Selecting native species for restoration is often done without proper ecological background, particularly with regard to how native and invasive species interact. Here, we provide insights suggesting that such information may greatly enhance restoration success. The performance of the native vine, Pueraria lobata, and that of the invasive bitter vine, Mikania micrantha, were investigated in South China to test how priority effects (timing and rate of germination and seedling growth) and competition (phytochemical effects and competitive ability) impact invasive plant performance. We found that, in the absence of competition, the germination rate of M. micrantha, but not of P. lobata, was significantly affected by light availability. P. lobata seedlings also performed better than those of M. micrantha during early growth phases. Under competition, negative phytochemical effects of P. lobata on M. micrantha were strong and we found M. micrantha to have lower performance when grown with P. lobata compared to when grown by itself. Relative interaction indexes indicated that, under interspecific competition, P. lobata negatively affected (i.e., inhibited) M. micrantha, whereas M. micrantha positively affected (i.e., facilitated) P. lobata. Higher photosynthetic efficiency and soil nutrient utilization put P. lobata at a further advantage over M. micrantha. Field trails corroborated these experimental findings, showing little recruitment of M. micrantha in previously invaded and cleared field plots that were sown with P. lobata. Thus, P. lobata is a promising candidate for ecological restoration and for reducing impacts of M.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/mizagliflozin.html  micrantha in China. This research illustrates that careful species selection may improve restoration outcomes, a finding that may also apply to other invaded ecosystems and species.The gut microbiome of animals, which serves important functions but can also contain potential pathogens, is to varying degrees under host genetic control. This can generate signals of phylosymbiosis, whereby gut microbiome composition matches host phylogenetic structure. However, the genetic mechanisms that generate phylosymbiosis and the scale at which they act remain unclear. Two non-mutually exclusive hypotheses are that phylosymbiosis is driven by immunogenetic regions such as the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) controlling microbial composition, or by spatial structuring of neutral host genetic diversity via founder effects, genetic drift, or isolation by distance. Alternatively, associations between microbes and host phylogeny may be generated by their spatial autocorrelation across landscapes, rather than the direct effects of host genetics. In this study, we collected MHC, microsatellite, and gut microbiome data from separate individuals belonging to the Galápagos mockingbird species complex, which consists of four allopatrically distributed species. We applied multiple regression with distance matrices and Bayesian inference to test for correlations between average genetic and microbiome similarity across nine islands for which all three levels of data were available. Clustering of individuals by species was strongest when measured with microsatellite markers and weakest for gut microbiome distributions, with intermediate clustering of MHC allele frequencies. We found that while correlations between island-averaged gut microbiome composition and both microsatellite and MHC dissimilarity existed across species, these relationships were greatly weakened when accounting for geographic distance. Overall, our study finds little support for large-scale control of gut microbiome composition by neutral or adaptive genetic regions across closely related bird phylogenies, although this does not preclude the possibility that host genetics shapes gut microbiome at the individual level.Novel predator-prey interactions can contribute to the invasion success of non-native predators. For example, native prey can fail to recognize and avoid non-native predators due to a lack of co-evolutionary history and cue dissimilarity with native predators. This might result in a competitive advantage for non-native predators. Numerous lady beetle species were globally redistributed as biological control agents against aphids, resulting in novel predator-prey interactions. Here, we investigated the strength of avoidance behavior of the pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum) toward chemical cues of native lady beetles and non-native Asian Harmonia axyridis and European Coccinella septempunctata and Hippodamia variegata in North America, hypothesizing that cues of non-native lady beetles induce weaker avoidance behavior than cues of co-evolved native lady beetles. Additionally, we compared aphid consumption of lady beetles, examining potential predation advantages of non-native lady beetles. Finally, we compared cuvoidance behavior and might indicate evolution in aphids toward non-native predators.Birds, among various other taxa, construct nests. Nests form an extended phenotype of the individual building it. Nests are used to extend control over the conditions in which offspring develop, and are therefore commonly considered to be shaped by selection. Nevertheless, scarcely any scientific evidence exist that nest composition is under selection. Here, we demonstrate with data from over 400 blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) nests collected over 8 years that a higher proportion of feathers in the nest lining is positively associated with the probability of offspring to recruit as a breeding adult later in life. Strikingly, the extended phenotype (nest) was associated stronger with recruitment probability than phenotypic traits that have typically been considered important in selection (laying date, and female size and condition). Our findings suggest that the choice of nest material could be a maternal behavior with potential lifelong effects on her offspring.Among the parasites of insects, endoparasitoids impose a costly challenge to host defenses because they use their host's body for the development and maturation of their eggs or larvae, and ultimately kill the host. Tachinid flies are highly specialized acoustically orienting parasitoids, with first instar mobile larvae that burrow into the host's body to feed. We investigated the possibility that Teleogryllus oceanicus field crickets employ postinfestation strategies to maximize survival when infested with the larvae of the parasitoid fly Ormia ochracea. Using crickets from the Hawaiian Islands of Kauai, where the parasitoid is present, and crickets from the Cook Islands (Mangaia), where the parasitoid is absent, we evaluated fitness consequences of infestation by comparing feeding behavior, reproductive capacity, and survival of males experimentally infested with O. ochracea larvae. We also evaluated mechanisms underlying host responses by comparing gene expression in crickets infested with fly larvae for different lengths of time with that of uninfested control crickets.