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As environments change, often drastically, due to human activities, dispersal-behavioral plasticity can become a key mediator of metapopulation connectivity and the interactions between an individual and its altered environment. Our goal was to investigate the traits and ecological processes that affect plastic dispersal responses within an insect-host system undergoing human-induced rapid evolutionary change (HIREC). Since the 1960s, populations of the red-shouldered soapberry bug from Florida, USA, originally feeding on the seeds of Cardiospermum corindum on the islands, quickly adapted to feeding on an invasive, ornamental tree, Koelreuteria elegans, on the mainland, which led to host-specific wing polyphenism. Here, we measured the morphology of >3,500 soapberry bugs field collected from 2013 to 2020 and the flight performance of 378 total soapberry bugs tested in a flight mill during Fall 2019 and Winter 2020. Flight tests showed females and mainland natives exhibited variable flight responses mediated by mass, while males were consistent, wing-dependent flyers. However, historical specimens showed annual rises in flightless morphs for males and dwindling wing-to-body sizes for island natives since 2013. Despite uncertain future fitness consequences, plasticity could help predict mobility character and agent dispersal behavior and ultimately help identify whether recent trends signal adjustment or maladaptation to HIREC.

Makerspaces have a high potential of enabling researchers to develop new techniques and work with novel species in ecological research. This protocol demonstrates how to take advantage of the technology increasingly found in makerspaces in order to build a more versatile flight mill for a relatively low cost. Since this flight mill and trial design initially extracts its prototype from flight mills built in the last decade, this protocol instead focuses more on outlining divergences made from the simple, modern flight mill. As already shown, previous studies have made known how advantageous flight mills are to measuring flight parameters such as speed, distance, or periodicity and to allowing researchers to associate these parameters with morphological, physiological, or genetic factors. In addition to these advantages, I discuss the benefits of using the technology in makerspaces like 3D printers and laser cutters in order to build a more flexible, sturdy, and collapsible flight mill design. Most notably, the 3D printed components of this design allow the user to adjust the mill arm and IR sensor heights to test insects of various sizes and enable the user to easily disassemble the machine for quick storage or transportation to the field. Moreover, I emphasize making greater use of magnets and magnetic paint to attach insects with minimal stress during flight trials. Lastly, this protocol details a versatile analysis of flight data by programming how to efficiently take and process continuous but differentiable flight trials. Although more labor-intensive, communallyshared makerspaces and free, online 3D modeling programs can help researchers avoid costly, pre-made products with narrowly adjustable dimensions. By taking advantage of the flexibility and reproducibility of technology in makerspaces, this protocol promotes creative flight mill design and inspires open science.

Fouquieria splendens is a stem-succulent native to the Chihuahuan, Mojave, and Sonoran Deserts that spans Mexico and the American Southwest. It is well-known for its variable morphology, the underlying reason for which remains incompletely understood. Here, we attempt to quantify the effect of topographic and interspecific factors on F. splendens morphology and distribution. To this end, we measured 27 ocotillos located in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument within the Sonoran Desert during June of 2019. We also quantified the spatial distribution of interspecific neighbors relative to F. splendens within two topographically different sites - a bajada gradient and a plain. Using ocotillo morphology, the distances to an ocotillo’s nearest neighbors, and hydrographic data extracted from the National Hydrography Dataset, we demonstrate 1.) the effect of major, desert, interspecific neighbors, like shrubs and cacti, on ocotillo morphology; 2.) the effect of elevation on intraspecific spacing as individuals compete for limited space; and 3.) a trade-off between height and number of branches. This places F. splendens morphology in its larger environmental and ecological context, highlighting the importance of individual traits and associated trade-offs among traits affected by topography and interspecific neighbors. By examining the ocotillo in a multi-species community and diverse landscape, this study provides empirical insight into a wider range of factors contributing to the variation in F. splendens morphology and spacing.