Preprints
There are 3658 Preprints listed.
A Sharma–Mittal Geometry of Evenness: Representation, Cardinal Resolution, and Relative Merits
Published: 2026-09-11
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
The proliferation of evenness indices creates an interpretive problem whenever several admissible measures assign different numerical values to the same assemblage. We study that problem by normalizing Sharma–Mittal entropy to its maximum at complete uniformity. Written in terms of the Hill number of order α, the resulting surface is [...]
The coefficient of variation of body mass (and other traits)
Published: 2026-09-11
Subjects: Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Variation is a fundamental property of populations and provides the raw material upon which evolutionary processes can act. The coefficient of variation, defined as the standard deviation divided by the arithmetic mean, is widely used in evolutionary biology to quantify relative variation, for example to draw conclusions about the strength of selection. However, comparing coefficients of [...]
Evaluating vibroacoustic sensor performance and vibration attenuation: implications for soil biodiversity sampling
Published: 2026-09-11
Subjects: Entomology, Life Sciences, Research Methods in Life Sciences
Earth’s biodiversity is undergoing substantial changes in response to anthropogenic stressors, creating a need for efficient methods of assessing biodiversity, particularly in soil ecosystems where sampling remains challenging. Soil vibroacoustics - the use of substrate-borne vibrations or sounds to quantify or detect below-ground biological activity – offers a potentially rapid and scalable [...]
Composition or encounter? Decomposing the altitude and night-time damage premiums in United States wildlife strikes, 1990 to 2026
Published: 2026-09-11
Subjects: Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Damaging wildlife strikes in the United States are known to be commoner higher above the ground and, for some taxa, after dark. Both patterns are usually read as composition: altitude and darkness change which animals an aircraft can meet, and large animals damage aircraft. That reading has not been tested, because the published height and light-condition tables are marginal — they pool every [...]
Heterogeneity in Microbial Systems: Scales, Drivers, and Consequences
Published: 2026-09-11
Subjects: Life Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences
Heterogeneity is a fundamental, multi-scale organizing principle of microbial life, transcending its historical treatment as mere statistical noise. This review synthesizes recent advances to construct a unified framework for understanding microbial heterogeneity across hierarchical scales—from molecular and cellular phenotypic diversity, through strain-level genomic micro-diversity, to [...]
The Little Reptilian Lion: A Literature Review and Field Perspective on the Behavioral Ecology of Agama picticauda (Peter's Rock Agama)
Published: 2026-09-11
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Life Sciences, Zoology
Agama picticauda (Peter's Rock Agama) is one of West Africa's most abundant and visually striking lizards, yet remains profoundly understudied at the level of behavioral ecology. This review draws on published literature and extended personal field observation of wild populations in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, to document the species' behavioral complexity and argue for dedicated long-term research. [...]
Do we need all of this research synthesis in ecology and conservation? A highly subjective criticism of reviews and meta-analyses
Published: 2026-09-11
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Research synthesis, which includes systematic reviews and meta-analyses, provides applied ecologists and conservationists with big pictures of ecological processes and the effectiveness of conservation interventions. It can therefore hugely benefit applied ecology and conservation science. However, while in some areas of ecology and the conservation sciences study design, measurements and [...]
Behavioural strategy and predator control: a coupled evolutionary predator-prey model for kiwi conservation in New Zealand
Published: 2026-09-11
Subjects: Applied Mathematics, Behavior and Ethology, Dynamic Systems, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Population Biology
Conservation management of endangered species can be enhanced by quantitative frameworks that simultaneously model behavioural adaptations alongside population dynamics. This paper presents a Coupled Evolutionary Predator-Prey Model (CEPPM) that integrates replicator dynamics from Evolutionary Game Theory with an extended Lotka-Volterra predator-prey framework, applied to kiwi (Apteryx spp.) [...]
Vegetation and local density are associated with red deer calving dates but don’t explain the long-term temporal trend
Published: 2026-09-11
Subjects: Life Sciences
Long-lived mammal species can show advancing reproductive phenology even though prolonged gestation means adaptive phenotypic plasticity to warmer springs, as observed for reproductive phenology across other taxonomic groups, is unlikely. A constraint model in which oestrus date depends on achieving a certain level of body condition seems more likely, so the question is which variables are [...]
Urban densification and vegetation composition reshape ecological networks across trophic layers
Published: 2026-09-11
Subjects: Life Sciences
Urban densification reshapes biodiversity, yet its effects on ecological networks across trophic levels remain unclear. Using a metaweb approach, we reconstructed bipartite, multitrophic, and combined food webs across 60 urban green spaces along gradients of urban densification and vegetation complexity. Densification reduced taxonomic and interaction richness, promoted interaction [...]
Climate change experience, knowledge and management goals shape native and non-native tree species choices among European foresters
Published: 2026-09-11
Subjects: Environmental Studies, Forest Sciences
Assisted migration (AM) is increasingly considered in forest adaptation to climate change, yet its implementation depends on how forestry practitioners evaluate concrete planting options rather than on support for the concept alone. We surveyed 743 forestry practitioners and researchers across Europe, assessing planting preferences for 30 tree species differing in geographic origin, together with [...]
Does roadless rule? Social-ecological consequences of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule
Published: 2026-09-11
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Sciences, Forest Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The Roadless Rule, established 25 years ago to maintain 58.5 million federal forest acres in roadless condition, is one of the U.S.’s most expansive and debated natural resource experiments. We synthesize research on the effects of the Roadless Rule on biodiversity, wildfire, forest and watershed health, and economics to guide current and future decision making. Research shows the Roadless Rule [...]
MiCampo: A Multi-Level Digital Cooperative Infrastructure for Agroecological Planning, Participatory Certification and Territorial Market Coordination
Published: 2026-09-11
Subjects: Life Sciences
Agroecological transitions require coordination across technical, certification, economic and research domains. We present MiCampo, a modular digital cooperative infrastructure organized into four functional levels: (1) agroecological technical planning, (2) digital participatory guarantee systems (PGS), (3) contractual territorial distribution planning and logistics, and (4) territorial research [...]
Endosymbiotic bioenergetic synergy behind climate-mediated species boundaries of rainforest warblers
Published: 2026-09-10
Subjects: Life Sciences
The molecular cooperation among organelles facilitates adaptation during eukaryotic evolution, but the role of endosymbiotic synergy in the organismal climate adaptation remains unclear. Here we unveil the Endosymbiotic Bioenergetic Synergy Model, which characterizes the role of emergent molecular activities among organelles underlying energy metabolism in climate adaptation of eukaryotes. The [...]
Moose on the loose: personality-driven space use and activity in a large, free-roaming cervid
Published: 2026-09-10
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Behavior and Ethology, Zoology
Background Animal personality (i.e., consistent inter individual behavioural and physiological differences that are repeatable over time and across contexts) has important implications for ecological processes, yet remains poorly studied in large herbivores such as cervids. Methods In this study, we investigated personality and the occurrence of a behavioural syndrome in 33 free ranging female [...]