Individual life histories: neither slow nor fast, just diverse.

The slow-fast continuum is a commonly used framework to describe variation in life-history strategies across species. Individual life histories have also been assumed to follow a similar pattern, especially in the pace-of-life syndrome literature. However, whether a slow-fast continuum commonly explains life-history variation among individuals within a population remains unclear. Here, we formally tested for the presence of a slow-fast continuum of life histories both within populations and across species using detailed long-term individual-based demographic data for 17 bird and mammal species with markedly different life histories. We estimated adult lifespan, age at first reproduction, annual breeding frequency, and annual fecundity, and identified the main axes of life-history variation using principal component analyses. Across species, we retrieved the slow-fast continuum as the main axis of life-history variation. However, within populations, the patterns of individual life-history variation did not align with a slow-fast continuum in any species. Thus, a continuum ranking individuals from slow to fast living is unlikely to shape individual differences in life histories within populations. Rather, individual life-history variation is likely idiosyncratic across species, potentially because of processes such as stochasticity, density dependence, and individual differences in resource acquisition that affect species differently and generate non-generalizable patterns across species.

Current and lagged climate affects phenology across diverse taxonomic groups.

The timing of life events (phenology) can be influenced by climate. Studies from around the world tell us that climate cues and species' responses can vary greatly. If variation in climate effects on phenology is strong within a single ecosystem, climate change could lead to ecological disruption, but detailed data from diverse taxa within a single ecosystem are rare. We collated first sighting and median activity within a high-elevation environment for plants, insects, birds, mammals and an amphibian across 45 years (1975-2020). We related 10 812 phenological events to climate data to determine the relative importance of climate effects on species' phenologies. We demonstrate significant variation in climate-phenology linkage across taxa in a single ecosystem. Both current and prior climate predicted changes in phenology. Taxa responded to some cues similarly, such as snowmelt date and spring temperatures; other cues affected phenology differently. For example, prior summer precipitation had no effect on most plants, delayed first activity of some insects, but advanced activity of the amphibian, some mammals, and birds. Comparing phenological responses of taxa at a single location, we find that important cues often differ among taxa, suggesting that changes to climate may disrupt synchrony of timing among taxa.

Maternal survival costs in an asocial mammal.

Maternal characteristics, social dynamics, and environmental factors can all influence reproduction and survival and shape trade-offs that might arise between these components of fitness. Short-lived mammals like the golden-mantled ground squirrel (GMGS; Callospermophilus lateralis) tend to maximize effort toward current reproduction at the expense of survival but may be complicated by other aspects of the species' life history and environment. Here, we use 25 years of data (1995-2020) collected from a population of GMGS at the Rocky Mountain Biological Research Laboratory in Gothic, Colorado, to test the effect of several maternal characteristics (e.g., age, experience, and timing of litter emergence), social context (e.g., litter sex ratio and kin density), and environmental context (e.g., date of bare ground and length of vegetative growing season) on survival of reproductive female GMGS using Cox proportional hazard models. Our results indicated that social dynamics (i.e., density) and environmental conditions (i.e., standardized first day of permanent snow cover and length of growing season) explained significant variation in annual maternal survival, while maternal characteristics did not. A higher density of related breeding females and the total number of females (both related and unrelated to the focal mother) were associated with an increase in the mortality hazard. A later standardized date of the first day of permanent snow cover and a shorter growing season both reduced the maternal mortality hazard. Together, our results suggest that factors extrinsic to the squirrels affect maternal survival and thus may also influence local population growth and dynamics in GMGS and other short-lived, territorial mammal species.

Temporal correlations among demographic parameters are ubiquitous but highly variable across species.

Temporal correlations among demographic parameters can strongly influence population dynamics. Our empirical knowledge, however, is very limited regarding the direction and the magnitude of these correlations and how they vary among demographic parameters and species' life histories. Here, we use long-term demographic data from 15 bird and mammal species with contrasting pace of life to quantify correlation patterns among five key demographic parameters: juvenile and adult survival, reproductive probability, reproductive success and productivity. Correlations among demographic parameters were ubiquitous, more frequently positive than negative, but strongly differed across species. Correlations did not markedly change along the slow-fast continuum of life histories, suggesting that they were more strongly driven by ecological than evolutionary factors. As positive temporal demographic correlations decrease the mean of the long-run population growth rate, the common practice of ignoring temporal correlations in population models could lead to the underestimation of extinction risks in most species.

Pedigree simulations reveal that maternity assignment is reliable in populations with conspecific brood parasitism, incomplete parental sampling and kin structure.

Modern genetic parentage methods reveal that alternative reproductive strategies are common in both males and females. Under ideal conditions, genetic methods accurately connect the parents to offspring produced by extra-pair matings or conspecific brood parasitism. However, some breeding systems and sampling scenarios present significant complications for accurate parentage assignment. We used simulated genetic pedigrees to assess the reliability of parentage assignment for a series of challenging sampling regimes that reflect realistic conditions for many brood-parasitic birds: absence of genetic samples from sires, absence of samples from brood parasites and female kin-structured populations. Using 18 microsatellite markers and empirical allele frequencies from two populations of a conspecific brood parasite, the wood duck (Aix sponsa), we simulated brood parasitism and determined maternity using two widely used programs, cervus and colony. Errors in assignment were generally modest for most sampling scenarios but differed by program: cervus suffered from false assignment of parasitic offspring, whereas colony sometimes failed to assign offspring to their known mothers. Notably, colony was able to accurately infer unsampled parents. Reducing the number of markers (nine loci rather than 18) caused the assignment error to slightly worsen with colony but balloon with cervus. One potential error with important biological implications was rare in all cases-few nesting females were incorrectly excluded as the mother of their own offspring, an error that could falsely indicate brood parasitism. We consider the implications of our findings for both a retrospective assessment of previous studies and suggestions for best practices for future studies.

Expanding the landscape of opportunity: Professional societies support early-career researchers through community programming and peer coaching.

Weaving the future of the field of comparative psychology is dependent on the career advancement of early-career scientists. Despite concerted efforts to increase diversity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, scholars from marginalized groups are disproportionately underrepresented in the field-especially at advanced career stages. New approaches to sponsorship, mentoring, and community building are necessary to retain talent from marginalized communities and to create a culture and a system where all individuals can thrive. We describe the unique and supportive role of senior women scientists united through a professional society in initiating peer coaching circles to facilitate the success of a diverse cohort of early-career women scientists. We offer our experiences with the Weaving the Future of Animal Behavior program as a case study that illustrates the cascading impacts of professional societies investing in the success and career development of marginalized scholars. We focus on our peer coaching circle experience and share the products and outcomes after 2 years of meeting. Peer coaching transformed us from a group of loosely organized, anxious individuals into a collective of empowered agents of change with an enhanced sense of belonging. We end by presenting recommendations to institutions seeking to expand the landscape of opportunities to other marginalized scholars. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Abundance, density, and social structure of African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) in a human-modified landscape in southwestern Gabon.

Population monitoring is critical to effective conservation, but forest living taxa can be difficult to directly observe. This has been true of African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis), for which we have limited information regarding population size and social behavior despite their threatened conservation status. In this study, we estimated demographic parameters using genetic capture-recapture of forest elephants in the southern Industrial Corridor of the Gamba Complex of Protected Areas in southwestern Gabon, which is considered a global stronghold for forest elephants. Additionally, we examined social networks, predicting that we would find matrilineal structure seen in both savanna and forest elephants. Given 95% confidence intervals, we estimate population size in the sampled area to be between 754 and 1,502 individuals and our best density estimate ranges from 0.47 to 0.80 elephants per km2. When extrapolated across the entire Industrial Corridor, this estimate suggests an elephant population size of 3,033 to 6,043 based on abundance or 1,684 to 2,832 based on density, approximately 40-80% smaller than previously suggested. Our social network analysis revealed approximately half of network components included females with different mitochondrial haplotypes suggesting a wider range of variation in forest elephant sociality than previously thought. This study emphasizes the threatened status of forest elephants and demonstrates the need to further refine baseline estimates of population size and knowledge on social behavior in this taxon, both of which will aid in determining how population dynamics in this keystone species may be changing through time in relation to increasing conservation threats.

Persistence of an endangered native duck, feral mallards, and multiple hybrid swarms across the main Hawaiian Islands.

Interspecific hybridization is recognized as an important process in the evolutionary dynamics of both speciation and the reversal of speciation. However, our understanding of the spatial and temporal patterns of hybridization that erode versus promote species boundaries is incomplete. The endangered, endemic koloa maoli (or Hawaiian duck, Anas wyvilliana) is thought to be threatened with genetic extinction through ongoing hybridization with an introduced congener, the feral mallard (A. platyrhynchos). We investigated spatial and temporal variation in hybrid prevalence in populations throughout the main Hawaiian Islands, using genomic data to characterize population structure of koloa, quantify the extent of hybridization, and compare hybrid proportions over time. To accomplish this, we genotyped 3,308 double-digest restriction-site-associated DNA (ddRAD) loci in 425 putative koloa, mallards, and hybrids from populations across the main Hawaiian Islands. We found that despite a population decline in the last century, koloa genetic diversity is high. There were few hybrids on the island of Kaua'i, home to the largest population of koloa. By contrast, we report that sampled populations outside of Kaua'i can now be characterized as hybrid swarms, in that all individuals sampled were of mixed koloa × mallard ancestry. Further, there is some evidence that these swarms are stable over time. These findings demonstrate spatial variation in the extent and consequences of interspecific hybridization, and highlight how islands or island-like systems with small population sizes may be especially prone to genetic extinction when met with a congener that is not reproductively isolated.

"Little Tablets of Gold": An Examination of the Psychological and Social Dimensions of PrEP Among LGBTQ Communities.

There are significant psychological, social, and cultural dimensions to the HIV epidemic in the United States, especially among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities. Biomedical HIV treatment has been shown to impact these dimensions. However, there is little understanding of the real-world psychosocial and sociocultural effects of the latest biomedical HIV prevention strategy, HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). This study explored the psychosocial and sociocultural dimensions of PrEP use among LGBTQ adults. We interviewed 23 LGBTQ adults who were current or former users of PrEP. Results included that PrEP users' experiences were shaped by multiple forms of stigma. Participants were highly motivated to challenge PrEP stigma and to support PrEP use among other community members. Lastly, participants described positive impacts on their individual well-being and their sexual partnerships. Findings suggest that PrEP has significant impacts beyond biomedical outcomes for both the individuals who use PrEP and their communities.

Access to HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis in Practice Settings: a Qualitative Study of Sexual and Gender Minority Adults' Perspectives.

BACKGROUND: Sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations remain at disproportionate risk of HIV infection. Despite the effectiveness of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in preventing HIV, PrEP uptake has been slow. OBJECTIVE: To identify barriers and facilitators of PrEP access by examining SGM patients' experiences with accessing health care systems and engaging with providers about PrEP in a variety of practice settings. DESIGN: Semi-structured, individual, qualitative interviews. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-seven sexual and gender minority adults residing in Oregon. APPROACH: Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using thematic analysis. KEY RESULTS: We identified three main themes. Participants described the centrality of patient-provider relationships to positive experiences around PrEP, the necessity of personally advocating to access PrEP, and the experience of system-level barriers to PrEP access. Participants also made several suggestions to improve PrEP access including improving provider engagement with SGM patients, encouraging providers to initiate conversations about PrEP, and increasing awareness of medication financial support. CONCLUSIONS: In order to reduce HIV disparities, improving PrEP access will require additional efforts by providers and resources across health care settings to reduce barriers. Interventions to improve provider education about PrEP and provider communication skills for discussing sexual health are needed. Additionally, there should be system-level improvements to increase coordination between patients, providers, pharmacies, and payers to facilitate PrEP access and uptake.