Disruptive selection is potentially critical in maintaining variation and initiating speciation. Yet there are few convincing examples of disruptive selection from nature. Moreover, relatively little is known about the causes of disruptive selection. Here, we document disruptive selection and its causes in natural populations of spadefoot toad tadpoles (Spea multiplicata), which are highly vari...

We investigate the use of partial functions, fitness sharing and committee learning in genetic programming. The primary intended application of the work is in learning spatial relationships for ecological modelling. The approaches are evaluated using a well-studied ecological modelling problem, the greater glider population density problem. Combinations of the three treatments (partial function...

Transformations to create more sustainable social-ecological systems are urgently needed. Structural change is a feature of transformations of social-ecological systems that is of critical importance but is little understood. Here, we propose a framework for conceptualising and modelling sustainability transformations based on adaptive networks. Adaptive networks focus attention on the interpla...

One of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) challenges is to “develop procedures that can integrate local knowledge with data collected at the regional or global level and produce information that is salient, credible, and politically legitimate to the decision makers that are a major audience for the results of the MA” (Millennium Assessment 2002). This paper aims to contribute to such eff...

Resource selection functions (RSFs) are tremendously valuable for ecologists and resource managers because they quantify spatial patterns in resource utilization by wildlife, thereby facilitating identification of critical habitat areas and characterizing specific habitat features that are selected or avoided. RSFs discriminate between known-use resource units (e.g., telemetry locations) and av...

This paper investigates the provision of health information for rural residents through a web portal. Approaches to evaluate health portals are applied to a case study, where health information is made available through a portal accessed by rural Tasmanians. The portal was found to be a quality website, from an evaluation of its nature, success and quality.

Resource selection of herbivores is a complex ecological process that operates in relation to biological or non-biological factors, which may affect the feeding and movement, and subsequently their spatial distribution and environmental stress. Here, we estimated moose (Alces alces cameloides) resource selection for habitat variables and the effect of interspecific interactions related to roe d...

A central assumption underlying the study of habitat selection is that selected habitats confer enhanced fitness. Unfortunately, this assumption is rarely tested, and in some systems, gradients of predation risk may more accurately characterize spatial variation in vital rates than gradients described by habitat selection studies. Here, we separately measured spatial patterns of both resource s...

Abstract Understanding human peri-implantation development is necessary to improve in vitro fertilisation. Technical progress, such as scRNAseq and integrated stem cell models have dramatically improved our ability understand development. However, in-depth analysis systematic validation embryos remains build a reliable reference. Here, we started by integrating pre- post-implantation embryo dat...

Immune defences are an important component of fitness. Yet susceptibility to pathogens is common, suggesting the presence of ecological and evolutionary limitations on immune defences. Here, we use structural equation modelling to quantify the direct effects of resource quality and selection history, and their indirect effects mediated via body condition prior to an immune challenge on encapsul...