Articles in 2017

The bill and body size of the snail kite have significantly increased in the decade since invasion of its range by apple snails that are larger than the native prey. Greater survival of larger juveniles suggests that evolutionary change may be imminent.

Adaptive certification is the best remaining option for the trophy hunting industry in Africa to demonstrate sustainable and ethical hunting practices that benefit local communities and wildlife conservation.

Studying eco-evolutionary dynamics in nature is challenging. In this Perspective, the authors discuss how genomic data can be used to understand the mechanisms behind eco-evolutionary dynamics and lead to evolutionary and ecological predictions in nature.

Mathematical modelling suggests that nestedness and other features of mutualistic webs are spandrels resulting from the creation of diversity through speciation-divergence dynamics.

GC-biased gene conversion has many implications for evolutionary genetics, but its prevalence is unknown. Here, direct sequencing of tetrads in four species shows large differences in gene-conversion rate but no evidence of overall GC bias.

Whole-genome resequencing of 97 wolves from a highly inbred population reveals complete homozygosity of entire chromosomes in many individuals and characterizes the genomic consequences of intensive inbreeding.

Field, remote sensing and ecohydrological modelling estimates provide a framework to determine ecosystem sensitivity to climatic shifts, as well as expected patterns in the amount of precipitation that ecosystems can effectively use.

Accurate understanding of plant litter decomposition is vital to inform Earth system modelling. Here the dominant hierarchical model for plant litter decomposition is found to be wanting, and revisions are suggested.

Winter sea ice is thought to provide critical grazing habitat for overwintering Antarctic krill. In contrast, here the authors show that the pack-ice zone is a food-poor habitat, but does serve as an important sheltering ground for developing larvae.

Soliciting expert feedback from the editorial boards of seven ecology journals, the authors compile a list of the top 100 most highly recommended articles in the field of ecology.

Science, including the fields of ecology and evolution, must advocate a zero-tolerance policy towards harassment and bullying. This means promoting safe workspaces in all contexts, and letting go of the idea that fieldwork entails special circumstances.

The application of a species-extinction model allows improved determination of the timing of phenological events, and increases the breadth of data types that can be mined and compared in phenology research.

Phylogenetic analysis of behavioural data across all living mammalian orders suggests the earliest mammals were nocturnal, and other modes such as cathemerality and strict diurnality did not arise until the end of the Cretaceous and early Cenozoic.

Intragenomic conflict arises when a gene functions for its own good to the detriment of the rest of the genome. Here, the authors propose a general theory of intragenomic conflict and discuss its implications to organismal maladaptation and human disease.

Leishmania donovani is an important human pathogen. Here, the authors show that aneuploidy turnover and haplotype selection are two mechanisms by which L. donovani adapts to environmental fluctuations inside the mammalian host.

Islands are thought to be an area of high concern in terms of invasive species impact. Here a global, network-oriented analysis of invasive species on islands characterizes this threat.

A statistical-estimators technique adapted from extinction research is shown to estimate accurately the timing of the onset and cessation of flowering, using sparsely sampled data from a variety of historical and contemporary sources.

Niche modelling and aDNA reveal increasing prevalence of black horses in post-glacial forests, suggesting they became increasingly adapted to these habitats.