Trends in ecology & evolution最新文献

Animal behavior is often viewed as stemming from predictable genetic and environmental factors. However, despite our best attempts to control genetic and environmental influences on behavior, variation among individuals still persists: what we call 'stochastic individuality'. Increasing research suggests that this might be more than just measurement error, and might instead be rich in biological insights. In this review we examine what is known about stochastic individuality, including potential biological mechanisms and its potential adaptive value, and we provide guidance for how to quantify and test outstanding questions about its role in driving patterns of behavioral diversity. Incorporating stochasticity may be a key missing component in mapping the links from genotype to phenotype and predicting the interplay between phenotype and fitness.

First defined by Arthur Tansley approximately 90 years ago, ecosystems arguably remain less monitored and understood than other dimensions of biodiversity. While our characterisation and understanding of ecosystems has improved, many of the issues pointed out by Tansley remain unresolved. We highlight how combining geodiversity research and complex system science, while better integrating cultural diversity and research outcomes across biodiversity dimensions, could help to address these issues and rapidly improve our ability to predict long-term ecosystem behaviour and dynamics. As ecosystems continue to gain traction in policy spheres, such knowledge will be key to strengthening the legal framing for biodiversity conservation, use, and management.

Bioengineering offers potential advancements in health, manufacturing, and environmental remediation, but without involvement from ecologists and evolutionary biologists the impact of environmental biotechnologies will remain understudied. Ecologists and evolutionary biologists can assess risks and benefits posed by bioengineered organisms in the environment, and develop new technologies that are ecologically and evolutionarily informed.

Co-producing knowledge with Indigenous partners may be required for research on Indigenous Lands and Waters. However, academic paradigms challenge the development and maintenance of partnerships with Indigenous communities. As researchers with experience co-producing knowledge with Indigenous partners, we share challenges to this work and provide actionable solutions for academic institutions.

We present outcomes from our 17th horizon scan of issues potentially impacting global biodiversity conservation in the next decade. Issues are novel, or represent a significant step-change in impact, and are currently not well-known or understood within the conservation community. Our panel of 26 scientists, practitioners, and policymakers scored an initial list of 96 issues, discussed the highest ranked 35 issues at a workshop, and identified the 15 top-ranked issues. This year, technology innovations, including low-power optic artificial intelligence (AI) chips and tiny machine learning (TinyML) models, could revolutionize biodiversity monitoring. We highlight impacts from changes in land-use driven by appetite-suppressing pharmaceuticals and the unknown effects of mirror biomolecules. Highlighting these issues may increase awareness of any impacts on global biodiversity conservation.

Genomic structural variation is an important component of genetic variation in natural populations. By assembling and analyzing multiple high-quality genomes within a species or clade, pangenomes capture variation that can be missed by reference-based genomics at both the sequence and the genic levels. Although pangenomes are nascent tools for animals compared with other taxa, they have already unveiled novel insights into genome evolution, adaptation, the genomic basis of organismal traits, and conservation genomics. We highlight the rapid progress and unique ecological and evolutionary discoveries emerging from applying pangenome tools to diverse natural populations. We conclude that pangenomes are fundamentally shifting the field by revealing structural variants as a key source of adaptive potential and genomic diversity previously missed by single-reference methods.

The established paradigm that terrestrial decomposition is driven mainly by substrate quality and climate relies heavily on studies of microbial decomposers in mesic environments. We argue that this strong regulation is mitigated by macrofaunal detritivores. Larger body size, lower sensitivity to desiccation, nutritional adaptations, and greater mobility allow macro-detritivores to decompose detrital resources when decomposition by smaller organisms is limited. Furthermore, macro-detritivores enhance microbial decomposition under stressful conditions through the fragmentation and translocation of recalcitrant detritus to nutrient-enriched and climate-buffered locations. Incorporating macro-detritivores into decomposition theory will generate a more comprehensive understanding of elemental cycling and reveal understudied pathways that could become influential in a warmer and drier world.

Kin recognition, the ability to identify genetic relatives, relies on familiarisation for the creation of recognition templates. During development, parent and embryo(s) are exposed to chemical, auditory, and tactile cues that can communicate reliable genetic information. We discuss how these cues can have organisational effects during a time of heightened phenotypic sensitivity, creating postnatal kin preferences. As familiarisation is often determined by the prenatal social environment, we argue that reproductive traits that alter the social context of the prenatal environment, such as reproductive mode, could facilitate the evolution of kin recognition. Furthermore, we outline how these effects of prenatal familiarisation can extend beyond kin recognition and play a pivotal role in the emergence and evolution of complex social behaviours.