Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Life Sciences
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 [...]
Foraging group size affects repeatable individual variation and strategic social plasticity
Published: 2026-09-22
Subjects: Animal Studies, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Although game theory successfully predicts how negative frequency dependence can maintain behavioural variation through stable equilibria, it does not predict whether this variation reflects repeatable differences among individuals or variation within individuals. Because social group size influences how individuals respond to social information, it may shape how individual variation is [...]
Growing disequilibria in species distributions and assemblage diversity until the end of the 21st‑century
Published: 2026-09-22
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Biodiversity forecasts almost universally assume that species are in equilibrium with contemporary environmental conditions. The consequences of this assumption are rarely tested, yet it may systematically bias inference and prediction whenever past natural or anthropogenic disturbances leave legacy effects keeping biodiversity in disequilibrium. Here we test how accounting for such legacy [...]
Quantification of total fish eDNA concentration to optimize the detection of rare species and sampling effort
Published: 2026-09-22
Subjects: Life Sciences
eDNA metabarcoding is now a widely used method for monitoring aquatic biodiversity, but detecting rare species from extra-organism eDNA samples remains a challenge. Yet, rare species, whether threatened or newly colonizing organisms, are the primary targets of biological conservation measures. Replication and sample volume, as well as PCR replication, are among the main parameters studied to [...]
Stomatal responses of herbaceous plants to climate change since the 1800s: A case study using herbarium specimens
Published: 2026-09-21
Subjects: Biodiversity, Botany, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Plant Sciences
Background and Aims: As climate change accelerates, plants are expected to respond in myriad ways, such as shifting phenology or altering the density or size of stomata. Nonetheless, most studies to date have focused on just a single facet at a time. Methods: Here, we used herbarium specimens to examine stomatal responses to climate change in two perennial herbaceous species that have not [...]
Migration of the Aquatic Warbler Acrocephalus paludicola through Morocco: historical records and new evidence from Atlantic coastal wetlands
Published: 2026-09-21
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
The Aquatic Warbler Acrocephalus paludicola is a globally threatened long-distance migrant whose occurrence in Morocco remains poorly documented, particularly during post-breeding migration. Historical records document both pre- and post-breeding migration through Morocco, although only nine post-breeding records were reported before 2000, with subsequent targeted surveys resulting in the capture [...]
mycoBaseCL: un catálogo actualizado de los hongos de Chile
Published: 2026-09-21
Subjects: Biodiversity, Life Sciences, Other Life Sciences
El Reino Fungi constituye un grupo taxonómico megadiverso cuyas múltiples funciones ecosistémicas tienen repercusiones directas sobre el bienestar y desarrollo humano. Las bases de datos de biodiversidad resuelven la fragmentación de la información, existiendo en el contexto local compendios históricos sobre hongos de Chile desarrollados previamente. En los compendios de datos referidos se [...]
Evolution of frugivory across a large radiation of non-seed-dispersing animals
Published: 2026-09-16
Subjects: Life Sciences
The origin of Angiosperm fleshy fruits, a novel nutritious resource, has led to the evolution of frugivory in a wide range of animals. While the (co)evolutionary dynamics between fruits and seed dispersers has received much attention, the evolution of frugivory in non-seed-dispersing animals remains overlooked. Here, we elucidate the macroevolution of frugivory in a large radiation of an insect, [...]
Trait-based functional indices reveal contrasting carbon-storage and biodiversity-support potential across urban tree species and parks in Bogotá
Published: 2026-09-16
Subjects: Life Sciences
Urban expansion increasingly challenges the capacity of cities to maintain ecological functions, while urban trees are expected to contribute to climate regulation and biodiversity conservation. However, urban forest management often lacks functionally explicit information linking species characteristics to their ecological potential and spatial variation across urban green spaces. Here, we [...]
Does tolerance to fast warming predict tolerance to slow warming in fishes?
Published: 2026-09-16
Subjects: Life Sciences
1. Critical thermal maximum (CTmax) is widely used to quantify upper thermal limits in fishes, but its ecological relevance has been questioned because standard protocols use fast warming rates (0.3°C min-¹; 18°C h-¹) that rarely occur in nature, where thermal stress more typically unfolds over hours to days. Whether CTmax under fast warming predicts warming tolerance to slower, ecologically [...]
Temperature drives transcriptomic shifts in amphibian skin bacterial communities with consequences for fungal pathogen control
Published: 2026-09-16
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology Life Sciences, Genomics, Life Sciences
The chytrid fungi Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) and Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) are two of the largest threats to amphibian populations worldwide. While the amphibian skin microbiome can inhibit these fungal pathogens, microbial composition varies substantially across host and environmental contexts. In addition, habitat-wide mitigation methods that capitalize on the thermal [...]
Traditional Ecological Relationship Family sharing an abundant home within nature requires recurring mutual adaptation rather than the extraction of knowledge by passing visitors
Published: 2026-09-15
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
1. Relationship, not knowledge, is the unit for understanding people within nature; family is the fundamental form holding what is of value about life in a place — the residue and repository of a relationship kept across generations from the inside. Ecological science accumulates a wealth of knowledge from the outside; a family in relationship with nature is concerned with surviving, sustaining [...]
Identification of the Cichlid Fishes of Lake Malawi/Nyasa Part 2: Pseudotropheina (the ‘mbuna’ sub-radiation).
Published: 2026-09-15
Subjects: Life Sciences
With an estimated 900-1000 species, the cichlid fishes of Lake Malawi represent the largest known adaptive radiation of vertebrates from a single common ancestor in a limited geographical area, in this case a single lake. They provide an outstanding opportunity to study the rapid diversification of form and function on a limited genetic background and to attempt understand why lineages vary so [...]
Bridging the science-business gap: from biodiversity measurement to action
Published: 2026-09-15
Subjects: Business, Life Sciences
Biodiversity is the living fabric of our planet, and its loss poses growing risks to human well-being, ecological resilience, and business profitability. Yet businesses often lack the information and incentives to align decisions with nature stewardship. We argue that several conditions are essential to sustain biodiversity and a habitable planet. First, monitoring multiple components of [...]