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The widespread occurrence of microscopic plastic particles in the ocean is of both and ecological and societal concern. Here, the authors review the biological impacts of interactions with microplastics in the marine environment.
The Nutrient Network is a globally distributed, coordinated grassland ecology experiment. Here, the first decade of this network is reviewed, including insights into ecosystem productivity, stability and the effects of herbivores and invasive species.
A tribute to Ilkka Hanski. Empirical data modelling shows that molecular variation at a candidate gene within populations has consequences for metapopulation size and persistence.
Three new bivalve genomes are resources for comparative genomics over broad timescales, providing a glimpse into the evolution of understudied marine animals and their adaptations to extreme environments.
Primates, especially humans, have large brains and this is thought to reflect our level of cognitive complexity or ‘intelligence’. Could this all be down to what we eat?
Morphology and gene expression in mid-embryogenesis are highly conserved across species of the same phylum. In nematodes, developmental constraints, rather than natural selection, explain how this pattern was established during evolution.
The evolution of organs requires changes in multiple tissues and is underpinned by complex molecular mechanisms. In this Review, the authors use the evolution of the placenta in vertebrates as a model to discuss the genetic processes involved in organ origins.
A full understanding of speciation requires the integration of knowledge at the macro and micro evolutionary scales. Here, the authors discuss the developmental processes associated with variation within plant species and morphological innovations that promote speciation in plants.
Ecological interactions typically vary across both space and time. Here, the authors outline a framework for incorporating multiple layers of complexity into ecological networks, and discuss their potential applications and future challenges.
A global analysis finds that tectonics, climate and mountains have jointly shaped the evolution of the world's terrestrial biodiversity into distinct biogeographical regions.
Physical complementarity among trees in the use of vertical space increases productivity due to species-specific differences and plasticity in crown architecture.
Cost–benefit analysis suggests that the costs of de-extinction could imperil conservation of extant biodiversity in many cases. But there is also an ethical dimension to this debate that cannot be ignored.
Recent developments in data acquisition and quantitative modelling allow evolutionary biologists to predict future processes. This Perspective reviews progress in understanding the evolutionary dynamics of systems such as microorganisms and cancer and discusses unifying concepts of predictive analysis.
miRNAs are crucial regulators of normal development in plants and animals, but their origins remain obscure. Exploration of the similarities and differences between different miRNA pathways help to elucidate their origins and role.
Humans have been modifying environments and habitats both indirectly and directly for millennia. This has resulted in extensive changes to the biology of non-domesticated non-human species, and this pattern is likely to increase in the future
We need to estimate protein tertiary structure, as well as using primary sequences, in order to further our understanding of protein evolution and evolutionary processes in general.
Female genital cutting in five West African nations is frequency-dependent and is associated with higher reproductive success among ethnicities in which cutting predominates, a fitness advantage that may outweigh its costs to physical and psychological health.
New palaeoecological data from New Guinea reveal that climatic change at the Holocene boundary is unlikely to have driven early agriculture in the region. More nuanced understanding of how humans responded to past climate change could better inform our responses in the future.
Artificial selection for antibiotic resistance in microorganisms reveals why and how expected evolutionary trade-offs between population growth rate and population carrying capacity are not observed in resource-limited environments, with ‘trade-ups’ occurring instead.
