Comparative analysis using cross-cultural data has a long tradition in anthropology and applications by ecologically minded researchers have exploded in the past decade. Here we discuss problems and recommend solutions for use of cross-cultural datasets in ecology.

Far-sighted palaeontologist who guided the Dinosaur Gallery at London’s Natural History Museum, with interests in dinosaurs, early tetrapods and palaeoneurology.

Analysis of oviparous and viviparous individuals of the common lizard reveals the genetic architecture of pregnancy.

All amniotes reproduce either by egg-laying (oviparity), which is ancestral to vertebrates or by live-bearing (viviparity), which has evolved many times independently. However, the genetic basis of these parity modes has never been resolved and, consequently, its convergence across evolutionary scales is currently unknown. Here, we leveraged natural hybridizations between oviparous and viviparous common

Expert elicitations are a research tool of growing importance, but more work is needed to ensure that the expert pool is truly diverse.

As global temperature and climate variability increase, overshoot droughts resulting from previously high plant growth could intensify climate–vegetation feedbacks.

Vegetation dynamics are affected not only by the concurrent climate but also by memory-induced lagged responses. For example, favourable climate in the past could stimulate vegetation growth to surpass the ecosystem carrying capacity, leaving an ecosystem vulnerable to climate stresses. This phenomenon, known as structural overshoot, could potentially contribute to worldwide drought stress and forest

Ecological communities face a variety of environmental and anthropogenic stressors acting simultaneously. Stressor impacts can combine additively or can interact, causing synergistic or antagonistic effects. Our knowledge of when and how interactions arise is limited, as most models and experiments only consider the effect of a small number of non-interacting stressors at one or few scales of ecological

Ankylosauria is a diverse clade of armoured dinosaurs whose members were important constituents of many Cretaceous faunas. Phylogenetic analyses imply that the clade diverged from its sister taxon, Stegosauria, during the late Early Jurassic, but the fossil records of both clades are sparse until the Late Jurassic (~150 million years ago). Moreover, Ankylosauria is almost entirely restricted to former

Many experiments have shown that biodiversity enhances ecosystem functioning. However, we have little understanding of how environmental heterogeneity shapes the effect of diversity on ecosystem functioning and to what extent this diversity effect is mediated by variation in species richness or species turnover. This knowledge is crucial to scaling up the results of experiments from local to regional

China has become one of the world’s largest lenders in overseas development finance. Development projects, such as roads, railways and power plants, often drive biodiversity loss and infringe on Indigenous lands, yet the risks implicit in China’s overseas development finance are poorly understood. Here we examine the extent to which projects financed by China’s policy banks between 2008 and 2019 occur

The dependence of hunter-gatherers on local net primary production (NPP) to provide food played a major role in shaping long-term human population dynamics. Observations of contemporary hunter-gatherers have shown an overall correlation between population density and annual NPP but with a 1,000-fold variation in population density per unit NPP that remains unexplained. Here, we build a process-based

To inform efforts at preventing future pandemics, we assessed how socio-demographic attributes correlated with wildlife consumption as COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) first spread across Asia. Self-reported wildlife consumption was most strongly related to COVID-19 awareness; those with greater awareness were 11–24% less likely to buy wildlife products. A hypothetical intervention targeting increased

Sex chromosomes are susceptible to the evolution of selfish meiotic drive elements that bias transmission and distort progeny sex ratios. Conflict between such sex-ratio drivers and the rest of the genome can trigger evolutionary arms races resulting in genetically suppressed ‘cryptic’ drive systems. The Winters cryptic sex-ratio drive system of Drosophila simulans comprises a driver, Distorter on

An update on our progress in anti-racist actions and confronting colonial science.

Topographic change shapes the evolution of biodiversity by influencing both habitat connectivity and habitat diversity as well as abiotic factors like climate. However, its role in creating global biodiversity gradients remains poorly characterized because geology, climate and evolutionary data have rarely been integrated across concordant timescales. Here we show that topographic uplift over the last

The Anthropocene is characterized by unparalleled human impact on other species, potentially ushering in the sixth mass extinction. Yet mitigation efforts remain hampered by limited information on the spatial patterns and intensity of the threats driving global biodiversity loss. Here we use expert-derived information from the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List on threats to 23

To meet the ambitious objectives of biodiversity and climate conventions, the international community requires clarity on how these objectives can be operationalized spatially and how multiple targets can be pursued concurrently. To support goal setting and the implementation of international strategies and action plans, spatial guidance is needed to identify which land areas have the potential to

Global spatial information on biodiversity, carbon storage and land-use abound. Yet maps are conspicuously absent from national climate and biodiversity strategies, hampering integrated approaches to meeting economic, social and environmental objectives, including those under the forthcoming Global Biodiversity Framework.

Global priority maps have been transformative for conservation, but now have questionable utility and may crowd out other forms of research. Conservation must re-engage with contextually rich knowledge that builds global understanding from the ground up.

The fish-to-tetrapod transition is one of the most iconic events in vertebrate evolution, yet fundamental questions regarding the dynamics of this transition remain unresolved. Here, we use advances in Bayesian morphological clock modelling to reveal the evolutionary dynamics of early tetrapodomorphs (tetrapods and their closest fish relatives). We show that combining osteological and ichnological

During evolution successful allopolyploids must overcome ‘genome shock’ between hybridizing species but the underlying process remains elusive. Here, we report concerted genomic and epigenomic changes in resynthesized and natural Arabidopsis suecica (TTAA) allotetraploids derived from Arabidopsis thaliana (TT) and Arabidopsis arenosa (AA). A. suecica shows conserved gene synteny and content with more

Sexual dimorphism is ubiquitous in nature but its evolution is puzzling given that the mostly shared genome constrains independent evolution in the sexes. Sex differences should result from asymmetries between the sexes in selection or genetic variation but studies investigating both simultaneously are lacking. Here, we combine a quantitative genetic analysis of body size variation, partitioned into

The relationship between the number of available nutrients and community diversity is a central question in ecological research that remains unanswered. Here we studied the assembly of hundreds of soil-derived microbial communities on a wide range of well-defined resource environments, from single carbon sources to combinations of up to 16. We found that, while single resources supported multispecies

Most diploid organisms have polyploid ancestors. The evolutionary process of polyploidization is poorly understood but has frequently been conjectured to involve some form of ‘genome shock’, such as genome reorganization and subgenome expression dominance. Here we study polyploidization in Arabidopsis suecica, a post-glacial allopolyploid species formed via hybridization of Arabidopsis thaliana and

An international team of authors present a horizon scan of the predominant causes and consequences of pollinator loss, revealing that perceptions of the risks of losing pollinators vary substantially among regions.

Pioneer of molecular evolution.

Despite substantial conservation efforts, the loss of ecosystems continues globally, along with related declines in species and nature’s contributions to people. An effective ecosystem goal, supported by clear milestones, targets and indicators, is urgently needed for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework and beyond to support biodiversity conservation, the UN Sustainable Development Goals and

Pollinator decline has attracted global attention and substantial efforts are underway to respond through national pollinator strategies and action plans. These policy responses require clarity on what is driving pollinator decline and what risks it generates for society in different parts of the world. Using a formal expert elicitation process, we evaluated the relative regional and global importance

Collective behaviour is common in bacteria, plants and animals, and therefore occurs across ecosystems, from biofilms to cities. With collective behaviour, social interactions among individuals propagate to affect the behaviour of groups, whereas group-level responses in turn affect individual behaviour. These cross-scale feedback loops between individuals, populations and their environments can provide

Distinctive colour patterns in dogs are an integral component of canine diversity. Colour pattern differences are thought to have arisen from mutation and artificial selection during and after domestication from wolves but important gaps remain in understanding how these patterns evolved and are genetically controlled. In other mammals, variation at the ASIP gene controls both the temporal and spatial

Climate change is a threat to biodiversity. One way that this threat manifests is through pronounced shifts in the geographical range of species over time. To predict these shifts, researchers have primarily used species distribution models. However, these models are based on assumptions of niche conservatism and do not consider evolutionary processes, potentially limiting their accuracy and value

Racial and ethnic discrimination persist in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields, including ecology, evolution and conservation biology (EECB) and related disciplines. Marginalization and oppression as a result of institutional and structural racism continue to create barriers to inclusion for Black people, Indigenous people and people of colour (BIPOC), and remnants of historic

Ecological approaches to agriculture have a major role to play, alongside biotechnology.

During antibiotic treatment, the evolution of bacterial pathogens is fundamentally affected by bottlenecks and varying selection levels imposed by the drugs. Bottlenecks—that is, reductions in bacterial population size—lead to an increased influence of random effects (genetic drift) during bacterial evolution, and varying antibiotic concentrations during treatment may favour distinct resistance variants

Early terrestrial vertebrates (amniotes) provide a classic example of diversification following adaptive zone invasion. The initial terrestrialization of vertebrates was closely followed by dietary diversification, as evidenced by a proliferation of craniomandibular and dental adaptations. However, morphological evolution of early amniotes has received limited study, in analyses with restricted taxonomic

In addition to habitat loss and fragmentation, demographic processes—the vagaries of births, deaths and sex ratio fluctuations—pose substantial threats to wild giant panda populations. Additionally, climate change and plans for the Giant Panda National Park may influence (in opposing directions) the extinction risk for wild giant pandas. The Fourth National Giant Panda Census showed pandas living in

Recent advances in AI-based 3D protein structure prediction could help address health-related questions, but may also have far-reaching implications for evolution. Here we discuss the advantages and limitations of high-quality 3D structural predictions by AlphaFold2 in unravelling the relationship between protein properties and their impact on fitness, and emphasize the need to integrate in silico

Restoration of degraded drylands is urgently needed to mitigate climate change, reverse desertification and secure livelihoods for the two billion people who live in these areas. Bold global targets have been set for dryland restoration to restore millions of hectares of degraded land. These targets have been questioned as overly ambitious, but without a global evaluation of successes and failures

Low-elevation regions harbour the majority of the world’s species diversity compared to high-elevation areas. This global gradient suggests that lowland species have had more time to diversify, or that net diversification rates have been higher in the lowlands. However, highlands seem to be cradles of diversity as they contain many young endemics, suggesting that their rates of speciation are exceptionally

Jennifer Grenz is currently a sessional lecturer at the University of British Columbia and owns a land healing company, Greener This Side. Her recently completed PhD dissertation explores the science of invasive species management and restoration through the lens of an ‘Indigenous ecology’, which she defines as “relationally guided healing of our lands, waters, and relations through intentional shaping

Insects across the globe are facing multiple anthropogenic pressures. A study combining several data streams and advanced modelling helps to unravel the main factors underlying declines in monarch butterfly populations.

Declines in the abundance and diversity of insects pose a substantial threat to terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. Yet, identifying the causes of these declines has proved difficult, even for well-studied species like monarch butterflies, whose eastern North American population has decreased markedly over the last three decades. Three hypotheses have been proposed to explain the changes observed in

Birds show tremendous ecological disparity in spite of strong biomechanical constraints imposed by flight. Modular skeletal evolution is generally accepted to have facilitated this, with distinct body regions showing semi-independent evolutionary trajectories. However, this hypothesis has received little scrutiny. We analyse evolutionary modularity and ecomorphology using three-dimensional data from

A clever experimental design in bacteria with engineered obligate mutualisms shows that interdependency can allow pairs of bacteria to survive in environments that are uninhabitable by the individual strains.

Bacteria frequently engage in obligate metabolic mutualisms with other microorganisms. However, it remains generally unclear how the resulting metabolic dependencies affect the ecological niche space accessible to the whole consortium relative to the niche space available to its constituent individuals. Here we address this issue by systematically cultivating metabolically dependent strains of different

Long-term studies are essential to understand the impacts of global changes on the multiple facets of biological diversity. Here, we use distribution data for over 600 species of arthropods collected over 150 years from locations across Italy and test how multiple environmental stressors (climate, land use and human population density) influenced assemblage composition and functionality. By carefully

The future of SARS-CoV-2, including the possibility of elimination and eradication, remains uncertain, but much hinges on characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 immunity. The next few months to a year is a critical period for understanding these characteristics.

A paper published in Nature Ecology & Evolution has recently become the journal’s first retraction. We take the opportunity to reflect on a kinder and more open way of maintaining scientific rigour.

A synthesis of animal population trends around 27 no-take marine protected areas (MPAs) cautions that concentrated fishing right next to an MPA undermines population recovery within the MPA — and beyond.

A decorated bone object adds to the mounting evidence that Neanderthals were capable of advanced behavioural complexity and could produce artistic representations.

Marine protected areas (MPAs) play a leading role in conserving and restoring marine environments. MPAs can benefit both marine populations within their boundaries and external populations owing to a net export of organisms (spillover). However, little is known about variation in performance within MPAs. For example, edge effects may degrade populations within MPAs close to their boundaries. Here we