Research on plastics in global ecosystems is rapidly evolving. Oceans have been the primary focus of studies to date, whereas rivers are generally considered little more than conduits of plastics to marine ecosystems. Within a watershed, however, plastics of all sizes are retained, transformed, and even extracted via freshwater use or litter cleanup. As such, plastic litter in terrestrial and freshwater

Intensive fishing is altering the functioning of aquatic ecosystems worldwide, threatening both biodiversity and food security. No‐fishing reserves have proven effective at restoring food‐web structure and enhancing fisheries in marine ecosystems, but remain virtually untested in freshwater systems. Using experiments inside and outside of community‐created riverine reserves in Thailand, we describe

Urban areas can drive rapid evolution of species and are hotspots for entry and establishment of invasive species, but it is unclear how urban evolution is impacting the process and risk of invasion by non‐native species. Using a synthesis of current research as a basis, we contend that urban evolution of non‐native species can enhance invader establishment, spread, and ecological impact, which can

Tropical forests are under increasing pressure, but conservation interventions have had only limited success in mitigating deforestation and ecosystem degradation. Over the past decade, however, jurisdictional approaches to sustainable resource use have attracted increasing attention as a potential alternative to traditional conservation strategies. These approaches operate within formal administrative

Many countries are reshaping their agricultural policies to better enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES) in farmlands, but measuring the effectiveness of policy instruments in BES delivery is challenging. Using the European Agricultural Policy as an example, we propose the application of a farming systems (FS) approach as a cost‐effective tool for linking policy design and expected BES

Non‐native species that act as ecosystem engineers – creating new or reintroducing former habitats – challenge perceptions in conservation and restoration. In the wake of the loss of oyster reefs worldwide, non‐native Pacific oysters (Magallana gigas) are now spreading extensively across the former distributions of native reef‐building oyster species. Here, we show that the coastal expansion of Pacific

Ecologists have largely avoided race and racism as ecological factors, but events in 2020 have made it impossible to continue to ignore these impacts. This does not mean that ecologists have failed to contribute to the scholarship and activism of environmental justice. But the time has come for the science to more fully acknowledge the existence and impact of systemic racism, especially in the US.

Climbing chalk harmful to cliffside plants Jake Buehler For a firmer grip on unforgiving rock faces, rock climbers often dust their hands with climbing chalk. Composed of magnesium carbonate hydroxide, the powdery white substance leaves floury streaks behind on popular climbing routes. New research suggests that this influx of chemicals could be harmful to the vegetation that ekes out a precarious

The increasing prevalence of woody liana species has been widely observed across the neotropics, but observations from temperate regions are comparatively rare. On the basis of a resurvey database of 1814 (quasi‐)permanent plots from across 40 European study sites, with a median between‐survey interval of 38 years, and ranging from 1933 (earliest initial survey) to 2015 (most recent resurvey), we found

Logging has depleted timber resources across a considerable portion of the world's tropical forests, leaving them vulnerable to conversion to other land‐use types. This raises the question of whether management for restoration represents an economically viable alternative. We reviewed restoration concessions (areas of degraded state forest land leased to enterprises on long‐term [≥60‐year] licenses

Addressing unexpected events and uncertainty represents one of the grand challenges of the Anthropocene, yet ecosystem management is constrained by existing policy and laws that were not formulated to deal with today's accelerating rates of environmental change. In many cases, managing for simple regulatory standards has resulted in adverse outcomes, necessitating innovative approaches for dealing

“It’s not a camel, it’s a dromedary”. It’s the kind of thing the uncle you always try to avoid at family gatherings says – just to correct you. Next comes his lecture on how “it’s actually a dromedary on ‘those’ cigarette packs”, followed by an excursion into “the only true camel is the Bactrian camel”, before his final advice is dispensed: “one hump for a dromedary, two for a camel”. But despair not

As graduate students, and despite having vastly different backgrounds, we share a common goal: topositively impact society by producing actionable, social–ecological science. Making the leap from student to impactful researcher, however, was harder than we had each anticipated. While our undergraduate training predominantly consisted of classroom lectures about what is already known, graduate school

eDNA used to detect rare Brazilian frogs Virginia Gewin A team of researchers in Brazil has identified traces of DNA from several threatened amphibian species – including one not seen since 1968, putatively assigned to Megaelosia bocainensis – in puddles, ponds, and streams, according to a new study (Mol Ecol 2020; doi.org/10.1111/mec.15594). The researchers analyzed water samples from six montane

Crinoids, a type of echinoderm, frequently have absent or regenerated body parts, but direct observations of dismemberment are exceedingly rare in nature, making it difficult to identify potential causes. Nevertheless, research suggests that it is due primarily to predation, which is thought to have played a central role in crinoid ecological and evolutionary history. Ten families of fishes are currently

The nesting ecology of boobies – including but not limited to the iconic blue‐footed booby (Sula nebouxii) – has received relatively little scientific attention. Blue‐footed boobies nest in colonies on tropical oceanic islands. Eggs are laid in a small bowl‐shaped “scrape” on bare ground, which the birds surround with excrement, an efficient way of demarcating a nest, as shown here on the Galápagos

Namib Desert darkling beetles (Onymacris unguicularis) capture water droplets from fog using a highly specialized behavior called “fog basking”. This has applications in biomimetics (the study of biology‐inspired technology, which can be utilized to solve complex human problems). In short, synthetic surfaces that mimic the external texture of fog‐dependent organisms can be used to extract water from

Global sustainability agendas focus primarily on halting deforestation, yet the biodiversity crisis resulting from the degradation of remaining forests is going largely unnoticed. Forest degradation occurs through the loss of key ecological structures, such as dying trees and deadwood, even in the absence of deforestation. One of the main drivers of forest degradation is limited awareness by policy

Carcasses of adult African elephants (Loxodonta africana), as well as those of juveniles and subadults under certain conditions, often persist long enough to allow members of the blowfly family (Calliphoridae) to complete their life cycle en masse before the tissues are fully consumed and the skeletons disarticulated. The presence of tens of thousands of blowflies and other carrion‐associated arthropods

Assessing the vulnerability of species to climate change serves as the basis for climate‐adaptation planning and climate‐smart conservation, and typically involves an evaluation of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity (AC). AC is a species’ ability to cope with or adjust to changing climatic conditions, and is the least understood and most inconsistently applied of these three factors. We propose

In October 2015, I made the acquaintance of a lonesome crocodile living in a small river in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand. When we met, it was doing some very serious resting (Figure 1). So deep did its slumber seem that you might have been forgiven for believing you could walk right up to it without it ever knowing. I decided to keep a safe distance, however, having heard that crocodiles might

International efforts to restore degraded ecosystems will continue to expand over the coming decades, yet the factors contributing to the effectiveness of long‐term restoration across large areas remain largely unexplored. At large scales, outcomes are more complex and synergistic than the additive impacts of individual restoration projects. Here, we propose a cumulative‐effects conceptual framework

Between 1992 and 2015, nearly 148 million hectares (Mha) within biodiversity hotspots – biologically rich but threatened terrestrial regions – worldwide underwent land‐cover changes, equating to 6% of the total areal extent of hotspots. Forest losses in hotspots amounted to 54 Mha (–7% of the forest area present in 1992), driven primarily by agricultural expansion (38 Mha); shrubland or savanna also

Invasive species continue to drive major losses in biodiversity and ecosystem function across the globe. Dealing with the effects of invasion is particularly problematic in marine and freshwater habitats, because the pace at which invaders establish often greatly outstrips the resources available for their eradication. While most managers in North America now focus on ongoing containment and suppression

Wildfires, drought, insect outbreaks, and windstorms are altering the forest‐associated ecosystem services that are essential for human well‐being, and the impacts of such events are likely to increase under ongoing climate change. However, a widely accepted and operational framework for evaluating forest vulnerability and risk to these disturbances remains lacking. We propose a general framework to

The fear of unintended consequences is frequently used to argue against conservation interventions that range from climate engineering, to genetic editing of imperiled species, to actions as seemingly mundane as using seeds from non‐local sources in restoration projects. There is no denying that unintended consequences are real and worthy of concern. Indeed, environmental textbooks are filled with

Fossilized leaves provide clues about high CO2 life Lesley Evans Ogden As atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels continue to rise, scientists are increasingly turning to the past for clues about plant water‐use efficiency and carbon (C) storage under high CO2 conditions. In a recent study (Clim Past 2020; doi.org/10.5194/cp‐16‐1509‐2020), a team of researchers used gas‐exchange modeling to calculate

In January 2017, some colleagues and I observed an adult and juvenile Indian eagle‐owl (Bubo bengalensis) at a nest site in Rajasthan, northern India. Sitting on the ground, the birds were well camouflaged, with their mottled brown and white upperparts blending in with the grassy, rocky terrain. This camouflage is important for these ground‐nesting and roosting owls, which are otherwise vulnerable

Phoresy is an association between two species in which one transports another. Burying beetles (Nicrophorus spp), also known as carrion beetles, carry mites. There are about 20 phoretic mites on this Nicrophorus beetle, seen in the Great Lakes–St Lawrence forest near Gravenhurst, Canada, and these mites will remain attached until they arrive at the beetle's next carcass. Male Nicrophorus beetles first

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are known to serve crucial functions in many arid and semiarid habitats, but less is understood about biocrusts in temperate biomes, where they are often widespread and can play important roles in aboveground and belowground processes. Because the distinctive conditions that support biocrusts in temperate biomes – sandy, acidic, and/or nutrient‐poor soils or exposed

The common periwinkle (Littorina littorea) is a herbivorous snail that is prevalent along North Atlantic coastlines. It feeds by grazing on algae from the benthic substrate. Along the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, periwinkles aggregate and form dense feeding fronts that remove thick layers of filamentous algae from rocky intertidal habitats every year from late April to early May. One outcome of these

Below the karstic Jaintia Hills in the northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya there is a cave system reachable only by a 100‐m descent down a vertical shaft. Leave your ropes behind and you soon come across a crystal‐clear stream that runs the system's length. Here and there it forms pools that, until February 2019, had managed to keep a secret: in them live the world's largest cave fish (Cave Karst

Policy proposals to address predation of wildlife by domestic cats (Felis catus) include reducing cat populations, regulating ownership, educating owners, and restricting cats’ outdoor access. Such proposals rarely account for cat owners’ perspectives, however, and are frequently met with strong, principled opposition. We conducted a Q‐methodological study to investigate the views of domestic cat owners

The murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, symbolizes the long history and impact of systemic racism and suffocation of minority communities, particularly the Black community, in the US. Systemic issues force these communities to contend with a vast array of obstacles: access to schools (including higher education), healthcare, affordable housing, livable income, jobs and career opportunities, security

Tiny tech could enable wildlife monitoring in miniature Meghan Miner Murray Seeing the world from a large insect's point of view is now possible, thanks to emerging technology from the University of Washington (Sci Robotics 2020; doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.abb0839). There, engineers tackled the challenge of creating a fully functional wireless camera that, at roughly half the weight of a paperclip

My cat Mati shows complete indifference towards jazz. It doesn't matter what kind of jazz. Trad, jazz funk, fusion, bebop, mainstream, cool, Latin, smooth – you name it – it makes no difference. Since jazz makes up 99% of the music listened to chez nous, I haven't checked her reactions to other genres, though I fear poor Mati just can't appreciate music. But are all animals musically sterile (Figure 1)

During the Anthropocene, ongoing rapid environmental changes are exposing many species to novel resources. However, scientists’ understanding of what novel resources are and how they impact species is still rudimentary. Here, we used a resource‐based approach to explore novel resources. First, we conceptualized novel resource use by species along two dimensions of novelty: namely, ecosystem novelty

At the beginning of the spring 2020 semester, in the latest iteration of my Ecology of Infectious Disease class, I explained the relatively frequent phenomenon known as “zoonotic spillover” – when a pathogen jumps from an animal host species into a human population. Throughout each semester's class we habitually follow the emergence of a zoonosis. In recent years, we have monitored swine flu, MERS

Fence fix mends Mongolian mammal migrations Adrian Burton They were a few small steps for an Asiatic wild ass (Equus hemionus hemionus ), but the first the subspecies had taken into Mongolia's Eastern Steppe for 65 years. Thousands of Mongolian gazelles (Procapra gutturosa ) and goitered gazelles (Gazella subgutturosa ) would do the same. Pictures just released of events in March 2020 reveal that lands

In December 2017, on Possession Island (part of the Crozet Archipelago in the southern Indian Ocean), we observed two breeding white‐chinned petrels (Procellaria aequinoctialis ) with very high levels of tick (Ixodes kerguelenensis ) infestation on both eyes. This degree of infestation was likely responsible for the birds’ death. Although this rare observation may seem anecdotal, it reveals that ticks

During fieldwork near Lake Bleu, in the El Kala region of northeastern Algeria, we encountered an unfamiliar interaction between the speckled rose chafer beetle (Protaetia morio ) and the two‐tailed pasha butterfly (Charaxes jasius ). Both species are common in the Mediterranean. Groups of around six to eight beetles were aggregating on branch crotches of a strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo ). These groups

This picture shows a predation front of dogwhelks (Nucella lapillus ) moving from middle to high intertidal elevations as they consume their prey, barnacles (Semibalanus balanoides ). On this coast in Atlantic Canada, millions of barnacle recruits appear on the intertidal substrate every spring. Dogwhelks soon begin to feed on the recruits, especially as barnacles exhibit active growth in summer. Dogwhelk

“An artist's impression is the representation of an object or a scene created by an artist, when no other accurate representation is available”, says Wikipedia's rather good definition, “[and can take the form] of an image, a sound, a video or a model”. We still rely on the scientifically guided imagination of artists to inspire us with scenes from prehistory, or to show us the view from distant moons

Hunting for wild meat in the tropics provides subsistence and income for millions of people. Methods have remained relatively unchanged since the introduction of shotguns and battery‐powered incandescent flashlights, but the short battery life of such flashlights has limited nocturnal hunting. However, hunters in many countries throughout the tropics have recently begun to switch to brighter and more

Protection of highly mobile species and shifting habitats is a practical challenge for conservation in both marine and terrestrial systems, particularly in light of the acceleration of land‐use change and climate‐driven range shifts. Static protected areas have long been a keystone of conservation but are generally insufficient for such species and habitats. Spatially and temporally dynamic management

Oceanic conditions along the Atlantic Coast of North America are changing rapidly. Surface water temperatures in the Gulf of Maine have increased faster than 99% of the global oceans, and major infrastructure projects, including the largest windfarm in the world, are under development along this seaboard. In Canada and the US, the Atlantic sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) supports lucrative fisheries

Incorporating relevant stakeholder input into conservation decision making is fundamentally challenging yet critical for understanding both the status of, and human pressures on, natural resources. Collective intelligence (CI), defined as the ability of a group to accomplish difficult tasks more effectively than individuals, is a growing area of investigation, with implications for improving ecological

Wetland ecosystems are highly biodiverse, essential to human health and well‐being, and in decline, yet knowledge of the natural dynamics and distributions of wetland systems is lacking globally, hindering conservation efforts. We integrated data generated from novel remote‐sensing techniques and Bayesian hierarchical modeling to estimate the daily surface area of 149 wetlands (vernal pools) over a

Roads represent a threat to biodiversity, primarily through increased mortality from collisions with vehicles. Although estimating roadkill rates is an important first step, how roads affect long‐term population persistence must also be assessed. We developed a trait‐based model to predict roadkill rates for terrestrial bird and mammalian species in Europe and used a generalized population model to

Infectious diseases have indelibly altered human history and, in doing so, have shaped the ecology and conservation of the natural world. Attempts to control diseases often result in adverse environmental impacts, including habitat degradation and unintended outcomes such as effects on non‐target species. However, in instances where the most effective strategy is to physically avoid specific species

During seasonal changes around the globe, trillions of insects are on the move. Many insect populations, including butterflies, moths, hoverflies, and dragonflies, make repeated seasonal migrations each year. It is only during the past century that biologists have come to accept the concept of insect migration, and new research using radar, citizen science, and stable isotopes has revealed unexpected

The destructive wildfires that occurred recently in the western US starkly foreshadow the possible future of forest ecosystems and human communities in the region. With increases in the area burned by severe wildfire in seasonally dry forests expected to result from climate change, judicious, science‐based fire and restoration strategies will be essential for improving the resilience of forest ecosystems

Salvage logging, or logging after natural disturbances such as wildfires, insect outbreaks, and windstorms, is carried out to recover some of a forest's natural and/or economic capital. However, trade‐offs between management objectives and a lack of consensus on the ecological consequences of salvage logging impair science‐based decision making on the management of forests after natural disturbances

At the time of this writing (early spring 2020), the COVID‐19 wave is hitting the US. We are all hoping that the wave, here and elsewhere, can be kept sufficiently low and slow so that medical infrastructure and personnel can keep pace with the outbreak. That will also provide time for the research and clinical‐practice communities to better understand the disease and how to manage it. A wave of a

Climate‐change adaptation focuses on conducting and translating research to minimize the dire impacts of anthropogenic climate change, including threats to biodiversity and human welfare. One adaptation strategy is to focus conservation on climate‐change refugia (that is, areas relatively buffered from contemporary climate change over time that enable persistence of valued physical, ecological, and

Disturbance refugia – locations that experience less severe or frequent disturbances than the surrounding landscape – provide a framework to highlight not only where and why these biological legacies persist as adjacent areas change but also the value of those legacies in sustaining biodiversity. Recent studies of disturbance refugia in forest ecosystems have focused primarily on fire, with a growing

Natural springs in water‐limited landscapes are biodiversity hotspots and keystone ecosystems that have a disproportionate influence on surrounding landscapes despite their usually small size. Some springs served as evolutionary refugia during previous climate drying, supporting relict species in isolated habitats. Understanding whether springs will provide hydrologic refugia from future climate change

Climate‐change refugia – locations likely to facilitate species persistence under climate change – are increasingly important components of conservation planning. Recent approaches for identifying refugia at broad scales include identifying regions that are projected to experience less severe changes (climatic exposure), that contain a diversity of physical and topographic features (environmental diversity)

The vast boreal biome plays an important role in the global carbon cycle but is experiencing particularly rapid climate warming, threatening the integrity of valued ecosystems and their component species. We developed a framework and taxonomy to identify climate‐change refugia potential in the North American boreal region, summarizing current knowledge regarding mechanisms, geographic distribution