Preprints
There are 2981 Preprints listed.
Emergent functions in the chemodiversity landscape
Published: 2026-01-23
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Nature produces countless metabolites that regulate organismal performance and the functioning of ecosystems. Specialised metabolites are particularly diverse and mediate ecological interactions across all geographic scales and levels of biological organisation. While chemodiversity, i.e., the richness, relative abundance and disparity of specialised metabolites within a blend of metabolites, has [...]
Functional redundancy shapes spatial patterns of vulnerability to climate-driven shifts in plant community composition across Australia
Published: 2026-01-23
Subjects: Life Sciences
Climate change threatens plant communities worldwide with substantial species losses, yet the consequences of reduced diversity for ecosystem functioning remain uncertain. Functional redundancy, where multiple species fulfil similar ecological roles, may provide functional insurance by buffering ecosystem processes against species loss. Here, we combined plant composition data from 646 TERN [...]
Genetic estimates of relatedness: Established practices and new opportunities through low coverage whole genome sequencing
Published: 2026-01-23
Subjects: Life Sciences
Identifying close relatives in wild animal populations is fundamental across many research fields. Genetic estimates of relatedness have expanded rapidly in recent decades, based on various types of genetic data. Here, we review their use and outline opportunities for future studies by combining two complementary approaches. First, we systematically reviewed 2,861 articles to assess how genetic [...]
Inspiring systematic inclusion of individual animal states to enhance the quality of research
Published: 2026-01-23
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Behavior and Ethology, Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Animal Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Population Biology
Studies on animals continue to attract criticism over data quality, reproducibility and generality of findings, yet one source of variation remains rarely addressed: differences in individuals’ affective states. In this paper, we suggest that evaluating affect should be considered standard good practice in ecological and behavioural research with wild animals, alongside familiar variables such as [...]
Body size shapes average behaviour, social impact, and social responsiveness in agonistic interactions
Published: 2026-01-23
Subjects: Life Sciences
Social interactions shape behavioural phenotypes and fitness, and therefore represent major drivers of evolution. Increasingly, it is recognised that plasticity in response to social partners (“social plasticity”) operates through two causal pathways: an individual’s impact on and responsiveness to partner phenotypes. Functional links among an individual’s average behaviour, social impact, and [...]
A framework for predicting the dynamics of plant-mycorrhizal interactions
Published: 2026-01-23
Subjects: Life Sciences
Interactions between plants and mycorrhizal fungi shape nutrient cycling and ecosystem function on a global scale, but the dynamics of these interactions remain poorly understood. Due to their below-ground nature, directly observing key dynamical features such as Allee effects and oscillations is often not possible, hampering further progress in this area. Here we present a mechanistic model of [...]
Seasonal camouflage as a model to understand the scope for rapid adaptation in a changing world
Published: 2026-01-23
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Molecular Biology
Human-driven environmental change is reshaping ecosystems and challenging species’ ability to adapt. Understanding how genetic variation enables adaptation is crucial for conservation and requires exemplary systems to test hypotheses and make predictions. One particularly suitable model for studying climate-driven adaptation is seasonal color change (SCC), a phenological trait in which [...]
Understanding the dimensions and gaps in wildlife health surveillance for zoonotic risk management
Published: 2026-01-23
Subjects: Agriculture, Biodiversity, Immunology and Infectious Disease
Following the Covid 19 pandemic, One Health has been a topic of increasing global awareness, with the development of various global strategies and action plans to manage and counteract risks as well as identify potential risks. However, despite these calls for action, little work has been conducted to establish a global baseline on policies related to One Health, particularly dealing with the [...]
Volcanic deposits select for woodiness on islands
Published: 2026-01-23
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Oceanic islands’ unique biodiversity often arises from woody plant radiations derived from non-woody continental ancestors. Since Darwin, various theories have tried to explain the evolution of woodiness on islands (insular woodiness). Recently, frequent volcanic activity and burial of vegetation by volcanic ash (tephra) depositions were linked to the abundance of woody species on islands. In a [...]
Supporting wildlife movement amid the rise of border infrastructure
Published: 2026-01-21
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Law, Environmental Studies, Forest Management, Nature and Society Relations, Zoology
Transboundary areas of conservation importance affected by border infrastructure and militarization urgently need connectivity conservation solutions. Where human conflicts are ongoing and peace initiatives may be unviable, smaller-scale approaches can still be implemented. We propose a multi-faceted approach to support animal movement and minimize impacts of multiple border barriers on medium to [...]
Laboratory Evidence of the effect of Water Availability on Aedes Mosquito Population Dynamics: A Scoping Review
Published: 2026-01-21
Subjects: Life Sciences
The increasing geographical spread, abundance and activity of invasive Aedes mosquitoes are cause of concern for public health at local and global scales. These species transmit diseases such as dengue, Chikungunya, Yellow Fever, and Zika, which can cause outbreaks in endemic and non-endemic settings. Unlike temperature, whose impact on key entomological traits has been extensively studied, the [...]
Microbial drivers of woody plant encroachment in fire-maintained grasslands and savannas
Published: 2026-01-21
Subjects: Life Sciences
Woody plant encroachment into grasslands and savannas is a global phenomenon with wide-ranging consequences for people and nature, but we lack a comprehensive understanding of its drivers. Various factors can contribute to woody encroachment across ecosystems, but a notable commonality is that transitions from herbaceous to woody vegetation are spatially and temporally abrupt, suggesting that [...]
Scaling from Metawebs to Realised Webs: A Hierarchical Approach to Network Ecology
Published: 2026-01-21
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Ecological networks provide a critical framework for understanding the architecture of biodiversity and predicting ecosystem responses to environmental change. However, the application of network ecology is often hindered by a lack of clarity regarding the assumptions inherent in different network representations. Here, we present a hierarchical framework that distinguishes between ‘metawebs’ [...]
The missing branches of the bee Tree of Life: addressing global Darwinian shortfalls and their drivers
Published: 2026-01-21
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Understanding the Darwinian shortfall (i.e., the lack of knowledge about phylogenetic relationships) can help us to guide future biodiversity research and conservation efforts. Overcoming this shortfall is essential to develop robust strategies to preserve the Tree of Life while facing the ongoing biodiversity crisis. Here, we present the first global assessment of Darwinian shortfalls and their [...]
A framework for understanding how and why animals die
Published: 2026-01-19
Subjects: Biology
Mortality is a fundamental demographic process that shapes both populations and ecological communities. Yet, how and why animals die is just as important as the simple fact of whether or not they do. A richer understanding about drivers of death across taxa is needed to advance ecological theory and to improve conservation practice. Both require identifying the causal pathways that lead to death; [...]