Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Cryptic diversity constrains biogeographical inference in microscopic animals: evidence from bdelloid rotifers in Greenland
Published: 2026-06-01
Subjects: Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology, Zoology
Species are fundamental units of biodiversity, yet their delimitation remains challenging in many organismal groups. The increasing use of DNA data has revealed widespread cryptic diversity, in which genetically distinct lineages are morphologically indistinguishable. Consequently, many morphology-based biogeographical inferences have likely overestimated species ranges, particularly in [...]
A systematic review on the effectiveness of salmonid spawning habitat improvements, and recommendations to potentially increase productivity of depressed Newfoundland Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) populations
Published: 2026-05-22
Subjects: Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Population Biology
A Protocol for Standardizing Measurements and Enabling Global Harmonization of Herbarium Leaf Reflectance Spectra
Published: 2026-05-20
Subjects: Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology, Biodiversity, Bioinformatics, Botany, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Research Methods in Life Sciences
Reflectance spectroscopy offers a powerful approach to integrate high-throughput phenotypic data from herbarium specimens into the digital landscapes of ecology, evolution, and systematics. Because inconsistencies in instrumentation and measurement practices can increase noise and limit dataset compatibility, the International Herbarium Spectral Digitization Working Group (IHerbSpec) has [...]
Parasites and forage as determinants of body condition and population size in an imperiled ungulate.
Published: 2026-05-20
Subjects: Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Parasitology, Population Biology
Rapid environmental changes are resulting in widespread changes in population size, health, and physiology of wildlife, especially at northern latitudes where the impacts of climate change are more pronounced. Barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) have declined across much of their range in recent decades, and while the ultimate causes are unknown, western science and local [...]
Expanding the sentinel approach through multimodal integration: resolving underlying ecological processes with eDNA and computer vision
Published: 2026-05-19
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Research Methods in Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Sentinel approaches provide a semi-controlled method for quantifying in-field ecological interactions and processes while reducing bias and labour. They are, however, limited by difficulties ascribing taxonomic identities, behavioural context and temporal resolution to interacting agents. The integration of additional sources of data, including the analysis of DNA left behind on sentinel objects [...]
Cold treatment benefits Mediterranean orchid seedlings cultivated in vitro
Published: 2026-05-11
Subjects: Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Plant Biology, Plant Sciences
1. Effective ex situ propagation is increasingly critical for the conservation and restoration of terrestrial orchids threatened by habitat loss, over-collection and climate change. However, large-scale propagation remains constrained by developmental bottlenecks during the transition from protocorms to established plantlets with storage organs. Cold exposure is often recommended to improve [...]
Does the substrate on which cryptogams grow matter for limno-terrestrial meiofauna?
Published: 2026-05-04
Subjects: Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Cryptogam habitats support a wide range of limno-terrestrial meiofauna, but the factors that shape their communities are still not well understood. The physical substrate that cryptogams grow on (e.g., soil, the base of a tree, or its trunk) can influence local moisture, temperature, and nutrient conditions, yet its role in structuring meiofaunal assemblages has rarely been tested systematically. [...]
The significance gap: statistical significance rates decrease from primary literature to effects used in ecological meta-analyses
Published: 2026-05-01
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Lead and slant on the geometry of coiling in gastropods
Published: 2026-05-01
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Molluscan shells have been studied with various geometric models. Here I show that lead angle, the defining slope of a conical helix, emerges as a more useful parameter in morphometric analyses and (adaptationist) interpretation of covariation in coiling parameters. The widely used apical semiangle becomes redundant and uninformative, a passive consequence of taxon-specific lead angles and [...]
Re-imagining Urban Infrastructure for Biodiversity: Can Railway and Utility Easements Enhance Ecological Connectivity in Cities?
Published: 2026-04-30
Subjects: Environmental Studies, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Urban Studies and Planning
Urban biodiversity is increasingly recognised as essential for ecological and social outcomes in cities. At the same time, urban densification is reducing the land available for biodiversity interventions, creating a need to make better use of existing spaces. This study examines the existing and potential value of railway and utility easements in contributing to habitat connectivity for a range [...]
Plastic shifts in thermal preference and thermoregulation strategy across ontogeny in an invasive fly
Published: 2026-04-21
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Behavior and Ethology, Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Zoology
Behavioural thermoregulation allows ectotherms to escape extreme or seek optimal temperatures. Its precision can impact survival and fitness under changing conditions and its plasticity can be an adaptive strategy when the plasticity of thermal limits is insufficient to buffer against warming. We explore the developmental and intergenerational plasticity of behavioural thermoregulation strategies [...]
drmr: A Bayesian approach to Dynamic Range Models in R
Published: 2026-04-14
Subjects: Biodiversity, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Predicting how species distributions will respond to environmental change is a critical challenge. Dynamic Range Models (DRMs) offer a powerful mechanistic approach by explicitly modeling the influence of environmental drivers on demographic processes. However, the widespread adoption of DRMs has been hindered by their inherent complexity and a critical gap in the available software. While many [...]
Why are embodied social signals concentrated towards the rostral region? — The rostrum concentration hypothesis
Published: 2026-04-09
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Biological Psychology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Psychology, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Although frequently embodied, the relationship of animal social communication with body layout has rarely been investigated from a unified cognitive perspective. Across animal taxa, socially relevant signals, ranging from facial expressions and gaze to colouration and morphology, are strikingly concentrated towards the anterior region of the body. Here, we propose the Rostrum Concentration [...]
Mitigating the Pollinator-Prey Conflict in Drosera capillaris: A Study on Physiological Plasticity and Phylogenetic Conservatism within Drosera
Published: 2026-04-01
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Premise: Carnivorous plants face a dilemma: acquiring nutrients from insect prey while simultaneously relying on insect pollinators for reproduction. Thus, carnivorous plants have evolved mechanisms to avoid/reduce pollinator-prey conflict. This study aims to understand how carnivorous plants deal with this conflict through: macroevolutionary adaptations (floral stalk length) or short-term [...]
Northern Sierra Historical Range of Variability and Current Landscape Departure
Published: 2026-03-30
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Forest Biology, Forest Management, Forest Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
This report describes modeling historical range of variability (HRV) and current departure for landscapes within the Northern Sierra ecoregion in California and Nevada. We discuss the need for this study with respect to the historical and contemporary context of the ecoregion, including background on the natural range of variability concept and the use of simulation modeling to quantify it. For [...]