Community stability is a fundamental factor sustaining ecosystem functioning and is affected by species richness and species evenness. The Arctic is warming more rapidly than other biomes, and cryptogam plant species (specifically lichens and bryophytes in this study) are major contributors to tundra biodiversity and productivity. However, to our knowledge, the impacts of warming on cryptogam community

Animal pollinators directly affect plant gene flow by transferring pollen grains between individuals. Pollinators with restricted mobility are predicted to limit gene flow within and among populations, while pollinators that fly longer distances likely promote genetic cohesion. Such predictions, however, remain poorly tested. We examined population genetic structure and fine-scale spatial genetic structure

Despite sometimes strong co-dependencies of insect herbivores and plants, responses of individual taxa to accelerating climate change are typically studied in isolation. Thereby, biotic interactions that potentially limit species in tracking their preferred climatic niches are ignored. Here, we chose butterflies as a prominent representative of herbivorous insects to investigate the impacts of temperature

Although phylogenetic distance between native and exotic species has a close link with their interactions, it is still unclear how environmental stresses and species interactions influence the relationship between phylogenetic distance and biological invasions. Here we assessed the effect of invader-native phylogenetic distance on the growth of the invader (Symphyotrichum subulatum) under three levels

Advancing spring phenology is a well-documented consequence of anthropogenic climate change, but it is not well understood how climate change will affect the variability of phenology year-to-year. Species’ phenological timings reflect adaptation to a broad suite of abiotic needs (e.g. thermal energy) and biotic interactions (e.g. predation and pollination), and changes in patterns of variability may

Soil bacteria and fungi mediate terrestrial biogeochemical cycling, but we know relatively little about how trophic interactions influence their community composition, diversity, and function. Specifically, it is unclear how consumer populations affect the activity of microbial taxa they consume, and therefore the interaction of those taxa with other members of the microbial community. Owing to its

Global changes can lead to species declines and extinctions through their impacts on species habitats at two distinct spatial scales: habitat destruction, where individual habitat patches are destroyed by land-use change or natural disasters, and habitat degradation, where larger-scale changes such as nitrogen deposition or climate change lower mean population abundances across landscapes. We develop

Nature Positive is an aspirational term that is increasingly being used by businesses, governments and NGOs, but there is a danger that its meaning is being diluted away from measurable overall net gain in biodiversity towards merely any action that benefits nature, argues E.J. Milner-Gulland.

Abstract

Contemporary studies of species coexistence are underpinned by deterministic models that assume that competing species have continuous (i.e. non-integer) densities, live in infinitely large landscapes, and coexist over infinite time horizons. By contrast, in nature species are composed of discrete individuals subject to demographic stochasticity, and occur in habitats of finite size where extinctions

Plant pathogens are often hypothesized to promote species coexistence by generating conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD). However, the relative importance of fungal vs. oomycete pathogens in maintaining plant species coexistence and community composition remains unresolved, despite their recognized effects on plant performance. Here, we use fungicide application to investigate how fungal

The metacommunity concept provides a theoretical framework that aims at explaining organism distributions by a combination of environmental filtering, dispersal and drift. However, few works attempt a multi-taxon approach and even fewer compare two distant biogeographical regions using the same methodology. We tested the expectation that temperate (mediterranean-climate) pond metacommunities would

Root hemiparasitic plants both compete with and extract resources from host plants. By reducing the abundance of dominant plants and releasing subordinates from competitive exclusion, they can have an outsized impact on plant communities. Most research on the ecological role of hemiparasites is manipulative and focuses on a small number of hemiparasitic taxa. Here, we ask whether patterns in natural

Wild and semi-domesticated reindeer are one of the key species in Arctic and subarctic areas, and their population dynamics are closely tied to winter conditions. Difficult snow conditions have been found to decrease the calving success and survivability of reindeer, but the economic effects of variation in winter conditions on reindeer husbandry have not been studied. In this study, we combine state-of-the-art

Agri-environment schemes (AES), ecological focus areas (EFA) and organic farming are the main tools of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to counteract the dramatic decline of farmland biodiversity in Europe. However, their effectiveness is repeatedly doubted, as it seems to vary when measured at the field vs. landscape level and to depend on the regional environmental and land-use context. Understanding

Globalization and economic growth are recognized as key drivers of biological invasions. Alien species have become a feature of almost every biological community worldwide, and rates of new introductions continue to rise as the movement of people and goods accelerates. Insects are among the most numerous and problematic alien organisms, and are mainly introduced unintentionally with imported cargo

We report on survival and growth of ponderosa pines (Pinus ponderosa Douglas ex P. Lawson & C. Lawson) two decades after forest restoration treatments in the G. A. Pearson Natural Area, northern Arizona. Despite protection from harvest that conserved old trees, a dense forest susceptible to uncharacteristically severe disturbance had developed during more than a century of exclusion of the previous

1. Evolutionary change begins at the population scale. Therefore, understanding adaptive variation requires the identification of the factors maintaining and shaping standing genetic variation at the within-population level. Spatial and temporal environmental heterogeneity represent ecological drivers of within-population genetic variation, determining the evolutionary trajectory of populations along

Seeds, growth rates and duration of growth influence plant development. However, we lack a mechanistic understanding of how they lead to larger and higher-yielding plants, as these traits have not yet been explicitly studied in combination and across ontogeny. Seed size and growth dynamics have evolved differently during domestication and improvement. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether the relationships

1. Rapid technological advancements and increasing data availability have improved the capacity to monitor and evaluate Earth’s ecology via remote sensing. However, remote sensing is notoriously ‘blind’ to fine-scale ecological processes such as interactions among plants, which encompass a central topic in ecology.

Understanding the role of traits in dispersal is necessary to improve our knowledge of historical biogeography, community assembly processes and predictions of species' future movements. Here we aimed to determine the relationship between three traits (coastal distribution, body size, position on the fast/slow life history continuum) and past dispersal probability on an evolutionary timescale in chameleons

Habitat loss and changing climate have direct impacts on native species but can also interact with disease pathogens to influence wildlife communities. In the North American Great Plains, black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) are a keystone species that create important grassland habitat for numerous species and serve as prey for predators, but lethal control driven by agricultural conflict

As fragmented landscapes become increasingly common around the world, managing the spatial arrangement of landscape elements (i.e. landscape configuration) may help to promote the conservation of biodiversity. However, the relative effects of landscape configuration on different dimensions of biodiversity across species assemblages are largely unknown. Thus, a key challenge consists of understanding

Forests currently face numerous stressors, raising questions about processes of forest recovery as well as the role of humans to stimulate recovery through planting trees that might not otherwise regenerate. Theoretically, planted trees can also provide a seed source for further recruitment once the planted trees become reproductive, acting as “nucleation” sites; however, it is unclear whether changing

A clear connection between basic research and applied management is often missing or difficult to discern. We present a case study of integration of basic research with applied management for estimating abundance of gray wolves (Canis lupus) in Montana, USA. Estimating wolf abundance is a key component of wolf management but is costly and time intensive as wolf populations continue to grow. We developed

Species conservation and management require reliable information about animal distribution and population size. Better management actions within a species’ range can be achieved by identifying the location and timing of population changes. In the Greater Mahale Ecosystem (GME), western Tanzania, deforestation due to the expansion of human settlements and agriculture, annual burning, and logging are

The Brown Treesnake (Boiga irregularis; BTS) invasion on Guåhan (in English, Guam) led to the extirpation of nearly all native forest birds. In recent years, methods have been developed to reduce BTS abundance on a landscape scale. To help assess prospects for successful reintroduction of native birds to Guåhan following BTS suppression, we modeled bird population persistence based on their life history

Variation among populations in life history and intrinsic population characteristics (i.e., population diversity) helps maintain resilience to environmental change and dampen interannual variability in ecosystem services. As a result, ecological variation, and the processes that generate it, are considered central to strategies for managing risks to ecosystems in an increasingly variable and uncertain

1. Pollinators are declining globally, with climate change implicated as an important driver. Climate change can induce phenological shifts and reduce floral resources for pollinators, but little is known about its effects on floral attractiveness and how this might cascade to affect pollinators, pollination functions and plant fitness.

The recently released IPBES Values Assessment explores the myriad ways in which nature can and should be valued. Policymakers now need to diversify their view of the relationship between nature and people.

Pioneer naturalists such as Whewell, Lyell, Humboldt, Darwin and Wallace acknowledged the interactions between ecological and evolutionary forces, as well as the roles of continental movement, mountain formation and climate variations, in shaping biodiversity patterns. Recent developments in computer modelling and paleo-environmental reconstruction have made it possible for scientists to study in silico