Nature ecology & evolution最新文献

Correction to: Nature Ecology & Evolution https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02626-y, published online 5 March 2025.

Human activities have transformed many wild and semiwild ecosystems into novel states without historical precedent. Without knowing the current distribution of what drives the emergence of such novelty, predicting future ecosystem states and informing conservation and restoration policies remain difficult. Here we construct global maps of three key drivers generating novel conditions—climate change, defaunation and floristic disruption—and summarize them to a measure of total novelty exposure. We show that the terrestrial biosphere is widely exposed to novel conditions, with 58% of the total area exposed to high levels of total novelty. All climatic regions and biomes are exposed to substantial levels of novelty. Relative contributions of individual drivers vary between climatic regions, with climate changes and defaunation the largest contributors globally. Protected areas and key biodiversity areas, whether formally protected or not, have similar exposure, with high total novelty experienced in 58% of cells inside protected areas and 56% inside key biodiversity areas. Our results highlight the importance of investigating ecosystem and biodiversity responses to rising ecological novelty for informing actions towards biosphere stewardship.

Vertebrate life histories evolve in response to selection imposed by abiotic and biotic environmental conditions while being limited by genetic, developmental, physiological, demographic and phylogenetic processes that constrain adaptation. Despite the well-recognized shifts in selective pressures accompanying transitions among environments, the conditions driving innovation and the consequences for life-history evolution remain outstanding questions. Here we compare the traits of vertebrates that occupy aquatic or terrestrial environments as juveniles to infer shifts in evolutionary constraints that explain differences in their life-history traits and thus their fundamental demographic rates. Our results emphasize the reduced potential for life-history diversification on land, especially that of reproductive strategies, which limits the scope of viable life-history strategies. Moreover, our study reveals differences between the evolution of viviparity in aquatic and terrestrial realms. Transitions from egg laying to live birth represent a major shift across life-history space for aquatic organisms, whereas terrestrial egg-laying organisms evolve live birth without drastic changes in life-history strategy. Whilst trade-offs in the allocation of resources place fundamental constraints on the way life histories can vary, ecological setting influences the position of species within the viable phenotypic space available for adaptive evolution.

Camouflage through colour change can involve reversible or permanent changes in response to cyclic predator or herbivore pressures. The evolution of background matching in camouflaged phenotypes partly depends on the genetics of the camouflage trait, but this has received little attention in plants. Here we clarify the genetic pathway underlying the grey-leaved morph of fumewort, Corydalis hemidicentra, of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau that by being camouflaged escapes herbivory from caterpillars of host-specialized Parnassius butterflies. Field experiments show that camouflaged grey leaves matching the surrounding scree habitat experience reduced oviposition by female butterflies and herbivory by caterpillars, resulting in higher fruit set than that achieved by green-leaved plants. The defence is entirely visual. Multi-omics data and functional validation reveal that a 254-bp-inserted transposon causes anthocyanin accumulation in leaves, giving them a rock-like grey colour. Demographic analyses of plant and butterfly effective population sizes over the past 500 years indicate that plant populations have been more stable at sites with camouflage than at sites with only green-leaved plants. In the recent past, populations of Parnassius butterflies have declined at sites with camouflaged plants. These findings provide insights into the genetics of a plant camouflage trait and its potential role in the rapidly changing dynamics of plant–herbivore interactions.

In 1997, Mozambique introduced a land law that was applauded as one of the most progressive in Africa. The law recognizes customary rights, assures compensation and resettlement for expropriated people, and guarantees the rights of Mozambicans to land and natural resources, while promoting sustainable and profitable investments^1,2. However, since 2017, the World Bank and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) have been pushing for the Mozambican government to revise this law with the aim of promoting a more ‘business friendly’ form of land governance. The government has collaborated in the revision process, but these proposals have been refuted by Mozambican civil society organizations¹. Although it remains uncertain whether this issue will be prioritized on the agenda of the new legislative body inaugurated in January 2025, the revised land law proposal can be brought to discussion by members of parliament at any point. The proposed revision will seriously risk rural livelihoods, the environmental sustainability that is closely connected to them, and the country’s biodiversity.

Investments in large-scale extractive industries, forestry and industrial agriculture have intensified over recent decades in Mozambique, which has transformed the country into an extractive economy³. Numerous communities have been displaced by this development, but demands for compensation under the land law have been ignored. The intensifying flow of investments has stirred up serious conflicts, particularly in the northern part of the country⁴. According to the government, the proposed revision aims to solve such land conflicts.