Biodiversity science is a growing field that faces an array of complex problems currently affecting human well-being globally, which may benefit from greater interdisciplinarity. However, there is not yet compelling evidence showing whether biodiversity science has become more interdisciplinary. Using a large database of published literature, we show that literature within biodiversity science has become more conceptually homogeneous over the last two decades by drawing upon increasingly similar scientific ideas and concepts. Surprisingly, we find that, on average, interdisciplinarity in biodiversity science is stable or declining over time, in contrast to more well-established disciplines such as physics, mathematics, or medicine.

Cophylogeny is the congruence of phylogenetic relationships between two different groups of organisms due to their long-term interaction. We investigated the use of tree shape distance measures to quantify the degree of cophylogeny.

The iron-supply function of mangrove ecosystems to coastal sea: This paper indicated that iron solubilization in mangrove sediments will be promoted by interaction among (a) iron in the sediment, (b) phenolic compounds derived from mangroves, and (c) the consumption of leaves and deposition of feces by snails.

This study documents the multi-decadal changes in the phenology and the area of the extensive coastal marshes in Louisiana, USA, a representative of coastal ecosystems around the world that currently experiencing sea-level rise, temperature warming, and atmospheric CO₂ increase. We find that the length of the growing seasons of the intermediate and brackish marshes increased concomitantly with the atmospheric CO₂ concentration over the last 30 years and predict that such changes will continue and accelerate in the future. The phenological changes of the marshes suggest a potential increase in CO₂ uptake and thus a negative feedback mechanism to climate change, but the area decrease suggests ecosystem instability and carbon storage loss under the anticipated sea-level rise. The marshes' phenological shifts portend their potentially critical role in climate mitigation, and the different responses among systems shed light on the underlying mechanisms of such changes.

We tested the association of 2.8 million whole exome-based single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with climate and geographic variables, including temperature, precipitation, latitude, longitude, and elevation data. Using an integrative landscape genomics approach by combining multiple environmental association and outlier detection analyses, we identified 611 SNPs associated with 56 climate and geographic variables. Our study promotes understanding of the genetic basis of local adaptation in loblolly pine and provides promising tools for selecting genotypes adapted to local environments in a changing climate.

Multiple species of lizards on lava flows in the southwestern United States display local adaptation for crypsis on the black basalt lava rocks. Using replicated species and populations, we investigated whether lava flow lizards were significantly darker than surrounded populations and whether the phenotypic differentiation was accompanied by genome-wide differentiation. Despite literature claiming that genome-wide differentiation should be common with local adaptation to environmental differences, we found no evidence for genome-wide differentiation regardless of levels of phenotypic differentiation and find evidence for ongoing migration between lava flow and nonlava flow populations.

We detected 11 amino acid sites that are under positive selection in the mitogenome of the woolly mammoth, where amino acid substitutions may influence the performance of protein–protein binding and regulation of cellular energy metabolism. These findings imply adaptive evolution of woolly mammoths' mitogenome to cope with extreme environments.

This is the first study that developed species distribution models and estimated current and future potential distributions of the forest undergrowth Dracaena species. D. afromontana, naturally associated with mountainous plant communities, turned out to be the most sensitive to predicted climate warming. Contrastingly, D. surculosa was predicted to extend its geographical range, regardless of the climate change scenario.

The spatial distribution of cytological races and intraspecific variation in the karyotype of Lycoris radiata, an endemic species to East Asia, is investigated. Of 114 populations studied, 52 (45.61%), 58 (50.88%), and 4 (3.51%) are diploid, triploid, and mixoploid populations, respectively, with 1224, 1195, and 1 individuals being diploid, triploid, and tetraploid, respectively. The triploid possesses a much wider distribution range than the diploid, with the former occupying almost the entire range of this complex species in East Asia and the latter distributing in the middle and east regions of China.

Our study reveals a plant defense hierarchy with resistance genes on top, followed by pathogen competition, and finally pathogen antagonism by endophytes. We expect these rules will help to explain the variation in pathogen antagonism that is currently attributed to context dependency.

Metagenomic and geochemical analyses indicate that distance from the East River and proximity to groundwater and underlying weathered shale strongly impact microbial community structure and metabolic potential. Bacteria from phyla lacking isolated representatives consistently increase in abundance with increasing depth, but only in the riparian zone saturated sediments did we find Candidate Phyla Radiation bacteria. Riparian zone microbial communities are functionally differentiated from hillslope communities based on their capacities for carbon and nitrogen fixation and sulfate reduction. Selenium reduction is prominent at depth in weathered shale and saturated riparian zone sediments and could impact water quality.

This paper provides a detailed description the population structure of Atlantic salmon in Norway and Russia, and highlights the genetic divide between the two main lineages observed.

This study aims to determine the difference in leaf functional traits among four forest types of Pinus massoniana coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forests by leaf morphological, nutrients, and stoichiometric traits in the subtropical mountain, Southeastern China.

Base genome and initial design parameters are found to greatly affect UCE probe set design. In order to design an optimized probe set with the largest number of probes with the longest lengths, base genome experiments should be conducted or the taxon with the smallest average genetic distance from all other taxa of interest should be selected to serve as the base genome. Probe design should then proceed with less stringent initial design parameters, targeting loci share between the base genome and as few as one other taxon.

We investigate the effect of biodiversity on the local thermal properties of the community in a microcosm experiment. We find an hitherto undescribed (indirect) effect of community diversity on local thermal environments that warrants further investigation.

Leaf morphology is highly variable both within and between plant species. In this work, we ask whether leaf shape in Senecio lautus has evolved as an adaptive response to natural selection divergent between divergent ecological conditions.

The candidate PsHSP70/110 family genes were identified and analyzed in Pelodiscus sinensis. PsHSPA1B-L, PsHSPA2, and PsHSPA8 were significantly upregulated in Pelodiscus sinensis testis along with seasonal spermatogenesis and germ cell apoptosis. PsHSPA1B-L, PsHSPA2, and PsHSPA8 play the potential roles in inhibiting apoptosis of germ cells in Pelodiscus sinensis.

Genetic diversity is crucial for populations to adapt to changing environments and is thus an important indicator for conservation. Our study compares adaptive genetic diversity of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and neutral genetic diversity two contrasting bottlenose dolphin populations that greatly differ with respect to population viability. The results suggest that population viability is better reflected by MHC diversity than by neutral genetic diversity.

Sequence analysis of four housekeeping and two symbiosis genes showed that bacterial isolates from root-nodules of invasive Galega officinalis plants at five Canadian sites were identical to strains of Neorhizobium galegae sv. officinalis originating either from Europe or the Caucuses. Collectively our data support the hypothesis of anthropogenic co-introduction of G. officinalis and its specific bacterial symbiont into Canada from the Old World.

Arboreality is surprisingly common across the family of lungless salamanders, yet it remains unclear how arboreality has influenced the macroevolution of microhabitat use and morphology. We found several independent transitions to arboreality solely from terrestrial ancestors, nearly 60 reversions to terrestrial life from arboreality, decreased rate of morphological evolution, and evidence of convergence of general body proportions and foot shape across arboreal species.

Many threatened species are managed under captive breeding programs that need precise genetic data, critical to guide breeding schemes and manage restocking efforts. In this study, we present a novel set of SNP markers for the critically endangered Acipenser sturio as well as a detailed comparison of the effectiveness of these SNPs with microsatellite markers in respect to parentage assignment, and for relatedness and inbreeding estimations. These last parameters are crucial to optimize conservation strategies, especially in such genetically depleted populations composed of highly related individuals.

Fragmentation in species distribution is often associated with reduced population sizes and loss of genetic connectivity and diversity (i.e., genetic erosion) which may further diminish a species' ability to respond to changing environmental conditions and lead to local population extinctions. We studied threatened boreal caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) populations to assess changes in genetic diversity and connectivity in areas presenting different levels of anthropogenic activities. Our results point to significant genetic erosion along the southern limit of the contiguous distribution of the species in central Canada suggesting ongoing range retraction.

Droughts are becoming increasingly frequent and severe with climate change. However, evaluating how animals respond to drought is experimentally impossible, such that observational studies are key to understanding animal drought responses. Here, we present a rare opportunistic study of savanna herbivore responses to severe drought, with manifold implications for their conservation.

We investigate the selective pattern and genetic relationships among a cultivated variety of ramie (BNZ: B. nivea, ZZ1) and four wild species, BNT (B. nivea var. tenacissima), BNN (B. nivea var. nipononivea), BNW (B. nivea var. nivea), and BAN (B. nivea var. viridula), in the section Tilocnide. The phylogenetic tree showed that the cultivar BNZ clusters with BAN in one group, BNW is closely related to BNT, and BNN forms a separate group. Comparative transcriptomics indicates that domestication has resulted in the up-regulation of many genes involved in the abiotic and biotic stress responses, fiber yield, and plant growth of ramie.

A major assumption of life-history theory is that reproduction should lead to mortality and/or fertility costs. We manipulated reproductive effort experimentally in the precocial cavy (Cavia aperea). Our results show small costs of reproduction despite high RE and indicate clear senescence effects. Under ad libitum conditions expression of reproductive costs appear to depend largely on internal regulation of allocation decisions.

This is the first broad comparative study of phenotypic variation in small mammals along elevational gradients, integrating a large array of ecological predictors and disentangling population genetic driver processes. Our findings highlight the strong and multifaceted effects of heterogeneous steep habitats and divergent selective forces in small mammal populations, shaping both the phenotype and genotype of phylogenetically and ecologically distinct species.

We document evolutionary stasis in a wild Atlantic salmon population and explore potential reasons for this observation.

According to CO₂ concentration (ambient, 400 ppm and high, 800 ppm) and Wolbachia status (Wolbachia-infected, W⁺ and Wolbachia-uninfected, W⁻), we divided Hylyphantes graminicola into four treatments: W⁻ 400, W⁻ 800, W⁺ 400, and W⁺ 800. The total survival rate, developmental duration, carapace width and length, body weight, sex ratio, net reproductive rate, nutrition content, and enzyme activity in H. graminicola were examined.

We report observations of short-term impacts of Hurricane Michael, which impacted the Gulf Coast of the southeastern USA in October 2018. Storm surge from the hurricane inundated wetlands used for breeding by the federally threatened frosted flatwoods salamander and, although live adults were found after the storm, the long-term demographic consequences of this event are not known. The vulnerability of this imperiled species at the impacted site provides a basis for prioritizing the development of climate adaptation strategies that address the threat of hurricanes to imperiled species.

We examined the combined effects of landscape complexity and stand factors on poplar arthropod communities. We found that the proportion of nonhost plants and habitat diversity negatively influence poplar defoliators at the scale of 200 m, but they have no effects on predators. In contrast, the abundance and diversity of predators increase with increasing landscape connectivity of forest landscapes at the scale of 300 m, but defoliators have no significant response to it. Additionally, defoliators are positively correlated with the average height of herbaceous plants and size of host trees, but most predators were solely explained by the distance from sampling site to the nearest village.

This study uses a novel substrate-limited approach to identify the ion transport proteins involved in larval calcification, in the Baltic blue mussel, Mytilus edulis.

We studied fitness consequences of multiscale habitat selection by two avian species in agriculturally fragmented landscapes to test habitat selection theory which states that animals should be able to choose the best habitat when presented with habitats of heterogeneous quality. Generally, we found selection matched fitness consequences at finer scales for both species and one species at the landscape scale.

We investigated the 9-year change observed in a mixed conifer-hardwood Atlantic forest mosaic that included both mature and selectively logged forest patches in subtropical South America. Floristic composition differed between logging history categories, but did not change throughout the 9 studied years. Forest dynamics responded to local climate change differently depending on logging history.

Female ptarmigan studied in Colorado's alpine raised fewer chicks to fledgling age when they hatched at sub-optimal times relative to the availability of seasonal foods, providing evidence that alpine ptarmigan populations may be susceptible to phenological mismatch. These findings have important implications for avian species occurring in highly seasonal environments given that their growing seasons are short and allow limited opportunities for multiple breeding attempts.

Sky-island populations, rarely studied, provide the opportunity to determine how mule deer respond to greening foliage along steep elevation and vegetation gradients when trapped with their predators and seasonally limited by aridity. We use novel methodology to ascertain these responses. Our findings indicate that fear of predation restricts access to the forage resources found in sky islands.

This study aims to examine the seasonal variations in food resource partitioning among four gudgeon species sympatric in the upper Yangtze River. High degrees of diet overlap among the examined species were observed due to their common utilization on the same food resources, especially in spring. However, changes in feeding strategies were observed in autumn.

Selection for resistance or susceptibility to host manipulation alters host behaviour. These alterations are consistent with changes in base line behaviour rather than actual host manipulation. Such changes in baseline behaviour to accommodate host manipulation could nevertheless be adaptive.

Scoters are migratory species that nest in remote regions of the Arctic, experienced population declines, have unknown levels of dispersal, and are game species. Although scoter populations appear to be panmictic, a small percentage (<4%) of ddRAD loci had elevated divergence which may be useful to in linking areas throughout the annual cycle.

This study investigated the genetic diversity and structure among populations of P. cernua, one of the continental-grassland relicts, by analyzing microsatellites of nuclear DNA and chloroplast DNA. The microsatellite and cpDNA haplotype analyses indicate that the present fragmentation of P. cernua in Japan may reflect a rapid, recent reduction from a previously large, continuous distribution.

Human–wildlife conflict (HWC) in the Wolong Nature Reserve in China has increased rapidly in recent years due to effective biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration policies. Local natural resource managers and national-level policies have focused on endangered wildlife and the damage these species incur, but have ignored the sizable increases in common wildlife and the subsequent effects on the local community. Regulations outlining compensation based on actual damages incurred rather than the species of wildlife causing the damage should be promptly established in the Wolong Nature Reserve and more broadly throughout China.

Evidence of biotic and abiotic limitations was found for Syagrus weddelliana initial establishment. This limitation acts in a microhabitat scale. Seedlings and adults have different abiotic requirements.

Major genetic differentiations of Cricetulus kamensis occurred in the late Pliocene. Cricetulus kamensis populations were restricted into two major clades due to tectonic movement of QTP and the Last Glacial Maximum.

We analyzed arthropod community in a long-term crop rotation experiment. Crop identity and preceding crops strongly influenced community composition. Diversified crop rotations can enhance arthropod activity density in intensively used agroecosystems.

We compiled data on oribatid mite communities from different habitats across biomes. Based on the compiled dataset, we analyzed if the percentage of parthenogenetic species and the percentage of individuals of parthenogenetic species are related to total oribatid mite density, species number, and potentially other driving factors of the reproductive mode including altitude and latitude. Overall, the data showed that low density of oribatid mites due to harsh environmental conditions is associated with high frequency of parthenogenesis supporting predictions of the Structured Resource Theory of Sex rather than the Red Queen hypothesis.

Our study includes thorough and relatively uniform sampling of populations of five widespread western Amazonian tree species across a wide geographic area covering most of western Amazonia. As such, it is the first comparative phylogeographic study of the trees of western Amazonia, which houses the world's most species-rich forests. By using plastid and nuclear markers sampled in 34 locations across Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, we studied the geographic patterns of genetic differentiation to test for shared impact of past climatic and geological events. We did not find spatially congruent phylogeographic breaks across species suggesting no common biogeographic history of these Amazonian tree species. The idiosyncratic phylogeographic patterns of species could be due instead to species-specific responses to geological and climatic changes. Population genetic patterns were similar among species with similar biological features, indicating that the ecological characteristics of species impact large-scale phylogeography.

We reviewed approaches to benthic assessments across marine biogenic habitats and identified common themes related to indicator selection, sampling methods, and survey design. We then proposed a systematic, iterative process for establishing a monitoring program for data-limited biogenic habitats and illustrated its application using glass sponge reefs as a case study.

Bromeliads have been widely used as a model system for testing fundamental ecological theory; nevertheless, their benefits to the surrounding ecosystems and human society have been largely overlooked. Using a systematic review, we showed that while the publication of studies about supporting ecosystem services have accelerated over the last 30 years, little attention has been payed to provisioning, regulating, and cultural services provided by bromeliads.