Trends in ecology & evolution最新文献

The geological record contains a rich history of the coupled evolution of life and the Earth that sustains it. However, that history is often buried deeply and is difficult to access. Scientific drilling can access these buried histories and provides foundational insights into eco-evolutionary dynamics across an unparalleled range of timescales. Recent research that demonstrates the power of continental drilling includes our understanding of mass extinctions, phenotypic trait evolution, the context of hominin evolution, and episodes of adaptive radiation. Scientific advances have created strategic opportunities for reinvestment in continental drilling because of exciting new proxies and technologies, which promise to shed light on long-standing eco-evolutionary questions, such as how climate change, biogeochemical cycles, and landscape evolution drive eco-evolutionary dynamics.

While negative effects of landscape fragmentation on biodiversity are well documented, recent evidence suggests positive or neutral effects may also be common. The mechanisms driving these contrasting outcomes cannot be understood without assessing how species traits influence responses to landscape and patch characteristics. Here, we show that three key elements can enhance predictability of fragmentation effects across scales: (i) the trait distribution of the regional species pool; (ii) the relationship between taxonomic and trait diversity; and (iii) the effects of the landscape matrix on the distribution of species traits. Considering these elements will facilitate the development of generalizable hypotheses on the consequences of fragmentation across diverse taxonomic groups and regions, with broad applicability to ecology and conservation.

Repeat photography combined with natural history and citizen science offers an interdisciplinary way to document environmental changes. This integration not only enhances our understanding of ecological shifts, but also revitalizes natural history and empowers various communities, providing a transformative approach to address global environmental challenges.

Information processing underlies the behavior of many species, including plants. However, there remains uncertainty about how plants integrate and use information, and whether this is analogous to animal cognition. We propose a conceptual and experimental framework, Plant Information Processing (PIP), that draws from advances in comparative psychology. Our framework challenges plants with increasingly complex processing tasks designed to reveal algorithmic patterns of information use. The PIP framework emphasizes not only behavioral outcomes, but also the associated errors, limitations, and biases, which reveal how information processing occurs in plants. This sequential, evidence-based strategy sidesteps semantic debates and facilitates meaningful cross-taxa comparisons that could advance the broader discipline of cognition.

Determining the age of genetic individuals in clonal plants is fundamental for understanding their persistence strategies, but is inherently challenging due to the gradual loss of older parts as the clone expands. The first step in age estimation is to assign physically independent individuals (ramets) to genetic individuals (genets) by molecular methods. Once this is established, the size and rate of lateral spread (LS) of the genet can be measured or estimated using morphological traits. More recently, classical or somatic molecular clocks, using genomic data, have been proposed. In this review, we examine the methodological principles and limitations of both morphological and genomic approaches, and propose a conceptual framework that integrates these methods to enable more robust and reliable age estimations of clonal plants.

Coral-associated invertebrates have a greater influence on reef ecosystems than is commonly appreciated. Their mechanical impacts can alter the shape of corals and contribute to both carbonate accretion and erosion processes. Their presence and abundance therefore warrant inclusion in modern reef assessments and increased attention in coral reef science.

Sexual signals can reduce survival, constraining their evolutionary elaboration. However, it is unclear whether these signals, once evolved, similarly impact the evolution of naturally selected adaptations. We argue that this dynamic could be important for protective colouration, an extensively studied suite of adaptations that can also be under sexual selection. Sexual signals sometimes coevolve positively with conspicuous warning colouration, promoting synergistic, dual-function associations. However, when coupled through shared structures or behaviours, sexual traits might constrain the evolution of concealment strategies, resulting in suboptimal camouflage. We suggest hypotheses, approaches, and study systems to distinguish these opposing causal roles of sexual selection in shaping naturally selected adaptations such as protective colouration.

Conservation prioritisation emphasises currently threatened species, but there are strong arguments for complementary, more proactive approaches based on forecasting future extinction risk for unthreatened species. Forecasting methods vary in the timescale of extinction risk estimation and include established methods such as Population Viability Analysis (PVA) and Early Warning Systems, and emerging 'Over-the-Horizon' (OTH) methods. We develop a framework that integrates extinction risk assessment across timescales and outlines tradeoffs between shorter- and longer-term extinction prevention goals. This framework facilitates use of extinction risk forecasting in decision-theoretic conservation prioritisation that explicitly considers alternative time horizons for extinction prevention. Considering extinction risk on extended timescales offers a future-proof approach to conservation planning that may prevent more extinctions than focusing exclusively on currently threatened species.

Sociality can, in theory, lead to positive relationships between population density and per capita growth rates (demographic Allee effects), but evidence of such relationships remains rare. Here, we consider the demographic consequences of sociality, highlight a historic bias favoring studies of species that socialize in relatively fixed groups, and present evidence that 'loose sociality', whereby individuals do not form fixed groups, could be a more likely driver of Allee effects. We show that loose sociality can drive Allee effects if local density increases with population density, that this condition could be widespread in the animal kingdom, and that there are measurable traits that can determine a species' susceptibility to such socially-driven population collapse.

International agreements call for inclusion of Indigenous and local knowledge in resource management, yet practical approaches remain underdeveloped. We argue that knowledge co-assessment offers a feasible pathway. Drawing on examples from practice in the Arctic, we provide guidance for equitable engagement, communication, and scaling, enhancing legitimacy, inclusivity, and actionable governance.