Mating preference for conspecifics is fundamental to species diversity maintenance in sexually reproducing organisms. Previous comparative analyses suggest that geography plays a key role in such preferences. Our comparison of sympatric and allopatric species of darters (genus Etheostoma) revealed that the link between assortative mating and geography is not as straightforward as might be predicted from hypotheses of reinforcement, and the link between assortative mating and sex is not as straightforward as classical interpretations of sexual selection might suggest.

This study aims to understand the potential impacts of marine heatwaves now and in the future on Arctic kelp ecosystems by simulating scenarios projected for the year 2100. Our findings reveal that both marine heatwave treatments significantly reduced net community production. Notably, the long marine heatwave scenario had a more severe impact on accumulated net production compared with the two short-term heatwaves.

Drone flight pattern most influenced the count accuracy of a mobile animal. Large image overlaps frequently produced multiple counts of a moving animal. We recommend reducing overlap to increase the accuracy of drone surveys of mobile animals.

Ectomycorrhizal fungi play essential roles in nitrogen cycling and plant nutrient uptake at high latitudes. However, they have disproportionately been studied in boreal forests dominated by evergreen conifers. We characterized ectomycorrhizal associations and the nitrogen economy of co-occurring deciduous and evergreen angiosperms from the genus Nothofagus across fertility gradients in Patagonia. Our findings illustrate the diversity of nitrogen acquisition strategies of ECM fungi in these forests that do not always reflect northern hemisphere paradigms.

We present the results of 31 years of monitoring data for a greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) population in NW Italy. We investigated whether annual fluctuations in bat counts are influenced by common cockchafer availability and weather conditions. Our results underscore the importance of considering predator–prey dynamics when examining the long-term population trends of species of conservation concern.

Approximately 150 years of research on freshwater jellyfish globally have resulted in a considerable amount of information. However, this is not comprehensively available to most researchers worldwide. Scattered information allows only for a fragmented view of the research field, which mediated by climate change received increasing importance. Trends, patterns, recent developments and urgent research needs are critically reviewed.

Understanding complex datasets efficiently and easily using visualization tools is useful for quick decision-making. The proposed interactive tool is designed to study the data structure, summary, correlations, and sampling efficiency. It also helps to understand the ecosystem structure, species richness patterns, and species–environment relationships. The R-codes used in this tool are reproducible for datasets of multiple ecosystems. The tool could help planning for conservation be more meaningful and easy.

Male Urosaurus ornatus morphs differ in behavioural and thermal traits. Territorial males are bolder, more exploratory, and prefer higher body temperatures compared to males that do not hold territory.

The nutritional health of stranded common dolphins in the Celtic Seas ecoregion has recently declined, as evidenced by a decrease in nutritional status and an increase in starvation-related deaths. Ventral blubber thickness was identified as the most reliable predictor of nutritional status when comparing various morphometric indices using ordinal regression tree analysis. We recommend using ventral blubber thickness while considering body length and seasonal variations to monitor the health of these dolphins and to inform conservation strategies.

The definition of pelagic habitats and ecological niches is a critical prerequisite for the successful management of the marine ecosystem. Here we propose a fully automatic method to monitor and quantify pelagic habitats in the southern North Sea based on physical and biological data alike.

Land-mark based geomorphometric wing analysis of Glossina morsitans populations in Zambia shows that this tsetse exhibit significant population-level variation in fly size and wing shape suggesting high levels of population structuring. The main drivers of this structuring could be random genetic drift and local adaptation to environmental conditions.

In this manuscript, we investigate color variances between aposematic and cryptic color morphs of two Oophaga species and under the visual system of three different predators. No significant variations was observed in color and luminance contrasts between species.

Staminodes of Parnassia wightiana acting as false nectaries attract both pollinators and florivorous beetles, and subsequently influence plant reproductive success.

Mangroves provide critical habitats for marine species, particularly snails. Using the MaxEnt model and 667 occurrence records from GBIF, we predicted suitable habitat for Cerithidea rhizophorarum and Telescopium telescopium in the Indo-West Pacific. Temperature, contributing over 80%, was the key factor in both present and future models, with suitable habitats shrinking by 2100 due to global warming, highlighting the vulnerability of these species under future climate conditions.

This paper focuses on the Wuzhumuqin–Wendurhan Sample Strip, a typical grassland on the Mongolian Plateau, and explores the structural characteristics, species diversity, and stability of plant communities in response to different grazing practices, which is relevant to the scope of the journal's theme.

We tested the effects of soil-mediated, field-realistic exposure to cyantraniliprole on bumble bee queen hibernation success. We measured survival, body weight change and abdominal fat content of queens and found that none of these responses were affected by the chemical exposure. Our study may help in developing a standardised method to test the effects of the soil-mediated pesticide exposure route in bumble bee queens.

Habitat selection is a critical aspect of a species' ecology requiring complex decision-making that is both hierarchical and scale-dependent, since factors that influence selection may be nested or unequal across scales. This study investigates how risky features at different spatial and temporal scales influence species' decision making surrounding life history characteristics. It provides insight into the complexity of making informed decisions in which an individual is responding to their immediate environment while simultaneously making decisions in context of the larger landscape. Scale-dependent behavior is crucial to understand within specific geographic regions as these decisions scale up to influence population dynamics.

Characterization of the reproductive strategy of round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) in the Upper Danube over 1.5 years revealed the interrelations of temperature, discharge and photoperiod with gonadosomatic index and spawning. Differences in sex ratios found between sampling months as well as differences in size-dependent reproductive investments among sexes can be explained by the nest-guarding behavior of males. The great plasticity of reproductive and other life history traits across the distribution range of round goby likely explain the invasion success at different environmental conditions.

Phylogenetic relationship of Tamarix.

This study conducts codon-based analyses of the PPARGC1A gene across 38 vertebrate species, revealing distinct patterns of evolutionary change. Positive selection pressures were observed at specific codon sites, particularly 4, 11, 66, and 123, with codon 137 displaying the most pronounced selective advantage. Computational methods confirmed these findings, and mixed-effect modeling identified episodic diversifying selection. The research provides nuanced insights into substitution rates, evolutionary conservation, phylogenetic relationships, and functional interdependencies within the PPARGC1A gene, advancing our understanding of its evolutionary trajectory and adaptive significance across diverse vertebrate lineages.

We present a set of tests to examine processes of speciation that will help delimit taxa given deep phylogeographic history and interaction within hybrid zones. Outcomes from distinct phylogeographic pairs of snakes in North America all have the signature of divergence before or near the mid-Pleistocene often with low migration. For these pairs we demonstrate the presence of stable hybrid zones of varying size with a subset of loci showing selection on alleles at the hybrid zone corresponding to transitions between very distinct ecoregions.

(1) Geographical locations and habitats had a significant effect on the community characteristics of gut microbiota in Pomacea canaliculata; (2) The greater effect was caused by geographical locations rather than by habitats.

The study aims to identify suitable habitats for the most exploited Juniperus procera and Olea europaea tree species in northern Ethiopia, using temperature, moisture, soil, and topographic variables. It evaluates five individual and ensemble models using area under the curve and true skill statistic values. The ensemble model performed well for J. procera and O. europaea, with climatic factors being the most influential. Suitable areas for both species were found in areas with Isothermality values between 52% and 62%, temperature seasonality between 16 and 29°C. The optimal altitude for J. procera and O. europaea is 2200–2600 and 2100–2500, with suitable areas of 3130 and 3946 km², respectively. Potential plantation areas are identified beyond protected forests, promoting conservation and sustainable management.

Results from our experiment suggest that juvenile mussels can survive short periods of heat stress when other environmental conditions are favourable. Future studies should therefore address how heat stress affects survival in combination with other stressors, such as reduced availability of dissolved oxygen.

With a 95% success rate in identifying species, DNA barcoding based on the mitochondrial COI gene was validated in this study using genetic diversity, species delimitation, genetic distances, and unidentified species analysis. Simultaneously, we discovered that the Ili River Valley's fish species populations are drastically decreasing to the point where the area faces a major ecological risk.

Species distribution model is used to predict the distribution of suitable habitats of Asparagus cochinchinensis (Lour.) Merr. in China. Precipitation and temperature are the key factors affecting the accumulation of active components in A. cochinchinensis. Saponins and total polysaccharides contents show different response patterns to climatic factors.

Climate change is threatening seagrass ecosystems globally; however, some species will have the capacity to adapt. Our results indicate that seeds sourced from adult plants residing in thermally affected areas germinate faster and more often than those sourced from ambient conditions.

Local adaptation of Dromiciops marsupials.

The formation of degraded grassland in black-soil mountain has attracted the attention of many scholars, and the establishment of artificial grassland is the most effective way to control the extremely degraded alpine meadow—“black-soil mountain.” In order to better understand the response of degraded grassland to artificial restoration measures, we evaluated the interaction between vegetation and soil microorganisms during artificial restoration of degraded grassland in the black-soil mountain.

Navigation mechanisms include path integration and landmark-based navigation, and we show the first evidence for molecular pathways required for navigation in desert ants. Transcriptional activity in the central brain but not in the optic lobes might be necessary for the estimation of distance traveled, which is crucial for path integration. Correlation in gene expression and correctness in the optic lobes may indicate the importance of visual processing in route recognition.

To control emerging diseases, we need to understand the effects of variation in host resistance and the multitude of transmission modes of parasites combined with hosts' complex behavioral interactions. Based on a discrete stage model, we propose that even if the infection is fatal, coexistence of the host and the parasite can be facilitated by variance in resistance and the partial separation of juveniles from adults.

The study is based on the perspective of functional diversity to investigate the impact of water level changes on waterbird community diversity. Changes in habitat heterogeneity are the main cause of functional diversity differences. Habitat filtering is identified as the primary driver shaping the waterbird community assembly.

Relative probability of resource selection by bears as a function of resource selection by wolves based on multi-species Resource Selection Functions. Solid line: early summer; dashed line: late summer. Gray areas represent 95% confidence intervals.

Chamois are an interesting species to examine sexual size dimorphism (SSD) as they exhibit very little skeletal size dimorphism, and SSD in body mass is largely seasonal. We analysed 161,948 body mass data of northern chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) in the Austrian Alps to explore environmental influences on SSD. Our findings show that SSD increased with higher population density through reduced female body mass and decreased on siliceous substrates through reduced male body mass, while forest cover negatively affected body mass in both sexes but did not alter SSD.

In the present study, the impact of biogeographical boundaries on the phylogeographical and demographic population status of Nephrops norvegicus was investigated within the Adriatic Sea, addressing important genetic indices for decapod functional conservation management.

The study investigates the genetic structure and phylogenetic relationships of Monochamus alternatus populations in China (main in Qinling-Daba Mountains), revealing three phylogeographic clusters influenced by Quaternary glacial oscillations. Ecological niche modeling indicates that precipitation and temperature significantly affect the distribution of M. alternatus, suggesting future expansion to higher latitudes and altitudes.

We examined the effect of body mass on life histories of amphibian species by constructing allometric models based on a large dataset. We found a body mass effect on most traits and found that exponents partly matched those predicted by the metabolic driver hypothesis, but not those predicted by the metabolic theory of ecology. We further identified a body-mass-dependent fast-slow continuum and a nearly mass-independent trade-off between egg size and clutch size.

We studied the winter foraging ecology of wood bison in northeastern Alberta. Finding that wood bison select for sedge species, but, increased snow depths lead to decreased selection despite the presence of highly selected forage species beneath. This study highlights bison strategies to maximize energy in northern winters.

The study in Nepal's lowland protected areas found a balanced predator–prey relationship, with a power law exponent “k” of 0.7 indicating a significant increase in predator biomass density with rising prey density. This sublinear growth pattern aligns with established trophic biomass scaling estimates, emphasizing its importance for stabilizing predator–prey dynamics and guiding future ecosystem management and research efforts.

The research revealed the association between evolutionary diversity and community AGB during long-term vegetation restoration in the temperate zone using an ideal experimental system with over 150 years of natural vegetation restoration. This is essential for elucidating the link between biodiversity and ecological functions in the context of climate change.

We used a species distribution model to evaluate the invasion risk of 250 highly invasive alien woody species in potential national park sites in Xinjiang under climate change. The probability of invasive woody species distribution in potential park sites in Xinjiang is significantly lower than that across China. This study can contribute to the monitoring and management of national parks and can provide an actionable foundation for protecting the ecosystem functions and minimizing the risk of alien species invasion in potential national park sites in the face of climate change.

We recently found a population of the leaf-footed cactus bug, Narnia femorata (Hemiptera: Coreidae), a historical cactus specialist, living on thistle. When we compared this thistle population with a population feeding on cactus, the population living on thistle had longer mouthparts than the population found on cactus, although this difference only occurred at larger body sizes. This difference in adult mouthpart size is likely a result of the juvenile rearing environment (i.e., thistle or cactus) and suggests a host plant range expansion for the species.

Based on structural equation model (SEM) and analysis of variance (ANOVA), optimal grassland restoration was achieved with the HN (15 g/m²) treatment under NPY and the MN and HN (10 and 15 g/m²) treatments under NTY.

Bats are important pollinators in the tropics and are an integral part of complex plant–pollinator interaction networks. We used metabarcoding to identify plant taxa present in pollen from fur and faecal samples collected across 1 year from three nectar-feeding bat roosts in central Mexico. We found highly generalised interaction patterns across networks corresponding with opportunistic feeding behaviour by bats, with little seasonal variation in network structure.

Data quality, reliability and accuracy have long been recognised as barriers to unlocking the full potential of citizen science derived data. This study developed a score to assign confidence in iNaturalist observations and streamline the verification process.

This research investigates the patterns and conflict-causing factors related to human fatalities and injuries caused by large mammals in the Bardia—Banke Complex of western Nepal.

We constructed a high-quality chromosome-level reference genome of C. milneedwardsii for the first time. The Chinese serow was more closely related to muskox, and the karyotype of serow (2n = 48) occurred six chromosome fusions. Interestingly, compared to other Caprinae species, the MYH6 protein of Chinese serow occurred two mutations (E1520S and G1521S) which were conserved in Cetaceans.

Understanding how cold-water and warm-water fish cope with various stressors such as climate change and dam construction is crucial for the conservation of freshwater fish ecosystems. This study proposes to incorporate the information on dam impact implicitly existing in the species presence data in different periods to disentangle the impacts of hydroelectric dams and climate change on cold-water and warm-water fish habitat distribution in the upper Yangtze River basin.

We investigated the home range sizes and habitat selection of six radio-tagged European hares on the small Danish Wadden Sea island Langli. Our results indicate that hare space use in the dunal landscape of Langli Island was similar to agricultural areas of comparatively high habitat quality. Thus, dunal marsh landscapes offer high-quality habitat for hares, and might be of importance as population strongholds.

Habitat selection is not always adaptive, so understanding the link between habitat selection and demographic performance is critical to management decisions. We evaluated both selection and survival across multiple reproductive life stages in a genetically distinct and geographically isolated population of greater sage-grouse, an indicator species for sagebrush ecosystems. Our approach allowed us to identify both mismatches between selection and survival and trade-offs between life stages.

Acoustic activity of harbour porpoises showed strong seasonal and diel patterns on the whole Black Sea basin scale. Patterns differ in different regions and show higher activity in the South and East during winter and higher activity in the Northwest during summer. These patterns could be driven by seasonal and vertical migrations of the main prey species, as well as other factors.

For the first time, the adaptability of foraminifera to temperature changes was revealed from the view of molecular biology, and we established the quantitative relationships between foraminiferal molecular parameters and temperature.

Using a GLS dataset, we investigated relationships between overwintering migration distances from the breeding colony and egg-laying date in the subsequent breeding season in the rhinoceros auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata). We found evidence to support that shorter migration distances led to earlier lay dates in this species.

Lianas (woody vines and climbing monocots) are highly important in tropical forests; however, our understanding of the environmental variables that drive their proliferation at regional scales is incomplete and geographically biased. We address this gap through a study in the Australian Wet Tropics and find that disturbance and climate are important drivers of liana prevalence. This provides further support for the concern that global change may be contributing to increasing lianas relative to trees, with serious consequences for rates of tropical forest recovery and carbon sequestration.

We leverage the resolution power of OpenStreetMap to improve the representation of landscapeheterogeneity in urban areas within LULC maps. To assess the information extracted with our framework, we conducted extensive testing in 34 North American cities, comparing our output to spatial data commonly used as landscape variables for ecological studies worldwide. The results demonstrated a ~90% accuracy in representing landscape heterogeneity, reinforcing the practicality and reliability of our approach. We included a case study to demonstrate the framework's applicability in ecological research where we developed a wildlife-specific urbanization index representing habitat and shelter availability, vicinity to water resources, and road presence to analyze spatial occupancy of urban mammals. We predicted the spatial distribution of six mammal species across 93 camera trap sites in Chicago. We compared the predictions against using the “human influence index” as a landscape variable. The results from our case study demonstrated our framework strongly improved the model outputs, as it allows for higher resolution and context-specific spatial variables.

Many social insect species build nests, which strongly differ from the surrounding environment and are often occupied by specific organismal communities. We compared the Mucoromycota (Fungi) community of red wood ant's (Formica polyctena) mounds with the community of the surrounding forest litter. We show that the fungal community of mounds is specific and that representatives of Entomortierella lignicola and Absidia cylindrospora clade are associated with the mound environment.

We found that nest-site dispersal decisions of emperor geese in western Alaska follow the win-stay lose-switch strategy, and that this is adaptive in that it leads to higher nest survival. We also found that nest-site dispersal distance is influenced by the occurrence of major flooding events in the previous year, but is not influenced by spring timing. Our results highlight the importance of previous experience and environmental variation in shaping dispersal decisions of a long-lived goose species.

This study contributes to the understanding of the habitat selected by a vulnerable sub-species with a highly restricted range influenced by local climatic conditions.

This manuscript determines the priority landscape for leopard conservation and the factors contributing towards habitat selection. The development of a conservation policy requires data on large spatial scales, which is mostly lacking, especially within India. This study employing fine-scale data is critical for developing conservation strategies and managing negative human–leopard interactions.

In this study, we compare the accuracy of two different methods of monitoring to assess the insect assemblage of Encinitas Baccharis (Baccharis vanessae): focal observations and video recordings from camera traps. The insect vectors identified were as expected given B. vanessae pollination syndrome. While focal observations underreported insect activity by approximately half, the proportions of common diurnal visitors were similar with both methods. Camera traps were unable to provide sufficient detail to discern visually similar guilds, but were able to record nocturnal insect activity, which was dominated by moths (Lepidoptera, 82%).

Automated radio telemetry grids provide the possibility of studying movement of small animals at very fine spatial scales, but the influence of rugged terrains and vegetation on localisation error curtails the applicability of this technology. In this study, we present a comparative workflow to reduce error and show how selecting higher radio signal strengths and smoothing based on temporal autocorrelation improves localisation. Our grid in the Andes of Colombia provides an example of using this technology to track species that lack movement data, in this case, two high-altitude hummingbirds.

Multiple hypotheses have been posed to explain differences in ontogenetic scaling amongst shark species. We report both isometric and allometric growth of functionally important structures in the spade nose shark (Scoliodon laticaudus). These scaling relationships are consistent with the allometric niche shift hypothesis, but refute the idea that small-bodied sharks grow isometrically.

The young participants provided broadly good quality data in ecological citizen science project. Surprisingly, the age did not affect the data quality whereas the students who were more interested in biology as a school subject provided lower quality data than those less interested. The practicalities of the participation were important in ensuring high quality data.

We examine several competing hypotheses related to the variation in secondary sex ratios including Fisher's frequency dependence, Trivers–Willard, and the local resource hypotheses using a spatiotemporally extensive dataset of pregnant white-tailed deer from Mississippi, USA. Our findings add to the body of literature on secondary sex biases in white-tailed deer and help inform sex bias ratios for a southern population of a cervid of management importance in the US.

This study examines the effect of developmental social experience on antipredator behavior and group cohesion, in a highly gregarious catfish that communicates via tactile interaction, Corydoras aeneus. We reared fish either in a mixed-age group of age-matched peers and adult C. aeneus (mixed-age condition or MAC), or with age-matched peers only (same-age condition or SAC). SAC subadults had increased tactile communication before any startles compared to MAC subadults, were overall less active, exhibited a stronger antipredator response to startles, and were more likely to freeze or take refuge in cover in response to a startle than MAC fish.

We provide a curated checklist of amphibians and reptiles in Kimboza Nature Forest Reserve (KNFR) in Tanzania based on the new intensive fieldwork and old survey information. The KNFR boasts the richest diversity per km² in Tanzania and potentially the continent. We demonstrated much of the fauna is of coastal origin but this unique fauna is highly threatened by habitat degradation.

Marine heatwaves (MHWs) emerge as a severe stressor in marine ecosystems, yet it is relatively unknown the role of the internal microbiome in shaping copepod susceptibility to MHWs. Our study showed that Acartia copepods decreased survival, growth, and reproduction at 34°C, a typical MHW temperature. The thermophilic and opportunistic Proteobacteria and Bacteroidota increased under extreme temperatures while Actinobacteria abundance was strongly reduced; all might be related to reduced copepod growth, survival, and reproduction.

We conducted a comprehensive analysis by sequencing the mitogenomes of five Nivanini species and integrating this data with previously obtained sequencing results. Our investigation focused on exploring the characteristics of mitogenomes and establishing phylogenetic relationships.

Carnivorans can provide a unique insight into the relationship between functional dietary traits and environmental conditions. Using ecometric analyses, we evaluated the relationship between the relative blade length of the carnivoran carnassial tooth and temperature and precipitation at global and continental scales. We detected a relationship in which greater trait variance is associated with warmer, wetter conditions, suggesting a relationship between carnivoran dietary diversity and climate.

We assessed changes in fundamental climate-niche space for lizard and snake species in western North America under modeled climate scenarios to inform natural resource managers of possible shifts in species distributions. Overall, reptile climate-niche space was projected to move northward in the future. Sixty-eight percent of species were projected to expand their current climate-niche space rather than to shift, contract, or remain stable. Only 8.5% of species were projected to lose climate-niche space in the future, and these species primarily occurred in Mexico and the southwestern U.S.

In agricultural landscapes, the clearing of semi-natural habitats (SNH) and the intensive use of pesticides contribute to declines of biodiversity, including crop pollinators. Using yellow pan traps to sample wild bees, we investigated how SNH in the surrounding landscape, organic and conventional management, and the reduction of fungicides affect wild bee diversity in 32 vineyards in southwest Germany. Our study underlines that the local provision of diverse vegetation in vineyards and the landscape-scale provision of suitable SNH are key factors for wild bee conservation in viticulture.

The status of Eastern Baltic cod (EBC) Gadus morhua has remained poor despite low fishing mortality for over a decade, including a fishing ban since 2019. Our results suggest that the links between life-history parameters and external drivers are complex, but the present unprecedented reduced size at maturity since the 1990s signals a decline in growth potential, which also has hampered the productivity of EBC.

We applied Biomod2 and MaxEnt to predict the current and future potential distribution of endangered Emmenopterys henryi in China. The current potential distribution area from Biomod2 is 176.53 × 10⁴ km², which is larger than from MaxEnt. Moreover, climate change is expected to have an adverse effect on its potential distribution.

Global climate change has led to a shift in rainfall patterns. And as water is an essential ingredient for plant photosynthesis, shifts in rainfall patterns will inevitably affect plant growth. In this study, the response of leaf traits and photosynthetic fluorescence properties of Fraxinus malacophylla seedlings to rainfall patterns during the dry and rainy seasons was investigated using a natural rainfall duration of 5 days (T) and an extended rainfall duration of 10 days (T+) as rainfall intervals; and a monthly average rainfall as control (W), with the corresponding rainfall treatments of a 40% increase in rainfall (W₊) and a 40% decrease in rainfall (W₋).

We investigated the effects of resource quality and parental provisioning in the phenotypic expression of sexual and non-sexual traits in a rainforest dung beetle, Onthophagus babirussa (Eschscholtz, 1822) from Singapore. ‘Higher quality’ dung resulted in offspring exhibiting greater phenotypic fitness, and mother beetles compensated dung quality with the dung amount when using ‘lower quality’ dung. Genotype-by-environment interactions between parental lines (genotype) and dung type (environment) affected male body size and horn length only, suggesting sex-specific variance in plasticity associated with sexually selected precopulatory traits.

Nature reserves are important bases for global biodiversity research and conservation. To conduct in-depth research on biodiversity conservation and to maintain the ecosystems on which human beings depend for their survival, we took Abies nephrolepis Reserve as the object of research, conducted a special survey on orchids, and analyzed the characterization of the diversity of orchids in different habitats and on different altitudinal gradients, and obtained very good results.

We investigated the roles of diet, geography, and genetic relatedness on the composition of the gut microbiome of an adaptive radiation of island birds. Using metabarcoding data, we determined that microbiome variation across birds was highly individualized; however, source island had a small but significant effect on microbiome structure.

Around 80% of the tested key productivity parameters exhibit a positive global effect in somatic growth expressed as weight at age as opposed to the classic negative density-dependent relationship when instantaneous growth is analysed. The frequency and strength of density-dependence in weight at age is low and weak at the stock level when instantaneous growth is analysed. Significant temporal autocorrelation exists, which when not accounted for, reveals apparent density-dependence in several stocks when instantaneous growth is analysed. The frequency of detection of density-dependent weight at age increases when intracohort growth is analysed. However, even when considering intracohort growth, spurious density-dependence in several stocks is detected when temporal autocorrelation is not accounted for, with at best 15% of the stocks exhibiting significant classic negative density-dependence. Consequently, management practices that aim to fish down stock biomass with the anticipation of triggering density-dependent growth, will be associated with greater asymmetric risks than keeping biomass at levels where replacement yield does not rely on it.

We investigated the feral pig dietary niche on Hawai‘i Island using stable isotopes (¹³C and ¹⁵N) and Bayesian mixing models to identify drivers of variation in resource use. Primary differences in resource use were between pigs in forest and open habitat, largely driven by ¹⁵N enrichment in open habitat, likely as a consequence of shifting protein sources. We found evidence for substantial individual diet specialization, likely as a result of strong intraspecific competition from high population sizes.

We determined the complete mitochondrial genome of Pleurogenoides japonicus, being the first described of the family Pleurogenidae. The gene arrangement types of Xiphidiata trematodes are diverse, and the gene arrangement events mainly occurred in “trnE-trnG” and “trnG-trnE”. Our phylogenetic analyses revealed that Pleurogenidae was cluster to Prosthogonimidae than Eucotylidae.

We tested the relationships between three morphological traits and population size in four Rangifer tarandus herds in northern Canada and Alaska. Based on 8865 measurements of 4473 individuals over four decades, we conclude that without prior information on population trends, morphological data in most cases should not be used to predict population size.

We present results from theoretical models and empirical data to illustrate how differences in growth rates among taxa influence four widely used metrics of ecological stability of species abundances responding to pulse perturbations: resilience, recovery, resistance and temporal stability. To account for these influences on growth rate, we introduce ‘intrinsic’ stability metrics. Intrinsic stability can be used to summarise the overall effects of a disturbance, separately from internal recovery processes – thereby allowing more general comparisons of disturbances across organisms and contexts.

It is the report of the wild male–male agonistic behavior in Panesthia angustipennis. Its fighting has remarkable characteristics, both aggressiveness and avoidance.

We provide information about a case of facultative polygyny in the European Nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus). The male nightjar (I96) formed a pair with two females (I95: the presumed primary female with whom he already bred since 2018; M042: the presumed secondary female, an inexperienced yearling). GPS and accelerometer data demonstrate how the male only sang in proximity of the primary nest, while assisting both females during incubation, as well as during the nestling period.

We used three sampling methods at freshwater ponds to survey amphibian and fish communities in an urbanised landscape. We found highly variable detection probabilities among nine amphibian species and higher detection rates for fish. The detection of fish at a pond reduced the probability of detecting amphibians. However, emergent vegetation decreased the chance of detecting fish while increasing the probability of detecting amphibians. Our results underscore the importance of accounting for imperfect detection when assessing amphibian-fish relationships.

In this study, we investigated the life history traits of an abundant myctophid, Benthosema glaciale, in Icelandic waters, and the Irminger Sea. Based on opportunistic sampling, we found significant differences in age structure and body condition between hydrographic regions.

Due to near total deforestation in much of the Brazilian state of São Paulo in the early 20th century, essentially all non-coastal and not montane forest fragments today are regenerated. Before deforestation, most Atlantic Forest endemic bird species were found throughout the state, as demonstrated by museum specimens and the previous literature. Currently, endemics are not reported from western fragments, as illustrated by the recent literature (post-1990s), citizen science data and our recent field inventories.

Here we consider how different processes of post-copulatory sexual selection interact in the seed bug Lygaeus simulans. We found that sperm competition outcomes were primarily driven by copulation duration, while larger females were more likely to receive sperm than smaller females, as predicted by cryptic male choice for large females. However, female size had little effect on paternity outcome in our double-mating experiment, suggesting that cryptic male choice and sperm competition are acting relatively independently in this species.

The present study investigated the relationship between variations in population genetics and functional traits of short- and long-lived Artemisia species that are co-occurring in the steppes of Mongolia. We covered large spatial extent and collected numerous environmental variables (climate, geography, vegetation, and soil) to contrast the association between variations of functional traits and genetic diversity of the chosen species.

Artificial Light at Night (ALAN) is an emerging global stressor that is likely to interact with ocean warming to affect ecological functions. Seaweeds are dominant habitat-forming species in temperate marine ecosystems, where they support primary productivity and diverse ecological communities. We manipulated ALAN and warming to look at their independent and interactive effects on two species of seaweeds. ALAN increased some seaweed growth metrics; however, these effects were species-specific and were largely counterbalanced by warming.

Past studies have found freshwater fishes produce larger eggs on average than marine fishes. However, such comparisons may be complicated by life history and morphological variation among species. In this study, yellow perch egg size was compared among populations in systems ranging six orders of magnitude in surface area to test the relationship between egg size and system size within a single species.

We present the COVERater, a free online training tool that reduces the inaccuracy of users' visual estimates of species cover. This application will help to standardise protocols and ensures comprehensive and reliable data collection from those with no prior estimating experience.

Zingiber baumii Chatan & Promprom is a new species from the Zingiberaceae from Sakon Nakhon Province in northeastern Thailand. This species was found during field expeditions in Phu Pha Yol National Park.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are crucial for plant survival and may influence the success of invasive species. This study investigated the AMF communities associated with the invasive Cinchona pubescens on Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos, and in its endangered native range in Ecuador. The AMF communities between Santa Cruz and mainland Ecuador were significantly different, suggesting that the successful invasion of C. pubescens on Santa Cruz could have been facilitated by local generalist AMF and not by particular AMF.

Functional traits are increasingly being used as a tractable framework for understanding bee community ecology and responses to environmental change. Here, we outline best practices for trait measurement and standardization in line with open science principles, to facilitate large-scale trait data sharing to advance bee functional ecology.

Spatial avoidance of lions by wild dogs has never been tested in a prey and lion-depleted ecosystem. We found that wild dogs continue to avoid lions and prey even though both have been reduced. Mechanistically, this helps to explain the lack of competitive release of wild dog populations when lions are reduced as a result of prey depletion.

This study investigates the success of created vernal pools in sustaining local amphibian populations (i.e., wood frogs and spotted salamanders) in a Pennsylvania state park from 2014 to 2023. By comparing environmental parameters and genetic diversity between natural and created pools, we found that well-designed created pools positively contributed to wood frog population persistence, while one poorly designed pool acted as a population sink. Our findings underscore the importance of considering key environmental factors such as hydroperiod, volume, depth, and surrounding forest cover in vernal pool restoration while also integrating these data with population genetics to guide adaptive management strategies in the face of environmental change.

The responses of erect Potamogeton crispus (P. crispus) and low-canopy Elodea nuttallii (E. nuttallii) to six different light qualities (white light, R/B=1:8, 1:4, 1:1, 4:1, 8:1) were studied by a control experiment. The two different growth forms of submerged macrophytes both grew better under more red light (4:1, 8:1), and better adapted to the underwater light environment of eutrophic water dominated by red light. Compared to red light, more blue light (1:8, 1:4) was more conducive to the synthesis of photosynthetic pigments. Both P. crispus and E. nuttallii can be used in the treatment of eutrophic water dominated by red light, but other submerged macrophytes need to be supplemented after water quality improvement.

The endangered Chinese endemic tree species Quercus chungii showed increased abundance and size over the past decade in a nature reserve, indicating active regeneration and effectiveness of conservation efforts. However, its pyramid-shaped age structure with low numbers of seedlings and saplings suggests potential risks of future population decline, emphasizing the need for in-depth studies on regeneration processes.

As the threat of climate change advances, understanding how extreme weather events influence wild populations is integral. Our study shows that heatwaves negatively influence not only male fertility in a freshwater fish, but also affect the offspring of heatwave-exposed parents. While heatwave-exposed males may confer limited adaptive benefits to their offspring, stronger detrimental maternal effects following heatwaves may override those benefits.

We here present population sizes and movement patterns of the endangered Marsh Fritillary based on an large-scale and very intensive capture–release–recapture study conducted on three former Central European military training areas. Our results suggest that against common belief, very large populations of the Marsh Fritillary can survive decades after land abandonment in former military training areas. However, our results point also to a very low mobility, which suggests that conservation measures might not only need to involve habitat management but also increase habitat connectivity.

The role of wild bees and cavity-nesting Hymenopteran species as indicators was examined, along the unique combination of high nature value and traditional land use habitats. The different taxonomic groups of wild bees and cavity-nesting Hymenopterans showed differences in their habitat affinities. Landscape structure had no significant effects on the number of (occupied) brood cells for most of the cavity-nesting Hymenopteran groups.

It is 100 years since the first paper described the recurring nature of Arctic population cycles, yet the mechanistic drivers of these are still not well understood. This paper challenges researchers to consider a new paradigm, with reference to the role of epigenetics in the cycling process. We provide a testable hypothesis describing a series of hormonal/epigenetic steps that form an intrinsic cycle.

Our study reveals a lack of risk perception by native tadpoles toward novel alien fish and validates the prey naivety hypothesis, as well as providing new evidence for this hypothesis from phenotypic and molecular perspectives.

The long-term monitoring of nests may constitute a reliable and affordable method, with the help of citizen science, for assessing changes in breeding population sizes and conservation threats of mud-nest building hirundines worldwide. Breeding adults, and completely built and destroyed nests of red-rumped swallows Cecropis daurica (a1–a5), barn swallows Hirundo rustica (b1–b5), and rock martins Ptyonoprogne rupestris (c1–c5), with scales for size comparisons. Photographs: José L. Tella.

Species distribution models (SDMs) are commonly used to project species distribution changes on the face of climate change, but their long-term performance is rarely tested. To address this, the authors employed paleozoological records to independently assess SDM accuracy. They focused on modelling the historical distribution of the hartebeest and compared the models' ability to predict past presences and absences in the archaeological record. The results demonstrated a lack of strong correlation between present-day and historical model performance, emphasising the influence of input data and modelling choices on SDM accuracy and highlighting the value of using paleontological and archaeological records for model assessment.

The copepod exhibits a strong inclination toward synthesizing long-chain polyunsaturated FA to maintain biochemical homeostasis when consuming low-quality food. Jellyfish polyps fail to accumulate EPA and DHA but display high levels of ARA compared to their zooplankton and phytoplankton food sources, suggesting a potential association with dietary EPA and DHA through an unidentified pathway. Certain FA components suggest a turnover time of approximately 19 days when polyps undergo a dietary shift.

The composition and function of gut microbiota in grazing yak differed significantly between the summer and winter. Seasonal dietary shift impacted microbial communities' composition and function. Grazing yak adapts to the harsh winter environment via specific gut microbiota.

Body size, bill length and shape determine the foraging techniques, habitat selection and diet among shorebirds. In this study, water depth preferences of different shorebirds with different bill sizes in various habitats were investigated between 2017 and 2020. Average water depth, where shorebirds were observed, was significantly and positively associated with their bill lengths. This study underscores the need for conservation of wetlands with its diverse hydrological rhythms to preserve the biodiversity.

This study, for the first time, reveals the individual variability in wolf responses to human disturbance. By fitting Hidden Markov Models to data from GPS-GSM collars deployed on 26 wolves, we found significant variation between individuals in their responses to different levels of anthropogenic pressure and across different times of day, highlighting a non-uniform strategy for coping with perturbations in human-dominated landscapes. Our findings underscore the diverse behavioural adjustments employed by wolves to persist in these environments and highlight the critical importance of vegetation patches serving as refuge cover.

The study investigates the phylogenetic distribution of within-egg vocal behaviour among turtles and its role in synchronous hatching. Clutches from six turtle species with diverse ecological and reproductive niches were recorded, aiming to understand if asynchronous species vocalise from within the egg, the influence of clutch size on synchronous behaviour and the presence of any phylogenetic signal in within-egg turtle calls. The findings challenge previous hypotheses, suggesting that within-egg sounds are not accidental side-effects but may indeed mediate coordinated synchronous behaviour in turtles.

Decreased canalization may promote plastic responses in traits before or during the induction of plasticity, whereas canalization may reflect phenotypic convergence after plastic responses.

This study looks at temporal changes in scrub cover on two nature reserves in the UK: Daneway Banks in Gloucestershire and Flat Holm Island in the Severn Estuary. In this study, we assess how multiple datasets obtained using a photogrammetric point cloud workflow previously outlined in Vafidis et al. (Ecology and Evolution, 11, 2021, 6789) can be used to assess scrub cover management goals and temporal changes in scrub levels at two nature reserves.