Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Predicting the current and future potential distributions and biotic interactions between an herbivorous insect and its host plants in southern Africa
Published: 2026-11-14
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Climate change will have profound impacts on species distributions and persistence in the near future, however, biotic interactions may mitigate climate effects among interacting species. In this study, we fitted species distribution models (SDMs) to predict the current and future habitat suitability of Gonimbrasia belina, a culturally and economically significant insect in southern Africa, and [...]
A Global, Multi-Factor Geospatial Framework for Predicting Species Encounter Probability in Recreational Hunting and Foraging
Published: 2026-11-14
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Traditional species distribution models (SDMs) are often computationally heavy and inaccessible to recreational users such as hunters and foragers. This paper presents a novel, precomputed geospatial framework (WildTracks) designed to calculate real-time species encounter probability. The system utilizes a 150 GB PostgreSQL/PostGIS database containing vectorized species ranges, ecoregions, Köppen [...]
Effects of interannual weather on understory plant traits in old-growth beech forests
Published: 2026-11-13
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Forest Biology, Forest Sciences, Life Sciences, Plant Sciences
We aimed to estimate the effects of annual mean temperature and precipitation on understory plant traits and trait diversity in old-growth beech forests. We combined sub-canopy and open-field measurements from local weather stations with data on aboveground and belowground traits. Relationships and potential confounding effects within the system were analysed using a causal model. The resulting [...]
Muscle Cs-137 in Fukushima wildlife from rescue and wildlife-control programmes
Published: 2026-11-13
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
We analysed opportunistic muscle Cs-137 records of wild mammals and birds from rescue and wildlife-control programmes in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, in 2017–2025. Bayesian hierarchical models, with species random intercepts and left-censored non-detects, related concentrations to a fixed baseline contamination index, the 2012 air dose rate at capture locations. In 182 records of 38 species, a [...]
Recording session leakage inflates accuracy in marine mammal call classification
Published: 2026-11-13
Subjects: Computational Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology, Zoology
Splitting clips at random overstated the accuracy of a marine mammal call classifier by up to 23 percentage points, because clips from the same recording tape landed in both training and test data. I classified 4,761 recordings of nine Arctic and subarctic marine mammal species from the Watkins Marine Mammal Sound Database, recorded on 148 tapes between 1949 and 1997, at two levels: species and [...]
Substrate use and climate structure chemical signal composition across Australia's most diverse gecko radiation
Published: 2026-11-13
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Sensory drive theory predicts that communication signals coevolve with sensory systems and the local transmission environment, generating divergence in signals across environmental gradients. Understanding how signalling traits evolve in response to environmental conditions is central to explaining patterns of phenotypic divergence and ecological specialisation, given their role in social [...]
Widespread human alteration of natural barriers threatens Pacific salmon biodiversity
Published: 2026-11-13
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Anthropogenic barriers such as dams are a pervasive threat to freshwater diversity, yet human-mediated increases in aquatic connectivity can also have unintended consequences. Natural, flow-dependent barriers such as waterfalls structure the upstream limits of Pacific salmon and steelhead by completely or partially obstructing passage. Across the Pacific Northwest, natural barriers were modified [...]
Sex reversal in vertebrates: drivers and consequences in a changing world
Published: 2026-11-12
Subjects: Developmental Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Zoology
Abstract: Sex reversal describes the process of external factors or genetic mutations overriding normal sex determination during sexual development. This phenomenon is widespread among vertebrates and occurs under a number of different developmental circumstances. Environmental factors such as temperature and stress, mutations in key sex determination genes, and exposure to exogenous hormones or [...]
Who’s gonna feed the kids? Provisioning alternation in dunnock pairs and trios is largely explained by each parent’s own visiting pattern
Published: 2026-11-12
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Theory suggests that parents sharing the care of a brood can reduce the costs of sexual conflict by conditional cooperation: each parent is more likely to return to the nest after its partner has fed the young than after its own visit, so that visits tend to alternate. Alternation, however, also arises without any response between parents, because it depends on how often and how regularly each [...]
The cost of a promise – the species conservation expenditure needed to meet Australia’s zero extinction target in the marine environment
Published: 2026-11-12
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Natural Resources and Conservation, Natural Resources Management and Policy
The Global Biodiversity Framework has the goal of halting the human-induced extinction of species. An immense number of species are threatened with extinction, the task confronting nations is great, and the cost highly uncertain. We collated cost data for marine species recovery programs in the United States where there have been some successful threatened species recoveries. Based on the [...]
Methodological Issues in Resolving Deer, Wolf, and People Avoidance from Camera Records: from One Home Ground to County and then a Statewide Volunteer Network
Published: 2026-11-12
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Camera records are increasingly used to measure how wildlife respond to people and to predators, but the measures are sensitive to choices that are rarely stated: these include what counts as one event, what the delay is divided by, to which species a return-time measure can justifiably be applied, and against what null a directional test is compared. This paper reports those choices as informed [...]
Ericoid mycorrhizal fungi recover from nitrogen additions in a dry heathland experiment in southern England
Published: 2026-11-12
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology Life Sciences, Life Sciences, Microbiology
1. Ericoid mycorrhizal fungi are fundamental for heathlands’ establishment and functioning and contribute to the essential ecosystem services these endangered habitats provide, yet they are overlooked by environmental monitoring policies. As nitrogen pollution declines across Europe, policymakers need measurable indicators of habitat recovery encompassing above- and below-ground parts of the [...]
Integrating the concept of acoustic diversity into the functional ecology framework
Published: 2026-11-11
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
The ecological relevance of sounds in ecosystems has gained increasing attention in the recent decade. While ecoacoustics seeks to study these roles, a majority of studies to date have focused on using Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) for species monitoring or calculating integrative ecoacoustic indices as rapid proxies for biological diversity. This paper proposes an ecological perspective on [...]
Which camera-trap images to review? Estimating occupancy from a small part of a survey
Published: 2026-11-11
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Context. Camera-trap surveys produce more images than people can review. Computer-vision classifiers such as SpeciesNet label animals but miss some species, so people still review images. Aims. To find how many and which images should be reviewed to reliably estimate species occupancy, and how a project can tell when it has reviewed enough. Methods. On four fully labeled camera-trap surveys (in [...]
Spatial scale and site fidelity shape the correlation between blood and feather mercury in a riverine bird
Published: 2026-11-11
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Blood and feathers are the non-lethal matrices most used to monitor mercury (Hg) in birds. Blood reflects recent intake at the sampling site, whereas feathers record exposure during moult, possibly elsewhere. Their correspondence should therefore vary with spatial scale and with site-fidelity. We tested this using 229 paired red blood cell and feather samples from 199 adult white-throated [...]