Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Life Sciences
Disentangling the drivers of parasite occurrence in a native and a non-native small mammal across a land-use gradient
Published: 2026-09-25
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Parasitology
Land-use change can reorganize host--parasite systems by altering environmental conditions, host communities, and transmission pathways. Yet parasite occurrence remains difficult to predict as it is shaped simultaneously by the environment, host identity, individual host attributes, the within-host microbiome, and parasite biology. We integrated these components within a single framework for two [...]
Regional range restriction, not national endemism, predicts plant extinction risk: operationalising Conservation Imperatives for under-assessed tropical floras
Published: 2026-09-25
Subjects: Life Sciences
Abstract Aim: Tropical African flora is potentially threatened, yet species-level conservation priority-setting is rare in under-assessed floras. We tested whether range restriction drives extinction risk and operationalised the Conservation Imperatives at species level. Location: Rwanda, Albertine Rift biodiversity hotspot, eastern Africa. Methods: We applied this workflow to 367 IUCN-assessed [...]
We Have Never Been Hosts: Microbial Niche Weaving and the Evolution of Multicellular Life
Published: 2026-09-24
Subjects: Life Sciences
Microorganisms are commonly understood as associates of multicellular hosts: organisms that first exist as biological individuals and are subsequently colonized by microbial communities. Here, we challenge this temporal and ontological ordering by distinguishing microbial presence from microbial influence. Microbial activity can shape biological processes without persistent physical association, [...]
Evolutionary potential of natal dispersal in multiple blue tit populations while accounting for spatial autocorrelation among relatives
Published: 2026-09-24
Subjects: Life Sciences
Natal dispersal is a key driver of ecological and evolutionary dynamics in populations. However, our understanding of genetic mechanisms underlying inter-individual variation in dispersal behaviour is still incomplete, despite their crucial role in the evolutionary potential and persistence of wild populations. Here, we investigate the genetic basis of natal dispersal distance in four blue tit [...]
Global Evidence for Biotic Differentiation Amid Contrasting Freshwater β-Diversity Responses to Human Impacts
Published: 2026-09-24
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Human pressures are reshaping freshwater biodiversity worldwide, yet the generality of biotic homogenization and the contexts in which differentiation instead emerges remain unresolved. These contrasting responses reflect decreases or increases in spatial β-diversity, respectively, as local assemblages within a region become more similar or more distinct in community composition. We conducted a [...]
The marine annelid trait manifesto: A call to rethink functional traits for ecological and conservation research
Published: 2026-09-24
Subjects: Animal Experimentation and Research, Animal Sciences, Aquaculture and Fisheries Life Sciences, Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology, Zoology
The Raunkiæran shortfall, defined as the scarcity of knowledge regarding species' attributes, represents one of the major obstacles to developing sound biodiversity conservation strategies and understanding ecological processes. In this context, despite the importance of marine annelids as dominant components of benthic ecosystems and key agents of marine ecosystem functioning, no comprehensive [...]
INSTAR: reporting items for invertebrate welfare in research
Published: 2026-09-24
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Life Sciences
Concern for the welfare of research animals has expanded rapidly across taxa, with increasing focus on invertebrates. Recent evidence for affective experience in cephalopod, decapod and insect taxa, alongside shifts in public attitudes and regulation, has raised the stakes of how invertebrates are used and reported, yet no reporting standard adequately addresses them. Here we present INSTAR [...]
Which modelling choices have been tested where marine survey data are sparse? An evidence map of 95 studies and a graded practitioner guide
Published: 2026-09-23
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Aim: Species distribution models increasingly underpin marine conservation decisions, but most evidence on model performance comes from data rich settings unlike the sparse, clustered and irregularly sampled records typical of marine systems. We synthesise published evidence to establish which modelling choices govern predictive reliability when data are limited and translate the result into [...]
Caenorhabditis elegans and Serratia marcescens host-parasite coevolution model strains derived through mutagenesis and experimental evolution
Published: 2026-09-23
Subjects: Life Sciences
Here we present a detailed description of the derivation of a collection of Caenorhabditis elegans and Serratia marcescens strains and populations that have been mutagenized and passaged in a series of experimental evolution projects over the past two decades. These experimental strains and populations provide a powerful resource for the study of host-parasite coevolution and have so far been [...]
A Geospatial informed Conservation Strategy for Sustainable Management of Dalbergia sissoo (Roxb.) Population in India amidst Climate Change and Pathogen Induced Mortality Stress
Published: 2026-09-23
Subjects: Life Sciences
The natural population of Dalbergia sissoo, is declining due to biotic and abiotic stressors. Existing studies focus on pathogen-induced mortality in D. sissoo, but the impact of climate on habitat loss and population decline is limited. This study fills this gap by integrating climate change impacts and pathogen outbreaks to assess their combined influence on the distribution and survival [...]
Global assemblage stability is driven by asynchrony shaped by environmental heterogeneity
Published: 2026-09-22
Subjects: Life Sciences
Evidence suggests the diversity-stability relationship relies on asynchrony among populations. Yet our limited understanding of how the mechanisms underlying stability and asynchrony manifest across ecological scales prevents reliable forecasts of ecological stability amid ongoing biodiversity change. Here, linking stability, asynchrony and species richness across plant, bird, mammal, amphibian, [...]
Mining online behavioural data to measure zoonotic spillover risk
Published: 2026-09-22
Subjects: Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Efforts to predict zoonotic disease dynamics rarely directly quantify the fine-scale animal-human interactions that drive spillover. Public digital data (i.e., iEcology) could capture these behaviours at large scales, across time and space. Further, recent statistical advances allow us to semi-automate these processes, providing a framework for continuous exposure monitoring and risk prediction. [...]
Subsistence fisheries in Small Island Developing States: the case study of the goby-fry fishery in Guinea Gulf
Published: 2026-09-22
Subjects: Aquaculture and Fisheries Life Sciences, Community-based Research, Life Sciences, Marine Biology
1. Artisanal and subsistence fisheries are crucial for the livelihood and food security of local communities of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), yet they remain largely excluded from formal catch statistics and management frameworks. Using Ostrom’s Social-Ecological Systems (SES) diagnostic framework, this study characterizes the previously unreported goby-fry (“peixinho”) fishery across 14 [...]
When and how to integrate probability and nonprobability samples to monitor biodiversity
Published: 2026-09-22
Subjects: Life Sciences
1. Species occurrence and abundance data are generated by probability or nonprobability sampling. Under probability sampling, sites are selected according to a known design (e.g. stratified random sampling). Under nonprobability sampling—for example, the collection of data by citizen scientists at sites of their own choosing—they are not. Whereas probability samples tend to be relatively small [...]
AphidTraits: an open dataset of temperature-dependent trait responses in aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae)
Published: 2026-09-22
Subjects: Life Sciences
Aphids are among the most destructive and economically impactful group of agricultural pests. Their successful management hinges on integrative and sustainable control practices. Given the global scope of aphid impacts, mathematical models are invaluable for developing informed control strategies, particularly in the context of changing climate. Such models typically require detailed empirical [...]