Trends in ecology & evolution最新文献

Chromosomal inversions are ubiquitous across the Tree of Life, with genome-wide studies revealing a bias toward smaller inversions, yet research has disproportionately focused on large, supergene-like inversions linked to discrete phenotypes. This limits our understanding of inversions' roles in trait evolution, as their size affects their potential functional impact. Investigation of smaller inversions and multi-inversion genotypes is crucial to elucidate their role in shaping continuous traits and evolutionary adaptation. Addressing this requires a shift towards a systematic study of smaller inversions and the use of experimental assays and functional annotation to identify the evolutionary forces driving different genomic trait architectures.

The Qinghai-Tibet, Iran, and Mongolia plateaus constitute the largest continuous mountain belt on Earth and harbor the world's richest temperate alpine ecosystem, but the original timing and evolutionary causes of their biodiversity are poorly understood. Here, we review the geologic and phylogenetic evidence and compare it with the formation processes of the three plateaus. We show that the formation of the three plateaus is a major driver for change in the Asian landscape and biotas. Among the three plateaus, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has the most ancient evolutionary history and hosts the oldest biotic components and the highest biodiversity. The Neogene was a period of marked diversification across the three plateaus, thus leading to the formation of modern biotas.

Addressing practical challenges in ecological conservation and restoration planning, ecological security pattern (ESP) - spatial networks composed of ecological sources and connecting corridors - offers an actionable and nature-based framework. Rooted in landscape ecology, the ESP approach integrates ecological thresholds and connectivity to ensure ecosystem integrity and landscape sustainability. Although ESP-related research has proliferated - particularly in China - critical dimensions, such as underlying ecological mechanisms, spatiotemporal dynamics, and spillover effects, have received less attention. Consequently, the foundational scientific concepts and research priorities remain insufficiently articulated, hindering ESP's further development and broader international acceptance. To fill this knowledge gap, we identify key research issues for ESP to tackle the main challenges in its construction, optimization, and evaluation, highlighting future directions as a landscape ecological approach to spatial conservation and restoration planning.

Our understanding of the ecology and evolution of Eocene paleobiodiversity in the Southern Hemisphere remains limited. A middle Eocene (∼41 Ma) tropical ecosystem from the Umarsar Lignite Mine, recently reported by Agnihotri et al., revealed over 800 arthropods and 118 palynomorph species thriving in warm, humid conditions. The northward drift and favorable climate of India drove diversification, offering insights for modern tropical forest conservation amid climate change.

Animals exert control over biogeochemical processes within their ecosystems - the study of which is called zoogeochemistry. However, most zoogeochemical research stops short of examining how animal-driven biogeochemical processes feed back to influence the fitness and population dynamics of organisms. We outline how to use niche construction theory to investigate these feedbacks, introducing zoogeochemical niche construction to explicitly link zoogeochemistry with fitness and evolution trajectories. We specifically highlight how this framework reveals the capacity of animals to influence their own nutritional landscapes, creating closed zoogeochemical loops. To identify and test instances of zoogeochemical niche construction, we present experimental, correlative, and comparative tools. The novel application of niche construction theory provides alternative and complementary explanations for animal trait evolution.

Disruptive selection can lead to the evolution of discrete morphs. We show that particular genetic architectures, in terms of dominance, epistasis, and linkage, are likely to evolve to produce discrete morphs under disruptive selection. Recent genomic studies have revealed that causative mutations tend to cluster, sometimes as a result of chromosomal rearrangements, but we still know little about the molecular mechanisms of dominance and epistasis. Although disruptive selection can also lead to speciation, once an optimal genetic architecture has evolved, disruptive selection no longer promotes the evolution of assortative mating. For a better understanding of the conditions that promote or constrain speciation, it is necessary to address how fast such a genetic architecture can evolve.

Nocturnal pollinators are vital for food security in sub-Saharan Africa, yet they face numerous threats, including habitat loss, light pollution, and climate change. Understanding these combined risks and implementing targeted management strategies to protect them is essential for ensuring sustainable agriculture, food security, and biodiversity in the region.

Understanding and predicting optimal movement decisions in complex and dynamic landscapes requires identifying the mechanisms driving movements, beyond correlations or simple energetic trade-offs between costs and gains. This is increasingly important as human activities transform landscapes at unprecedented rates, altering environmental predictability. As a result, animals must continually relearn and adapt to transformed, often degraded, environments, with consequences for their movement and fitness. We propose a structured movement framework that integrates abiotic and biotic drivers of foraging decisions. The net energyscape reflects spatial variation in net energy gains, while the optimal movement landscape includes non-energetic external modifiers, such as the landscape of fear. This framework opens improved avenues for more accurately identifying critical habitats and informing effective conservation strategies.

While forest degradation persists across many regions, restoration efforts have predominantly targeted aboveground carbon, often overlooking critical belowground ecosystem functions. Plant-mycorrhizal associations - key connectors between aboveground and belowground biodiversity - can help to enhance both carbon storage and forest multifunctionality; yet their explicit integration into restoration frameworks remains limited. By synthesizing recent advancements, we highlight the role of plant-mycorrhizal diversity in enhancing soil carbon pools and supporting multiple ecosystem functions. By examining evidence-based restoration cases, we propose a framework linking plant-mycorrhizal associations to sustainably restore resilient and multifunctional forest ecosystems. Incorporating the functional traits of plant-mycorrhizal associations into restoration strategies provides a pathway to effectively address the interconnected biodiversity and climate crises.