Pub Date : 2026-01-28DOI: 10.1038/s41559-025-02959-2
Shan Huang, Andrew Morozov, Alison Eyres, Xiang-Yi Li Richter
Body size is a fundamental organismal trait, affecting a wide variety of physiological and ecological functions. Such relationships are often interactive and nonlinear, forming complex feedbacks. In terrestrial mammals, larger bodies are associated with higher mobility in trade-off with larger absolute resource demand. Here we propose a hypothesis, with support from empirical patterns and a mathematical model, that this trade-off interacts with diet specialization to drive diverging selection on body size because specialists are more efficient resource users and have lower mortality risks at extreme sizes. Our analysis of a global terrestrial mammal species dataset found significantly lower proportions of specialists at intermediate sizes, but higher proportions towards extreme sizes; this pattern also applies to species assemblages in zoographic realms. Our mathematical model of coexistence between equal-sized specialists and generalists shows that specialists of extreme sizes have higher equilibrium frequencies and likelihood of coexistence with generalists at quasi-stability. The combined results support dietary specialization as a key factor for shaping body size diversity. Our work highlights the value of connecting ecology and evolution in understanding the diversity of key traits like body size, and calls for further investigations on the related history of resource distribution and lineage diversification. A comparative analysis of trait data combined with a mathematical model suggests that dietary specialization drives selection towards the smallest and largest body sizes in terrestrial mammals, as generalists outcompete specialists at intermediate sizes.
{"title":"Diverging selection on body size in specialist terrestrial mammals","authors":"Shan Huang, Andrew Morozov, Alison Eyres, Xiang-Yi Li Richter","doi":"10.1038/s41559-025-02959-2","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41559-025-02959-2","url":null,"abstract":"Body size is a fundamental organismal trait, affecting a wide variety of physiological and ecological functions. Such relationships are often interactive and nonlinear, forming complex feedbacks. In terrestrial mammals, larger bodies are associated with higher mobility in trade-off with larger absolute resource demand. Here we propose a hypothesis, with support from empirical patterns and a mathematical model, that this trade-off interacts with diet specialization to drive diverging selection on body size because specialists are more efficient resource users and have lower mortality risks at extreme sizes. Our analysis of a global terrestrial mammal species dataset found significantly lower proportions of specialists at intermediate sizes, but higher proportions towards extreme sizes; this pattern also applies to species assemblages in zoographic realms. Our mathematical model of coexistence between equal-sized specialists and generalists shows that specialists of extreme sizes have higher equilibrium frequencies and likelihood of coexistence with generalists at quasi-stability. The combined results support dietary specialization as a key factor for shaping body size diversity. Our work highlights the value of connecting ecology and evolution in understanding the diversity of key traits like body size, and calls for further investigations on the related history of resource distribution and lineage diversification. A comparative analysis of trait data combined with a mathematical model suggests that dietary specialization drives selection towards the smallest and largest body sizes in terrestrial mammals, as generalists outcompete specialists at intermediate sizes.","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"10 2","pages":"342-354"},"PeriodicalIF":13.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-025-02959-2.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146057227","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-28DOI: 10.1038/s41559-025-02967-2
Yi-Qi Hao (郝祎祺), Bo-Hui Li (李博汇), Jia-Yi Chen (陈嘉怡), Wen-Sheng Shu (束文圣), Xin-Feng Zhao (赵鑫峰)
Understanding how high species diversity is maintained in natural bacterial communities is a central question in microbial ecology. Due to the versatile heterotrophic capacities of bacteria and the rich nutrients released by deceased bacterial cells, necromass recycling plays an important role in sustaining bacterial growth. Such nutrient cycling within communities can provide additional resource niches for bacteria, but its potential effects on bacterial diversity maintenance have been neglected. Here we conducted two independent experiments and studied the assembly of 276 soil-derived bacterial communities sustained by a wide range of bacterial necromass combinations, from single-species necromass to combinations of up to nearly 1,000 species. Our results highlight the existence of a species-rich bacterial necrobiome in soil. We found that the composition of necromass-decomposing communities was determined by the various organic compounds in the different necromass combinations, and the increases in necromass-producing species constantly promoted species diversity of necromass-decomposing communities. Moreover, the average niche breadth and overlap of coexisting necromass-decomposing species in utilizing distinct single-species necromass decreased with increases in necromass diversity, supporting the hypothesis of resource partitioning in utilizing different single-species necromass. Our study provides insights into diversity maintenance in bacterial communities from a perspective of internal nutrient cycling.
{"title":"Bacterial necromass recycling promotes diversity maintenance in bacterial communities via resource partitioning","authors":"Yi-Qi Hao \u0000 (郝祎祺), Bo-Hui Li \u0000 (李博汇), Jia-Yi Chen \u0000 (陈嘉怡), Wen-Sheng Shu \u0000 (束文圣), Xin-Feng Zhao \u0000 (赵鑫峰)","doi":"10.1038/s41559-025-02967-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-025-02967-2","url":null,"abstract":"Understanding how high species diversity is maintained in natural bacterial communities is a central question in microbial ecology. Due to the versatile heterotrophic capacities of bacteria and the rich nutrients released by deceased bacterial cells, necromass recycling plays an important role in sustaining bacterial growth. Such nutrient cycling within communities can provide additional resource niches for bacteria, but its potential effects on bacterial diversity maintenance have been neglected. Here we conducted two independent experiments and studied the assembly of 276 soil-derived bacterial communities sustained by a wide range of bacterial necromass combinations, from single-species necromass to combinations of up to nearly 1,000 species. Our results highlight the existence of a species-rich bacterial necrobiome in soil. We found that the composition of necromass-decomposing communities was determined by the various organic compounds in the different necromass combinations, and the increases in necromass-producing species constantly promoted species diversity of necromass-decomposing communities. Moreover, the average niche breadth and overlap of coexisting necromass-decomposing species in utilizing distinct single-species necromass decreased with increases in necromass diversity, supporting the hypothesis of resource partitioning in utilizing different single-species necromass. Our study provides insights into diversity maintenance in bacterial communities from a perspective of internal nutrient cycling.","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"72 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":16.8,"publicationDate":"2026-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146057225","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-27DOI: 10.1038/s41559-025-02955-6
A. S. MacDougall, B. Vanzant, J. Sulik, S. Bagchi, D. Naidu, T. O. Muraina, E. W. Seabloom, E. T. Borer, P. Wilfahrt, I. Slette, J. L. Hierro, D. E. Pearson, M. Abedi, M. Akasaka, J. Alberti, A. Aleksanyan, A. A. Amisu, T. M. Anderson, C. A. Arnillas, M. Ayer, J. D. Bakker, S. Basant, S. Basto, L. Biederman, K. J. Bloodworth, F. Boscutti, E. H. Boughton, C. M. Bruschetti, H. L. Buckley, Y. M. Buckley, M. N. Bugalho, M. C. Caldeira, G. Campetella, N. Cannone, M. Carbognani, C. Carbutt, M. A. Carniello, M. Cervellini, T. Chaudhary, Q. Chen, A. T. Clark, S. Cousins, M. Dalle Fratte, N. J. Day, B. Deák, J. Dietrich, A. Dixon, N. Eisenhauer, K. J. Elgersma, O. Eren, A. Eskelinen, C. Estrada, P. A. Fay, G. Fayvush, K. C. Flynn, D. García Meza, D. Gargano, L. Gherardi, N. T. Girkin, L. González, P. Graff, L. W. C. Hagenberg, A. H. Halbritter, N. A. Havrilchak, N. Herdoiza, E. Hersch-Green, K. Hopping, A. Jentsch, S. O. Jimoh, J. Kerby, K. Kirkman, J. M. H. Knops, S. E. Koerner, A. Koltz, K. J. Komatsu, B. I. Koura, S. Kruse, L. Laanisto, L. S. Lannes, W. Li, M. Liang, A. Lkhagva, L. López-Olmedo, P. Lorenzo, C. J. Lortie, A. Loydi, W. Luo, P. Macek, F. Malfasi, P. Mariotte, J. P. Martina, A. Martínez-Blancas, H. Martinson, C. Martorell, J. A. Meave, S. Medina-Villar, K. Z. Mganga, J. Monsimet, A. N. Nerlekar, S. Niu, T. Ohlert, I. Oliveras Menor, G. R. Oñatibia, Y. K. Ortega, B. Osborne, S. Palpurina, J. Pascual, S. C. Pennings, E. Pérez-García, P. L. Peri, M. Petit Bon, A. Petraglia, F. Pijcke, S. M. Prober, R. E. Quiroga, J. I. Ramirez, S. Reed, B. H. P. Rosado, C. Roscher, D. W. Rowley, I. Sereda, D. M. Small, N. G. Smith, Y. Song, C. Stevens, L. E. Suarez Jimenez, M. te Beest, M. Tedder, R. S. Terry, K. S. Thornton, D. Tian, G. Titcomb, O. Valkó, G. F. ‘Ciska’ Veen, R. Virtanen, E. A. R. Welti, G. R. Wheeler, A. A. Wolf, P. Wolff, A. L. Young, H. S. Young, L. H. Zeglin, K. Zhu, S. Zong, M. B. Siewert
Land cover data are commonly used to model the terrestrial carbon (C) sink, yet these data have wide margins of error that significantly alter estimates of global C storage. Here we demonstrate this data vulnerability in grasslands, which are critical to C cycling but whose estimated distribution has varied by >50 million km2 (3.5–42% of the Earth’s terrestrial surface). Comparing multiple high-resolution land cover products with expertly annotated grassland data from six continents, we show sources of mapping error and discuss C implications based on 2023 United Nations (UN) FAO estimates. Past misidentification arose from inconsistent definitions on grassland identity and classification flaws especially relating to woody plant cover. Correcting these errors adjusted grassland coverage to 22.8% of the terrestrial land base (30.1 million km2), elevating UN projections of soil C stocks to 155.02 Pg (0–30 cm depth). These findings underscore the challenges of biome mapping for ecosystem accounting and policy, when lacking field-validated remotely sensed data. By combining satellite observations with ground-based data and expert validation, this analysis demonstrates considerable misestimation of grassland extent and thereby carbon stock estimates in previous global assessments based on remote sensing.
{"title":"The global extent of the grassland biome and implications for the terrestrial carbon sink","authors":"A. S. MacDougall, B. Vanzant, J. Sulik, S. Bagchi, D. Naidu, T. O. Muraina, E. W. Seabloom, E. T. Borer, P. Wilfahrt, I. Slette, J. L. Hierro, D. E. Pearson, M. Abedi, M. Akasaka, J. Alberti, A. Aleksanyan, A. A. Amisu, T. M. Anderson, C. A. Arnillas, M. Ayer, J. D. Bakker, S. Basant, S. Basto, L. Biederman, K. J. Bloodworth, F. Boscutti, E. H. Boughton, C. M. Bruschetti, H. L. Buckley, Y. M. Buckley, M. N. Bugalho, M. C. Caldeira, G. Campetella, N. Cannone, M. Carbognani, C. Carbutt, M. A. Carniello, M. Cervellini, T. Chaudhary, Q. Chen, A. T. Clark, S. Cousins, M. Dalle Fratte, N. J. Day, B. Deák, J. Dietrich, A. Dixon, N. Eisenhauer, K. J. Elgersma, O. Eren, A. Eskelinen, C. Estrada, P. A. Fay, G. Fayvush, K. C. Flynn, D. García Meza, D. Gargano, L. Gherardi, N. T. Girkin, L. González, P. Graff, L. W. C. Hagenberg, A. H. Halbritter, N. A. Havrilchak, N. Herdoiza, E. Hersch-Green, K. Hopping, A. Jentsch, S. O. Jimoh, J. Kerby, K. Kirkman, J. M. H. Knops, S. E. Koerner, A. Koltz, K. J. Komatsu, B. I. Koura, S. Kruse, L. Laanisto, L. S. Lannes, W. Li, M. Liang, A. Lkhagva, L. López-Olmedo, P. Lorenzo, C. J. Lortie, A. Loydi, W. Luo, P. Macek, F. Malfasi, P. Mariotte, J. P. Martina, A. Martínez-Blancas, H. Martinson, C. Martorell, J. A. Meave, S. Medina-Villar, K. Z. Mganga, J. Monsimet, A. N. Nerlekar, S. Niu, T. Ohlert, I. Oliveras Menor, G. R. Oñatibia, Y. K. Ortega, B. Osborne, S. Palpurina, J. Pascual, S. C. Pennings, E. Pérez-García, P. L. Peri, M. Petit Bon, A. Petraglia, F. Pijcke, S. M. Prober, R. E. Quiroga, J. I. Ramirez, S. Reed, B. H. P. Rosado, C. Roscher, D. W. Rowley, I. Sereda, D. M. Small, N. G. Smith, Y. Song, C. Stevens, L. E. Suarez Jimenez, M. te Beest, M. Tedder, R. S. Terry, K. S. Thornton, D. Tian, G. Titcomb, O. Valkó, G. F. ‘Ciska’ Veen, R. Virtanen, E. A. R. Welti, G. R. Wheeler, A. A. Wolf, P. Wolff, A. L. Young, H. S. Young, L. H. Zeglin, K. Zhu, S. Zong, M. B. Siewert","doi":"10.1038/s41559-025-02955-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41559-025-02955-6","url":null,"abstract":"Land cover data are commonly used to model the terrestrial carbon (C) sink, yet these data have wide margins of error that significantly alter estimates of global C storage. Here we demonstrate this data vulnerability in grasslands, which are critical to C cycling but whose estimated distribution has varied by >50 million km2 (3.5–42% of the Earth’s terrestrial surface). Comparing multiple high-resolution land cover products with expertly annotated grassland data from six continents, we show sources of mapping error and discuss C implications based on 2023 United Nations (UN) FAO estimates. Past misidentification arose from inconsistent definitions on grassland identity and classification flaws especially relating to woody plant cover. Correcting these errors adjusted grassland coverage to 22.8% of the terrestrial land base (30.1 million km2), elevating UN projections of soil C stocks to 155.02 Pg (0–30 cm depth). These findings underscore the challenges of biome mapping for ecosystem accounting and policy, when lacking field-validated remotely sensed data. By combining satellite observations with ground-based data and expert validation, this analysis demonstrates considerable misestimation of grassland extent and thereby carbon stock estimates in previous global assessments based on remote sensing.","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"10 2","pages":"246-257"},"PeriodicalIF":13.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146056635","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Citizen science provides large amounts of biodiversity data. Key challenges in unlocking its full potential include engaging citizens with limited species identification skills and accelerating the transition from data collection to research and monitoring outputs. Here we use a large dataset from Finland to show how even citizens who cannot identify birds themselves can contribute to real-time predictions of avian distributions. This is achieved through a digital twin that combines smartphone-based citizen science with long-term knowledge in a continuously updating model. The app submits raw audio to a backend that classifies birds with machine learning, reducing variation in data quality and enabling validation and reclassification by continuously improving classifiers. We counteracted spatiotemporal sampling biases by interval recordings and permanent point count networks. Over 2 years, the app generated 15 million bird detections. Independent test data show that the digital-twin-informed models are more accurate at predicting bird spatiotemporal distributions. Because our approach is highly scalable and has the potential to generate biomonitoring data even in understudied areas, it could accelerate the flow of reliable biodiversity information and increase inclusivity in citizen science projects.
{"title":"A digital twin for real-time biodiversity forecasting with citizen science data.","authors":"Otso Ovaskainen,Steven Winter,Gleb Tikhonov,Patrik Lauha,Ari Lehtiö,Ossi Nokelainen,Nerea Abrego,Anni Aroluoma,Jesse Patrick Harrison,Mikko Heikkinen,Aleksi Kallio,Anniina Koliseva,Aleksi Lehikoinen,Tomas Roslin,Panu Somervuo,Allan Tainá Souza,Jemal Tahir,Jussi Talaskivi,Alpo Turunen,Aurélie Vancraeyenest,Gabriela Zuquim,Hannu Autto,Jari Hänninen,Jasmin Inkinen,Outa Kalttopää,Janne Koskinen,Matti Kotakorpi,Kim Kuntze,John Loehr,Marko Mutanen,Mikko Oranen,Riku Paavola,Risto Renkonen,Pauliina Schiestl-Aalto,Mikko Sipilä,Maija Sujala,Janne Sundell,Saana Tepsa,Esa-Pekka Tuominen,Joni Uusitalo,Mikko Vallinmäki,Emma Vatka,Silja Veikkolainen,Phillip C Watts,David Dunson","doi":"10.1038/s41559-025-02966-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-025-02966-3","url":null,"abstract":"Citizen science provides large amounts of biodiversity data. Key challenges in unlocking its full potential include engaging citizens with limited species identification skills and accelerating the transition from data collection to research and monitoring outputs. Here we use a large dataset from Finland to show how even citizens who cannot identify birds themselves can contribute to real-time predictions of avian distributions. This is achieved through a digital twin that combines smartphone-based citizen science with long-term knowledge in a continuously updating model. The app submits raw audio to a backend that classifies birds with machine learning, reducing variation in data quality and enabling validation and reclassification by continuously improving classifiers. We counteracted spatiotemporal sampling biases by interval recordings and permanent point count networks. Over 2 years, the app generated 15 million bird detections. Independent test data show that the digital-twin-informed models are more accurate at predicting bird spatiotemporal distributions. Because our approach is highly scalable and has the potential to generate biomonitoring data even in understudied areas, it could accelerate the flow of reliable biodiversity information and increase inclusivity in citizen science projects.","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"42 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":16.8,"publicationDate":"2026-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146056638","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-23DOI: 10.1038/s41559-025-02956-5
B. Fadrique, F. Costa, F. Cuesta, G. Arellano, L. Cayuela, T. R. Baker, F. C. Draper, A. Esquivel-Muelbert, H. ter Steege, M. Bauters, J. Aguirre-Gutiérrez, Z. Aguirre-Mendoza, M. N. Alexiades, E. Alvarez-Davila, E. Arets, E. Ayala, C. G. A. Aymard, F. Baccaro, S. Báez, C. Baraloto, R. I. Barbosa, P. Barbosa Camargo, J. Barlow, P. E. Barni, J. Barroso, M. Benchimol, A. C. Bennett, E. Berenguer, L. Blanc, D. Bonal, F. Bongers, R. Brienen, F. Brown, M. BT Andrade, B. Burban, R. J. Burnham, J. L. Camargo, S. P. C. Carvalho, C. Castilho, J. Chave, F. Coelho de Souza, J. Comiskey, L. da Costa, R. B. de Lima, E. A. de Oliveira, R. L. C. de Oliveira, R. de Oliveira Perdiz, J. De Rutte, J. del Aguila-Pasquel, G. Derroire, A. Di Fiore, M. Disney, A. Duque, T. Emilio, W. Farfan-Rios, S. Fauset, P. M. Fearnside, K. J. Feeley, T. R. Feldpausch, J. Ferreira, L. Ferreira, G. R. Flores Llampazo, D. Galbraith, K. García-Cabrera, M. García Criado, E. Gloor, J. M. Grandez-Rios, B. Hérault, J. Homeier, E. N. Honorio Coronado, I. Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, W. Huaraca Huasco, Y. T. Huillca-Aedo, Á. Idárraga, O. Jadán-Maza, M. Kalamandeen, T. J. Killeen, S. G. W. Laurance, W. F. Laurance, A. Levesley, W. Lopez, M. J. Macía, W. E. Magnusson, Y. Malhi, A. G. Manzatto, B. S. Marimon, B. H. Marimon Junior, J. A. Martínez-Villa, M. B. Medeiros, K. Melgaço, L. Melo, T. Metzker, A. Monteagudo, P. S. Morandi, J. A. Myers, H. M. Nascimento, R. Nascimento, D. Neill, B. Nieto-Ariza, W. A. Palacios, S. Palacios-Ramos, N. C. Pallqui-Camacho, G. Pardo Molina, J. Peacock, M. A. Peña, R. T. Pennington, M. C. Peñuela, C. A. Peres, Á. J. Pérez, G. C. Pickavance, E. Pinto, J. Pipoly, N. Pitman, A. Prieto, H. Ramírez-Angulo, S. M. Reis, Z. Restrepo, C. Reynel, S. Ribeiro, G. Rivas-Torres, R. Rojas, A. Rudas, N. Salinas, R. P. Salomão, F. Santana, J. Schietti, G. Schwartz, J. Serrano, M. Silman, C. Silva, C. A. Silva, R. C. Silva, R. S. A. Silva, J. Silva-Espejo, M. Silveira, M. F. Simon, Y. C. Soto-Shareva, P. F. Souza, D. Storck-Tonon, J. Stropp, V. Swamy, J. S. Tello, J. Terborgh, R. Thomas, A. Torres-Lezama, J. D. Vale, L. Valenzuela Gamarra, G. van der Heijden, P. van der Hout, P. J. van der Meer, R. Vasquez Martinez, L. Vedovato, H. Verbeeck, I. Vieira, S. A. Vieira, E. Vilanova, B. Vinceti, V. A. Vos, R. Zagt, P. A. Zuidema, O. L. Phillips
Climate and atmospheric changes are impacting forest function and structure worldwide, but their effects on tropical forest diversity are unclear. Nowhere is the scientific challenge greater than in the Andes and the Amazon, which together include the world’s most diverse forests. Here, using 406 permanent plots spanning four decades of intact lowland and montane forest dynamics, we test for long-term change in species richness and assess the influence of climate and other variables. We show that, at a continental scale, species richness appears stable, but this masks substantial regional variation. Species richness increased in Northern Andean and Western Amazon plots, yet declined in the Central Andes, Guyana Shield and Central-Eastern Amazon. Overall, warmer, drier and more seasonal forests lost species, while those at higher elevations, in less fragmented areas and with faster rates of tree turnover experienced increases. Region-specific drivers, particularly precipitation seasonality and demographic factors, modulated these trends. The results highlight the diverse ways in which Amazon–Andes forests are changing and underscore the critical need to preserve large-scale ecosystem integrity to maintain local tree diversity. By doing so, Northern Andean forests in particular could serve as an important refuge for species increasingly displaced by climate change. This study examines long-term changes in species richness across tropical forests in the Andes and Amazon. Hotter, drier and more seasonal forests in the eastern and southern Amazon are losing species, while Northern Andean forests are accumulating species, acting as a refuge for climate-displaced species.
{"title":"Tree diversity is changing across tropical Andean and Amazonian forests in response to global change","authors":"B. Fadrique, F. Costa, F. Cuesta, G. Arellano, L. Cayuela, T. R. Baker, F. C. Draper, A. Esquivel-Muelbert, H. ter Steege, M. Bauters, J. Aguirre-Gutiérrez, Z. Aguirre-Mendoza, M. N. Alexiades, E. Alvarez-Davila, E. Arets, E. Ayala, C. G. A. Aymard, F. Baccaro, S. Báez, C. Baraloto, R. I. Barbosa, P. Barbosa Camargo, J. Barlow, P. E. Barni, J. Barroso, M. Benchimol, A. C. Bennett, E. Berenguer, L. Blanc, D. Bonal, F. Bongers, R. Brienen, F. Brown, M. BT Andrade, B. Burban, R. J. Burnham, J. L. Camargo, S. P. C. Carvalho, C. Castilho, J. Chave, F. Coelho de Souza, J. Comiskey, L. da Costa, R. B. de Lima, E. A. de Oliveira, R. L. C. de Oliveira, R. de Oliveira Perdiz, J. De Rutte, J. del Aguila-Pasquel, G. Derroire, A. Di Fiore, M. Disney, A. Duque, T. Emilio, W. Farfan-Rios, S. Fauset, P. M. Fearnside, K. J. Feeley, T. R. Feldpausch, J. Ferreira, L. Ferreira, G. R. Flores Llampazo, D. Galbraith, K. García-Cabrera, M. García Criado, E. Gloor, J. M. Grandez-Rios, B. Hérault, J. Homeier, E. N. Honorio Coronado, I. Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, W. Huaraca Huasco, Y. T. Huillca-Aedo, Á. Idárraga, O. Jadán-Maza, M. Kalamandeen, T. J. Killeen, S. G. W. Laurance, W. F. Laurance, A. Levesley, W. Lopez, M. J. Macía, W. E. Magnusson, Y. Malhi, A. G. Manzatto, B. S. Marimon, B. H. Marimon Junior, J. A. Martínez-Villa, M. B. Medeiros, K. Melgaço, L. Melo, T. Metzker, A. Monteagudo, P. S. Morandi, J. A. Myers, H. M. Nascimento, R. Nascimento, D. Neill, B. Nieto-Ariza, W. A. Palacios, S. Palacios-Ramos, N. C. Pallqui-Camacho, G. Pardo Molina, J. Peacock, M. A. Peña, R. T. Pennington, M. C. Peñuela, C. A. Peres, Á. J. Pérez, G. C. Pickavance, E. Pinto, J. Pipoly, N. Pitman, A. Prieto, H. Ramírez-Angulo, S. M. Reis, Z. Restrepo, C. Reynel, S. Ribeiro, G. Rivas-Torres, R. Rojas, A. Rudas, N. Salinas, R. P. Salomão, F. Santana, J. Schietti, G. Schwartz, J. Serrano, M. Silman, C. Silva, C. A. Silva, R. C. Silva, R. S. A. Silva, J. Silva-Espejo, M. Silveira, M. F. Simon, Y. C. Soto-Shareva, P. F. Souza, D. Storck-Tonon, J. Stropp, V. Swamy, J. S. Tello, J. Terborgh, R. Thomas, A. Torres-Lezama, J. D. Vale, L. Valenzuela Gamarra, G. van der Heijden, P. van der Hout, P. J. van der Meer, R. Vasquez Martinez, L. Vedovato, H. Verbeeck, I. Vieira, S. A. Vieira, E. Vilanova, B. Vinceti, V. A. Vos, R. Zagt, P. A. Zuidema, O. L. Phillips","doi":"10.1038/s41559-025-02956-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41559-025-02956-5","url":null,"abstract":"Climate and atmospheric changes are impacting forest function and structure worldwide, but their effects on tropical forest diversity are unclear. Nowhere is the scientific challenge greater than in the Andes and the Amazon, which together include the world’s most diverse forests. Here, using 406 permanent plots spanning four decades of intact lowland and montane forest dynamics, we test for long-term change in species richness and assess the influence of climate and other variables. We show that, at a continental scale, species richness appears stable, but this masks substantial regional variation. Species richness increased in Northern Andean and Western Amazon plots, yet declined in the Central Andes, Guyana Shield and Central-Eastern Amazon. Overall, warmer, drier and more seasonal forests lost species, while those at higher elevations, in less fragmented areas and with faster rates of tree turnover experienced increases. Region-specific drivers, particularly precipitation seasonality and demographic factors, modulated these trends. The results highlight the diverse ways in which Amazon–Andes forests are changing and underscore the critical need to preserve large-scale ecosystem integrity to maintain local tree diversity. By doing so, Northern Andean forests in particular could serve as an important refuge for species increasingly displaced by climate change. This study examines long-term changes in species richness across tropical forests in the Andes and Amazon. Hotter, drier and more seasonal forests in the eastern and southern Amazon are losing species, while Northern Andean forests are accumulating species, acting as a refuge for climate-displaced species.","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"10 2","pages":"267-280"},"PeriodicalIF":13.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-025-02956-5.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146034065","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-20DOI: 10.1038/s41559-025-02964-5
Nian-Feng Wan, Yu-Quan Wang, Liwan Fu, Jie Liu, Ben A. Woodcock, Yue-Qing Hu, Anu Eskelinen, Andy Hector, Michel Loreau, Yann Hautier, Richard D. Bardgett, Paul Kardol, Debra Zuppinger-Dingley, Lauchlan H. Fraser, James M. Bullock, Shinichi Nakagawa, Siyuan Shen, Fengfei Xin, Da-Peng Shi, Zhong Li, Jia Zhou, Christoph Scherber
The diversity–productivity relationship suggests that increasing plant species could increase primary productivity, with this effect being explained in part by the suppression of plant antagonists. We conducted a global synthesis of 609 studies to investigate how plant diversity affects plants and their antagonists. Here we show that increasing plant species consistently promotes plant performance and suppresses antagonist performance in agro-ecosystems, grasslands and forests, for herbaceous and woody plants, across tropical and temperate zones, and for replacement series and additive experimental design studies. Crop diversification (for example, intercropping and cover cropping) indirectly promotes crop production through the suppression of pests. This shows that diversifying planting systems can increase productivity while reducing reliance on synthetic pesticides, offering a sustainable pathway for agriculture from subsistence to large-scale agriculture. Overall, these results suggest that crop diversification has considerable potential to support sustainable agro-ecosystems that benefit productivity while reducing reliance on synthetic pesticides. A global synthesis of >600 studies finds that across agro-ecosystems, grasslands and forests in temperate and tropical zones, increasing plant diversity has a consistently positive effect on plant performance and the suppression of antagonists.
{"title":"Global evidence that plant diversity suppresses pests and promotes plant performance and crop production","authors":"Nian-Feng Wan, Yu-Quan Wang, Liwan Fu, Jie Liu, Ben A. Woodcock, Yue-Qing Hu, Anu Eskelinen, Andy Hector, Michel Loreau, Yann Hautier, Richard D. Bardgett, Paul Kardol, Debra Zuppinger-Dingley, Lauchlan H. Fraser, James M. Bullock, Shinichi Nakagawa, Siyuan Shen, Fengfei Xin, Da-Peng Shi, Zhong Li, Jia Zhou, Christoph Scherber","doi":"10.1038/s41559-025-02964-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41559-025-02964-5","url":null,"abstract":"The diversity–productivity relationship suggests that increasing plant species could increase primary productivity, with this effect being explained in part by the suppression of plant antagonists. We conducted a global synthesis of 609 studies to investigate how plant diversity affects plants and their antagonists. Here we show that increasing plant species consistently promotes plant performance and suppresses antagonist performance in agro-ecosystems, grasslands and forests, for herbaceous and woody plants, across tropical and temperate zones, and for replacement series and additive experimental design studies. Crop diversification (for example, intercropping and cover cropping) indirectly promotes crop production through the suppression of pests. This shows that diversifying planting systems can increase productivity while reducing reliance on synthetic pesticides, offering a sustainable pathway for agriculture from subsistence to large-scale agriculture. Overall, these results suggest that crop diversification has considerable potential to support sustainable agro-ecosystems that benefit productivity while reducing reliance on synthetic pesticides. A global synthesis of >600 studies finds that across agro-ecosystems, grasslands and forests in temperate and tropical zones, increasing plant diversity has a consistently positive effect on plant performance and the suppression of antagonists.","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"10 2","pages":"293-307"},"PeriodicalIF":13.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146005508","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-16DOI: 10.1038/s41559-025-02957-4
Lukas Malfertheiner, Janko Tackmann, João Frederico Matias Rodrigues, Christian von Mering
Phylogenetic signal describes the tendency of related organisms to resemble each other in morphology and function. Related organisms tend to also live in similar ecological niches, which is termed niche conservatism. The concepts of both phylogenetic signal and niche conservatism are widely used to understand crucial aspects of evolution and speciation, and they are well established in animals and plants. However, although assumed to be present, the extension of these concepts to microorganisms is challenging to assess. Here we hypothesize that two closely related microbial species should be found in samples with similar community compositions, reflecting their ecological similarity. We propose ‘community conservatism’ to refer to this phenomenon and leverage a database with millions of samples and hundreds of thousands of pairs of microorganisms to assess their relatedness and the similarity of the communities they occupy. Our findings reveal that community conservatism can be observed globally in all environments and phyla tested, over nearly all taxonomic ranks, but to varying extents. Analysing community conservatism shows promise to advance our understanding of evolution, speciation and the mechanisms governing community assembly in microorganisms. Furthermore, we propose that it can be used to reintegrate ecological parameters into operational taxonomic unit delimitation. This study reveals that closely related microorganisms tend to inhabit similar communities across all major environments and phyla. The authors term this phenomenon ‘community conservatism’, extending the ecological concepts of phylogenetic signal and niche conservatism to the microbial world.
{"title":"Community conservatism is widespread across microbial phyla and environments","authors":"Lukas Malfertheiner, Janko Tackmann, João Frederico Matias Rodrigues, Christian von Mering","doi":"10.1038/s41559-025-02957-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41559-025-02957-4","url":null,"abstract":"Phylogenetic signal describes the tendency of related organisms to resemble each other in morphology and function. Related organisms tend to also live in similar ecological niches, which is termed niche conservatism. The concepts of both phylogenetic signal and niche conservatism are widely used to understand crucial aspects of evolution and speciation, and they are well established in animals and plants. However, although assumed to be present, the extension of these concepts to microorganisms is challenging to assess. Here we hypothesize that two closely related microbial species should be found in samples with similar community compositions, reflecting their ecological similarity. We propose ‘community conservatism’ to refer to this phenomenon and leverage a database with millions of samples and hundreds of thousands of pairs of microorganisms to assess their relatedness and the similarity of the communities they occupy. Our findings reveal that community conservatism can be observed globally in all environments and phyla tested, over nearly all taxonomic ranks, but to varying extents. Analysing community conservatism shows promise to advance our understanding of evolution, speciation and the mechanisms governing community assembly in microorganisms. Furthermore, we propose that it can be used to reintegrate ecological parameters into operational taxonomic unit delimitation. This study reveals that closely related microorganisms tend to inhabit similar communities across all major environments and phyla. The authors term this phenomenon ‘community conservatism’, extending the ecological concepts of phylogenetic signal and niche conservatism to the microbial world.","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"10 2","pages":"232-245"},"PeriodicalIF":13.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-025-02957-4.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145989385","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-16DOI: 10.1038/s41559-026-02975-w
Across the planet, microorganisms that are phylogenetically related can be found in similar communities, which suggests shared ecological preferences. This global pattern, which we term ‘community conservatism’, parallels well-established macroscopic ecological concepts such as phylogenetic signal and niche conservatism.
{"title":"Related microorganisms occupy similar ecological communities","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s41559-026-02975-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41559-026-02975-w","url":null,"abstract":"Across the planet, microorganisms that are phylogenetically related can be found in similar communities, which suggests shared ecological preferences. This global pattern, which we term ‘community conservatism’, parallels well-established macroscopic ecological concepts such as phylogenetic signal and niche conservatism.","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"10 2","pages":"177-178"},"PeriodicalIF":13.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145986636","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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