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Analysis of distributional data for 25,000 species challenges the assumption that species are bound to the climatic conditions that they inhabit today, and argues that many species may be able to venture into unoccupied areas of their fundamental niche.
Niche contiguity occurs when only current climatic conditions are used to estimate the niche of a species, ignoring potential niche expansion under climate change. An assessment of 24,944 species shows that nearly half exhibit niche contiguity, which can lead to overestimates of biodiversity loss under climate change.
Analysing strontium isotope ratios for individuals of 18 bovid and equid species dating to the Last Glacial Period (115–11.7 ka), the authors find that 16 of these species lack definitive evidence of migration, even those species that are long-distance migrants today.
An analysis of fish and macroinvertebrate communities in European rivers over 32 years shows that inland ship traffic is associated with declining taxonomic richness, diversity and trait richness and with increased taxonomic evenness.
A global survey using baited cameras on coral reefs demonstrates a near twofold increase in the relative abundance of reef sharks in marine protected areas that are also embedded within areas of effective fisheries management. However, such conservation benefits were not evident for wide-ranging sharks or rays found on the reef.
A survey of sharks and rays on coral reefs within 66 marine protected areas across 36 countries showcases that the conservation benefits of full MPA protection to sharks almost double when accompanied by effective fisheries management.
Achieving inclusive and sustainable ocean economies, long-term climate resilience and effective biodiversity conservation requires urgent and strategic actions from local to global scales. We discuss fundamental changes that are needed to allow equitable policy across these three domains.
Pangenomics enables us to trace the evolutionary history of clades and offers new perspectives on sources of genomic variation and adaptation of organisms.
Long-term high-resolution data on social relationships, space use and microhabitat in a wild population of mice (Apodemus sylvaticus), accompanied by sampling of the gut microbiota, show that distinct sets of microorganisms dominate social and environmental transmission routes of microbiota. Microorganisms with low oxygen tolerance are more reliant on social transmission.
An analysis of nearly a quarter of a million forest plots finds that up to half of European forest biodiversity may be lost owing to climate change over the course of this century and provides tools to promote climate-resilient forests deep into the future.
Isotope analysis of human and faunal remains dated to the Later Stone Age reveals a substantial plant-based component to hunter-gatherer diets at the site of Taforalt, several millennia prior to the development of agriculture in the Levant, renewing the question of why agriculture did not develop contemporaneously in North Africa.
Species distribution modelling for 69 European tree species under current climate conditions and projected conditions to 2100 (in decadal steps) demonstrates that, for climate suitability to be maintained throughout a tree’s lifespan, many fewer tree species are available to forest managers than are currently used.
Pollution in urban areas causes higher rates of mutation than in unpolluted areas. This Perspective discusses the effects of these mutations on the health, evolutionary fitness and ecology of urban organisms.
Through genetic and molecular analyses of interspecific stigma–pollen interactions, the authors show that Brassicaceae plants use an integrated pollen discrimination system and a shared pollen rejection pathway to reject conspecific self-pollen and heterospecific pollen. This establishes a mechanistic link between self-incompatibility and speciation in this clade.
