Concepts

Measure of the relative contribution of each predictor variable obtained by calculating mean decrease in mean square error

The relationship between a host organism and its associated microbial community, including costs and benefits to host fitness

Fitness benefits that include both direct fitness (individual's own reproductive success) and indirect fitness (fitness gained by helping relatives reproduce), weighted by coefficient of relatedness

Statistical method to compare species richness across samples by generating accumulation curves based on individual encounters

Statistical model accounting for both fixed and random effects to analyze hierarchical or repeated measures data

Theory suggesting that offspring sex ratios might vary according to maternal condition, hence females should vary the sex of their offspring according to their ability to physically invest in their of...

Investment by female bees in offspring through pollen provision size and number of brood cells produced

Statistical inference procedure that selects flattest probability distributions compatible with constraints imposed by prior knowledge

Distribution of metabolic rates over individuals in a community, obtained by summing over abundance

The extent of possible variation in a particular phenotypic trait where different dimensions represent the extent of phenotypic variation in two traits

Hypothesis that highly aroused animals produce nonlinear vocalizations because they lose control of their larynx over vocal fold production apparatus

Spectral band ratio that leverages the fact that snow reflectance is high in visible wavelengths and low in shortwave infrared wavelengths

Conflicts between opportunities of a flower to receive fitness contributions from different visitor groups due to competition over limited floral resources

Physiological shifts that allow plants to adjust their rates of photosynthesis and stomatal conductance to compensate for changes in temperature

How plant population density affects individual plant growth, morphology, and susceptibility to herbivory through competition and resource availability

Classification of species with similar characteristics into plant functional groups or plant functional types to reduce complexity in ecological communities

When single genes or alleles influence multiple, seemingly unrelated traits

Reduction in population growth rates, size, or occurrence across species ranges

Measurement of ¹⁴C content to distinguish between modern plant-derived and ancient shale-derived organic carbon sources

The hypothesis that relationships between egg and juvenile densities are linear when egg densities are constrained below values where eggs or hatching juveniles suffer density-dependent losses

Spatial variations in oxidation-reduction conditions within floodplain environments that can form within microsites, along textural transitions, or along the capillary fringe

The process by which rivers cut down into bedrock and lower their elevation over time

Systematic differences in detection or capture probability among species or groups due to sampling method

Chromosomes that determine sex, including different haplotypes in the sex-determining region

How male and female plants of dioecious species differ in their interactions with insects

Shift toward woody plant encroachment into nonwoody meadows and grasslands

Body size when organisms transition from growth to reproduction, with important consequences for lifetime reproductive success

Process by which melting snow penetrates soil and triggers changes in microbial activity and nutrient cycling

The degree to which an individual is integrated in their group based on the number of independent links to others in the group

Plot showing cumulative number of species discovered as a function of sampling effort, used to assess sampling completeness

The relative proportions of chemical elements in biological systems

The amount of water stored in soil and subsurface compartments that responds dynamically to hydrological inputs and outputs

The degree to which individuals in a population exhibit coordinated timing of nesting activity

Valley wind that develops due to differential heating between valley floor and surrounding slopes, typically flowing upslope during daytime

The study of the complete set of RNA transcripts produced by the genome under specific circumstances

Plasticity that occurs across generations where parental environmental effects influence offspring phenotype or fitness

Transfer of sensible and latent heat between surface and atmosphere via turbulent mixing