Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Life Sciences
Scenario-dependent functional connectivity in a crowded seascape: habitat suitability, shipping pressure and marine infrastructure in the North Sea
Published: 2026-09-09
Subjects: Biodiversity, Bioinformatics, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology
Marine spatial planning increasingly needs seascape connectivity evidence to balance biodiversity conservation, offshore energy development and shipping. However, predicted functional connectivity depends strongly on how habitat suitability and human-use pressures are translated into resistance surfaces. This study tested how shipping and marine infrastructure alter HSM-derived connectivity [...]
A curated bioacoustics dataset of European bat vocalizations
Published: 2026-09-08
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Zoology
Acoustic surveys represent the primary method for monitoring bat populations and assessing their habitat use, yet reference recordings and associated metadata remain fragmented across repositories, recording programs, and private collections. We present ChirosetEurope, a curated dataset of European bat vocalizations (echolocation and social calls) assembled from multiple open repositories and [...]
Comparing space use behavior and aviary-based exploration measures in a species rapidly expanding its geographic range
Published: 2026-09-08
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Integrative Biology, Life Sciences
Species range expansions could be facilitated by consistent behavioral differences between individuals on the range edge relative to those in other parts of the range. Movement behaviors in particular are thought to be important for expanding and invasive species. There is evidence for a relationship between consistent individual differences in exploratory behavior and dispersal (the permanent [...]
Regional spatial synchrony in density-dependent survival of a woodland passerine
Published: 2026-09-08
Subjects: Life Sciences
1. Spatial population synchrony, the tendency of geographically separated populations to fluctuate in concert, reduces opportunities for demographic rescue and increases extinction risk, yet the demographic processes underlying it remain poorly understood. Adult survival is a key driver of population dynamics but few studies have quantified its spatial synchrony or identified the mechanisms [...]
The Principle of Natural Selection and its Laws of Reproduction and Speciation: A Formal Framework for Reproductive Architecture and Ancestry
Published: 2026-09-07
Subjects: Life Sciences
This paper presents a formal framework for reproductive architecture and ancestry across reproductive modes and speciation. Natural selection is defined as the generational propagation of heritable characteristics through varying inclusions and exclusions; characteristics that are not heritable do not propagate. A single general expression states one generational cycle: an inherited ancestry [...]
Invertebrates in the Diet of Greater Sage-grouse: A Systematic Map
Published: 2026-09-07
Subjects: Life Sciences
Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urphasianus) are considered an umbrella species for the sagebrush-steppe ecosystem. Conservation efforts have been made to protect this species as they have neared Endangered Species status. Protecting the many aspects of their habitat has been crucial to protecting the species, and understanding and protecting their food sources is a critical tool in supporting [...]
The reported decline in bird diversity tracks birdwatching effort, not birds
Published: 2026-09-07
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
A recent analysis in Science links a photovoltaic policy-stringency index to citizen-science bird records aggregated to county-months and concludes that China’s solar-expansion policy reduced Shannon diversity by 2.10% per standard deviation of stringency. Reproducing that estimate exactly from the replication package and checking its inputs against record-level data from the same platform, we [...]
Evidence and Uncertainty in the Future Pathways of Insects Under Global Change
Published: 2026-09-07
Subjects: Biodiversity, Life Sciences
Insects are essential for life on Earth, yet anthropogenic environmental changes have led to declines in insect biomass, abundance, and species richness. Projecting future insect trajectories can inform conservation and policy but is complicated by variation in life histories and traits, nonlinear population dynamics, extreme population fluctuations, and interacting natural and anthropogenic [...]
The short-term effects of wildfire on heathland flowering plant communities as a resource for insect pollinators: a case study at Killarney National Park, Ireland
Published: 2026-09-07
Subjects: Life Sciences
Fire is a globally important driver of ecosystem diversity and functioning, yet the frequency and behaviour of wildfire has become increasingly unpredictable as a result of climate change, posing risks to ecosystems, societies, and economies. Post-fire plant and animal community dynamics are often shaped by ecological, landscape, and fire characteristics, but as risk factors change, understanding [...]
Towards ‘humane’ shrimp slaughter: A review of current knowledge gaps and methodological challenges for Penaeus vannamei
Published: 2026-09-07
Subjects: Life Sciences
Penaeus vannamei has become the most widely farmed aquatic species worldwide, yet the methods used for its stunning and slaughter remain poorly documented and largely unvalidated scientifically. Growing regulatory attention to decapod sentience calls for a critical assessment of current slaughter practices and of the indicators available to evaluate them. This review is based on a systematic [...]
ENCORE: the global infrastructure for screening business risks, dependencies and impacts on nature
Published: 2026-09-05
Subjects: Biodiversity, Life Sciences
Biodiversity and ecosystem services provide the foundation on which the global economy, and by extension all businesses, depend. ENCORE (Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risks and Exposure) has established itself as a key reference for business and financial institution assessment of exposure to risk stemming from nature degradation. It has over 18,000 users, has been used in over 15 [...]
Heat-driven declines in Scots pine cone and seed quality contrast with long-term climate adjustment
Published: 2026-09-05
Subjects: Life Sciences
Climate change can alter forest regeneration through effects on seed production, seed quality, and the structures that protect seeds, yet most evidence focuses on seed output alone. We used 15 years of cone and seed-quality data from 184 Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) populations to test whether climate effects extend beyond fecundity to reproductive traits that determine viable propagule supply. [...]
Assessing habitat associations of critically endangered big-headed turtles to support grassroots river conservation
Published: 2026-09-05
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Modern wildlife conservation relies primarily on state-run protected areas and hunting regulations, whereas grassroots initiatives to protect ecosystems from various threats such as large-scale infrastructure development are underrecognized and receive limited scientific support. We studied critically endangered big-headed turtles (Platysternon megacephalum) to support a grassroots river [...]
Reproductive mode and the evolution of mutation rate
Published: 2026-09-05
Subjects: Life Sciences
The mutation rate is a fundamental force in evolution, modulating patterns of genetic variation, adaptation, and genome evolution throughout the tree of life. As such, many attempts have been made to explain its variation across species. Currently, the dominant theory of mutation rate evolution is the drift-barrier hypothesis. However, although this framework has received wide support across [...]
Earth observation and causal inference in assessing protected area effectiveness
Published: 2026-09-05
Subjects: Life Sciences, Remote Sensing, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Area-based conservation is a fundamental component of global conservation strategies, yet robust causal evidence on the long-term effectiveness of protected areas is still emerging. Alongside traditional field data collection methods, Earth observation offers cost-effective means of generating high-resolution, spatially extensive information, and its broader integration into conservation science [...]