Preprints
There are 3697 Preprints listed.
The short-term effects of wildfire on heathland flowering plant communities as a resource for insect pollinators: a case study at Killarney National Park, Ireland
Published: 2026-09-07
Subjects: Life Sciences
Fire is a globally important driver of ecosystem diversity and functioning, yet the frequency and behaviour of wildfire has become increasingly unpredictable as a result of climate change, posing risks to ecosystems, societies, and economies. Post-fire plant and animal community dynamics are often shaped by ecological, landscape, and fire characteristics, but as risk factors change, understanding [...]
A harmonised dataset of adult Culex pipiens mosquitoes from 17 administrative Italian regions, 2008–2022
Published: 2026-09-07
Subjects: Biology, Entomology
Culex pipiens s.l. is the primary vector of West Nile Virus in Italy. Despite the availability of abundant long-term surveillance data on adult Cx. pipiens observations in Italy, historical records are often fragmented across regional repositories with heterogeneous formats and metadata. This work introduces a comprehensive, harmonised dataset of adult Cx. pipiens observations collected across 17 [...]
Towards ‘humane’ shrimp slaughter: A review of current knowledge gaps and methodological challenges for Penaeus vannamei
Published: 2026-09-07
Subjects: Life Sciences
Penaeus vannamei has become the most widely farmed aquatic species worldwide, yet the methods used for its stunning and slaughter remain poorly documented and largely unvalidated scientifically. Growing regulatory attention to decapod sentience calls for a critical assessment of current slaughter practices and of the indicators available to evaluate them. This review is based on a systematic [...]
Meta-analysts must lead by example and embrace all FAIR principles
Published: 2026-09-05
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Meta-analyses rely on comprehensive reporting of results and data in primary studies. They should therefore also strive for exemplary reporting and follow FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) for data sharing. Yet, despite growing calls for open, reliable, and transparent science, the quality, reporting and FAIRness of meta-analyses in ecology, evolution, and [...]
ENCORE: the global infrastructure for screening business risks, dependencies and impacts on nature
Published: 2026-09-05
Subjects: Biodiversity, Life Sciences
Biodiversity and ecosystem services provide the foundation on which the global economy, and by extension all businesses, depend. ENCORE (Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risks and Exposure) has established itself as a key reference for business and financial institution assessment of exposure to risk stemming from nature degradation. It has over 18,000 users, has been used in over 15 [...]
Heat-driven declines in Scots pine cone and seed quality contrast with long-term climate adjustment
Published: 2026-09-05
Subjects: Life Sciences
Climate change can alter forest regeneration through effects on seed production, seed quality, and the structures that protect seeds, yet most evidence focuses on seed output alone. We used 15 years of cone and seed-quality data from 184 Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) populations to test whether climate effects extend beyond fecundity to reproductive traits that determine viable propagule supply. [...]
Assessing habitat associations of critically endangered big-headed turtles to support grassroots river conservation
Published: 2026-09-05
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Modern wildlife conservation relies primarily on state-run protected areas and hunting regulations, whereas grassroots initiatives to protect ecosystems from various threats such as large-scale infrastructure development are underrecognized and receive limited scientific support. We studied critically endangered big-headed turtles (Platysternon megacephalum) to support a grassroots river [...]
Modelling irruptive species with hybrid machine learning: A case study of crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks on the Great Barrier Reef
Published: 2026-09-05
Subjects: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Irruptions consist of rapid and severe increases in abundance, which for some species can result in significant economic and environmental damage. Forecasting the timing and location of these irruptions is crucial for effective management, however is difficult due to the complexity of the ecosystems in which they occur and the conditions under which they arise. Hybrid machine learning (ML) [...]
Reproductive mode and the evolution of mutation rate
Published: 2026-09-05
Subjects: Life Sciences
The mutation rate is a fundamental force in evolution, modulating patterns of genetic variation, adaptation, and genome evolution throughout the tree of life. As such, many attempts have been made to explain its variation across species. Currently, the dominant theory of mutation rate evolution is the drift-barrier hypothesis. However, although this framework has received wide support across [...]
Earth observation and causal inference in assessing protected area effectiveness
Published: 2026-09-05
Subjects: Life Sciences, Remote Sensing, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Area-based conservation is a fundamental component of global conservation strategies, yet robust causal evidence on the long-term effectiveness of protected areas is still emerging. Alongside traditional field data collection methods, Earth observation offers cost-effective means of generating high-resolution, spatially extensive information, and its broader integration into conservation science [...]
From population trends to biodiversity changes: synthesizing multi-species signals of collapse
Published: 2026-09-05
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Taking the pulse of biodiversity is no small feat, and abundance time series are some of the most valuable data we have to measure change. Biodiversity changes are often complex, with some species declining while others grow, leading to a reorganisation of the network of interactions between species. The infamous decline of Atlantic cod in the Newfoundland shelf groundfish community between 1981 [...]
The Origin of Genetic Heredity
Published: 2026-09-05
Subjects: Life Sciences
The dominant view that genetic heredity arose in an RNA world stems from the ideas of Francis Crick and Leslie Orgel, who suggested that early nucleotide polymers could act as both phenotype and genotype and that the genetic code was shaped by a frozen accident. At around the same time, Carl Woese proposed a different model: that naturally occurring early translation was biased by weak [...]
Human Settlement and Water Availability at the Qa’ Shubayqa during the Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene: Comparing Hydrological Models and Archaeological Data
Published: 2026-09-05
Subjects: Desert Ecology, History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology, Hydrology
There is increasing evidence that wetland ecosystems played a key role in the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture in southwest Asia. Yet, while they are ecologically rich, wetlands are also fragile and vulnerable to climate change and disruption by humans. Reconstructing the relationship between wetlands, human settlement and climate is therefore crucial to gain a better [...]
From pixels to plants: linking remotely sensed habitat data to roe deer diet from DNA metabarcoding in Scottish forest landscapes
Published: 2026-09-05
Subjects: Life Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Understanding how landscape characteristics influence herbivore diet selection is fundamental to predicting ecological impacts and developing effective wildlife management strategies. We linked remotely sensed habitat data and dietary DNA metabarcoding to test whether landcover classifications can explain variation in European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) diet across Scottish forest landscapes. [...]
Seasonal warming and marine heatwaves shape thermal acclimation and growth of juvenile European plaice in a coastal nursery habitat
Published: 2026-09-05
Subjects: Life Sciences
Global climate change is driving ocean warming and exposing shallow coastal nursery habitats to increasingly frequent marine heatwaves. The European plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) is a flatfish that settles in shallow sandy bays of the Northeast Atlantic in spring and remains until late summer migration, experiencing peak seasonal temperatures during a critical period for juvenile growth. We [...]