Recurrent transitions in feeding strategies have shaped the eukaryotic tree of life, as unrelated groups independently evolved similar solutions to common ecological challenges. One of the most interesting yet poorly studied of these shifts is the transition towards osmotrophy. We reconstructed the evolution of four eukaryotic groups that specialized in osmotrophy through...
Tropical rainforests have often been considered marginal environments for Pleistocene hunter-gatherers, yet archaeological research in Sri Lanka demonstrates long-term occupation of these habitats from ~48,000 years ago (ka). Material evidence indicates specialized hunting of arboreal mammals, as well as the use of plant resources, but plant consumption is often difficult to...
Yellow-eyed penguins (hoiho/takaraka, Megadyptes antipodes) are among the world’s rarest penguins and considered taonga (treasured) species in Aotearoa New Zealand. Since 2019, chicks on the New Zealand mainland have been affected by a deadly neonatal disease, respiratory distress syndrome, contributing to a decline to fewer than 115 breeding pairs. To investigate the putative...
Achieving global biodiversity targets, such as the commitment to conserve 30% of the planet by 2030, depends on the ability of individual countries to translate targets into reality. While there has long been recognition that protected areas can bring costs as well as benefits, the implications of this for delivery of global targets have not been fully explored. We focus on...
In ecology and conservation, a growing number of studies seek to draw causal inference using quasi-experimental designs. Despite the risk of omitted variable bias from such designs, the degree to which results are sensitive to unobserved confounders is seldom assessed. Here, to demonstrate the value of such sensitivity analyses, we use the controversy surrounding whether projects...
Increasing global demand for nickel, an essential metal in low-carbon technologies and stainless steel, is driving a surge in mining in strongholds of tropical biodiversity. We use a global mine-by-mine supply scenario model to quantify the trade-off between meeting future nickel demand for decarbonization and conserving areas critical for achieving biodiversity and climate...
Larger animal groups are widely understood to require more space and expend more energy to mitigate the foraging costs of within-group competition. Yet between-group interactions and shifting resource distributions can obscure links between group size and behaviour, making responses to demographic change difficult to predict. Here, using 33 years of observational data from 12...
In recent years, budburst, the timing of leaf emergence, has advanced less than expected despite continued spring warming, suggesting counteracting ecological forces. One of these forces might be increased and earlier herbivory on young leaves under climate warming. Here using 5 years of satellite radar data from 27,500 pixels (10 ×10 m2) across 60 temperate oak forest sites...
Understanding how species are exposed to different types of extreme events is an emerging priority to inform biodiversity conservation under climate change. Using climate impact projections and species range data, we predict changes in exposure to droughts, heatwaves, river floods and wildfires for 33,936 terrestrial vertebrate species and 794 ecoregions. By 2050, under a medium...
Animals deploy a wide range of anti-predator adaptations, often combining multiple strategies into a ‘defence portfolio’. However, why certain defences evolve together whereas others are mutually exclusive remains unclear. Here we use a phylogenetic approach to examine the evolution of conspicuous visual markings—including eyespots and other conspicuous markings—alongside...
The Permian–Triassic mass extinction represents the most severe loss of biodiversity in Earth history and profoundly reorganized terrestrial ecosystems. On land, this crisis was followed by a marked floral turnover, with herbaceous lycophytes dominating Early Triassic vegetation. Here we show that these pioneer (so-called disaster) taxa that rapidly colonized stressed post...
In March 2024, Brazil reported an unprecedented Oropouche fever outbreak, driven by the emergence of a reassortant lineage of the Oropouche virus (OROV) expanding beyond the Amazon Basin. To investigate the expansion dynamics of OROV, we implemented complementary phylogeographic and ecological niche modelling approaches that aimed to characterize the environmental factors...
At the transition between the third and the fourth millennium BC, there is evidence for a population decline concurrent with the end of megalith building across continental northwestern Europe. In Scandinavia this ‘Neolithic decline’ is followed by a massive population turnover, as farming communities disappeared and were replaced by people with steppe ancestry. In western Europe...
Identifying centres of neo- and palaeo-endemism is crucial for defining global conservation priorities, yet data gaps hinder prioritization in megadiverse regions. Using a dated phylogeny of 16,585 native vascular plant species, we unravel spatio-temporal dynamics of China’s extant flora. Temporally, most genera originated in the Oligocene–Miocene, whereas the Pleistocene was key...
Species in microbial communities need to stave off competition and capitalize on new resources that become available because of metabolic activities of others. However, intra-cellular molecular changes that underpin these responses are understudied, preventing mechanistic insights into community function and dynamics. Here we analyse proteomic and metabolomic responses in 104...
The evolutionary relationships among decapodiform lineages (cuttlefish and diverse types of squid) remain uncertain, with implications for the origin of internalized structures (for example, gladius, cuttlebone and coiled shell) derived from the ancestral chambered shell as well as the ecological shifts between the deep ocean and shallow coastal habitats. To address these...
Chromatin structure plays a central role in regulating transcription, genome stability and epigenetic inheritance in eukaryotes. Much of our understanding of chromatin architecture and histone post-translational modifications (hPTMs) comes from a narrow set of animal and plant models, but emerging data from non-model lineages are challenging canonical views of how chromatin...
Biological invasions by plants pose a growing threat to biodiversity. Here we model potential current and future distributions of 9,701 naturalized alien plant species to project their potential spread by the end of the twenty-first century. Our analysis reveals that 33.9% of the global land surface is suitable for at least 10% of these species, identifying key hotspots for...
Blue carbon ecosystems, classically defined as mangroves, tidal marshes and seagrasses, but increasingly expanded to include ecosystems such as tidal flats, macroalgal forests and shelf sediments, contribute to climate change mitigation and biodiversity support. Here, seven years after the last global assessment of research priorities, we conducted a priority-setting exercise to...
The functioning of high-diversity ecosystems, such as coral reefs, is intrinsically tied to the integrity and efficiency of the trophic pathways within these systems. Coral reef productivity depends, in part, on the input of external nutrients, primarily zooplankton, that is assimilated by extraordinarily diverse fish communities. The plankton–planktivore trophic pathway is thus...
Soil fauna contributes to a wide range of ecosystem functions via their trophic activities. Here we investigate how trophic diversity of soil animals varies across functional groups and major biomes. We use stable isotope analysis (13C/12C and 15N/14N ratios) of 17,306 samples of 28 high-rank taxa from 456 sites across 19 countries to inspect the variability in trophic diversity...