Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Life Sciences
A protocol for biodiversity-informed wildlife disease surveillance
Published: 2025-12-13
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Immunology and Infectious Disease, Life Sciences
Land use and climate change are increasing the risk of spillover of zoonotic disease into human populations. However, we lack actionable information about the prevalence of pathogens in wildlife populations for most of the globe, challenging our ability to implement strategies to prevent zoonoses. Even when this data exists, it has historically been sampled opportunistically and without guidance [...]
A One Health Sustainability framework for nature-based wellbeing
Published: 2025-12-13
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, Mental and Social Health, Public Health
Human health benefits of nature are increasingly documented, yet the ecological conditions underpinning these benefits and the sustainability of nature-based interventions remain poorly measured. We introduce an integrated One Health Sustainability framework that links human health outcomes with ecological integrity, landscape pressures, and sustainability dimensions. This framework provides a [...]
Spatial Correlation Between Soil Phosphorus Distribution and Its Uptake in Bean Roots Using Lagrange, Hermite and IDW Interpolation Methods
Published: 2025-12-13
Subjects: Life Sciences
Phosphorus (P) is a key macronutrient required for plant growth, energy transfer, and root development, yet its mobility and bioavailability in soil are often limited due to fixation in insoluble forms. Understanding the spatial variability of soil phosphorus is therefore essential for optimizing fertilization strategies, particularly in legume crops such as common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), [...]
R for marine ecologists: wrangling Earth System Model outputs
Published: 2025-12-13
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Sciences, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology
This one-day, hands-on workshop introduces marine ecologists to the use and application of Earth System Model (ESM) outputs using R–a free, open-source programming language widely used in marine ecology. Designed for participants with basic or no prior experience in climate modeling, our workshop: 'R for marine ecologists: wrangling Earth System Model outputs' provides a comprehensive foundation [...]
Functional or Dysfunctional? A Refreshed Perspective on Functional Feeding Groups
Published: 2025-12-12
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Functional feeding groups (FFGs), introduced in the 1970s, provided a framework for understanding freshwater ecosystems by classifying macroinvertebrates according to feeding mode and diet. Since then, the FFG approach has been widely applied and has significantly advanced our knowledge of ecosystem processes and functions. However, the framework represents a simplified view of complex trophic [...]
Spores of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi inhabiting inside mossballs of Rigodium implexum
Published: 2025-12-12
Subjects: Life Sciences
The spores of four species of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Phylum: Glomeromycota): Acaulospora laevis, Acaulospora sieverdingii, Ambispora gerdemannii, and Dominikia aurea, were found inhabiting inside mosballs formed by Rigodium implexum at two forest sites in southern Chile. These species were identified through morphological keys. R. implexum mossballs are usually 10-20 cm in diameter, [...]
How pesticide exposure and effects match with the intention of European pesticide regulation – a mini review
Published: 2025-12-11
Subjects: Life Sciences
Pesticides are widely used in European agriculture, requiring robust prospective risk assessment of their environmental exposure and effects on non-target species to safeguard biodiversity. We conducted a high-level evaluation to test whether: 1) measured environmental exposure concentrations remain below those established by risk assessment and 2) these concentrations prevent population- or [...]
Behavioural repertoire and the onset of precocious sexual behaviours in juvenile ruffs (Calidris pugnax)
Published: 2025-12-11
Subjects: Animal Studies, Behavior and Ethology, Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Adult phenotypes are shaped by developmental processes during early life. This also applies to reproduction and dominance-related behaviours before maturation, called precocious sexual behaviours. However, beyond largely anecdotal reports, the onset of such behaviours is rarely studied. Here we document the development of precocious sexual behaviours in the ruff Calidris pugnax, a lekking [...]
The Origins of Human Cooperation Through Intergroup Relations in Our Closest Living Relatives
Published: 2025-12-11
Subjects: Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Cooperation is the foundation of human society, yet our understanding of its evolutionary origins and underlying mechanisms remains limited. This review draws on intergroup encounters in our closest evolutionary relatives, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus), to better understand the evolutionary pressures and processes that shaped human cooperation. In chimpanzees, [...]
PROPOSAL of A MONITORING PLAN for THE EUROPEAN EEL, ANGUILLA ANGUILLA L. 1758, IN SICILY.
Published: 2025-12-11
Subjects: Life Sciences
We outline a monitoring plan for European eel that has been proposed in 2021, as part of of the preparatory activities for the elaboration of the Regional Eel Management Plan for Sicily (project FEAMP OP 2014/2020, MEASURE 2.49, Sicilian Regional Administration), to be included in the National Management Plan (Regulation EC 1100/2007). Sampling methods and time-frames diversified for juveniles, [...]
A Satellite-based Approach to Investigating Eutrophication in Lakes Receiving Wastewater Treatment Effluent: A Case Study of Lake Windermere
Published: 2025-12-11
Subjects: Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Excessive phosphorus from the sewer systems in the UK is a major contributor to eutrophication in freshwater bodies. Chlorophyll-a levels are widely used as a reliable indicator of phosphorus driven eutrophication, and satellite remote sensing provides an effective means of monitoring these dynamics at high spatial and temporal resolution. This study evaluated the utility of Sentinel-2 imagery in [...]
Acorn availability reduces agricultural damage by ungulates
Published: 2025-12-10
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Human-wildlife conflicts, particularly the damage to agricultural crops caused by ungulates, pose significant ecological and economic challenges. Understanding the role of natural food availability in driving these conflicts is important for developing effective management strategies. We investigated how the pulsed availability of forest tree seeds, i.e., mast seeding, influences the extent of [...]
The Plant Communities of Oman’s Central Coastline: A Baseline Ecological Assessment amid Rising Threats
Published: 2025-12-10
Subjects: Biodiversity, Botany, Desert Ecology, Life Sciences, Plant Sciences
In recent decades, the botanical knowledge within the Sultanate of Oman has advanced considerably. However, the coastal vegetation is comparatively understudied with much of the country’s extensive coastline still undocumented. This is despite Oman’s coast being faced with a plethora of threats including development, overgrazing and the invasive species Neltuma juliflora. This study presents the [...]
Microbial contributions to host life history tradeoffs
Published: 2025-12-09
Subjects: Life Sciences
All organisms must allocate finite resources among growth, maintenance, and reproduction, generating trade-offs that constrain adaptation. Here, we argue that host microbiomes are dynamic resource engines capable of reallocating and generating energy and resources for their hosts. In doing so, they may recalibrate the tradeoffs fundamental to life history evolution.
Quantifying Three Decades of Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining Frontiers in the Guiana Shield (1995–2024)
Published: 2025-12-09
Subjects: Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Biodiversity, Earth Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Geography, Life Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, Remote Sensing, Sustainability, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) is a leading driver of tropical deforestation and forest degradation, yet its spatial and temporal dynamics remain largely underexplored. Here, we present a pan-regional, annual time-series analysis of ASGM expansion across rainforests of the Guiana Shield (Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana) from 1995 to 2024. Using Landsat imagery, we trained a deep [...]