Nova Reader - Subject

The mysterious ecosystem at the ocean’s surface

2021-04-28T00:00

Life on the ocean’s surface connects worlds. From shallow waters to the deep sea, the open ocean to rivers and lakes, numerous terrestrial and marine species depend on the surface ecosystem and the organisms found therein. Organisms that live freely at the surface, termed “neuston,” include keystone organisms like the golden seaweed Sargassum that makes up the Sargasso Sea, floating barnacles, snails, nudibranchs, and cnidarians. Many ecologically and economically important fish species live as or rely upon neuston. Species at the surface are not distributed uniformly; the ocean’s surface harbors unique neustonic communities and ecoregions found at only certain latitudes and only in specific ocean basins. But the surface is also on the front line of climate change and pollution. Despite the diversity and importance of the ocean’s surface in connecting disparate habitats, and the risks it faces, we know very little about neustonic life. This Essay will introduce you to the neuston, their connections to diverse habitats, the threats they face, and new opportunities for research and discovery at the air-sea interface.

The mysterious ’neuston’ ecosystem at the ocean’s surface includes keystone organisms like the golden seaweed Sargassum that makes up the Sargasso Sea, floating barnacles, snails, nudibranchs, and cnidarians; this Essay explores threats to its wellbeing and the importance of further research.

Human protection drives the emergence of a new coping style in animals

2021-04-06T00:00

Wild animals face novel environmental threats from human activities that may occur along a gradient of interactions with humans. Recent work has shown that merely living close to humans has major implications for a variety of antipredator traits and physiological responses. Here, we hypothesize that when human presence protects prey from their genuine predators (as sometimes seen in urban areas and at some tourist sites), this predator shield, followed by a process of habituation to humans, decouples commonly associated traits related to coping styles, which results in a new range of phenotypes. Such individuals are characterized by low aggressiveness and physiological stress responses, but have enhanced behavioral plasticity, boldness, and cognitive abilities. We refer to these individuals as “preactive,” because their physiological and behavioral coping style falls outside the classical proactive/reactive coping styles. While there is some support for this new coping style, formal multivariate studies are required to investigate behavioral and physiological responses to anthropogenic activities.

This Essay hypothesizes that when human presence protects wild animals from their natural predators, this predator shield decouples commonly associated traits, resulting in a new range of coping phenotypes, dubbed “preactive.”

How accurately can we assess zoonotic risk?

2021-04-20T00:00

Identifying the animal reservoirs from which zoonotic viruses will likely emerge is central to understanding the determinants of disease emergence. Accordingly, there has been an increase in studies attempting zoonotic “risk assessment.” Herein, we demonstrate that the virological data on which these analyses are conducted are incomplete, biased, and rapidly changing with ongoing virus discovery. Together, these shortcomings suggest that attempts to assess zoonotic risk using available virological data are likely to be inaccurate and largely only identify those host taxa that have been studied most extensively. We suggest that virus surveillance at the human–animal interface may be more productive.

Determining which organisms harbour viruses that could potentially infect humans is of great topical interest. This Essay demonstrates that the data on which such zoonotic risk assessments are conducted are incomplete, biased, and rapidly changing with ongoing virus discovery.

Rebuild the Academy: Supporting academic mothers during COVID-19 and beyond

2021-03-09T00:00

The issues facing academic mothers have been discussed for decades. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is further exposing these inequalities as womxn scientists who are parenting while also engaging in a combination of academic related duties are falling behind. These inequities can be solved by investing strategically in solutions. Here we describe strategies that would ensure a more equitable academy for working mothers now and in the future. While the data are clear that mothers are being disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, many groups could benefit from these strategies. Rather than rebuilding what we once knew, let us be the architects of a new world.

The COVID-19 pandemic is highlighting the many long-standing inequalities that academic mothers face. This Essay describes solutions for a more equitable academia, now and in the future, maintaining that rather than rebuilding what we once knew, we should be the architects of a new world.

Anti-science kills: From Soviet embrace of pseudoscience to accelerated attacks on US biomedicine

2021-01-28T00:00

The United States witnessed an unprecedented politicization of biomedical science starting in 2015 that has exploded into a complex, multimodal anti-science empire operating through mass media, political elections, legislation, and even health systems. Anti-science activities now pervade the daily lives of many Americans, and threaten to infect other parts of the world. We can attribute the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans from COVID-19, measles, and other vaccine-preventable diseases to anti-science. The acceleration of anti-science activities demands not only new responses and approaches but also international coordination. Vaccines and other biomedical advances will not be sufficient to halt COVID-19 or future potentially catastrophic illnesses, unless we simultaneously counter anti-science aggression.

This Essay argues that COVID-19 exposed how a rising tide of anti-science rhetoric and activities can dramatically exploit society's vulnerabilities to an infectious disease, suggesting that anti-science extremism has become as big a threat as the virus itself.

The evolution of group differences in changing environments

2021-01-25T00:00

The selection pressures that have shaped the evolution of complex traits in humans remain largely unknown, and in some contexts highly contentious, perhaps above all where they concern mean trait differences among groups. To date, the discussion has focused on whether such group differences have any genetic basis, and if so, whether they are without fitness consequences and arose via random genetic drift, or whether they were driven by selection for different trait optima in different environments. Here, we highlight a plausible alternative: that many complex traits evolve under stabilizing selection in the face of shifting environmental effects. Under this scenario, there will be rapid evolution at the loci that contribute to trait variation, even when the trait optimum remains the same. These considerations underscore the strong assumptions about environmental effects that are required in ascribing trait differences among groups to genetic differences.

This Essay discusses how complex traits may evolve under selection to maintain trait values in the face of changing environments; this scenario has implications for interpreting genetic differences between groups and signals of adaptation.