The size, form and color are signals used by flowers to attract their pollinators. Large and showy color flowers usually receive higher pollinators visitation rates. According to the optimal forage theory, pollinators would ...

North American beavers (Castor canadensis) were introduced into southern South America in 1946. Since that time, their populations have greatly expanded. In their native range, beavers shape riparian ecosystems by selectively ...

The extreme sexual size dimorphism in spiders has motivated studies for many years. In many species the male can be very small relative to the female. There are several hypotheses trying to explain this fact, most of ...

Unfavorable temperatures and weather conditions for biotic pollination in above-tree-line alpine habitats predict self-compatibility, high levels of autogamy and small flower size ("autogamy reproductive assurance hypothesis"), ...

Investigating whether mating patterns are biased in relation to kinship in isolated populations can provide a better understanding of the occurrence of inbreeding avoidance mechanisms in wild populations. Here, we report ...

Over evolutionary time, pathogen challenge shapes the immunepheno type of the host to better respond to an incipient threat. The extent and direction of this selection pressure depend on the local pathogen composition, ...

Antarctica is structured by a narrow and deep continental shelf that sustains a remarkable number of benthic species. The origin of these species and their affinities with the deep-sea fauna that borders the continent shelf ...

1. Invasive species have the ability to rapidly adapt in the new regions where they are introduced. Classic evolutionary theory predicts that the accumulation of genetic differences over time in allopatric isolation may ...

Climatic changes associated with the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) can have a dramatic impact on terrestrial ecosystems worldwide, but especially on arid and semiarid systems, where productivity is strongly limited ...