Preprints
There are 3331 Preprints listed.
The crabeater seal reference genome reveals hallmarks of persistently large effective population size and sustained population expansion in the World’s most abundant pinniped
Published: 2026-06-11
Subjects: Life Sciences
Population genetic theory predicts that a species’ demographic history shapes patterns of genome-wide variation. However, conservation genomic studies have disproportionately focused on small or declining species, where low genetic diversity and inbreeding are major concerns, while highly abundant species have attracted comparatively less attention. Here, we investigate the crabeater seal [...]
Nest architecture as overlooked material culture: the case for systematic study of construction behaviour across nest-building primates
Published: 2026-06-10
Subjects: Animal Studies, Anthropology, Biological Psychology, Biology, Comparative Psychology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Frans de Waal's work highlighted an uncomfortable question: not whether animals have complex cognitive lives, but why we are so reluctant to recognise them. Nest building in great apes is perhaps the most striking example of this problem. Every great ape builds a nest, every day, for the entirety of its adult life. The behaviour has been documented ecologically for decades. Yet the internal [...]
From Detections to Demography: Methodological Challenges and Opportunities in Survival Estimation from Automated Telemetry Networks
Published: 2026-06-10
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Survival is a fundamental demographic process influencing individual fitness and population dynamics. Automated telemetry systems offer unprecedented opportunities to estimate survival of highly mobile organisms across broad spatial and temporal scales. However, the structure of these tracking networks creates systematic biases that render standard survival models inadequate. Receiver stations [...]
Emergent competition resolves the paradox of stable microbial mutualisms
Published: 2026-06-10
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
What is the role of cooperation in determining ecosystem structure? This question is central to ecology, yet remains controversial; cooperative mechanisms such as plant-insect pollination and microbe-microbe cross-feeding are widespread, but ecological theory suggests that cooperative communities should be unstable. Here, we resolve this apparent contradiction by deriving a precise and general [...]
Predator Experience Shapes Behaviour: Comparing Stone Wētā (Hemideina maori) Populations With and Without Weka (Gallirallus australis hectori)
Published: 2026-06-10
Subjects: Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Life Sciences
Antipredator behaviour reflects both evolutionary history and individual experience, yet how populations respond to changes in predator exposure remains poorly understood, particularly for large invertebrates. We examined antipredator behaviour in two populations of stone wētā (Hemideina maori Pictet & Saussure, 1891) inhabiting weka-free Mou Tapu and nearby Mou Waho, where weka (Gallirallus [...]
Mapping Mechanistic Modeling of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Across Migratory Flyways: A Systematic Review
Published: 2026-06-09
Subjects: Applied Mathematics, Diseases, Epidemiology, Life Sciences, Population Biology, Virus Diseases
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses, particularly H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b, continue to spread globally via wild migratory birds along defined flyway corridors. Mechanistic models are essential tools for understanding HPAI transmission dynamics in flyway systems. Yet the geographic distribution of such modeling efforts across migratory flyways remains unknown. To inform the global [...]
Mapping microclimate temperatures in open ecosystems using UAVs: a comparison between thermal, correlative, and mechanistic approaches
Published: 2026-06-09
Subjects: Bioinformatics, Climate, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Monitoring
Open terrestrial ecosystems exhibit pronounced fine scale thermal heterogeneity, yet spatially continuous microclimate data at biologically relevant heights and scales remain scarce. Here, we evaluate three unoccupied aerial vehicle (UAV) informed approaches for mapping microclimate temperatures, including land surface temperature (LST) and near surface air temperature (T13cm), in an open [...]
MSCquartets 3.3: Fast Inference of Species Networks and Trees of Blobs under the Multispecies Coalescent
Published: 2026-06-09
Subjects: Bioinformatics
The R package MSCquartets offers a suite of methods for testing and inferring species relationships from gene trees under coalescent models. MSCquartets 3.3 significantly extends the functionality of version 1.0 by implementing the TINNiK and ECToBlob algorithms for inference of the tree of blobs under the network multispecies coalescent model (NMSC). Additionally, it implements the NANUQ+ [...]
Soma as transmission control in multicellular evolution: a population-genetic framework for germline restriction and cellular altruism
Published: 2026-06-09
Subjects: Genetics, Integrative Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
A central question in the evolution of multicellularity is why lineages repeatedly transition from germ-dominated unicellular states to organizations with extensive somatic investment. If somatic cells are largely excluded from future generations, why are they produced at all, and why do soma-free multicellular alternatives appear limited in stability, persistence, or attainable complexity? Here, [...]
Intertidal Exposure Modulates Time-Integrated Heat Tolerance of the Eastern Oyster Crassostrea virginica
Published: 2026-06-08
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Integrative Biology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
The rise of unprecedented heatwaves globally has caused an increase in mass mortality events, motivating the need for accurate predictions of population declines. Predicting organismal function under fluctuating thermal regimes is a central challenge in thermal biology, particularly in intertidal systems where organisms experience rapid shifts between submerged and aerial exposure. Here, we [...]
An action-oriented research agenda for equitable and meaningful nature-based solutions in urban areas
Published: 2026-06-06
Subjects: Biodiversity, Environmental Studies, Public Health, Urban Studies and Planning
Nature-based solutions provide opportunities to address the urgent, interconnected global challenges of environmental conservation, public health, and social justice in urban areas. Despite growing interest among policy-makers, the outcomes of nature-based solutions at the nexus of biodiversity, human health, and social justice are not well understood. We gathered a group of experts from [...]
Symbiont interactions bias measures of arthropod biodiversity
Published: 2026-06-06
Subjects: Biodiversity, Entomology
Although arthropods comprise the majority of all named species, their biodiversity is relatively understudied. Here, we highlight how interactions between arthropods and their bacterial symbionts can pose challenges for biodiversity research, especially for estimating taxonomic, functional, and genetic diversity. We also argue that recent technological developments and biomonitoring schemes [...]
Comparative urban behaviour of two sympatric columbids: Columba palumbus and Columba livia
Published: 2026-06-05
Subjects: Life Sciences
Urban environments favour species tolerant of human disturbance. We compared time budgets and anti-predator behaviour of the common wood pigeon (Columba palumbus) and rock pigeon (Columba livia) in five urban parks in León (Spain) using video recordings and predator approach tests. The common wood pigeon devoted most time to foraging (81.1%) with moderate vigilance (9.9%), while the rock pigeon [...]
Trophic interactions of ants are robust to tree species loss
Published: 2026-06-05
Subjects: Entomology, Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
1. How changes in habitat conditions influence insect diversity has been intensively studied. However, whether trophic interactions of insects are also influenced by such changes is largely unknown. Higher habitat heterogeneity is often hypothesized to promote niche partitioning and complementarity in resource use among interacting species, yet evidence from animal interaction networks is sparse. [...]
Modelling habitat selection using tracking data from central place foraging species: A practical guide for ecologists
Published: 2026-06-04
Subjects: Applied Statistics, Behavior and Ethology, Biostatistics, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Natural Resources and Conservation, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Research Methods in Life Sciences, Statistical Methodology, Statistical Models
The study of habitat selection has long been at the heart of ecological research and is critical to deciphering the mechanisms that govern species’ responses to global change. This is particularly important for central place foraging species, whose ability to adapt to shifting environmental conditions and anthropogenic disturbance is limited by persistent attachment to a fixed site. Recent [...]