Evolutionary ecology articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    A species’ ability to adapt to a new environment may be influenced by both intrinsic factors and extrinsic factors. Here, Scheuerl et al. show that bacterial adaptation to low pH depends on not only its genome size and initial level of adaptation, but also the diversity of the community.

    • Thomas Scheuerl
    • , Meirion Hopkins
    •  & Thomas Bell

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Microbes secrete a repertoire of extracellular proteins to serve various functions depending on the ecological context. Here the authors examine how bacterial community composition and habitat structure affect the extracellular proteins, showing that generalist species and those living in more structured environments produce more extracellular proteins, and that costs of production are lower in more diverse communities.

    • Marc Garcia-Garcera
    •  & Eduardo P. C. Rocha

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Acoustic communication is widespread, but not universal, across terrestrial vertebrates. Here, the authors show that acoustic communication evolved anciently, but independently, in most tetrapod groups and that these origins were associated with nocturnal activity.

    • Zhuo Chen
    •  & John J. Wiens

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, can change its biofilm production to influence the dynamics of flea-borne transmission. Here, the authors sequence Y. pestis isolates sampled over 40 years in China and show evidence for climate-associated selection on rpoZ to increase biofilm production.

    • Yujun Cui
    • , Boris V. Schmid
    •  & Ruifu Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Prior studies have examined fixed traits that correlate with plant invasiveness. Here the authors use a database of population matrices to compare demographic traits of invasive species in their native and invaded ranges, finding that demographic amplification is an important predictor of invasiveness.

    • Kim Jelbert
    • , Danielle Buss
    •  & Dave Hodgson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Photosynthesis generates reactive oxygen species that can damage cells. Here, the authors show that unicellular predators of photosynthetic prey have shared responses to photosynthetic oxidative stress and these may also have been important for the evolution of endosymbiosis.

    • Akihiro Uzuka
    • , Yusuke Kobayashi
    •  & Shin-ya Miyagishima

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Recent studies have suggested that hybridization can facilitate adaptive radiations. Here, the authors show that opportunity for hybridization differentiates Lake Mweru, where cichlids radiated, and Lake Bangweulu, where cichlids did not radiate despite ecological opportunity in both lakes.

    • Joana I. Meier
    • , Rike B. Stelkens
    •  & Ole Seehausen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Parental care can take many forms but how this diversity arises is not well understood. Here, the authors compile data for over 1300 amphibian species and show that different forms of care evolve at different rates, prolonged care can be easily reduced, and biparental care is evolutionarily unstable.

    • Andrew I. Furness
    •  & Isabella Capellini

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Deep learning has the potential to identify ecological relationships between environment and complex phenotypes that are difficult to quantify. Here, the authors use deep learning to analyse associations among elevation, climate and phenotype across ~2000 moth species in Taiwan.

    • Shipher Wu
    • , Chun-Min Chang
    •  & Sheng-Feng Shen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Large brains are expected to be beneficial in variable environments by enabling flexible behavioral responses. Here, the authors show that relative brain size in birds is bimodally distributed in colder, seasonal environments, suggesting that both large and small brains can be adaptive solutions to harsh conditions.

    • Trevor S. Fristoe
    •  & Carlos A. Botero

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It is unclear whether species’ responses to climate change tend to be adaptive or sufficient to keep up with climate change. Here, Radchuk et al. perform a meta-analysis showing that in birds phenology has advanced adaptively in some species, though not all the way to the new optima.

    • Viktoriia Radchuk
    • , Thomas Reed
    •  & Stephanie Kramer-Schadt

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The functions of color in fungi are not well characterized. Here, Krah and colleagues investigate the color of mushroom assemblages across Europe and show relationships with climate, nutritional mode (saprotrophic and ectomycorrhizal) and seasonality.

    • Franz-Sebastian Krah
    • , Ulf Büntgen
    •  & Claus Bässler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sensory drive theory predicts that vocal signalling coevolves with auditory sensitivity, but empirical evidence is limited. Here, Charlton et al. show that vocal characteristics and hearing have coevolved in forest mammals, due to constraints imposed by the local signalling environment.

    • Benjamin D. Charlton
    • , Megan A. Owen
    •  & Ronald R. Swaisgood

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Most passerine bird species replace part of their plumage within the first year of life. Here, using data from 4,012 individuals of 19 species, Kiat et al. find that the extent of post-juvenile moult has increased over the past 212 years and this correlated with the global temperature increase in this period.

    • Y. Kiat
    • , Y. Vortman
    •  & N. Sapir

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Developing a predictive understanding of bacterial community responses to environmental change is an ongoing challenge. Here, Isobe et al. reanalyze data on soil microbial responses to nitrogen addition across 5 continents, finding that responses are predictable based on phylogeny.

    • Kazuo Isobe
    • , Steven D. Allison
    •  & Jennifer B. H. Martiny

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    The reciprocal interaction between genetic and cultural evolution is well recognised in humans. Here, Whitehead and colleagues review the growing body of evidence that culture is also a major driver of both neutral and adaptive genetic evolution in non-human animals.

    • Hal Whitehead
    • , Kevin N. Laland
    •  & Andrew Whiten

  • Article
    | Open Access

    We know little about the relative contributions of visual and olfactory senses for wild, frugivorous mammals. Here, the authors show that in capuchin monkeys, frequency of olfactory evaluation of fruits is higher when scent production increases with ripening, and among monkeys with red-green colorblindness.

    • Amanda D. Melin
    • , Omer Nevo
    •  & Shoji Kawamura

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Animal diversity, measured in numbers of species, is rapidly being lost to extinction. Here, Cooke et al. show that the diversity of ecological strategies employed by land mammals and birds is also expected to narrow towards small, fecund, insect-eating generalists with fast-paced life histories.

    • Robert S. C. Cooke
    • , Felix Eigenbrod
    •  & Amanda E. Bates

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Kong et al. use a global trait dataset of 800 plant species to examine the root economics spectrum in relation to root diameter, tissue density and root nitrogen concentration. Nonlinear trait relationships were observed, suggesting allometry-based nonlinearity in root trait relationships.

    • Deliang Kong
    • , Junjian Wang
    •  & Yulong Feng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sexual selection has the potential to either increase or decrease absolute fitness. Here, Cally et al. perform a meta-analysis of 65 experimental evolution studies and find that sexual selection on males tends to increase fitness, especially in females evolving under stressful conditions.

    • Justin G. Cally
    • , Devi Stuart-Fox
    •  & Luke Holman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    For phenotypic plasticity to evolve to a changing world, there must be variation in plasticity. Here, the authors show that whether great tits advance or delay breeding in response to perceived predation risk depends on their personality, linking variation in plasticity with that in personality.

    • Robin N. Abbey-Lee
    •  & Niels J. Dingemanse

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Many abiotic and biotic factors shape the macroevolution of phenotype, but these factors are rarely disentangled across large radiations. Here, Miller et al. investigate plumage evolution across woodpeckers, finding influences of habitat and climate, but also convergence apparently driven by mimicry

    • Eliot T. Miller
    • , Gavin M. Leighton
    •  & Russell A. Ligon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sociality explains substantial variation in ageing across species, but less is known about this relationship within species. Here, the authors show that female dominant Seychelles warblers with helpers at the nest have higher late-life survival and lower telomere attrition and the probability of having helpers increases with age.

    • Martijn Hammers
    • , Sjouke A. Kingma
    •  & David S. Richardson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It remains unclear when and why the world’s oceans, once largely occupied by bacteria, became dominated by photosynthetic algae. Here, using fossil lipids in million year old rocks, the authors show that predation after the Snowball Earth glaciations created the opportunity for a global shift to algal ecosystems.

    • Lennart M. van Maldegem
    • , Pierre Sansjofre
    •  & Christian Hallmann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Phylogenetic turnover measures the evolutionary distance between species assemblages. Here, Saladin et al. analyze the phylogenetic turnover of European tetrapods after controlling for geographic distance and show greater roles of environment in recent evolutionary history for ectotherms than for endotherms.

    • Bianca Saladin
    • , Wilfried Thuiller
    •  & Niklaus E. Zimmermann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Herbivorous insects could diversify through radiations after major host switches or through constant variability in new host use. With phylogenetic and network analyses, Braga et al. show that variability in host use supports most butterfly diversification, while rare radiations can further boost diversity.

    • Mariana P. Braga
    • , Paulo R. Guimarães Jr
    •  & Niklas Janz

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    Facilitation is a well-known ecological interaction among free-living species, but symbionts residing in or on a host can also positively affect other symbiont species. Here, the authors review examples of facilitation among symbionts, revealing how facilitation theory can improve understanding of these interactions.

    • Flore Zélé
    • , Sara Magalhães
    •  & Alison B. Duncan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Animal physiology, including reproduction, could respond to climate change in complex ways. Here, the authors use experiments with an insect model system to show that simulated heatwaves harm male reproductive potential by reducing sperm number and viability, an effect which persisted into the next generation

    • Kris Sales
    • , Ramakrishnan Vasudeva
    •  & Matthew J. G. Gage

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The degree to which species diversity is bounded by limited niche space is under debate. Here, Larcombe and colleagues show that bounded and unbounded processes contribute more-or-less equally to conifer diversification, and that it may be niche dimensionality that facilitates these opposing forces.

    • Matthew J. Larcombe
    • , Gregory J. Jordan
    •  & Steven I. Higgins

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Auditory processing is an important component of mosquito behaviour including mating. Here the authors demonstrate substantial sex- and also species-specific variation in mosquito auditory transduction, amplification and gain control.

    • Matthew P. Su
    • , Marta Andrés
    •  & Joerg T. Albert

  • Article
    | Open Access

    More than half of solar radiation is at near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths. Here, Medina et al. show that among Australian birds NIR reflectivity is higher in species from hot, arid environments and their biophysical modelling further shows that this can reduce water loss from evaporative cooling.

    • Iliana Medina
    • , Elizabeth Newton
    •  & Devi Stuart-Fox

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Wild Asian elephants have been and continue to be captured to supplement captive populations. Here, Lahdenperä et al. use records from Myanmar timber elephants to show that wild-caught elephants have increased mortality compared to captive-born elephants for many years after capture.

    • Mirkka Lahdenperä
    • , Khyne U. Mar
    •  & Virpi Lummaa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Burkholderia bacteria protect the offspring of Lagria beetles against pathogens. Here, Flórez et al. identify an antifungal polyketide that is likely encoded by a horizontally acquired gene cluster on the genome of a dominant, uncultured Burkholderia symbiont of Lagria villosa.

    • Laura V. Flórez
    • , Kirstin Scherlach
    •  & Martin Kaltenpoth

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nearly all bird species build nests; however, there is extensive variation in both how and where their nests are built. Here, Fang and colleagues reconstruct the evolution of nest structure, nest site and nest attachment across all extant bird families.

    • Yi-Ting Fang
    • , Mao-Ning Tuanmu
    •  & Chih-Ming Hung

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A better mechanistic understanding of how marine diatoms adapt to global warming is pertinent to project changes in global ocean primary production. Here, Schaum et al. show substantial phenotypic and genomic changes in Thalassiosira pseudonana during a 300-generation selection experiment in stable and fluctuating environments.

    • C.-Elisa Schaum
    • , A. Buckling
    •  & G. Yvon-Durocher

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Pathogens exert strong selection on hosts and thus may promote parallel evolution. Here, the authors find that hosts experimentally coevolving with a virus have parallel changes in population size, phenotype, and genomic regions, but accelerated divergence in genome sequence likely due to population size fluctuation.

    • Jens Frickel
    • , Philine G. D. Feulner
    •  & Lutz Becks

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The red-shouldered soapberry bug, Jadera haematoloma, is a potential model system for developmental plasticity. Here, the authors show that the reaction norm for wing polyphenism has evolved in a recently derived ecotype and identify insulin signaling as a candidate pathway underlying this adaptive change.

    • Meghan M. Fawcett
    • , Mary C. Parks
    •  & David R. Angelini

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hunting and harvesting are generally expected to select for faster life histories in the exploited species. Here, the authors analyse data from a hunted population of brown bears in Sweden and show that regulations protecting females with dependent young lead hunting to favor prolonged maternal care.

    • Joanie Van de Walle
    • , Gabriel Pigeon
    •  & Fanie Pelletier

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Phenotypic plasticity—the ability to express multiple phenotypes from the same genome—is a widespread adaptation to environmental variability. Here, Oostra et al analyze transcriptomes of an African butterfly with distinct seasonal phenotypes, and observe lack of variation for plasticity, limiting potential for evolutionary responses to climate change.

    • Vicencio Oostra
    • , Marjo Saastamoinen
    •  & Christopher W. Wheat

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Dietary carotenoids have been proposed to have physiological benefits in addition to contributing to coloration. Here, Koch et al. compare immune and antioxidant functions in yellow, carotenoid-rich vs. white, carotenoid-deficient canaries and find no difference, suggesting a limited physiological role of carotenoids.

    • Rebecca E. Koch
    • , Andreas N. Kavazis
    •  & Geoffrey E. Hill

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Three alternatives have been proposed for the ecological state of the ancestral snake: fossorial (burrowing), aquatic, or terrestrial. Here, the authors use an integrative geometric morphometric approach that suggests evolution from terrestrial to fossorial in the most recent common ancestor of extant snakes.

    • Filipe O. Da Silva
    • , Anne-Claire Fabre
    •  & Nicolas Di-Poï

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Substantial evidence now supports the idea that the ancestral bat was a small, night flying predator capable of laryngeal echolocation. Here, the authors confirm this hypothesis using phylogenetic comparative analyses and further suggest an underlying tradeoff between echolocation and vision in both ancient and modern species and an association between sensory specialization and diet.

    • Jeneni Thiagavel
    • , Clément Cechetto
    •  & John M. Ratcliffe

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The ‘pace of life’ depends on both metabolic rate and life history traits; however, whether these evolve similarly in response to the environment is not clear. Here, Auer et al. show parallel evolution of metabolic rate and a suite of life history traits in response to predator environment in Trinidadian guppies.

    • Sonya K. Auer
    • , Cynthia A. Dick
    •  & David N. Reznick

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Climate oscillations affect weather on different temporal-spatial scales, which poses difficulty in understanding how they influence tree reproduction. Here Ascoli et al. show relationships between low- and high-frequency components of the NAO and masting in two European tree species across multiple decades.

    • Davide Ascoli
    • , Giorgio Vacchiano
    •  & Andrew Hacket-Pain

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