Charlotte Vanderlocht, Valerio Donini, Andrea Corradini, Simone Dal Farra, Benjamin Robira, Andrea Gazzola, Giorgia Galeotti, Laura Limonciello, Noemi Squillaci, Maël Van Dam, Giada Zeni, Marta Gandolfi, Elisa Iacona, Lucrezia Lorenzetti, Matteo Nava, Federico Ossi, Heidi C. Hauffe, Francesco Ferretti, Luca Corlatti, Luca Pedrotti, Francesca Cagnacci
As wolves recolonise their historical range across Europe, ungulates face predation once more – but in landscapes profoundly altered by human activity. This shift raises crucial questions about their capacity to express adaptive antipredator behaviours. Using a quasi-experimental camera-trap design, we examined diel activity responses of ungulates along the ongoing wolf recolonisation in the south-eastern Alps. Red deer showed higher summer diurnality in sites with a longer history of wolf presence (7% increase over five years, on average) and progressively reduced nocturnality within sites as local wolf establishment advanced (5% decrease per year, on average), also heightening activity overlap with humans. This ‘diel shield effect' disappeared when human hunting occurred. Roe deer and Alpine chamois did not exhibit significant diel activity shifts in relation to wolves, though both species responded to human disturbance, with roe deer adjusting activity to hunting (18% less diurnal, on average) and chamois reducing diurnality in areas of intense outdoor use (up to 38% difference in diurnality between undisturbed and highly disturbed areas). Red deer, too, were less diurnal (up to 27% difference) and more nocturnal (up to 37% difference) in such highly disturbed areas, as well as near human settlements (up to 42% difference in diurnality between remote areas and villages). Our findings show that wolf recovery can induce detectable diel activity shifts in large herbivores over relatively short timescales, yet responses depend on species biology and behavioural plasticity. Importantly, human risk and disturbance can offset or override these behavioural adjustments, potentially altering the ecosystemic effects of returning large carnivores.
{"title":"Alpine ungulates adjust diel activity to the natural return of wolves amid anthropogenic pressures","authors":"Charlotte Vanderlocht, Valerio Donini, Andrea Corradini, Simone Dal Farra, Benjamin Robira, Andrea Gazzola, Giorgia Galeotti, Laura Limonciello, Noemi Squillaci, Maël Van Dam, Giada Zeni, Marta Gandolfi, Elisa Iacona, Lucrezia Lorenzetti, Matteo Nava, Federico Ossi, Heidi C. Hauffe, Francesco Ferretti, Luca Corlatti, Luca Pedrotti, Francesca Cagnacci","doi":"10.1002/ecog.07988","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecog.07988","url":null,"abstract":"As wolves recolonise their historical range across Europe, ungulates face predation once more – but in landscapes profoundly altered by human activity. This shift raises crucial questions about their capacity to express adaptive antipredator behaviours. Using a quasi-experimental camera-trap design, we examined diel activity responses of ungulates along the ongoing wolf recolonisation in the south-eastern Alps. Red deer showed higher summer diurnality in sites with a longer history of wolf presence (7% increase over five years, on average) and progressively reduced nocturnality within sites as local wolf establishment advanced (5% decrease per year, on average), also heightening activity overlap with humans. This ‘diel shield effect' disappeared when human hunting occurred. Roe deer and Alpine chamois did not exhibit significant diel activity shifts in relation to wolves, though both species responded to human disturbance, with roe deer adjusting activity to hunting (18% less diurnal, on average) and chamois reducing diurnality in areas of intense outdoor use (up to 38% difference in diurnality between undisturbed and highly disturbed areas). Red deer, too, were less diurnal (up to 27% difference) and more nocturnal (up to 37% difference) in such highly disturbed areas, as well as near human settlements (up to 42% difference in diurnality between remote areas and villages). Our findings show that wolf recovery can induce detectable diel activity shifts in large herbivores over relatively short timescales, yet responses depend on species biology and behavioural plasticity. Importantly, human risk and disturbance can offset or override these behavioural adjustments, potentially altering the ecosystemic effects of returning large carnivores.","PeriodicalId":51026,"journal":{"name":"Ecography","volume":"117 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146098231","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}
Emily McIntyre, Craig Nitschke, Francisco Encinas- Viso, Tony Mitchell, Camille Truong
The mutualistic interaction between truffle-like ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi and mycophagous mammals is fundamental to forest health, supporting fungal dispersal, soil structure, nutrient cycling, and plant community dynamics worldwide. However, climate change may disrupt this mutualism in unprecedented ways by altering truffle-like ECM sporing body production and mycophagous mammal diets, with consequences for fungal spore dispersal and ECM host plant health. As one of the most specialised mycophagous mammals in the world, the endangered marsupial long-footed potoroo Potorous longipes provides a powerful model system to investigate these risks. Using a unique 23-year collection of long-footed potoroo scats from south-eastern Australia, we quantified the diversity and composition of truffle-like ECM fungi in their diet and assessed how it was shaped by intra- and inter-annual shifts in temperature and precipitation. ITS2 metabarcoding of scats revealed a high richness of truffle-like ECM fungi in long-footed potoroo scats, with a total of 38 taxa from 14 genera. The richness of truffle-like ECM fungi consumed by long-footed potoroos was negatively correlated with higher minimum temperatures of the previous quarter and 12 months, and was highest in spring. Seasonality, precipitation, minimum temperature and aridity were the best predictors of truffle-like ECM fungal community composition in long-footed potoroo scats. We found that five truffle-like ECM fungal genera – Mesophellia, Hysterangium, Arcangeliella, Thaxterogaster and Austrogautieria – were associated with specific climate conditions related to temperature and precipitation, providing novel insights into their phenology and dispersal. Our findings suggest that mycophagous mammals may consume far less diverse fungal diets in a warmer and drier future, with a greater reliance on truffle-like ECM fungal genera associated with these conditions such as Mesophellia. These results highlight the sensitivity of this mutualism to climate variability and change, with implications for long-footed potoroo nutrition, dispersal of truffle-like ECM fungi, and ecosystem functioning.
{"title":"Climate variability shapes the mutualistic interaction between truffle-like ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi and a mycophagous mammal","authors":"Emily McIntyre, Craig Nitschke, Francisco Encinas- Viso, Tony Mitchell, Camille Truong","doi":"10.1002/ecog.08410","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecog.08410","url":null,"abstract":"The mutualistic interaction between truffle-like ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi and mycophagous mammals is fundamental to forest health, supporting fungal dispersal, soil structure, nutrient cycling, and plant community dynamics worldwide. However, climate change may disrupt this mutualism in unprecedented ways by altering truffle-like ECM sporing body production and mycophagous mammal diets, with consequences for fungal spore dispersal and ECM host plant health. As one of the most specialised mycophagous mammals in the world, the endangered marsupial long-footed potoroo <i>Potorous longipes</i> provides a powerful model system to investigate these risks. Using a unique 23-year collection of long-footed potoroo scats from south-eastern Australia, we quantified the diversity and composition of truffle-like ECM fungi in their diet and assessed how it was shaped by intra- and inter-annual shifts in temperature and precipitation. ITS2 metabarcoding of scats revealed a high richness of truffle-like ECM fungi in long-footed potoroo scats, with a total of 38 taxa from 14 genera. The richness of truffle-like ECM fungi consumed by long-footed potoroos was negatively correlated with higher minimum temperatures of the previous quarter and 12 months, and was highest in spring. Seasonality, precipitation, minimum temperature and aridity were the best predictors of truffle-like ECM fungal community composition in long-footed potoroo scats. We found that five truffle-like ECM fungal genera – <i>Mesophellia</i>, <i>Hysterangium, Arcangeliella, Thaxterogaster</i> and <i>Austrogautieria</i> – were associated with specific climate conditions related to temperature and precipitation, providing novel insights into their phenology and dispersal. Our findings suggest that mycophagous mammals may consume far less diverse fungal diets in a warmer and drier future, with a greater reliance on truffle-like ECM fungal genera associated with these conditions such as <i>Mesophellia</i>. These results highlight the sensitivity of this mutualism to climate variability and change, with implications for long-footed potoroo nutrition, dispersal of truffle-like ECM fungi, and ecosystem functioning.","PeriodicalId":51026,"journal":{"name":"Ecography","volume":"2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146098261","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}
Biodiversity losses and biotic homogenisation associated with human‐induced land‐cover changes are key issues for ecology. However, the effects of human‐caused land‐use changes on biodiversity change at the landscape scale are not well understood. Combining the PREDICTS global biodiversity database with MODIS satellite‐based land cover from 2001 to 2013, we created three landscape modification scenarios – relatively natural, partially modified (mixed, e.g. mixtures of crops and natural remnants) and fully modified (transformed, e.g. urban and plantation mosaics) and estimated the landscape‐scale alpha, beta and gamma diversity associated with each. Our results reveal that landscape‐scale modification from relatively natural landscapes to mixed landscapes increases the variety of ecosystem types and modification levels, hence increasing the variety of ecological communities (beta diversity) and maintaining landscape‐level diversity (gamma), despite reductions in average local‐level diversity (alpha). However, total transformation (from mixed towards completely transformed landscapes) causes a decline in both alpha and gamma diversity. Our results highlight that anthropogenic modification can potentially increase some elements of biodiversity while decreasing others and that high levels of landscape‐scale diversity can be maintained within mixed landscapes.
{"title":"Alpha, beta and gamma diversity in relatively natural, mixed and transformed landscape scenarios","authors":"Shuyu Deng, Colin M. Beale, Chris D. Thomas","doi":"10.1002/ecog.08324","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecog.08324","url":null,"abstract":"Biodiversity losses and biotic homogenisation associated with human‐induced land‐cover changes are key issues for ecology. However, the effects of human‐caused land‐use changes on biodiversity change at the landscape scale are not well understood. Combining the PREDICTS global biodiversity database with MODIS satellite‐based land cover from 2001 to 2013, we created three landscape modification scenarios – relatively natural, partially modified (mixed, e.g. mixtures of crops and natural remnants) and fully modified (transformed, e.g. urban and plantation mosaics) and estimated the landscape‐scale alpha, beta and gamma diversity associated with each. Our results reveal that landscape‐scale modification from relatively natural landscapes to mixed landscapes increases the variety of ecosystem types and modification levels, hence increasing the variety of ecological communities (beta diversity) and maintaining landscape‐level diversity (gamma), despite reductions in average local‐level diversity (alpha). However, total transformation (from mixed towards completely transformed landscapes) causes a decline in both alpha and gamma diversity. Our results highlight that anthropogenic modification can potentially increase some elements of biodiversity while decreasing others and that high levels of landscape‐scale diversity can be maintained within mixed landscapes.","PeriodicalId":51026,"journal":{"name":"Ecography","volume":"78 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146071762","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}
Climate change is significantly affecting biodiversity, and organisms that depend on external temperature – such as ectotherms – are particularly vulnerable to these effects. Microhabitats provide refuge for species, thereby reducing exposure to thermal and hydric stress under climate change. Using a mechanistic modelling approach, we assessed how microhabitat variability and physiological traits influence activity behaviour, time spent in preferred temperature, shade selection, and water loss under different climate change scenarios on two green lizard species. We classified study area microhabitats using high‐resolution geospatial data and applied biophysical models to simulate organismal responses under current and future climate change scenarios (+2°C and +4°C). We first calibrated microhabitat‐specific microclimate models using field data and adjusting key parameters that determine surface energy balance and soil heat transfer, including surface roughness height, substrate longwave emissivity, and soil density. We then performed steady‐state ectotherm models and extracted physiological responses such as foraging and basking times, times spent in preferred temperature, selected shade, and water loss under current and projected climate scenarios. Our results revealed differences between species in terms of thermoregulatory and water‐loss dynamics: Timon lepidus showed higher foraging and basking activity, particularly in open rocky microhabitats. In contrast, Lacerta schreiberi relied more on shaded vegetated microhabitats and exhibited higher size‐corrected evaporative water loss. Foraging activity in T. lepidus increased in low‐slope areas, whereas L. schreiberi foraged more in steeper microhabitats, where both species also selected greater shade. Activity increased on south/west slopes, while shade selection was greater on north/west slopes. Activity periods may increase under warming conditions, but this may come at the cost of higher selected shade and water loss. These results go beyond recognizing the buffering role of microhabitats in climate change, by linking fine‐scale thermal and hydric variation to physiological strategies of lizard species. By integrating microclimate and ectotherm models, our work illustrates how species‐specific traits interact with microhabitat heterogeneity to shape differential vulnerability under warming conditions.
{"title":"Physiology–microhabitat matching may help organisms cope with the thermal and hydric challenges under climate change: a tale of two lizards","authors":"Carolina Reyes‐ Puig, Antigoni Kaliontzopoulou, Neftalí Sillero, Urtzi Enriquez‐ Urzelai","doi":"10.1002/ecog.08337","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecog.08337","url":null,"abstract":"Climate change is significantly affecting biodiversity, and organisms that depend on external temperature – such as ectotherms – are particularly vulnerable to these effects. Microhabitats provide refuge for species, thereby reducing exposure to thermal and hydric stress under climate change. Using a mechanistic modelling approach, we assessed how microhabitat variability and physiological traits influence activity behaviour, time spent in preferred temperature, shade selection, and water loss under different climate change scenarios on two green lizard species. We classified study area microhabitats using high‐resolution geospatial data and applied biophysical models to simulate organismal responses under current and future climate change scenarios (+2°C and +4°C). We first calibrated microhabitat‐specific microclimate models using field data and adjusting key parameters that determine surface energy balance and soil heat transfer, including surface roughness height, substrate longwave emissivity, and soil density. We then performed steady‐state ectotherm models and extracted physiological responses such as foraging and basking times, times spent in preferred temperature, selected shade, and water loss under current and projected climate scenarios. Our results revealed differences between species in terms of thermoregulatory and water‐loss dynamics: <jats:italic>Timon lepidus</jats:italic> showed higher foraging and basking activity, particularly in open rocky microhabitats. In contrast, <jats:italic>Lacerta schreiberi</jats:italic> relied more on shaded vegetated microhabitats and exhibited higher size‐corrected evaporative water loss. Foraging activity in <jats:italic>T. lepidus</jats:italic> increased in low‐slope areas, whereas <jats:italic>L. schreiberi</jats:italic> foraged more in steeper microhabitats, where both species also selected greater shade. Activity increased on south/west slopes, while shade selection was greater on north/west slopes. Activity periods may increase under warming conditions, but this may come at the cost of higher selected shade and water loss. These results go beyond recognizing the buffering role of microhabitats in climate change, by linking fine‐scale thermal and hydric variation to physiological strategies of lizard species. By integrating microclimate and ectotherm models, our work illustrates how species‐specific traits interact with microhabitat heterogeneity to shape differential vulnerability under warming conditions.","PeriodicalId":51026,"journal":{"name":"Ecography","volume":"44 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146070580","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}
Muhammad Ali Nawaz, Shoaib Hameed, Jaffar Ud Din, Hussain Ali, Shakeel Ahmad, Ian Durbach, Mehmood Ghaznavi, Mohsin Farooque, Naeem Iftikhar, Muhammad SamarHussain Khan
The snow leopard Panthera uncia is a flagship species of the greater Himalayan region and symbolizes the integrity of this ecological system. Within the greater Himalayas, Pakistan holds special significance as the north of the country represents a confluence of three major mountain ranges (Hindu Kush, Pamir–Karakoram, and Himalaya). However, robustly surveying and monitoring elusive, low‐density species such as snow leopards has historically been difficult in the region. As a result, our understanding of the spatial patterns in density and overall population size of snow leopards has remained conjectural in Pakistan. This lack of objective information is an obstacle to realizing effective conservation planning for the species in Pakistan, as well as the broader ecosystem within which it plays a key role. This study aimed to empirically derive population estimates for snow leopards in Pakistan, based on extensive camera trapping conducted over a decade (2010–2019), covering about 39% of the species' range across four major mountain ranges in northern Pakistan. A total of 828 cameras were placed over 26 540 trap days, resulting in 4712 photos of snow leopards obtained from 65 different locations. Among the 53 unique individuals identified, the majority (53%) were detected only once, with an overall recapture frequency of 2.28 times per individual. Spatial capture–recapture (SCR) was employed for population and density estimation. Model selection strongly favored a model in which density was negatively associated with distance to the closest glacier and positively associated with elevation, and baseline encounter rates were higher in the Pamir–Karakoram region and with Reconyx cameras than in other regions and types of cameras. The estimated population size for snow leopards in Pakistan was 155 (95% CI 100–239), with a mean density of 0.16 (95% CI 0.10–0.24) animals per 100 km 2 . This research provides the first robust population estimate for snow leopards in this region, establishing a foundation for long‐term population monitoring and assessing the effectiveness of conservation measures. We recommend the integration of complementary approaches, such as non‐invasive genetic methods, to validate and refine population estimates.
Panthera uncia雪豹是大喜马拉雅地区的旗舰物种，象征着生态系统的完整性。在大喜马拉雅山脉内，巴基斯坦具有特殊的意义，因为该国的北部是三个主要山脉（兴都库什山脉，帕米尔高原-喀喇昆仑山脉和喜马拉雅山脉）的交汇处。然而，在该地区，对雪豹等难以捉摸的低密度物种进行有力的调查和监测一直很困难。因此，我们对巴基斯坦雪豹密度和总体种群规模的空间格局的理解仍然是推测性的。缺乏客观信息是巴基斯坦实现有效的物种保护规划的障碍，也是它在更广泛的生态系统中发挥关键作用的障碍。本研究旨在根据十多年（2010-2019年）进行的广泛相机捕捉，从经验上得出巴基斯坦雪豹的数量估计，覆盖了巴基斯坦北部四个主要山脉约39%的物种范围。在26540个陷阱日里，总共放置了828台相机，从65个不同的地点拍摄了4712张雪豹的照片。在确定的53个独特个体中，大多数（53%）只被检测到一次，每个个体的总体再捕获频率为2.28次。种群和密度估算采用空间捕获-再捕获（SCR）方法。模型选择强烈倾向于密度与最近冰川的距离负相关，与海拔正相关的模型，并且在帕米尔高原-喀喇昆仑地区，使用Reconyx相机的基线遇到率高于其他地区和其他类型的相机。据估计，巴基斯坦雪豹的种群规模为155只（95% CI 100 - 239），平均密度为每100公里0.16只（95% CI 0.10-0.24）。本研究首次提供了该地区雪豹数量的可靠估计，为长期种群监测和评估保护措施的有效性奠定了基础。我们建议整合互补方法，如非侵入性遗传方法，以验证和完善人口估计。
{"title":"From shadows to data: first robust population assessment of snow leopards in Pakistan","authors":"Muhammad Ali Nawaz, Shoaib Hameed, Jaffar Ud Din, Hussain Ali, Shakeel Ahmad, Ian Durbach, Mehmood Ghaznavi, Mohsin Farooque, Naeem Iftikhar, Muhammad SamarHussain Khan","doi":"10.1002/ecog.08074","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecog.08074","url":null,"abstract":"The snow leopard <jats:italic>Panthera uncia</jats:italic> is a flagship species of the greater Himalayan region and symbolizes the integrity of this ecological system. Within the greater Himalayas, Pakistan holds special significance as the north of the country represents a confluence of three major mountain ranges (Hindu Kush, Pamir–Karakoram, and Himalaya). However, robustly surveying and monitoring elusive, low‐density species such as snow leopards has historically been difficult in the region. As a result, our understanding of the spatial patterns in density and overall population size of snow leopards has remained conjectural in Pakistan. This lack of objective information is an obstacle to realizing effective conservation planning for the species in Pakistan, as well as the broader ecosystem within which it plays a key role. This study aimed to empirically derive population estimates for snow leopards in Pakistan, based on extensive camera trapping conducted over a decade (2010–2019), covering about 39% of the species' range across four major mountain ranges in northern Pakistan. A total of 828 cameras were placed over 26 540 trap days, resulting in 4712 photos of snow leopards obtained from 65 different locations. Among the 53 unique individuals identified, the majority (53%) were detected only once, with an overall recapture frequency of 2.28 times per individual. Spatial capture–recapture (SCR) was employed for population and density estimation. Model selection strongly favored a model in which density was negatively associated with distance to the closest glacier and positively associated with elevation, and baseline encounter rates were higher in the Pamir–Karakoram region and with Reconyx cameras than in other regions and types of cameras. The estimated population size for snow leopards in Pakistan was 155 (95% CI 100–239), with a mean density of 0.16 (95% CI 0.10–0.24) animals per 100 km <jats:sup>2</jats:sup> . This research provides the first robust population estimate for snow leopards in this region, establishing a foundation for long‐term population monitoring and assessing the effectiveness of conservation measures. We recommend the integration of complementary approaches, such as non‐invasive genetic methods, to validate and refine population estimates.","PeriodicalId":51026,"journal":{"name":"Ecography","volume":"30 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146070579","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}
Pilar L. Maia- Braga, Anderson S. Bueno, Marina F. A. Maximiano, Torbjørn Haugaasen, Marina Anciães, John G. Blake, Bette A. Loiselle, Sergio H. Borges, Juliana Menger, Sidnei Dantas, Ramiro D. Melinski, Affonso H. N. Souza, Fernando H. T. de Abreu, Roberta L. Boss, Carlos A. Peres
Species diversity typically increases from higher to lower latitudes, but the regional-scale variation along this geographic gradient remains unclear. It has been suggested that species diversity throughout Amazonia generally increases westward toward the Andes, but this pattern and its environmental determinants require further investigation for most taxa. Using mist-net data on understorey birds, we evaluated patterns of species richness using two approaches by addressing methodological issues that influence local species richness and the determinants of species richness across Pan-Amazonia. Specifically, we examined 1) the disparity between observed and expected species richness obtained from geographic range maps; 2) how species eco-morphological traits influence their detection and relative abundance; 3) the spatial variation in estimated local species richness after controlling for sampling effort; and 4) the environmental determinants of estimated richness. We found no evidence for a longitudinal westward increase in estimated species richness, but there was a marked difference between the northern and southern banks of the Amazon River. Species detection and abundance were modestly explained by species traits, and estimated richness was weakly associated with latitude, aboveground biomass and climatic aridity. We found that observed variation in the local species richness was primarily driven by differences in sampling effort, while estimated species richness showed modest variation across large spatial scales and was poorly explained by environmental and spatial gradients. Despite wide variation in local species richness, we conclude that at broader scales, species richness of understorey bird assemblages was surprisingly stable across Pan-Amazonia, suggesting that evolutionary processes may be important in determining these patterns at larger scales.
{"title":"Patterns of understorey bird diversity across Amazonian forests: survey effort and range maps predict local species richness","authors":"Pilar L. Maia- Braga, Anderson S. Bueno, Marina F. A. Maximiano, Torbjørn Haugaasen, Marina Anciães, John G. Blake, Bette A. Loiselle, Sergio H. Borges, Juliana Menger, Sidnei Dantas, Ramiro D. Melinski, Affonso H. N. Souza, Fernando H. T. de Abreu, Roberta L. Boss, Carlos A. Peres","doi":"10.1002/ecog.07625","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecog.07625","url":null,"abstract":"Species diversity typically increases from higher to lower latitudes, but the regional-scale variation along this geographic gradient remains unclear. It has been suggested that species diversity throughout Amazonia generally increases westward toward the Andes, but this pattern and its environmental determinants require further investigation for most taxa. Using mist-net data on understorey birds, we evaluated patterns of species richness using two approaches by addressing methodological issues that influence local species richness and the determinants of species richness across Pan-Amazonia. Specifically, we examined 1) the disparity between observed and expected species richness obtained from geographic range maps; 2) how species eco-morphological traits influence their detection and relative abundance; 3) the spatial variation in estimated local species richness after controlling for sampling effort; and 4) the environmental determinants of estimated richness. We found no evidence for a longitudinal westward increase in estimated species richness, but there was a marked difference between the northern and southern banks of the Amazon River. Species detection and abundance were modestly explained by species traits, and estimated richness was weakly associated with latitude, aboveground biomass and climatic aridity. We found that observed variation in the local species richness was primarily driven by differences in sampling effort, while estimated species richness showed modest variation across large spatial scales and was poorly explained by environmental and spatial gradients. Despite wide variation in local species richness, we conclude that at broader scales, species richness of understorey bird assemblages was surprisingly stable across Pan-Amazonia, suggesting that evolutionary processes may be important in determining these patterns at larger scales.","PeriodicalId":51026,"journal":{"name":"Ecography","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146022171","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}
Jiří Trombik, Soňa Šenfeldová, Samuel F. Ward, Thomas H. Atkinson, Andrew M. Liebhold
The theory of biotic resistance states that community diversity promotes resistance to biological invasions. This theory has been widely explored for its ability to explain variation in habitat invasibility to non‐native plant species and while the theory holds in some systems, it does not in others. In the case of invasions by herbivorous insects, invasibility could be affected by diversity of plants and/or by diversity of native insects. While only a few studies have explored biotic resistance to insect invasions, limited evidence suggests that plant diversity can actually have a positive effect on invasibility via creation of niches for herbivorous insects though other studies of insect systems indicate that plant diversity has a negative effect on invasibility by diluting the density of hosts. Almost nothing is known about how native insect diversity affects resistance to invasions by other insects. Here we analyzed a unique inventory of native and non‐native Scolytinae/Platypodinae (bark and ambrosia beetles) across the conterminous USA. We assessed the correlates of geographical variation in numbers of both native and non‐native species per 50 × 50 km cell. We find that native tree diversity generally has positive effects on the richness of native beetle species, while the abundance of non‐native hosts promotes richness of non‐native beetles. We also observed that the effect of native beetle diversity on non‐native Scolytinae/Platypodinae species richness is either lacking or positive. These results indicate fundamental differences between plants and insects in the way native and non‐native species interact; while interspecific competition can exert a strong influence on plant invasions, it appears less important for insects. Results thus indicate that the biotic resistance hypothesis does not explain invasion patterns of bark and ambrosia beetles.
{"title":"Does biotic resistance govern forest invasions by bark and ambrosia beetles?","authors":"Jiří Trombik, Soňa Šenfeldová, Samuel F. Ward, Thomas H. Atkinson, Andrew M. Liebhold","doi":"10.1002/ecog.08164","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecog.08164","url":null,"abstract":"The theory of biotic resistance states that community diversity promotes resistance to biological invasions. This theory has been widely explored for its ability to explain variation in habitat invasibility to non‐native plant species and while the theory holds in some systems, it does not in others. In the case of invasions by herbivorous insects, invasibility could be affected by diversity of plants and/or by diversity of native insects. While only a few studies have explored biotic resistance to insect invasions, limited evidence suggests that plant diversity can actually have a positive effect on invasibility via creation of niches for herbivorous insects though other studies of insect systems indicate that plant diversity has a negative effect on invasibility by diluting the density of hosts. Almost nothing is known about how native insect diversity affects resistance to invasions by other insects. Here we analyzed a unique inventory of native and non‐native Scolytinae/Platypodinae (bark and ambrosia beetles) across the conterminous USA. We assessed the correlates of geographical variation in numbers of both native and non‐native species per 50 × 50 km cell. We find that native tree diversity generally has positive effects on the richness of native beetle species, while the abundance of non‐native hosts promotes richness of non‐native beetles. We also observed that the effect of native beetle diversity on non‐native Scolytinae/Platypodinae species richness is either lacking or positive. These results indicate fundamental differences between plants and insects in the way native and non‐native species interact; while interspecific competition can exert a strong influence on plant invasions, it appears less important for insects. Results thus indicate that the biotic resistance hypothesis does not explain invasion patterns of bark and ambrosia beetles.","PeriodicalId":51026,"journal":{"name":"Ecography","volume":"49 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146014412","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}
To better understand the dynamics of community resilience, it is crucial to examine the role of dominant species in maintaining ecosystem functions. Dominant species, due to their high abundance, are considered to maintain productivity after species loss. However, it remains unclear whether the community productivity can be maintained or restored by the remaining co‐dominant species after the loss of the dominant species. Therefore, we hypothesized that after the loss of dominant species, the lost productivity would be maintained by the co‐dominant species in the remaining community. This study, conducted over 13 years in an alpine grassland, investigates the compensatory responses of remaining species following the removal of each of two dominant species, Kobresia pygmaea (sedge) and Stipa purpurea (grass), both individually and in combination, under two nitrogen level scenarios. We found that while partial compensation (compensation index < 1) occurred in the remaining community, neither of the remaining dominant species effectively compensated for the loss of the removed species. Leguminous plants showed the most obvious positive response to the removal of dominant species, whereas forbs and sedges showed the most marked negative responses. In addition, fertilization does not promote the recovery of community productivity following removal of the dominant species. Our findings underscore the critical role of dominant species in sustaining productivity. In the face of the accelerating crisis of biodiversity extinction, priority should be given to protecting the dominant species and key functional groups in the region.
{"title":"Co‐dominant species fail to compensate after 13‐year of dominant species removal in a Tibetan alpine grassland","authors":"Wenyu Li, Qu‐zong Ci‐ren, Xianzhou Zhang, Shiping Wang, Yangjian Zhang, Xine Li, Yunlong He, Ge Hou, Rina Wendu, Wenchao Wu, Dorji Tsechoe, Lin Jiang, Josep Peñuelas, Yann Hautier, Juntao Zhu","doi":"10.1002/ecog.08319","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecog.08319","url":null,"abstract":"To better understand the dynamics of community resilience, it is crucial to examine the role of dominant species in maintaining ecosystem functions. Dominant species, due to their high abundance, are considered to maintain productivity after species loss. However, it remains unclear whether the community productivity can be maintained or restored by the remaining co‐dominant species after the loss of the dominant species. Therefore, we hypothesized that after the loss of dominant species, the lost productivity would be maintained by the co‐dominant species in the remaining community. This study, conducted over 13 years in an alpine grassland, investigates the compensatory responses of remaining species following the removal of each of two dominant species, <jats:italic>Kobresia pygmaea</jats:italic> (sedge) and <jats:italic>Stipa purpurea</jats:italic> (grass), both individually and in combination, under two nitrogen level scenarios. We found that while partial compensation (compensation index < 1) occurred in the remaining community, neither of the remaining dominant species effectively compensated for the loss of the removed species. Leguminous plants showed the most obvious positive response to the removal of dominant species, whereas forbs and sedges showed the most marked negative responses. In addition, fertilization does not promote the recovery of community productivity following removal of the dominant species. Our findings underscore the critical role of dominant species in sustaining productivity. In the face of the accelerating crisis of biodiversity extinction, priority should be given to protecting the dominant species and key functional groups in the region.","PeriodicalId":51026,"journal":{"name":"Ecography","volume":"213 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146014413","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}
Brian S. Maitner, Robert L. Richards, Ben S. Carlson, John M. Drake, Cory Merow
Species distribution models (SDMs) predict where species live or could potentially live and are a key resource for ecological research and conservation decision‐making. However, current SDM methods often perform poorly for rare or inadequately sampled species, which include most species on earth, as well as most of those of the greatest conservation concern. Here, we evaluated the performance of three modeling approaches designed for data‐deficient situations: plug‐and‐play modeling, density‐ratio modeling, and environmental‐range modeling. We compared the performance of algorithms within these approaches with the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model, a widely used density‐ratio algorithm, both for data‐poor species and more generally. We also tested to what extent model cross‐validation performance on training data predicts model performance on independent, presence–absence data. We found that no algorithm performed best in all situations. Across all species, MaxEnt performed best on average but was outperformed by one or more of the plug‐and‐play, density‐ratio, or environmental‐range algorithms in 72% of cases. Six of the other algorithms had the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) distributions not significantly different from MaxEnt's, and for data‐poor species (those with 20 or fewer occurrences), 24 of the algorithms considered had AUC distributions not significantly different from MaxEnt's. However, we found that the algorithm outputs (when thresholded to predict presence vs absence) spanned a wide sensitivity–specificity gradient. Specificity and prediction accuracy assessed on training data were strongly correlated with specificity and prediction accuracy assessed on independent presence–absence data. However, AUC and sensitivity were weakly correlated in training versus testing sets, with only 22% of species having the same model perform best when evaluated on training and independent, presence absence data. Finally, we show how ensembles of algorithms that span the sensitivity–specificity gradient can represent model disagreement in poorly sampled species and improve model predictions.
{"title":"Flexible methods for species distribution modeling with small samples","authors":"Brian S. Maitner, Robert L. Richards, Ben S. Carlson, John M. Drake, Cory Merow","doi":"10.1002/ecog.08112","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecog.08112","url":null,"abstract":"Species distribution models (SDMs) predict where species live or could potentially live and are a key resource for ecological research and conservation decision‐making. However, current SDM methods often perform poorly for rare or inadequately sampled species, which include most species on earth, as well as most of those of the greatest conservation concern. Here, we evaluated the performance of three modeling approaches designed for data‐deficient situations: plug‐and‐play modeling, density‐ratio modeling, and environmental‐range modeling. We compared the performance of algorithms within these approaches with the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model, a widely used density‐ratio algorithm, both for data‐poor species and more generally. We also tested to what extent model cross‐validation performance on training data predicts model performance on independent, presence–absence data. We found that no algorithm performed best in all situations. Across all species, MaxEnt performed best on average but was outperformed by one or more of the plug‐and‐play, density‐ratio, or environmental‐range algorithms in 72% of cases. Six of the other algorithms had the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) distributions not significantly different from MaxEnt's, and for data‐poor species (those with 20 or fewer occurrences), 24 of the algorithms considered had AUC distributions not significantly different from MaxEnt's. However, we found that the algorithm outputs (when thresholded to predict presence vs absence) spanned a wide sensitivity–specificity gradient. Specificity and prediction accuracy assessed on training data were strongly correlated with specificity and prediction accuracy assessed on independent presence–absence data. However, AUC and sensitivity were weakly correlated in training versus testing sets, with only 22% of species having the same model perform best when evaluated on training and independent, presence absence data. Finally, we show how ensembles of algorithms that span the sensitivity–specificity gradient can represent model disagreement in poorly sampled species and improve model predictions.","PeriodicalId":51026,"journal":{"name":"Ecography","volume":"49 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146014476","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}
Protection targets for addressing biodiversity loss include protecting at least 30% of the land and ocean in ecologically representative areas, but do not specify how many or what proportion of species should be protected from extinction. Here, a systematic analysis of 77 880 marine, freshwater and terrestrial species indicates that all species could be protected in 50% of the planet; 69% in 30%; and 58% in 10%. These percentages only apply if the optimal areas for these species are protected. Thus, the ‘at least 30% by 2030' international target cannot protect more than about two‐thirds of all species even in these optimal places, but 50% could. However, over 80% of the species most endangered by extinction could be protected in 10% of the area. Furthermore, 39% of the optimal areas are in places with minimal human impact. Thus, focusing on these optimal places, in a network of protected areas selected to collectively include as many species as possible, would be a better target for conservation than a simple indicator of area protected.
{"title":"How much species' biodiversity could area targets protect globally?","authors":"Qianshuo Zhao, Mark John Costello","doi":"10.1002/ecog.08130","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecog.08130","url":null,"abstract":"Protection targets for addressing biodiversity loss include protecting at least 30% of the land and ocean in ecologically representative areas, but do not specify how many or what proportion of species should be protected from extinction. Here, a systematic analysis of 77 880 marine, freshwater and terrestrial species indicates that all species could be protected in 50% of the planet; 69% in 30%; and 58% in 10%. These percentages only apply if the optimal areas for these species are protected. Thus, the ‘at least 30% by 2030' international target cannot protect more than about two‐thirds of all species even in these optimal places, but 50% could. However, over 80% of the species most endangered by extinction could be protected in 10% of the area. Furthermore, 39% of the optimal areas are in places with minimal human impact. Thus, focusing on these optimal places, in a network of protected areas selected to collectively include as many species as possible, would be a better target for conservation than a simple indicator of area protected.","PeriodicalId":51026,"journal":{"name":"Ecography","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146000801","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}
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