Research Highlight: Marco Fioratti Junod, Irene Cordero, Nadia Chinn, Jennifer Firn, Julia Holmes, Marcus Klein, Gabrielle Lebbink, Uffe N. Nielsen, Martin Schütz, Stephan Zimmermann, Anita C. Risch. (2025). Herbivory mediates the response of below-ground food webs to invasive grasses. Journal of Animal Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.70113. A recent paper by Junod et al. (2025) tested whether herbivores could mitigate the effects of invasive African lovegrass on soil biodiversity in Australian grasslands. They found that herbivores, including livestock, native mammals and invertebrates, acted to reverse four of the 13 negative effects that African lovegrass had on soil biodiversity and function. Their work demonstrated two mechanisms through which herbivores may have acted—reducing plant litter and increasing soil temperature. The paper also highlights the difficulty of predicting the response of soil biodiversity to change because of unclear interdependencies among organisms. General techniques such as food web models, isotopic tracers and more detailed study of the lives of soil organisms will help us bridge this knowledge gap.
Research Highlight: Moser, V., Capitani, L., Zehnder, L., Hürbin, A., Obrist, M., Ecker, K., Boch, S., Minnig, S., Angst, C., Pomati, F., & Risch, A. (2025). Habitat heterogeneity and food availability in beaver-engineered streams foster bat richness, activity and feeding. Journal of Animal Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.70136. Ecosystem engineers increase habitat heterogeneity, altering abiotic and biotic resources and are key to effective nature recovery. Reintroductions of Eurasian beavers (Castor fiber) in Europe have indirectly benefitted multiple taxonomic groups, aquatic and terrestrial, as their activities result in wetland restoration and diversification of vegetation composition and structure. Bats have been found to be positively impacted by beaver activity, yet the causal drivers were unknown. In a recent study, Moser et al. (2025) monitored bat species richness, activity and foraging activity at beaver pools and control beaver-free sites in Switzerland, finding significant increases in all three measures. Importantly, this study is the first to show significant positive impacts on bat foraging at beaver-engineered sites, and increases in species richness included red-listed species of conservation concern. By testing causal links of the impact of direct (increased canopy heterogeneity and standing deadwood density) and indirect (increased arthropod prey abundance) impacts of beaver engineering on bats, the authors found mixed responses at the foraging guild level. Edge-hunting aerial hawkers benefitted most from beaver engineering, and increased standing deadwood density was shown to have the strongest impact on bats. This study provides key evidence for the positive outcomes of beaver reintroductions on local biodiversity, highlighting the value of ecosystem engineers for nature recovery strategies.
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