mastomys coucha, and the invasive species, Rattus norvegicus, R. rattus and R. tanezumi, are well-known to be hosts to various micro- and macroparasites, their ...
• Fungal associates of the tree-killing bark beetle, Ips typographus, vary in virulence, ability to degrade conifer phenolics and influence bark beetle tunneling behavior 

  Zhao, Tao; Kandasamy, Dineshkumar; Krokene, Paal; Chen, Jingyuan; Gershenzon, Jonathan; Hammerbacher, Almuth (Elsevier, 2019-04)

  The bark beetle Ips typographus carries numerous fungi that could be assisting the beetle in colonizing live Norway spruce (Picea abies) trees. Phenolic defenses in spruce phloem are degraded by the beetle's major tree-killing ...
• Zebra diel migrations reduce encounter risk with lions at night 

  Courbin, Nicolas; Loveridge, Andrew J.; Fritz, Hervé; Macdonald, David W.; Patin, Rémi; Valeix, Marion; Chamaillé-Jammes, Simon (Wiley, 2019-01)

  1. Diel migrations (DM; back and forth diel movements along an ecological gradient) undertaken by prey to avoid predators during the day have been demonstrated in many taxa in aquatic ecosystems. In terrestrial ecosystems, ...
• Limited evidence for parallel molecular adaptations associated with the subterranean niche in mammals : a comparative study of three superorders 

  Davies, Kalina T.J.; Bennett, Nigel C., 1961-; Faulkes, Chris G.; Rossiter, Stephen J. (Oxford University Press, 2018)

  Among mammals, several lineages have independently adapted to a subterranean niche and possess similar phenotypic traits for burrowing (e.g., cylindrical bodies, short limbs, and absent pinnae). Previous research on ...
• The reproductive pattern of the Gerbilliscus cf. leucogaster (Rodentia: Muridae) from Namibia 

  Muteka, Sachariah Penda; Chimimba, Christian Timothy; Bastos, Armanda D.S.; Bennett, Nigel C., 1961- (NRC Research Press, 2019)

  Very little is known about the reproductive biology of the Gerbilliscus cf. leucogaster (Peters, 1852) despite its wide distribution throughout the southern African subregion. Body mass, reproductive tract morphometrics, ...
• The 2013–2014 vegetation structure map of Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, produced using free satellite images and software 

  Arraut, Eduardo M.; Loveridge, Andrew J.; Chamaillé-Jammes, Simon; Valls-Fox, Hugo; Macdonald, David W. (AOSIS Open Journals, 2018-09-27)

  Vegetation mapping of protected areas is a cornerstone of conservation worldwide. Established in 1928 and covering over 1.4 million hectares, Hwange National Park (HNP) is the largest natural reserve in Zimbabwe. In 1993, ...
• Increase of sub-Antarctic fur seals at the Tristan da Cunha Islands 

  Bester, Marthan Nieuwoudt; Wege, Mia; Glass, T. (Springer, 2019-01)

  Sub-Antarctic fur seal, Arctocephalus tropicalis, pups were counted on some of the beaches on all four Tristan da Cunha (TdC) islands, in January 2017, to determine the status of the population, in the face of climate ...
• Diversity of entomopathogenic nematodes and their symbiotic bacteria in south African plantations and indigenous forests 

  Abate, B.A. (Birhan); Slippers, Bernard; Wingfield, Michael J.; Malan, Antoinette P.; Hurley, Brett Phillip (Brill Academic Publishers, 2018-04-23)

  The occurrence and diversity of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) and their symbiotic bacteria was evaluated in commercial forestry plantations (Eucalyptus spp., Pinus spp. and Acacia mearnsii) and indigenous forests in ...
• Effects of cage volume and bee density on survival and nutrient intake of honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) under laboratory conditions 

  Bosua, Henrika Jacomina; Nicolson, Sue W.; Archer. Catherine Ruth; Pirk, Christian Walter Werner (Springer, 2018-12)

  Laboratory experiments are vital to exploring the causes of pollinator loss, but for these experiments to be informative, they should attempt to replicate the hive environment and conserve social interactions. It is unclear ...
• Special issue on invasive pests of forests and urban trees : pathways, early detection, and management 

  Sweeney, Jon; Rassati, Davide; Meurisse, Nicolas; Hurley, Brett Phillip; Duan, Jian; Stauffer, Christian; Battist, i Andrea (Springer, 2019-01)

  This special issue on pathways, early detection, and management of invasive pests of forests and urban trees was spawned in a symposium entitled “Invasive species surveillance: new methods and tools for survey and early ...
• Suspended dead wood decomposes slowly in the tropics, with microbial decay greater than termite decay 

  Law, Stephanie; Eggleton, Paul; Griffiths, Hannah; Ashton, Louise; Parr, C.L. (Catherine) (Springer, 2019-01)

  Coarse woody debris (CWD) is an important pool of carbon in forest ecosystems and is present in all strata as fallen, standing or suspended CWD. However, there are relatively few decomposition studies of CWD in tropical ...
• Do dung beetles show interrelated evolutionary trends in wing morphology, flight biomechanics and habitat preference? 

  Ospina-Garcés, Sandra M.; Escobar, Federico; Baena, Martha L.; Davis, Adrian L.V.; Scholtz, Clarke H. (Springer, 2018-12)

  In flying organisms, wing shape and biomechanical properties are recognized as key traits related to dispersal, foraging behavior, sexual selection and habitat preferences. To determine if differences in dung beetle wing ...

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