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A compilation of 4,476 riverine fish community time series is used to identify trends in community composition and species abundance and richness over several decades. Spatial heterogeneity in the trends is linked to the timing and strength of anthropogenic pressures, including the introduction of non-native species.
Analysing 27 years of freshwater invertebrate biomonitoring data from European rivers, the authors show that although some commonly used biodiversity metrics can reflect anthropogenic impacts at broad spatial scales, there was little consistency among other metrics in accurately reflecting community responses.
By combining theory and empirical data, the authors show that the adaptive capacity of arthropod populations to long-term climatic warming will be constrained by the temperatures at which the performance of four key life-history traits can peak.
Simulations of species range shifts for flora of the European Alps under varying climate and land-use models to 2080 provide the basis for spatial conservation planning to preserve taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional diversity.
The authors report an Initial Upper Palaeolithic archaeological assemblage from China dating to 45,000 years ago that includes blade technology, tanged and hafted projectile points, long-distance obsidian transfer and the use of a perforated graphite disc.
An analysis of three ancient Iberian lynx genomes shows that genetic admixture with the Eurasian lynx contributed to levels of modern Iberian lynx genetic diversity higher than those experienced millennia ago, despite recent population decline.
Comparing data on genetic monitoring efforts across Europe with the distributions of areas at species’ climatic niche margins, the authors show that monitoring efforts should be expanded to populations at trailing niche margins to include genetic variation that may prove important for adaptation to ongoing climate warming.
Exploring pollen records from 13 South Pacific islands, the authors find that floristic homogenization commenced following human arrival beginning around 3,000 years ago.
Analysis of a newly sequenced genome of the inshore hagfish, Eptatretus burgeri, together with genomes of lampreys and jawed vertebrates, provides insights into whole-genome duplication events and their implications for vertebrate genome evolution.
Using a large sample of herbarium records containing flowering-time data for 1,605 species of plants from the United States, the authors show that most changes in phenology in response to temperature change are attributable to phenotypic plasticity rather than local adaptation.
Analysing data on the relative abundance of basal area of ectomycorrhizal trees from lowland tropical forests, the authors show that their distribution and abundance are independent of soil quality.
A geometric morphometric analysis of the developing skulls of 44 squamate species shows that the diversity of skull shapes arises from changes in spatial arrangements followed by alterations in developmental timings, and that phenotypic integration with surrounding head tissues is greater in snakes than in lizards.
Comparative analysis of whole-genome sequencing of six zokor species that live at different altitudes show the contribution of deletions and inversions to adaptation to high altitude in these subterranean rodents.
Exposing clonal plant populations to volatile compounds produced by root-associated microorganisms, the authors show that combinations of different plant phenotypes induced by this exposure can lead to transgressive overyielding in biomass when different phenotypes are combined in diverse mixtures.
Across terrestrial and aqueous ecosystems, vertebrates increase litter decomposition, both directly and indirectly, by 6.7% on average, and this effect interacts with but generally occurs at a later stage of decomposition than the effect of invertebrates.
Decline of the Tasmanian devil due to transmissible cancer has allowed mesopredator release of the spotted-tailed quoll. Population genomic analysis of the quoll shows the effect of devil decline on population structure, and selection on genes, including those for muscle development and locomotion.
The authors apply explicit phylogenetic methods to single-cell transcriptomic data of eye cells to reconstruct the evolutionary history of cell types in distantly related mammals.
The authors collate literature on the responses of bird assemblages to forest loss and show that locations with a more variable natural environment and a longer history of agricultural land use have bird assemblages that are more tolerant to forest loss.