
Ayumi MizunoUniversity of Alberta | UAlberta · Faculty of Science
Ayumi Mizuno
Doctor of Life Science
About
20
Publications
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14
Citations
Introduction
Additional affiliations
April 2023 - April 2025
Education
April 2020 - March 2023
April 2018 - March 2020
April 2014 - March 2018
Publications
Publications (20)
Phylogenetic comparative methods (PCMs) are fundamental tools for understanding trait evolution across species. While linear models are widely used for continuous traits in ecology and evolution, their application to discrete traits - particularly ordinal and nominal traits - remains limited. Researchers sometimes recategorise such traits into bina...
Publishing preprints is quickly becoming commonplace in ecology and evolutionary biology. Preprints can facilitate the rapid sharing of scientific knowledge establishing precedence and enabling feedback from the research community before peer review. Yet, significant barriers to preprint use exist, including language barriers, a lack of understandi...
Meta-analyses, embedded in systematic reviews, are pivotal in today's scientific landscape for reconciling conflicting findings, increasing statistical power, and charting new research directions. However, poor reporting practices that conceal technical details and potential limitations often need to be revised to maintain their reliability. Despit...
Eyespot patterns have evolved in many prey species. These patterns were traditionally explained by the eye mimicry hypothesis, which proposes that eyespots resembling vertebrate eyes function as predator avoidance. However, it is possible that eyespots do not mimic eyes: according to the conspicuousness hypothesis, eyespots are just one form of viv...
Why have conspicuous characteristics evolved? Our augmented meta-meta-analysis of 41 meta-analyses, encompassing 375 animal species and 7,428 individual effect sizes, shows that the conspicuousness of (putative) sexual signals is positively related to attractiveness and benefits to mates, as well as to the fitness, condition, and other traits (e.g....
Meta-analyses are powerful synthesis tools that are popular in ecology and evolution due to the rapidly growing literature of this field. Although the usefulness of meta-analyses depends on their reliability, such as the precision of individual and mean effect sizes, attempts to reproduce meta-analyses’ results remain rare in ecology and evolution....
Learned societies, as professional bodies for scientists, are an integral part of the scientific system. However, their membership fees have the potential to be prohibitive to the most vulnerable members of the scientific community. To shed light on how membership fees are structured, we conducted a survey of 182 international learned societies rel...
Eyespot patterns have evolved in many prey species. These patterns were traditionally explained by the eye mimicry hypothesis, which proposes that eyespots resembling vertebrate eyes function as predator avoidance. However, it is possible that eyespots are not the mimicry of eyes: according to the conspicuousness hypothesis, eyespots are just one f...
In a growing digital landscape, enhancing the discoverability and resonance of scientific articles is essential. Here, we offer 10 recommendations to amplify the discoverability of studies in search engines and databases. Particularly, we argue that the strategic use and placement of key terms in the title, abstract and keyword sections can boost i...
Eyespot patterns have evolved in many prey species. These patterns were traditionally explained by the eye mimicry hypothesis, which proposes that eyespots resembling vertebrate eyes function as predator avoidance. However, it is possible that eyespots are not the mimicry of eyes: according to the conspicuousness hypothesis, eyespots are just one f...
Eyespot patterns have evolved in many prey species. These patterns were traditionally explained by the eye mimicry hypothesis, which proposes that eyespots resembling vertebrate eyes function as predator avoidance. However, it is possible that eyespots are not the mimicry of eyes: according to the conspicuousness hypothesis, eyespots are just one f...
Here, we explore the first preprints uploaded to EcoEvoRxiv to characterise preprint practices in ecology and evolution. We aim to understand: 1) in what countries authors who use EcoEvoRxiv are located; 2) the taxonomic diversity of study systems across preprints; 3) whether preprint server use depends on career stage and gender; 4) the extent to...
Eyespot patterns have evolved in many prey species. These patterns were traditionally explained by the eye mimicry hypothesis, which proposes that eyespots resembling vertebrate eyes function as predator avoidance. However, it is possible that eyespots are not the mimicry of eyes: according to the conspicuousness hypothesis, eyespots are just one f...
The diverse characteristics of animal signal designs can be explained by the sensory bias hypothesis, which suggests that natural selection shapes sensory bias and preferences associated with signal design. Traditionally, this hypothesis has focused on female sensory biases and male sexual traits. However, considering shared sensory systems between...
In a growing digital landscape, enhancing the discoverability and resonance of scientific articles is essential. Here, we offer ten recommendations to amplify the discoverability of studies in scientific databases. Particularly, we argue that the strategic use and placement of key terms in the title, abstract, and keyword sections can boost indexin...
Many animals have polka dot patterns on their body surface, some of which are known to have signalling functions; however, their evolutionary origins remain unclear. Dot patterns can trigger a fear response (trypophobia) in humans and are known to function as aposematic signals in non-human animals, suggesting that dots may deserve attention for bi...
Conspicuous colour patterns of animals, such as dots or stripes, can function as sexual and/or social signals. Their evolution is often explained by honest indicator mechanisms or the sensory exploitation hypothesis. In birds, however, the latter scenario has been scarcely tested. According to the sensory exploitation hypothesis, prey-like colour p...
The Large-billed Crow is a common and widespread species throughout Japan. However, its life history, behavior and cognition are not well described. In this study, we focused on the species food storing behavior, specifically whether it exhibits characteristic preferences for food cache sites. We found that the crows preferred to store food in the...