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Our annual report of the journal’s statistics shows little overall change on gender and geographical diversity, and highlights areas where our editors want to redouble efforts — with help from you.
Evidence overwhelmingly shows structural barriers to women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields, and suggests that the onus cannot be on women alone to confront the gender bias in our community. Here, I share my experience as a scientist and a woman who has collected data during more than ten years of scientific training about how best to navigate the academic maze of biases and barriers.
Biodiversity underpins the function of ecosystems. Here we discuss how biodiversity–ecosystem function theory could apply to our bodies and buildings, outline practical applications and call for further research.
The presence of Neanderthal DNA fragments in the genomes of modern humans from Europe and East Asia indicates multiple episodes of interbreeding between Neanderthals and the ancestors of both populations.
Economic analysis of a large-scale restoration project in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest finds that spatial prioritization efforts could provide an eightfold increase in conservation cost-effectiveness.
Signing of peace agreements in Colombia has brought armed conflict to an end, but has also led to encroachment, development and deforestation of previously disputed forested areas, as revealed by remote sensing data.
Microscopic and spectroscopic analyses and imaging of integumentary structures in two anurognathid pterosaurs reveal that their integuments were more like feathers (as seen in maniraptoran dinosaurs) than fur, as was previously supposed.
Radiocarbon dates, stable isotope data and DNA sequencing indicate an Elasmotheriinae/Rhinocerotinae split by the Eocene period, and the extinction of Elasmotherium sibiricum no later than 39,000 years ago, to which its specialized diet was probably a contributing factor.
Studying the asymmetry in the pattern of Neanderthal introgression in modern human genomes between individuals of East Asian and European ancestry, the authors show recurrent gene flow from Neanderthals into modern humans.
Analysing a global database of >40,000 tundra plant phenological observations monitored for up to 20 years, the authors show that community-level flowering has been contracting in response to recent warming, in contrast to findings from lower latitudes.
A compilation of distribution, phylogenetic, trait and risk data for more than 10,000 species of terrestrial vertebrates finds that conservation plans that target species diversity are typically also representative of phylogenetic and functional diversity.
A restoration prioritization approach applied to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest biodiversity hotspot considers 362 scenarios for synergies and trade-offs between ecological and economic costs, benefits and scales.
Females are often dominant in spotted hyaena societies. Here, the authors show that this dominance emerges from male-biased dispersal and its effect on social bonds, which can result in increased social support for females.
European whitefish evolved a greater range in the number of gill rakers to utilize a broader ecological niche following the restoration of Lake Constance after anthropogenic eutrophication.
The genomes of two long-lived giant tortoises, including Lonesome George, reveal candidate genes and pathways associated with their development, gigantism and longevity.
The cnidarian moon jellyfish Aurelia has a medusa life stage with a complex neural system. By comparing the Aurelia genome and transcriptomes from different life stages with those of other cnidarians, the authors show that life cycle complexity is not associated with increased number of genes.
Genome sequencing of the fall webworm, a destructive pest in Europe and Asia, suggests changes in carbohydrate metabolism, gustatory receptors and silk-yielding associated with its rapid spread.
Changes in the fur microbiome of Egyptian fruit bats are synchronized through time at the level of whole colonies, together with fur volatile compounds. This contrasts with their gut microbiome profiles, which change at the level of the individual.
Slower-growing yeast clones at the colony edge have their fitness disadvantage masked by the collective motion of neighbouring cells, reducing the rate at which costly mutations are selected against.