Featured
-
-
Review Article |
Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity
Two decades ago the first Earth Summit raised the question of how biological diversity loss alters ecosystem functioning and affects humanity; this Review looks at the progress made towards answering this question.
- Bradley J. Cardinale
- , J. Emmett Duffy
- & Shahid Naeem
-
-
Research Highlights |
Less biodiversity, more allergies
-
News |
Map of Life goes live
Online mapping tool streamlines global species distributions.
- Virginia Gewin
-
Letter |
A global synthesis reveals biodiversity loss as a major driver of ecosystem change
Although loss of biodiversity is known to cause reduction in ecosystem function, it is not known how this threat compares to other environmental alterations such as climate change; this analysis of the data from over 100 published studies shows that biodiversity loss is as significant as other major drivers of change in ecosystem function.
- David U. Hooper
- , E. Carol Adair
- & Mary I. O’Connor
-
News |
World governments establish biodiversity panel
Scientists from more than 90 countries will unite to assess ecosystems and natural resources.
- Natasha Gilbert
-
Research Highlights |
A look at backyard biodiversity
-
Comment |
Think big for marine conservation
Err on the side of caution and protect the widest-possible areas of ecologically important deep sea, say Phil Weaver and David Johnson.
- Phil Weaver
- & David Johnson
-
News |
A damming assessment of Mekong development
Dams on tributaries worse for fish than those on the main river.
- Jane Qiu
-
News & Views |
Species choked and blended
The appearance of new ecological niches propels the evolution of species, but the converse can also occur. A study shows that changing lake habitats have caused extinctions and reduced the genetic differences between species. See Article p.357
- Jeffrey S. McKinnon
- & Eric B. Taylor
-
Article |
Eutrophication causes speciation reversal in whitefish adaptive radiations
Historical and contemporary data of whitefish radiations from pre-alpine European lakes and reconstruction of changes in whitefish genetic species differentiation through time show that species diversity may have evolved in response to ecological opportunity, and that eutrophication, by diminishing this opportunity, has driven extinctions through speciation reversal and demographic decline.
- P. Vonlanthen
- , D. Bittner
- & O. Seehausen
-
Outlook |
Biodiversity: Endangered and in demand
With an ingredients list that includes rhino horn and tiger bone, traditional Asian medicine is on a collision course with wildlife preservation.
- Duncan Graham-Rowe
-
Research Highlights |
Amazon frogs galore
-
Letter |
Additive threats from pathogens, climate and land-use change for global amphibian diversity
Amphibian populations are declining; here, the spatial distribution and interactions of threats from climate change, land-use change and the spread of fungal disease are assessed.
- Christian Hof
- , Miguel B. Araújo
- & Carsten Rahbek
-
-
-
-
-
News |
Plant biodiversity theory debunked
Light, not productivity, may control species richness
- Natasha Gilbert
-
News |
Number of species on Earth tagged at 8.7 million
Most precise estimate yet suggests more than 80% of species still undiscovered.
- Lee Sweetlove
-
News |
Climate change will hit genetic diversity
Probable loss of 'cryptic' variation a challenge for conservationists.
-
Letter |
High plant diversity is needed to maintain ecosystem services
- Forest Isbell
- , Vincent Calcagno
- & Michel Loreau
-
News |
Gene pool offers way to save Mexican oasis
Commercializing genetic wealth will test biodiversity treaty.
- Nicola Jones
-
-
Letter |
Initial radiation of jaws demonstrated stability despite faunal and environmental change
- Philip S. L. Anderson
- , Matt Friedman
- & Emily J. Rayfield
-
News |
A new eye on biodiversity
Airborne observatory will use chemical clues to map and assess tropical ecosystems.
- Jeff Tollefson
-
-
News & Views |
Species loss revisited
Conservationists predict massive extinctions as a result of habitat loss. Habitat loss undoubtedly does drive extinctions, but dealing with an unmet assumption that underlies these predictions yields much lower estimates. See Letter p.368
- Carsten Rahbek
- & Robert K. Colwell
-
News |
Huge marine census under scrutiny
Independent review finds great achievements, but questions over legacy remain.
- Daniel Cressey
-
News |
What makes a resilient reef?
Local factors can help coral survive global heat waves.
- Christopher Pala
-
News |
Conservationists protest Mekong dam
Laotian hydroelectric plan tests power of river commission.
- Jane Qiu
-
News & Views |
Diversity favours productivity
A consequence of Darwin's 'principle of divergence' is that loss of species can harm the functioning of ecosystems. A study of algal communities in artificial streams suggests that he was right. See Letter p.86
- Andy Hector
-
News |
Algae biodiversity cleans streams
The more species a habitat holds, the faster pollutants are removed from the water.
- Virginia Gewin
-
Letter |
Biodiversity improves water quality through niche partitioning
More diverse stream communities have increased uptake of nutrients, including nitrate, a major pollutant, but the mechanism is little understood. This study manipulated algal species diversity in stream mesocosms with different flow habitats and disturbance regimes. Nitrogen uptake increased linearly with species richness, but when niche structure was experimentally removed the relationship disappeared.
- Bradley J. Cardinale
-
News Q&A |
Biodiversity's ills not all down to climate change
Researchers predicting the finer effects of climate warming on ecology should take care.
- Quirin Schiermeier
-
Research Highlights |
Mussel mix boosts erosion
-
World View |
Day of reckoning for Ecuador's biodiversity
The world's indifference to a request for $3.6 billion to preserve a diversity hot spot may push the country to extract oil there, says Kelly Swing.
- Kelly Swing
-
Books & Arts |
Conservation: Biodiversity as a bonus prize
Rare species and ecosystem services make uneasy bedfellows, discovers Emma Marris.
- Emma Marris
-
Comment |
The Arctic melting pot
Hybridization in polar species could hit biodiversity hard, say Brendan Kelly, Andrew Whiteley and David Tallmon.
- Brendan P. Kelly
- , Andrew Whiteley
- & David Tallmon
-
Letter |
Experimental niche evolution alters the strength of the diversity–productivity relationship
The positive relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function is well established, but the specific shape of the relationship can vary. Here, experimental evolution is used to show that the strength and slope depends on evolutionary history, with specialists and generalists that have evolved from the same ancestor giving rise to different diversity–function relationships.
- Dominique Gravel
- , Thomas Bell
- & Nicolas Mouquet
-
News |
More species means less disease
Conserving biodiversity while reducing contact with humans can limit the spread of pathogens
- Natasha Gilbert
-
Review Article |
Impacts of biodiversity on the emergence and transmission of infectious diseases
- Felicia Keesing
- , Lisa K. Belden
- & Richard S. Ostfeld
-
News & Views |
Measuring biodiversity in marine ecosystems
The use of catch data to determine indicators of biodiversity such as 'mean trophic level' does not adequately measure ecosystem changes induced by fishing. Improved ways to assess those changes are required. See Letter p.431
- Joseph E. Powers
-
News |
'Fishing down food chain' fails global test
A row has ignited over the finding that a key biodiversity indicator for fisheries is flawed.
- Daniel Cressey
-
Letter |
The trophic fingerprint of marine fisheries
The health of marine ecosystems is traditionally assessed by measuring the mean trophic level (MTL) of fishery catches. These authors model catch MTL and actual ecosystem MTL, and show that the former is not a good measure of the latter. They then show that MTLs have actually been increasing in recent years, but that fisheries are still at risk of collapse because all trophic levels have been similarly affected.
- Trevor A. Branch
- , Reg Watson
- & Sean R. Tracey
-
News |
Rapid warming boosted ancient rainforest
Increased temperatures and carbon dioxide caused burst of evolution.
- Joseph Milton
-
News |
World gets 2020 vision for conservation
With a raft of agreements emerging from Nagoya, the next step is finding the cash to move beyond the blueprint.
- Anjali Nayar
-
Letter |
Bottom-up effects of plant diversity on multitrophic interactions in a biodiversity experiment
The effects of biodiversity on ecosystem function are usually studied within trophic levels. These authors conduct a large experiment across trophic levels to show how manipulations of plant diversity affect function in different groups. The effects are consistent across groups, but are stronger at adjacent trophic levels and in above-ground rather than below-ground groups.
- Christoph Scherber
- , Nico Eisenhauer
- & Teja Tscharntke
-
News |
Conservation offers hope for biodiversity decline
Though almost 20% of vertebrate species are in danger of extinction, conservation efforts are having an impact, a study calculates.
- Joseph Milton