Biology subjects

Probst, C. M.

Publications and source records attributed to Probst, C. M..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Intraspecific trait variation shapes macro-scale patterns ofniche breadth and range size

Morphological variation within species may promote adaptation across ecological and geographic space, perhaps reflecting evolutionary plasticity and adaptability. Based on this concept, species with greater intraspecific variation in morphological traits may be expected to occupy broader ecological niches and larger geographic ranges. However, even in the age of global trait datasets, intraspecific morphological variation remains poorly quantified at broad taxonomic and geographic scales, limiting our understanding of how trait flexibility shapes ecological and biogeographic patterns. Focusing on 161 species of bulbuls, a widespread avian family containing some of the most abundant bird species in the world, along with some of the rarest and most restricted in range, we conducted global-scale sampling of morphological traits. These included beak shape, tarsus length and wing length, associated with dietary niche, foraging strategy and dispersal, respectively. Using phylogenetic models, we tested whether ecological niche breadth and geographical range size are predicted by intraspecific morphological variation quantified from 8,251 museum specimens and 5,627 live captures. Our results demonstrate that morphological trait variation predicts both ecological niche breadth and geographic range size. Furthermore, widespread species exhibit greater morphological variation than restricted-range species even when comparisons are constrained to equivalent geographic extents, consistent with the hypothesis that intraspecific trait variation facilitates range expansion rather than simply accumulating as a consequence of occupying a larger range. These results identify intraspecific morphological variation as a potentially important, yet largely overlooked, predictor of ecological traits and biogeographic distributions in birds.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2026

Large language models unlock the ecology of species interactions

Species interactions shape population dynamics, geographic distributions, evolutionary trajectories, and responses to environmental change. Yet data on these interactions remain scarce across broad spatial, temporal, and taxonomic scales because they are difficult to collect in the field. One promising source of interaction data is citizen science platforms, which contain billions of biodiversity observations, often accompanied by unstructured text comments that may document interactions among organisms. Advances in large language models (LLMs) make it increasingly feasible to identify, extract, and categorize biotic interactions from these unstructured data at scale. Here, we present an LLM workflow that collects species interaction observations from multilingual citizen science comments. Using two case studies--bird-bird and plant-pollinator interactions--we show that LLMs can rapidly extract interaction types and participating species with high accuracy. These data can greatly expand the spatial, temporal, and taxonomic coverage and resolution of species interactions data, enable new tests of long-standing ecological questions, and improve our ability to track ecological changes. With appropriate validation, expert review, and attention to data privacy for both users and sensitive species, this approach opens new opportunities to characterize, forecast, and conserve biodiversity under global change.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2024

Skeletal trait measurements for thousands of bird species

Large comparative datasets of avian functional traits have been used to address a wide range of questions in ecology and evolution. To date, this work has been constrained by the limited availability of skeletal trait datasets that include extensive inter- and intra-specific sampling. We use computer vision to identify and measure bones from photographs of museum skeletal specimens to assemble an extensive dataset of functionally important skeletal elements in birds. The dataset spans 2,057 species of birds (Aves: Passeriformes) and includes measurements of 12 skeletal elements from 14,419 individuals. In addition to the trait values directly measured from photographs, we leverage the multi-dimensional nature of our dataset and known phylogenetic relationships of the species to impute missing data under an evolutionary model. To facilitate use of the dataset, the taxonomy has been reconciled with an existing comprehensive avian phylogeny and an additional dataset of external functional traits for all birds.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2019

A LAMP at the end of the tunnel: a rapid, field deployable assay for the kauri dieback pathogen, Phytophthora agathidicida

The collar rot causing oomycete, Phytophthora agathidicida, threatens the long-term survival of the iconic New Zealand kauri. Currently, testing for this pathogen involves an extended soil bioassay that takes 14-20 days and requires specialised staff, consumables, and infrastructure. Here we describe a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for the detection of P. agathidicida that targets a portion of the mitochondrial apocytochrome b coding sequence. This assay has high specificity and sensitivity; it did not cross react with a range of other Phytophthora isolates and detected as little as 1 fg of total P. agathidicida DNA or 116 copies of the target locus. Assay performance was further investigated by testing plant tissue baits from flooded soil samples using both the extended bioassay and LAMP testing of DNA extracted from baits. In these comparisons, P. agathidicida was detected more frequently using the LAMP assay. In addition to greater sensitivity, by removing the need for culturing, the hybrid baiting plus LAMP approach is more cost effective than the bioassay and, importantly, does not require a centralised laboratory facility with specialised staff, consumables, and equipment. Such testing will allow us to address outstanding questions about P. agathidicida. For example, the hybrid approach could enable monitoring of the pathogen beyond areas with visible disease symptoms, allow direct evaluation of rates and patterns of spread, and allow the effectiveness of disease control to be evaluated. The hybrid assay also has the potential to empower local communities. These communities could use this diagnostic tool to evaluate the pathogen status of local kauri stands, providing information around which to base their management and allowing informed engagement with wider initiatives.

microbiology↗