Analysis of North American landbirds compares their latitudinal, elevational and phenological responses to climate change. Species have tracked 33% of current temperature change, with phenological change accounting for the majority (64%) of this.

Socio-bioeconomies are essential to sustainable use and restoration of ecosystems and to justice and livelihoods for Indigenous and local people. This Perspective details the transformative changes that are needed across multifaceted existing barriers to enable socio-bioeconomies to be scaled out and up across the Amazon.

Geographic patterns in plant growth are probably influenced by soil abiotic and biotic conditions. Here, the authors assess the relationship of a composite soil health index to primary productivity and the underlying environmental predictors across major land-use types in Europe.

Analysis of gamete transcriptomes of sexual and asexual individuals of the brown alga Scytosiphon shows decay of female functions but no signature of relaxation of sexual antagonism in the evolution of asexual reproduction in this haploid sexual system.

Oakhurst rockshelter in South Africa documents marked cultural change during the Holocene, but genome-wide data from ancient human individuals at the site now demonstrate a remarkable degree of genetic continuity over the last 9,000 years: the contemporary ‡Khomani San and Karretjiemense from South Africa still show direct signs of relatedness to the Oakhurst hunter-gatherers.

The energetic costs of seasonal bird migration are challenging to measure. Here bio-loggers paired with radio telemetry and energetic modelling show that blackbirds offset the energetic cost of migration by decreasing heart rate and body temperature 28 days before departure but do not decrease total daily energy expenditure in warmer wintering areas.

Empirical evidence on how evolution affects the stability of ecological communities is scarce. Here, using two-species microbial assemblages as a model system, the authors show that adaptation can alter the tipping points of an ecological community.

Ancient DNA, stable isotopes and other archaeological methods establish that humans were living at extremely high elevation on the Tibetan Plateau 4,400 years ago, maintaining sedentary lifestyles that combined fishing, hunting and crop exchange.

Evolvability modifier mutations alter the rates and benefits of future mutations, but it is difficult to predict when they will be favoured by natural selection. A mathematical framework shows that competition between linked mutations can drive strong selection for modifiers and that subtle differences in evolvability can affect the long-term success of mutations.

Analysis of more than 7,000 quotas for reptile trade from around the world identifies that few quotas are exceeded, although quotas often exceed pre-quota trade volumes, and that many quotas remain unchanged, with the longest-running quotas proportionately changing the least.

Theoretical biologist who ‘tamed’ mathematicians and tested the theory of evolution.

Cecilia Apaldetti’s palaeontological journey began with a turkey-sized dinosaur.

Climate change is causing an increase in extreme events, and this is a major concern for biodiversity.