Laura C. Pérez-Giraldo, José M. Cerda- Paredes, Dylan Craven, Javier Lopatin
Globally, mountains are highly diverse ecosystems that serve as natural laboratories for testing ecological theories, while providing vital ecosystem services. Their biodiversity arises from the interaction between elevational gradients and topographic complexity, which generate strong variation in environmental conditions across short spatial scales. These gradients, in turn, influence the maintenance of ecosystem functions, such as vegetation productivity, over time. However, how topography influences ecosystem stability and its relation with different facets of biodiversity in naturally-assembled communities remains relatively unexplored. Here, we evaluated how environmental heterogeneity and spatial variation influence taxonomic and phylogenetic plant diversity, and how these components together affect ecosystem stability. Using a highly replicated fractal sampling design, we estimated plant taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity locally and across space. We estimated the temporal stability of vegetation productivity with a high-resolution, remotely sensed time series in the Mediterranean Andes of central Chile. We assessed how environmental heterogeneity and spatial variation (i.e. spatial autocorrelation, spatial structure, and distance) mediate relationships between topography, plant diversity, and ecosystem stability using generalized linear and structural equation models. As expected, taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity declined with elevation, and both diversity and ecosystem stability varied along gradients in environmental heterogeneity. Our structural equation models revealed that spatial variation was the main factor directly stabilizing vegetation productivity, while species turnover had only minor effects. When spatial variation was excluded, diversity components influenced stability but explained less variation, emphasizing the key role of spatial processes captured by spatial variation in maintaining ecosystem stability. Our findings indicate that diversity–stability relationships in naturally assembled plant communities emerge from spatial processes governing patterns of plant diversity and ecosystem stability. We provide empirical evidence that spatially structured ecosystems should be prioritized for biodiversity conservation and the maintenance of key ecosystem functions in mountain ecosystems.
{"title":"Environmental heterogeneity and spatial variation mediates plant diversity and ecosystem stability in mountain ecosystems of the Mediterranean Andes","authors":"Laura C. Pérez-Giraldo, José M. Cerda- Paredes, Dylan Craven, Javier Lopatin","doi":"10.1002/ecog.08305","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecog.08305","url":null,"abstract":"Globally, mountains are highly diverse ecosystems that serve as natural laboratories for testing ecological theories, while providing vital ecosystem services. Their biodiversity arises from the interaction between elevational gradients and topographic complexity, which generate strong variation in environmental conditions across short spatial scales. These gradients, in turn, influence the maintenance of ecosystem functions, such as vegetation productivity, over time. However, how topography influences ecosystem stability and its relation with different facets of biodiversity in naturally-assembled communities remains relatively unexplored. Here, we evaluated how environmental heterogeneity and spatial variation influence taxonomic and phylogenetic plant diversity, and how these components together affect ecosystem stability. Using a highly replicated fractal sampling design, we estimated plant taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity locally and across space. We estimated the temporal stability of vegetation productivity with a high-resolution, remotely sensed time series in the Mediterranean Andes of central Chile. We assessed how environmental heterogeneity and spatial variation (i.e. spatial autocorrelation, spatial structure, and distance) mediate relationships between topography, plant diversity, and ecosystem stability using generalized linear and structural equation models. As expected, taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity declined with elevation, and both diversity and ecosystem stability varied along gradients in environmental heterogeneity. Our structural equation models revealed that spatial variation was the main factor directly stabilizing vegetation productivity, while species turnover had only minor effects. When spatial variation was excluded, diversity components influenced stability but explained less variation, emphasizing the key role of spatial processes captured by spatial variation in maintaining ecosystem stability. Our findings indicate that diversity–stability relationships in naturally assembled plant communities emerge from spatial processes governing patterns of plant diversity and ecosystem stability. We provide empirical evidence that spatially structured ecosystems should be prioritized for biodiversity conservation and the maintenance of key ecosystem functions in mountain ecosystems.","PeriodicalId":51026,"journal":{"name":"Ecography","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147368042","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tjardo Stoffers, Louise Forsblom, Aleksandra M. Lewandowska, Maiju Lehtiniemi
Anthropogenically induced changes in environmental conditions have been affecting species communities globally, leading to shifts in ecosystem functioning. Physical drivers like temperature, salinity and acidification are especially important in coastal ecosystems, and high-resolution time-series are essential to identify how these variables affect zooplankton community composition due to their importance in marine ecosystems. In this study we analysed a zooplankton monitoring dataset spanning from 1996–2021 to identify community changes and their drivers. We examined long-term trends in environmental variables, corresponding total zooplankton biomass as well as changes in the biomass of specific taxa using generalised additive models (GAMs). We found a strong decline in total zooplankton biomass during September and October until 2006 and 2004, respectively. Copepod biomass further decreased during the last decade, while rotifer and cladoceran biomass increased, indicating a dominance shift towards species with shorter generation times and less complex ontogeny. Copepod biomass was negatively correlated with salinity, while cladoceran and rotifer biomass was positively correlated with temperature. Our results highlight that multiple climate change-related environmental variables influence communities in different ways and hence, should be investigated simultaneously. Further, we argue that zooplankton community analyses and monitoring efforts should include small taxa like rotifers.
{"title":"Long-term monitoring reveals biomass loss and concurrent dominance changes in coastal zooplankton community","authors":"Tjardo Stoffers, Louise Forsblom, Aleksandra M. Lewandowska, Maiju Lehtiniemi","doi":"10.1002/ecog.07958","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecog.07958","url":null,"abstract":"Anthropogenically induced changes in environmental conditions have been affecting species communities globally, leading to shifts in ecosystem functioning. Physical drivers like temperature, salinity and acidification are especially important in coastal ecosystems, and high-resolution time-series are essential to identify how these variables affect zooplankton community composition due to their importance in marine ecosystems. In this study we analysed a zooplankton monitoring dataset spanning from 1996–2021 to identify community changes and their drivers. We examined long-term trends in environmental variables, corresponding total zooplankton biomass as well as changes in the biomass of specific taxa using generalised additive models (GAMs). We found a strong decline in total zooplankton biomass during September and October until 2006 and 2004, respectively. Copepod biomass further decreased during the last decade, while rotifer and cladoceran biomass increased, indicating a dominance shift towards species with shorter generation times and less complex ontogeny. Copepod biomass was negatively correlated with salinity, while cladoceran and rotifer biomass was positively correlated with temperature. Our results highlight that multiple climate change-related environmental variables influence communities in different ways and hence, should be investigated simultaneously. Further, we argue that zooplankton community analyses and monitoring efforts should include small taxa like rotifers.","PeriodicalId":51026,"journal":{"name":"Ecography","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147330274","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Thomas Mesaglio, Elizabeth Wenk, Hervé Sauquet, William K. Cornwell
Protected areas are designed to shield populations from harmful human impacts. However, in the face of global climate change, a static approach to conservation within these areas is neither feasible nor desirable. One key measure of ecological change at this scale is the arrival of new species and the local extinction of others. Despite strong interest from both scientists and land managers, reliably tracking these dynamics for diverse groups has remained out of reach – until now. The rise of large-scale data collection by citizen scientists within protected areas presents a powerful new opportunity to revisit and redefine conservation goals. By integrating citizen science observations with herbarium collections, we developed dynamic plant species lists for two of the oldest and most thoroughly documented national parks: Royal National Park (Australia) and Yosemite National Park (USA). While these parks are exceptionally data rich, the framework we present will be increasingly applicable to other protected areas as citizen science efforts continue to expand globally.
{"title":"Long unobserved and recently discovered: towards a better understanding of protected-area species dynamics using curated species lists","authors":"Thomas Mesaglio, Elizabeth Wenk, Hervé Sauquet, William K. Cornwell","doi":"10.1002/ecog.08294","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecog.08294","url":null,"abstract":"Protected areas are designed to shield populations from harmful human impacts. However, in the face of global climate change, a static approach to conservation within these areas is neither feasible nor desirable. One key measure of ecological change at this scale is the arrival of new species and the local extinction of others. Despite strong interest from both scientists and land managers, reliably tracking these dynamics for diverse groups has remained out of reach – until now. The rise of large-scale data collection by citizen scientists within protected areas presents a powerful new opportunity to revisit and redefine conservation goals. By integrating citizen science observations with herbarium collections, we developed dynamic plant species lists for two of the oldest and most thoroughly documented national parks: Royal National Park (Australia) and Yosemite National Park (USA). While these parks are exceptionally data rich, the framework we present will be increasingly applicable to other protected areas as citizen science efforts continue to expand globally.","PeriodicalId":51026,"journal":{"name":"Ecography","volume":"83 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147319954","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Francesco Santi, Julian Schrader, Riccardo Testolin, Michele Di Musciano, Olivier Argagnon, Fabio Attorre, Irena Axmanová, Federico Bombardi, Gianmaria Bonari, Vanessa Bruzzaniti, Juan Antonio Campos, Johannes Foufopoulos, Emmanuel Garbolino, Riccardo Guarino, Behlül Güler, Borja Jiménez-Alfaro, Lea Klepka, Holger Kreft, Michele Lussu, Corrado Marcenò, Frédéric Médail, Maria Panitsa, Salvatore Pasta, Sofia Prandelli, Diletta Santovito, Željko Škvorc, Enrico Tordoni, Kiril Vassilev, Marlene Volz, Piero Zannini, Alessandro Chiarucci
Large-scale biodiversity databases encompass three main types of data for plants, namely single species point occurrences, co-occurrences in vegetation plots, and checklists for specific areas. Evidence shows that such data types exhibit specific biases, reporting different species assemblages at local scales. We used the Mediterranean Basin, a global biodiversity hotspot with more than 2200 islands larger than 0.01 km2, to compare island vascular plant diversity patterns emerging from occurrence data (Global Biodiversity Information Facility; GBIF), vegetation plots (European Vegetation Archive; EVA), and species checklists (Global Inventory of Flora and Traits; GIFT). We aggregated plant data at the island level and compared geographic coverage, inventory completeness, and taxonomic coverage among these data sources. The combined databases accounted for 8702 species distributed on 790 islands (35.6% of the target islands). Data availability increased from small (26.8%) over medium (75.7%) to large islands (100.0%). Spatial coverage of databases on a 30 × 30 km grid was high for GBIF (52.8%) and EVA (45.4%), and low for GIFT (21.7%). GIFT provided higher native and alien species richness values for most of the islands, whereas GBIF and EVA consistently missed a considerable fraction of the expected species richness. Taking GIFT as reference, GBIF, and to a lesser extent EVA, showed a positive bias towards perennial species and an underrepresentation of annuals. Despite their lower taxonomic coverage, GBIF and EVA data can complement our knowledge on Mediterranean islands' plant diversity, providing data for islands lacking plant inventories. Moreover, GBIF and EVA's large datasets can be used for investigating other levels of ecological organisation and modelling single species (GBIF) or population (EVA) trends over space and time. Finally, our results advocate for a coordinated effort to fill the knowledge gaps through data collection and digitisation, possibly integrating data collected by experts by means of citizen science initiatives.
{"title":"Plant diversity estimates of Mediterranean islands differ among biodiversity databases","authors":"Francesco Santi, Julian Schrader, Riccardo Testolin, Michele Di Musciano, Olivier Argagnon, Fabio Attorre, Irena Axmanová, Federico Bombardi, Gianmaria Bonari, Vanessa Bruzzaniti, Juan Antonio Campos, Johannes Foufopoulos, Emmanuel Garbolino, Riccardo Guarino, Behlül Güler, Borja Jiménez-Alfaro, Lea Klepka, Holger Kreft, Michele Lussu, Corrado Marcenò, Frédéric Médail, Maria Panitsa, Salvatore Pasta, Sofia Prandelli, Diletta Santovito, Željko Škvorc, Enrico Tordoni, Kiril Vassilev, Marlene Volz, Piero Zannini, Alessandro Chiarucci","doi":"10.1002/ecog.08128","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecog.08128","url":null,"abstract":"Large-scale biodiversity databases encompass three main types of data for plants, namely single species point occurrences, co-occurrences in vegetation plots, and checklists for specific areas. Evidence shows that such data types exhibit specific biases, reporting different species assemblages at local scales. We used the Mediterranean Basin, a global biodiversity hotspot with more than 2200 islands larger than 0.01 km<sup>2</sup>, to compare island vascular plant diversity patterns emerging from occurrence data (Global Biodiversity Information Facility; GBIF), vegetation plots (European Vegetation Archive; EVA), and species checklists (Global Inventory of Flora and Traits; GIFT). We aggregated plant data at the island level and compared geographic coverage, inventory completeness, and taxonomic coverage among these data sources. The combined databases accounted for 8702 species distributed on 790 islands (35.6% of the target islands). Data availability increased from small (26.8%) over medium (75.7%) to large islands (100.0%). Spatial coverage of databases on a 30 × 30 km grid was high for GBIF (52.8%) and EVA (45.4%), and low for GIFT (21.7%). GIFT provided higher native and alien species richness values for most of the islands, whereas GBIF and EVA consistently missed a considerable fraction of the expected species richness. Taking GIFT as reference, GBIF, and to a lesser extent EVA, showed a positive bias towards perennial species and an underrepresentation of annuals. Despite their lower taxonomic coverage, GBIF and EVA data can complement our knowledge on Mediterranean islands' plant diversity, providing data for islands lacking plant inventories. Moreover, GBIF and EVA's large datasets can be used for investigating other levels of ecological organisation and modelling single species (GBIF) or population (EVA) trends over space and time. Finally, our results advocate for a coordinated effort to fill the knowledge gaps through data collection and digitisation, possibly integrating data collected by experts by means of citizen science initiatives.","PeriodicalId":51026,"journal":{"name":"Ecography","volume":"52 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147319856","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Raoni Rebouças, Matheus de T. Moroti, Tamilie Carvalho, Márcio Martins, Luís Felipe Toledo, Diogo B. Provete
Island biogeography models primarily rely on island physical features and isolation to explain their biodiversity patterns. While newer models have incorporated functional traits to understand plant distribution, few empirical studies have tried to disentangle geometric constraints from niche-based processes to predict multiple diversity facets of island animals. Frogs are dispersal-limited organisms with narrow physiological requirements, and little is known about how ecological and geomorphological factors dictate their distribution on islands. Here, we tested how climate, productivity, environmental heterogeneity, isolation, and island area influence frog species richness, functional dispersion (FDis), and evolutionary distinctiveness (ED) on islands worldwide using structural equation models. Quantile regression was used to further explore the influence of island size and isolation on diversity facets. We found a positive association of island area and climate (i.e. temperature) with diversity metrics, while isolation had no effect in most of them. Notably, the influence of island area, but not isolation, was more pronounced on highly diverse islands. The relative importance of predictor variables differed between tropical and temperate islands and across facets: geometric constraints were more important for determining species richness and ED in all islands and in tropical islands, while niche-related variables dictated FD in all and both tropical and temperate islands. The low tolerance of frogs for crossing seawater may explain the lack of an isolation effect.
{"title":"Environmental and geomorphological drivers of frog diversity on islands worldwide","authors":"Raoni Rebouças, Matheus de T. Moroti, Tamilie Carvalho, Márcio Martins, Luís Felipe Toledo, Diogo B. Provete","doi":"10.1002/ecog.07818","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecog.07818","url":null,"abstract":"Island biogeography models primarily rely on island physical features and isolation to explain their biodiversity patterns. While newer models have incorporated functional traits to understand plant distribution, few empirical studies have tried to disentangle geometric constraints from niche-based processes to predict multiple diversity facets of island animals. Frogs are dispersal-limited organisms with narrow physiological requirements, and little is known about how ecological and geomorphological factors dictate their distribution on islands. Here, we tested how climate, productivity, environmental heterogeneity, isolation, and island area influence frog species richness, functional dispersion (FDis), and evolutionary distinctiveness (ED) on islands worldwide using structural equation models. Quantile regression was used to further explore the influence of island size and isolation on diversity facets. We found a positive association of island area and climate (i.e. temperature) with diversity metrics, while isolation had no effect in most of them. Notably, the influence of island area, but not isolation, was more pronounced on highly diverse islands. The relative importance of predictor variables differed between tropical and temperate islands and across facets: geometric constraints were more important for determining species richness and ED in all islands and in tropical islands, while niche-related variables dictated FD in all and both tropical and temperate islands. The low tolerance of frogs for crossing seawater may explain the lack of an isolation effect.","PeriodicalId":51026,"journal":{"name":"Ecography","volume":"453 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147320180","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lily M. Thompson, William K. Annis, Stephen R. Midway, Julian D. Olden, Brandon K. Peoples
Many well-supported hypotheses seek to explain drivers of nonnative species richness across spatial scales, but evidence for common patterns among regions and taxa remains inconclusive. This study investigates why consistent patterns are elusive by estimating and assessing cross-scale interactions, wherein large-scale factors contextualize patterns measured at smaller scales. We investigated whether local relationships of disturbance and native species richness with nonnative species richness are moderated by regional native gamma diversity. Regions with higher gamma diversity, we hypothesized, would be unfavorable to nonnative species due to high levels of competition and reduced niche availability, thus mediating local effects of native richness and disturbance on nonnative species richness. Using a fine resolution stream fish community dataset covering 159 regional watersheds in the conterminous United States during 2000–2023, we quantified cross-scale interactions using a two-level Bayesian hierarchical model. In the first level, we estimated the effects of disturbance and native richness on nonnative richness in local stream segments indexed by region. In the second level, we used this regional index to estimate cross-scale interactions of native gamma diversity (regional-level richness) on the first-level relationships. Local nonnative richness was generally positively associated with native richness and disturbance. However, these relationships were reduced in regions with more diverse native stream fish assemblages. Thus, native gamma diversity provided an important mechanistic context for local nonnative richness relationships across regional watersheds through a negative cross-scale interaction. As large spatial datasets become increasingly available, accounting for cross-scale interactions in inter-regional observational studies will be critical for understanding ecological relationships and may provide a predictive framework for studies with conflicting support for differing conceptual models.
{"title":"Cross-scale interactions mediate local drivers of nonnative species richness","authors":"Lily M. Thompson, William K. Annis, Stephen R. Midway, Julian D. Olden, Brandon K. Peoples","doi":"10.1002/ecog.08379","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecog.08379","url":null,"abstract":"Many well-supported hypotheses seek to explain drivers of nonnative species richness across spatial scales, but evidence for common patterns among regions and taxa remains inconclusive. This study investigates why consistent patterns are elusive by estimating and assessing cross-scale interactions, wherein large-scale factors contextualize patterns measured at smaller scales. We investigated whether local relationships of disturbance and native species richness with nonnative species richness are moderated by regional native gamma diversity. Regions with higher gamma diversity, we hypothesized, would be unfavorable to nonnative species due to high levels of competition and reduced niche availability, thus mediating local effects of native richness and disturbance on nonnative species richness. Using a fine resolution stream fish community dataset covering 159 regional watersheds in the conterminous United States during 2000–2023, we quantified cross-scale interactions using a two-level Bayesian hierarchical model. In the first level, we estimated the effects of disturbance and native richness on nonnative richness in local stream segments indexed by region. In the second level, we used this regional index to estimate cross-scale interactions of native gamma diversity (regional-level richness) on the first-level relationships. Local nonnative richness was generally positively associated with native richness and disturbance. However, these relationships were reduced in regions with more diverse native stream fish assemblages. Thus, native gamma diversity provided an important mechanistic context for local nonnative richness relationships across regional watersheds through a negative cross-scale interaction. As large spatial datasets become increasingly available, accounting for cross-scale interactions in inter-regional observational studies will be critical for understanding ecological relationships and may provide a predictive framework for studies with conflicting support for differing conceptual models.","PeriodicalId":51026,"journal":{"name":"Ecography","volume":"344 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147287552","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Adam Z. Hasik, Maggie Blondeau, Jacob Harvey, Tania Groleau, Tonia de Bellis, Eric J. Pedersen, Alex Córdoba- Aguilar, Katie E. Marshall, Laura Ferguson, Jean-Philippe Lessard
The immune system is the primary defense against parasites. With the ever-increasing rate of disease, epidemiologic models considering geographic variation in immune responses could prove useful. Despite increasing interest in the macroecology of parasitism and infectious diseases, we know little about the macroecology of immune responses (i.e. macroimmunology). Host characteristics, parasite exposure, and environmental factors can all affect immunity, but how these factors shape spatial variation in the strength of immune responses remains underexplored. We captured odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) and their conspicuous ectoparasitic mites from 42 sites spread across a geographic area spanning the temperate and boreal forest biomes in eastern Canada. We then conducted immune response bioassays on 1237 individuals from 63 odonate species. We used generalized additive models and structural equation models to relate immune responses to host body size, parasite load, pH, temperature and precipitation while accounting for spatial autocorrelation in immune ability and evolutionary relationships among host species. We found significant differences in the strength of immune response among host individuals, and this variation was best explained by climatic conditions, specifically strongly decreasing with precipitation. While host species significantly differed in immune response strength, we found no effect of host body size, evolutionary relationships among hosts, or parasitism on immune response. Our study investigating the drivers of immune response across dozens of species spread across two biomes is the most comprehensive to date. Climatic conditions have a strong influence on host immune response, regardless of host characteristics or parasitism rates. Strong immune responses were associated with low levels of annual precipitation, which could relate to the role of cuticular melanin content in desiccation resistance, and the melanin-based encapsulation response being a byproduct of this adaptation. A spatially explicit understanding of the biological processes affecting immunity could improve epidemiological models of disease risk that inform disease management globally.
{"title":"The macroecology of immunity: predominant influence of climate on invertebrate immune response","authors":"Adam Z. Hasik, Maggie Blondeau, Jacob Harvey, Tania Groleau, Tonia de Bellis, Eric J. Pedersen, Alex Córdoba- Aguilar, Katie E. Marshall, Laura Ferguson, Jean-Philippe Lessard","doi":"10.1002/ecog.08253","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecog.08253","url":null,"abstract":"The immune system is the primary defense against parasites. With the ever-increasing rate of disease, epidemiologic models considering geographic variation in immune responses could prove useful. Despite increasing interest in the macroecology of parasitism and infectious diseases, we know little about the macroecology of immune responses (i.e. macroimmunology). Host characteristics, parasite exposure, and environmental factors can all affect immunity, but how these factors shape spatial variation in the strength of immune responses remains underexplored. We captured odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) and their conspicuous ectoparasitic mites from 42 sites spread across a geographic area spanning the temperate and boreal forest biomes in eastern Canada. We then conducted immune response bioassays on 1237 individuals from 63 odonate species. We used generalized additive models and structural equation models to relate immune responses to host body size, parasite load, pH, temperature and precipitation while accounting for spatial autocorrelation in immune ability and evolutionary relationships among host species. We found significant differences in the strength of immune response among host individuals, and this variation was best explained by climatic conditions, specifically strongly decreasing with precipitation. While host species significantly differed in immune response strength, we found no effect of host body size, evolutionary relationships among hosts, or parasitism on immune response. Our study investigating the drivers of immune response across dozens of species spread across two biomes is the most comprehensive to date. Climatic conditions have a strong influence on host immune response, regardless of host characteristics or parasitism rates. Strong immune responses were associated with low levels of annual precipitation, which could relate to the role of cuticular melanin content in desiccation resistance, and the melanin-based encapsulation response being a byproduct of this adaptation. A spatially explicit understanding of the biological processes affecting immunity could improve epidemiological models of disease risk that inform disease management globally.","PeriodicalId":51026,"journal":{"name":"Ecography","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147319440","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Clara Gracia, Jules Segrestin, Jan Lepš, Peter B. Adler, Susan P. Harrison, Lars Götzenberger, Enrique Valencia, Víctor Lecegui, Manuele Bazzichetto, Roberto Canullo, Stefano Chelli, Jürgen Dengler, Jiri Dolezal, David J. Eldridge, Franz Essl, Felícia M. Fischer, Anaclara Guido, Lauren Hallet, Tomas Herben, Norbert Hölzel, Anke Jentsch, Miklós Kertész, Xiaofei Li, Gábor Ónodi, Robin J. Pakeman, Alain Paquette, Kersti Pussa, Anita C. Risch, Marta Rueda, Wolfgang Schmidt, Ute Schmiedel, Zhiwei Zhong, Martin Zobel, Francesco de Bello
Despite extensive research, stabilizing mechanisms in ecosystems remain uncertain. Taylor's power law (TPL) is a pervasive ecological pattern that describes how variance scales with mean abundance (σ2 = aμᵇ). While TPL has been widely studied within populations, its role across species within communities and its implications for stability remain largely unexplored. A TPL scaling factor (b) < 2 implies an unexplored stabilizing effect of dominant species (hereafter the ‘dominance effect'), where community stability arises from dominant species being relatively more stable than subordinates. This study aims to explore the influence of TPL exponent b on the dominance effect on stability and identify the biotic and abiotic community factors shaping it. Using data from over 9000 permanent vegetation plots globally, we investigated within-community TPL, linked it to the dominance effect, and examined drivers of b values. Results reveal a strong contribution of b, together with species evenness, to dominance effects on stability. A ubiquitous TPL (mode R2 = 0.92) with a consistent b < 2 highlights widespread dominance effects. Lower b values were linked to resource-conservative strategies and climatic seasonality, reinforcing the role of environmental filtering in stability. These findings highlight the widespread dominance effect on community temporal stability, particularly driven by woody, large-seeded species in cold, seasonal climates. Moreover, results identify the TPL exponent b as a powerful indicator of dominant species' stabilizing effects, complementing the well-known role of species diversity.
{"title":"A globally consistent scaling relationship reveals stabilizing effects of dominant species in plant communities","authors":"Clara Gracia, Jules Segrestin, Jan Lepš, Peter B. Adler, Susan P. Harrison, Lars Götzenberger, Enrique Valencia, Víctor Lecegui, Manuele Bazzichetto, Roberto Canullo, Stefano Chelli, Jürgen Dengler, Jiri Dolezal, David J. Eldridge, Franz Essl, Felícia M. Fischer, Anaclara Guido, Lauren Hallet, Tomas Herben, Norbert Hölzel, Anke Jentsch, Miklós Kertész, Xiaofei Li, Gábor Ónodi, Robin J. Pakeman, Alain Paquette, Kersti Pussa, Anita C. Risch, Marta Rueda, Wolfgang Schmidt, Ute Schmiedel, Zhiwei Zhong, Martin Zobel, Francesco de Bello","doi":"10.1002/ecog.08242","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecog.08242","url":null,"abstract":"Despite extensive research, stabilizing mechanisms in ecosystems remain uncertain. Taylor's power law (TPL) is a pervasive ecological pattern that describes how variance scales with mean abundance (σ<sup>2</sup> = aμᵇ). While TPL has been widely studied within populations, its role across species within communities and its implications for stability remain largely unexplored. A TPL scaling factor (b) < 2 implies an unexplored stabilizing effect of dominant species (hereafter the ‘dominance effect'), where community stability arises from dominant species being relatively more stable than subordinates. This study aims to explore the influence of TPL exponent b on the dominance effect on stability and identify the biotic and abiotic community factors shaping it. Using data from over 9000 permanent vegetation plots globally, we investigated within-community TPL, linked it to the dominance effect, and examined drivers of b values. Results reveal a strong contribution of b, together with species evenness, to dominance effects on stability. A ubiquitous TPL (mode R<sup>2</sup> = 0.92) with a consistent b < 2 highlights widespread dominance effects. Lower b values were linked to resource-conservative strategies and climatic seasonality, reinforcing the role of environmental filtering in stability. These findings highlight the widespread dominance effect on community temporal stability, particularly driven by woody, large-seeded species in cold, seasonal climates. Moreover, results identify the TPL exponent b as a powerful indicator of dominant species' stabilizing effects, complementing the well-known role of species diversity.","PeriodicalId":51026,"journal":{"name":"Ecography","volume":"413 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146210025","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ariane Dellavalle, Adam J. M. Devenish, Crinan Jarrett, Nathaniel N. D. Annorbah, Augustus Asamoah, Kwame Boafo, Poppy E. Lane, Jake Owen, Alexandra C. Morel, Mark F. Hulme, Andreanna J. Welch, Ken Norris, Fiona J. Sanderson, Joseph A. Tobias
Ecological studies quantifying the impact of land-use change on biodiversity may be sensitive to the choice of reference points – or baselines – particularly when sampling across human land-use gradients and other space-for-time comparisons. Much depends on whether the chosen baseline has already undergone shifts in species composition because of hunting, habitat loss and degradation. However, few studies have assessed the influence of shifting baselines on estimates of anthropogenic impacts. Using new survey data from five West African land-use gradients, we examine how habitat patch size and structure influences the estimated impact of land-use change on bird species richness and functional diversity. We show that smaller forests have already lost many forest-dependent birds, particularly those with large body size or specialised ecological niches, leading to reduced estimates of biodiversity loss after deforestation. The steepest biodiversity loss was found in mid-sized forests whereas relatively shallow declines were estimated for the most extensive forests – despite their richer taxonomic and functional diversity. In these larger forest blocks, accurate estimates of biodiversity loss may require longer transects extending beyond the biodiversity ‘shadow' caused by the more extensive spillover of forest species into the surrounding landscape, potentially linked to source–sink dynamics. These findings suggest that biodiversity assessments are highly sensitive to baseline selection and transect design, highlighting the risk of underestimating land-use impacts unless shifting baselines are carefully considered.
{"title":"Shifting baselines increase the risk of misinterpreting biodiversity trends","authors":"Ariane Dellavalle, Adam J. M. Devenish, Crinan Jarrett, Nathaniel N. D. Annorbah, Augustus Asamoah, Kwame Boafo, Poppy E. Lane, Jake Owen, Alexandra C. Morel, Mark F. Hulme, Andreanna J. Welch, Ken Norris, Fiona J. Sanderson, Joseph A. Tobias","doi":"10.1002/ecog.08363","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecog.08363","url":null,"abstract":"Ecological studies quantifying the impact of land-use change on biodiversity may be sensitive to the choice of reference points – or baselines – particularly when sampling across human land-use gradients and other space-for-time comparisons. Much depends on whether the chosen baseline has already undergone shifts in species composition because of hunting, habitat loss and degradation. However, few studies have assessed the influence of shifting baselines on estimates of anthropogenic impacts. Using new survey data from five West African land-use gradients, we examine how habitat patch size and structure influences the estimated impact of land-use change on bird species richness and functional diversity. We show that smaller forests have already lost many forest-dependent birds, particularly those with large body size or specialised ecological niches, leading to reduced estimates of biodiversity loss after deforestation. The steepest biodiversity loss was found in mid-sized forests whereas relatively shallow declines were estimated for the most extensive forests – despite their richer taxonomic and functional diversity. In these larger forest blocks, accurate estimates of biodiversity loss may require longer transects extending beyond the biodiversity ‘shadow' caused by the more extensive spillover of forest species into the surrounding landscape, potentially linked to source–sink dynamics. These findings suggest that biodiversity assessments are highly sensitive to baseline selection and transect design, highlighting the risk of underestimating land-use impacts unless shifting baselines are carefully considered.","PeriodicalId":51026,"journal":{"name":"Ecography","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146210026","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cristián A. Zamora, Daniel Avilés-Hernández, Andrés N. Molina, Mauricio J. Carter, Enrico L. Rezende
Freshwater organisms face a dual challenge in warming waters due to increased metabolic demands and declining oxygen levels. However, the relationship between temperature, oxygen, and heat-induced mortality in natural systems remains poorly understood. Here, we combine heat tolerance measurements in the laboratory with high-resolution water temperature and oxygen records in the field to predict mortality of different species under natural conditions. We demonstrate this approach in three species, one crab and two fish, of the Mapocho River in central Chile, and validated predictions with a capture–recapture experiment under natural settings. Our work unequivocally shows that current water temperatures and dissolved oxygen levels can trigger mortality in some areas of the river and the watershed to which it belongs, providing a robust approach to predict when heat-induced mortality is likely to occur. This approach offers a valuable tool for evaluating water quality and when river conditions may be stressful or restrictive for monitoring purposes and to design possible mitigation strategies.
{"title":"Predicting heat mortality in freshwater communities: temperature and oxygen effects","authors":"Cristián A. Zamora, Daniel Avilés-Hernández, Andrés N. Molina, Mauricio J. Carter, Enrico L. Rezende","doi":"10.1002/ecog.08277","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ecog.08277","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Freshwater organisms face a dual challenge in warming waters due to increased metabolic demands and declining oxygen levels. However, the relationship between temperature, oxygen, and heat-induced mortality in natural systems remains poorly understood. Here, we combine heat tolerance measurements in the laboratory with high-resolution water temperature and oxygen records in the field to predict mortality of different species under natural conditions. We demonstrate this approach in three species, one crab and two fish, of the Mapocho River in central Chile, and validated predictions with a capture–recapture experiment under natural settings. Our work unequivocally shows that current water temperatures and dissolved oxygen levels can trigger mortality in some areas of the river and the watershed to which it belongs, providing a robust approach to predict when heat-induced mortality is likely to occur. This approach offers a valuable tool for evaluating water quality and when river conditions may be stressful or restrictive for monitoring purposes and to design possible mitigation strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":51026,"journal":{"name":"Ecography","volume":"2026 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2026-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecog.08277","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146215774","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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