Instruct: Identify the main category of Biorxiv papers based on the titles and abstracts
Query: Phylogenetic reconstruction of ancestral ecological networks through time for pierid butterflies and their host plants The study of herbivorous insects underpins much of the theory that concerns the evolution of species interactions. In particular, Pieridae butterflies and their host plants have served as a model system for studying evolutionary arms-races. To learn more about the coevolution of these two clades, we reconstructed ancestral ecological networks using stochastic mappings that were generated by a phylogenetic model of host-repertoire evolution. We then measured if, when, and how two ecologically important structural features of the ancestral networks (modularity and nestedness) evolved over time. Our study shows that as pierids gained new hosts and formed new modules, a subset of them retained or recolonized the ancestral host(s), preserving connectivity to the original modules. Together, host-range expansions and recolonizations promoted a phase transition in network structure. Our results demonstrate the power of combining network analysis with Bayesian inference of host-repertoire evolution to understand changes in complex species interactions over time.
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The categories of this paper are: plant
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The categories of this paper are: cognition
28
The categories of this paper are: communication
17
The categories of this paper are: molecular
8
The categories of this paper are: genomics
32
The categories of this paper are: zoology
25
The categories of this paper are: bioengineering
15
The categories of this paper are: developmental
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The categories of this paper are: systems
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The categories of this paper are: and
27
The categories of this paper are: pathology
21
The categories of this paper are: toxicology
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The categories of this paper are: ecology
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The categories of this paper are: behavior
26
The categories of this paper are: biochemistry
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The categories of this paper are: epidemiology