Articles in 2023

Using occurrence records from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, the authors show that the global species abundance distribution of 39 taxonomic classes of eukaryotes is best fit by a Poisson log-normal distribution.

Analysis of single-cell expression data from the middle temporal gyrus of five primates together with analysis of network connectivity across 19 animals identifies genes with human-specific cellular expression and co-expression profiles that might contribute to evolutionary change in brain function.

Phylogenetics and population genetics analysis of ancient tiger genomes inform tiger evolution and suggest post-glaciation admixture of divergent tiger lineages in China.

Here the authors show with extant and extinct primate molar data that morphospaces specifically designed to quantify developmental phenomena maximize the ability to bridge the gap between micro- and macroevolution.

Analysing camera trap data from >26,000 stations and >158,000 vegetation plots across 12 ecoregions in India, the authors find a positive relationship between megaherbivore abundance and native plant species richness and abundance, but reductions in alien plant species abundance.

Analysing the distributions of >99% of the world’s seed plant flora, the authors find evidence supporting the evolutionary imbalance hypothesis, with species originating from large, biodiverse regions being more successful at naturalizing beyond their native ranges.

Combining global-scale data on species’ edaphoclimatic niches, phylogeny and hydraulic traits for >44,000 woody plant species, the authors map areas of hydraulic risk and show that local assemblages at greater hydraulic risk have a higher probability of drought-induced mortality.

The kākāpō is an intensively managed parrot endemic to New Zealand. Using genome sequencing data for all living kākāpō together with long-term phenotypic data, the authors devise an approach to identify genetic associations with fitness traits, which is informing species recovery plans.

Using trait-dependent biogeographic models to analyse data for >7,000 tetrapod species, the authors show that large body size and a fast life history strategy facilitate dispersal success, although this was also true for small body size and a slow life history strategy in a minority of clades.

The authors generate genomic data from 30 ancient human individuals, spanning the Bronze Age and the Iron Age from four archaeological sites in the Mediterranean (located in Tunisia, Sardinia and central Italy). Comparing with additional published ancient genomes, they generate insights into mobility and admixture in this interconnected region

Time delays in the responses of species to one another are expected to occur widely in nature. Using a new theoretical framework, the authors show that these delays can fundamentally shift how different communities respond to perturbations.

Tracking temporal patterns of proboscidean dental evolution in relation to diet and environment, the authors find that the effects of diet and environment are decoupled, and evolution of dentition alternated between directional change at times of high selective pressure and stasis when selective regimes reversed.

A combination of field and experimental work suggests that fungal pathogen pressure can selectively drive the symbiont Ricksettia to fixation in its whitefly host, through Ricksettia-conferred suppression of the pathogen.

Analysing the extent of occurrence and niche hypervolumes of 55 species of frogs in eastern Australia, the authors show that species impacted by the introduction of the pathogenic amphibian chytrid fungus underwent niche contractions, and that these were in a direction that could inhibit chytrid fungus and/or promote host demographic resilience.

Analyses of soil microbiomes across the United States reveal pervasive multidimensional specialization and generalization across prokaryotic communities impacting evolutionary trajectories, microbial dominance and community roles.

Compound-specific carbon isotope measurements of the 1.64-billion-year-old Barney Creek Formation show an ecosystem dominated by cyanobacteria and heterotrophic bacteria. Isotope data for carotenoids suggest that the assembly of the reverse tricarboxylic acid cycle in Chlorobi occurred later.

To link aboveground fire ecology with belowground microbial trait ecology, the authors conduct laboratory experiments followed by analysis of field data from northern Canada. Fast-growing species initially dominate but decline between 1 and 5 yr post-fire, while neither fire survival nor adaptation to a post-fire environment are strong determinants of success.

The authors report genome-wide data from 34 ancient individuals spanning the Holocene, from what is now Brazil, illuminating connections and disjoints between Sambaqui shellmound societies and preceding and later peoples.

A spatially explicit mechanistic model, based on neutral theory, is used to show that changes in apparent diversity in the fossil record of the late Carboniferous and early Permian are explained by variation in sampling intensity through time.

Using a Bayesian approach with neural networks the authors model the demographic history of gorillas, finding admixture from an archaic ‘ghost’ lineage into the common ancestor of eastern gorillas, but not western gorillas.