Using avian trait data and genomic data, the authors infer whether changes in net effective population size over time in response to climate change are correlated with multiple morphological and life history traits; they find that larger-bodied, slower-reproducing species with limited dispersal capacity are most sensitive to changes in warming and cooling climates.

This study shows that environmental conditions promote multicellular group formation in green algae and that retention of daughter cells reliant on nitrogen availability promotes fitness in the lab and in natural lake systems in Sweden.

Most comparative animal cognition studies assume that results are stable in individuals and groups, but this is not often tested. Here the authors assess repeatability of cognitive tasks in several species of captive great apes, finding that individual performance over time is stable and predicted by fixed differences among individuals rather than transient experimental conditions.

Using data from the BEF-China tree diversity experiment, the authors demonstrate that the diversity of arthropods is higher in plots with higher tree diversity and that the suppression of herbivores by enemy arthropods could be a potential mechanism through which higher tree diversity promotes productivity.

Analysing patterns of morphological disparity and the evolutionary rate of appendicular limbs across theropods, the authors show lower disparity and decelerated rates of forelimb size evolution, which may have been caused by restrictions on morphospace given the requirements for powered flight.

There is great interest in describing biodiversity change through time, but such analyses present various technical challenges. Here, using datasets for fish and birds, the authors show that a bias towards colonization over extinction can result in an increasing species richness over time, especially in short time series, and argue that studies should account for this bias.

Comparative analysis of Y chromosomes across 29 primate species reveals rapid evolution and shows different patterns of evolution among regions of the Y chromosome during primate diversification.

The genetic basis of collective behaviour is complex. Single-cell transcriptomics of honeybee brains and gene regulatory network analysis showed differences in brain gene regulation and gene regulatory network plasticity between aggressive soldiers and non-aggressive foragers.

Plastic pollution has rapidly risen to the top of public and policy discourse on the environment. For World Environment Day on 5 June and World Oceans Day on 8 June, we reflect on its intersection with other ocean threats from biodiversity loss and climate change.

Global biodiversity loss has been disproportionately driven by consumption of people in rich nations. The concept of ‘loss and damage’ — familiar from international agreements on climate change — should be considered for the effects of biodiversity loss in countries of the Global South.

Determined and generous champion of protected-areas science and policy

SARS-CoV-2 lineages circulating in animal reservoirs may broaden the evolutionary potential of the virus and increase the risk of novel variants emerging. There is an urgent need for more-comprehensive surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 circulating in nonhuman hosts.