Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Life Sciences
Exploring the Integration of Traditional Ecological Knowledge with Artificial Intelligence to Mitigate Human-Wildlife Conflict in Kerala, India
Published: 2025-08-01
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Behavior and Ethology, Biodiversity, Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology, Zoology
Increasing human-wildlife conflict (HWC) in forest-fringe landscapes necessitates innovative and culturally acceptable mitigation strategies. This note proposes integrating Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to mitigate HWC in Kerala. The proposition aims to translate African rural traditional knowledge of using alarm calls of Guinea fowls (Numida meleagris) [...]
From reintroduction to extinction risk: past, present and future of the newly established population of Ospreys in southern Iberia
Published: 2025-07-31
Subjects: Life Sciences
Biodiversity is declining due to the ongoing environmental global change, and raptors are among the most threatened animal groups. To counteract their decline, birds of prey have frequently been the focus of reintroduction programs worldwide. However, newly established populations must be continuously monitored to assess both short- and long-term success. In this work, we investigate the case of [...]
Abundant empirical evidence of multilevel selection revealed by a bibliometric review
Published: 2025-07-31
Subjects: Life Sciences
Natural selection is based on the concept of differential reproduction between entities, often characterized as a struggle between individual organisms. However, natural selection can act at all levels of biological organization, thus being termed “multilevel selection” (MLS). A common misconception is that selection across levels of biological organization lacks empirical support. To address [...]
IUCN Red List of Ecosystems. Mangroves of the Sahelian
Published: 2025-07-31
Subjects: Life Sciences
Mangroves of the Sahelian is a regional ecosystem subgroup (level 4 unit of the IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology). It includes the marine ecoregions of Gulf of Guinea West and the Sahelian Upwelling. The Sahelian mangrove province had a mapped extent of 1883.0 km2 in 2020, representing 1.3% of the global mangrove area. The biota is characterised by 6 species of true mangroves and many [...]
Density dependence revisited: strong evidence for superlinear population growth
Published: 2025-07-30
Subjects: Life Sciences
Density dependence is a core principle in ecological and evolutionary theory, and yet the precise nature of the relationship between per capita growth and population size continues to ignite debate. While sublinear (convex/decelerating) density dependence is frequently observed in empirical studies, standard techniques for estimating density dependence are prone to unreliable inference. At the [...]
Screwworm re-emergence, illegal cattle movements, and emerging risks to wildlife and protected areas in Mesoamerica
Published: 2025-07-30
Subjects: Agriculture, Animal Diseases, Animal Sciences, Biodiversity, Entomology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Parasitic Diseases, Parasitology, Public Health, Veterinary Preventive Medicine, Epidemiology, and Public Health
New World Screwworm (Cochliomyia hominivorax), eradicated from North and Central America through decades of Sterile Insect Technique programs, has re-emerged across Mesoamerica with alarming speed. Following a surge in Panama in 2023, the parasite spread northward through Central America, reaching Mexico by late 2024. Nearly 100,000 domestic animal cases and hundreds of human cases have since [...]
IUCN Red List of Ecosystems, Mangroves of the Gulf of Guinea - North
Published: 2025-07-30
Subjects: Life Sciences
Mangroves of the Gulf of Guinea - North is a regional ecosystem subgroup (level 4 unit of the IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology). It includes the marine ecoregions of Gulf of Guinea Central, Gulf of Guinea Upwelling, Gulf of Guinea West. The Gulf of Guinea - North mangrove province mapped extent in 2020 was 6961.2 km2 across, representing 4.7% of the global mangrove area. The biota is characterized [...]
A new model to quantify the probability of collision between birds and aircraft: applications for onboard lighting
Published: 2025-07-29
Subjects: Life Sciences
Globally, bird and aircraft collisions are a major safety hazard and monetary expense for the aviation industry. Empirical evidence suggests that the behavioral response of the animal just prior to a collision is a critical factor in determining whether a collision occurs. However, no theoretical framework exists to predict the probability of a collision based on the escape response of the animal [...]
Evolutionary Origins of the Blood Vascular System in Metazoans – A Microbial Perspective
Published: 2025-07-28
Subjects: Life Sciences
This opinion piece posits two intertwined major evolutionary transformations – the advent of the circulatory system in animals and the subsequent emergence of sterile organismal compartments it enabled – as promoted by microbial communities. These transformations should be considered significant in that they shaped the ability of downstream multicellular organisms to diverge and attain new [...]
Trade-offs between nature and people reveal challenges in translating global conservation targets into national realities
Published: 2025-07-28
Subjects: Biodiversity, Life Sciences, Nutrition
Achieving global biodiversity targets depends on the ability of individual countries to translate targets into reality on the ground. In 2022, 196 parties committed to conserving 30% of the planet by 2030, yet questions remain over whether existing protected areas are effective at conserving biodiversity, and furthermore whether conservation successes impact the wellbeing of local communities. We [...]
Rediscovery and Habitat Assessment of the Endemic Philippine Medaka (Oryzias luzonensis) in Northern Luzon
Published: 2025-07-28
Subjects: Biodiversity, Life Sciences
The endemic Philippine medaka Oryzias luzonensis, confined to the Laoag (Padsan) watershed in Ilocos Norte, Northern Luzon, had not been recorded in the wild for over 40 years, prompting its classification as Endangered by the IUCN in 2021. Field surveys conducted from January to May 2024 across six sites using traditional push nets successfully rediscovered the species in three Solsona [...]
Threatened Alpine and Subalpine Ecosystems of Australia: An IUCN Red List of Ecosystems Assessment Version 0.5
Published: 2025-07-28
Subjects: Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Flawed analysis invalidates claim of a strong Yellowstone trophic cascade after wolf reintroduction: A comment on Ripple et al. (2025)
Published: 2025-07-27
Subjects: Life Sciences
Ripple et al. (2025) recently argued that large carnivore recovery in Yellowstone National Park triggered one of the world’s strongest trophic cascades, citing a ~1500% increase in willow crown volume derived from plant height data. In this comment, we show that their conclusion is invalid due to fundamental methodological flaws. These include use of a tautological volume model, violations of key [...]
The Marsupial Database: A comprehensive dataset on the ecology and life history of American and Australasian marsupials
Published: 2025-07-24
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Marsupials are an important but typically neglected group of mammals that have been overlooked in many comparative analyses of vertebrate ecology and life-history evolution. In order to address this knowledge bias, we have developed The Marsupial Database. The Marsupial Database contains traits for a phylogenetically diverse set of 414 extant and recently extinct (last 200 years) species from all [...]
Physical and Migration Metrics of White Storks (Ciconia ciconia) and the influence that landfills play in their variation
Published: 2025-07-24
Subjects: Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Ornithology, Zoology
1. White storks (Ciconia Ciconia) are a traditionally fully migratory species and their numbers in western Europe were decimated in the last century. Their numbers have since boomed and they have altered their migratory strategy to have become a partially migratory species. This change has been ascribed in large part to anthropogenic food subsidies, particularly in the form of landfill sites. 2. [...]