Ecology最新文献

{"title":"Heads on the surface: Peek performance of spy-hop behavior in Chilean dolphins","authors":"Margherita Silvestri, George J. F. Swan, Gerardo E. Soto, Sonja Heinrich, Mauricio Soto-Gamboa","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70485","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70485","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"107 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148878266","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The influence of predator lethality on prey behavior and growth","authors":"Haleigh Nogueira,&nbsp;Samuel Sonnega,&nbsp;Eleanor R. DiNuzzo,&nbsp;Sarah C. Donelan,&nbsp;Michael J. Sheriff","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70482","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70482","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Predators are known to impact prey populations through both consumptive and nonconsumptive effects, and the magnitude of prey responses has long been assumed to depend on the lethality of the predator. Yet, there are few, if any studies, that have empirically tested this assumption. While there are studies that have approximated lethality and provide support for this assumption, difficulties arise given there is a need to estimate encounter rates and subsequent predation events while simultaneously separating prey risk responses from such events to truly determine predator lethality. Without the separation of risk responses from predation events, predator lethality may be erroneously assigned; for example, a highly lethal predator may elicit strong and early antipredator responses from prey, reducing actual capture and consumption, making the predators ‘seem’ less lethal than they actually are. We used a marine crab-snail system consisting of <i>Carcinus maenas</i> or <i>Hemigrapsus sanguineus</i> (crab predators) with <i>Nucella lapillus</i> (snail prey), pairing large and small crabs with large and small snails in a two-phase mesocosm experiment. We first eliminated prey's behavioral risk responses to determine predator lethality and second estimated prey's risk responses after rendering the predators nonlethal. We found that the specific lethality of a predator for a given prey did not drive prey risk responses. Our most lethal treatments (large crabs paired with small snails) had similar risk responses to our least lethal treatments (small crabs paired with large snails). The greatest risk responses came from treatments with large crabs paired with large snails (only medium lethality). Thus, while our results do not support the assumption that lethality itself drives prey risk responses, we did find that overall snails responded the most to the largest predators. This is likely due to the ability of these predators to consume prey over a wide size range and prey's inability to recognize their own relative size. Furthermore, prey state (body size) is clearly an equal if not greater contributor to prey risk responses than a predator's ability to kill.</p>","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"107 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148878265","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Soil microbial effects on tree seedling performance during forest secondary succession","authors":"Anita Weissflog,&nbsp;Bettina M. J. Engelbrecht,&nbsp;John R. Healey,&nbsp;Lars Markesteijn","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70477","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70477","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Soil microbiota influence seedling survival and abundance in mature forests. However, their role in tree species turnover during secondary forest succession remains unclear, especially in species-rich tropical forests. We conducted a shade house experiment to assess variation in the direction and strength of net soil microbial effects on seedling emergence, biomass growth, and mortality of seven tree species. We tested for effects of soil successional stage (0, 15, 25, and 115 years of forest recovery), tree species' association with successional stages (home stages where species peak in abundance vs. away stages), and light level (5% vs. 40% of daylight). We quantified net microbial effects as the ratio of seedling performance in live soil (including microbiota) versus sterilized and fungicide-treated soil. We found net positive or net negative microbial effects on seedling performance in six of the seven tree species, highlighting the prevalence of microbial effects. Overall, fewer seedlings emerged and more died in live than sterilized soils, and under high than low-light levels, although these effects varied greatly among tree species. We found no effect of soil successional stage on seedling performance. Tree species' association with successional stages, however, strongly affected seedling performance: Soil microbiota from a species' home successional stage increased the likelihood of seedling emergence by approximately 16% and reduced seedling mortality by approximately 36%. Our results suggest that soil microbiota exert tree species-specific effects on seedling performance during secondary succession of tropical forest. Positive microbial effects on seedling emergence and survival in tree species' home successional stages may promote tree species' establishment and persistence at home stages and could thereby slow tree species turnover during forest recovery. While the generality of our results needs to be tested across forest ecosystems, they highlight the relatively unexplored role of soil microbiota in determining the pace and direction of successional plant community assembly and promote the development of microbial inoculation as a tool for restoration of functionality and biodiversity of forests globally.</p>","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"107 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecy.70477","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148878264","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"North American crayfish: A quest for the biggest catch","authors":"Caitlin C. Bloomer,&nbsp;Susan B. Adams,&nbsp;Zanethia C. Barnett,&nbsp;Zackary A. Graham,&nbsp;Emmy M. Delekta,&nbsp;David M. Hayes,&nbsp;Zachary J. Loughman,&nbsp;Hugh MacIntosh,&nbsp;M. Worth Pugh,&nbsp;Karen Reed,&nbsp;Nathaniel F. Shoobs,&nbsp;Christopher A. Taylor,&nbsp;Eric R. Larson","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70471","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70471","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;For decades, body size has been regarded as one of the most important biological traits, influencing many aspects of an organism's biology (Maszczyk &amp; Brzeziński, &lt;span&gt;2018&lt;/span&gt;). This “master trait” correlates with features across the biological spectrum, including physiological traits such as metabolic rate, organismal traits like longevity or fecundity, and population-level characteristics including range size and extinction risk (Peters, &lt;span&gt;1986&lt;/span&gt;). Body size can vary with phylogeny, environmental gradients, and time (Smith &amp; Lyons, &lt;span&gt;2019&lt;/span&gt;). Life history theory further suggests that body size is co-shaped by the size-dependence of resource acquisition, metabolic rate, and mortality risk, producing locally optimal growth and reproductive strategies across species (Kozłowski, &lt;span&gt;1992&lt;/span&gt;). Decapod crustaceans display a remarkable diversity in body size and shape, reflecting the long evolutionary history and broad spectrum of habitats they occupy (Klompmaker et al., &lt;span&gt;2015&lt;/span&gt;). Observations of extremely large individuals of some crayfish species (Decapoda: Astacidea) have sparked debates among researchers, akin to anglers vying for the title of the biggest catch of the day. A particularly large crayfish individual (Figure 1) collected during a bioblitz in Kentucky, United States, reignited this debate in the spring of 2023, and so our journey began not with a grand hypothesis but with a simple question: Which North American crayfish earns the title of “biggest catch”?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;North America has the highest diversity of crayfish globally with over 400 species across two families (Crandall &amp; de Grave, &lt;span&gt;2017&lt;/span&gt;). These crayfish species occupy a variety of habitats including streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands, caves, and terrestrial burrows and can display distinctive morphological adaptations for their associated ecosystems (Crandall &amp; Buhay, &lt;span&gt;2008&lt;/span&gt;). Body sizes vary widely among taxa, from dwarf species in the genus &lt;i&gt;Cambarellus&lt;/i&gt; (Ortmann, &lt;span&gt;1905&lt;/span&gt;), only measuring up to 15.2 mm total carapace length (TCL) to members of the genus &lt;i&gt;Barbicambarus&lt;/i&gt; (Hobbs, &lt;span&gt;1969&lt;/span&gt;), reported as large as 77.1 mm (Schuster et al., &lt;span&gt;2022&lt;/span&gt;). Several species' names highlight their impressive sizes including the Crawzilla Crawdad (&lt;i&gt;Lacunicambarus chimera&lt;/i&gt; Glon et al., &lt;span&gt;2019&lt;/span&gt;) and the Longpincered Crayfish (&lt;i&gt;Faxonius longidigitus&lt;/i&gt; Faxon, &lt;span&gt;1898&lt;/span&gt;). The two species in the genus &lt;i&gt;Barbicambarus&lt;/i&gt; have even sparked news articles on their massive body size (e.g., Zielinski, &lt;span&gt;2011&lt;/span&gt;). While these competing claims served to capture imaginations and fuel the debate, no single specimen has ever been crowned the largest among the North American crayfish. Like avid fishermen at a tournament, we did not want to rely on unverified claims. Instead, armed with calipers, we delved into museum collections determined to settle the debate.&lt;/","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"107 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecy.70471","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148878484","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Periodical cicadas suffer legacy effects of century-old forest removal","authors":"Ian Chan,&nbsp;Guerin E. Brown,&nbsp;Fabiola Castaneda-Santiago,&nbsp;Jacky S. Chitty,&nbsp;Tamra A. Elliott,&nbsp;Mattie J. Gose,&nbsp;Charlotte M. Hanfland,&nbsp;Stephen D. Hendrix,&nbsp;Carter R. Leerhoff,&nbsp;Susan K. Meerdink,&nbsp;Adam M. Skibbe,&nbsp;MaKella J. Steffensen,&nbsp;Christian L. Weinrich,&nbsp;Andrew A. Forbes","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70487","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70487","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Periodical cicada (<i>Magicicada</i> spp.) ranges have continued to decline even as their habitat has rebounded from historic lows. This counterintuitive trajectory may be a consequence of <i>Magicicada</i>'s limited dispersal capabilities combined with their requirement that individual host trees survive across decades. Indeed, we find that the presence of <i>Magicicada</i> breeding populations is best predicted by tree cover in 1930, not by present-day tree cover, and that cicadas have largely not recolonized restored habitat even after nearly 100 years. A model based on empirical measures of tree cover turnover and cicada dispersal distances suggests that cicada ranges will continue to decline under nearly all conditions. A managed relocation of 20,126 adult <i>Magicicada</i> failed, reinforcing that dispersal to new sites will be difficult to artificially accelerate. Preservation of habitat across centuries may be the only bollard standing between periodical cicadas and their extinction.</p>","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"107 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecy.70487","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148878489","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Climate and landscape context drive the functional composition of young tropical forests","authors":"Jazz J. M. Kok,&nbsp;Lourens Poorter,&nbsp;Maureen Nieuwschepen,&nbsp;Koen van Steenbeek,&nbsp;Tomonari Matsuo,&nbsp;Johan de Jong,&nbsp;Masha T. van der Sande,&nbsp;Lucy Amissah","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70470","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70470","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Human-modified tropical landscapes are mosaics of farmland, young regrowing forests, and old-growth forests. These fragmented landscapes are hotter and drier than forested landscapes and, combined with climate change, may lead to shifts in forest community composition. We asked how macroclimate and surrounding landscape shape community-level drought strategies of young regrowing secondary forests. We assessed community composition of 37 young secondary dry and wet forests in Ghana during the first 3 years of succession, collected drought-related leaf and stem traits of their pioneer species, and quantified surrounding landscape cover within an 800-m radius around each plot. Macroclimate had the strongest influence on community drought strategies. Dry forest communities avoided drought through leaf shedding, delayed drought through small compound leaves that reduce heat load, and tolerated drought through dense wood and slow-wilting leaves that both help maintain function during drought stress. Wet forest communities showed the opposite suite of traits, reflecting prioritization of fast growth under high water availability. Landscape context reinforced different forest recovery trajectories by further shaping community traits. Agricultural cover reduced community wood density in the dry forest, whereas it increased wood density in the wet forest and tended to increase drought traits such as small, compound, and deciduous leaves. Surrounding secondary forest cover promoted fast-growing species with acquisitive leaves and low leaf mass per area in the dry forest, likely due to increased propagule pressure of pioneer species. Greater surrounding old-growth cover increased leaf dry matter content in the wet forest, supporting the recruitment of conservative, shade-tolerant late-successional species. Macroclimate, landscape context, and their interaction thus jointly shape community functional composition and drought strategies of regrowing forests.</p>","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"107 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecy.70470","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148878491","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"When giant amphibians rule the river: Community trophic structure of Japanese giant salamander ecosystems","authors":"Clément Duret,&nbsp;Benjamin Lejeune,&nbsp;Gilles Lepoint,&nbsp;Tiphanie Bartet,&nbsp;Sumio Okada,&nbsp;Keitaro Fukushima,&nbsp;Osamu Kishida,&nbsp;Mathieu Denoël","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70473","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70473","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Top predators strongly influence food webs, often because they reach large body sizes. Amphibians are typically regarded as prey in such systems, but giant salamanders are a rare exception. Because gigantism entails extreme ontogenetic body size variation, it is expected to drive strong trophic niche shifts and reshape interactions within and among species as individuals grow. However, such trophic shifts in giant amphibians and relationships with other consumers remain largely unexplored, limiting our understanding of the contribution of this flagship species to river food web structure. Here, we used stable isotope analysis (δ¹³C–δ¹⁵N) to investigate the trophic structure of a freshwater community dominated by the Japanese giant salamander (<i>Andrias japonicus</i>). We assessed how extreme ontogenetic body size variation modifies intra- and interspecific interactions and contributes to overall community structure. We also quantified the dominant carbon sources fueling the community, and modeled trophic positions (TPs), niche metrics, and relationships of all major consumer species. By sampling 161 giant salamanders and approximately 700 other consumers for stable isotope analysis, we provide the first comprehensive characterization of food web structure in a freshwater community dominated by <i>A. japonicus</i>. We found clear trophic shifts: smaller individuals overlapped with mesopredators (fish, prawns, turtles), suggesting potential competition, whereas TP increased with size, placing larger individuals above other predators, at the top of the food web. Large salamanders broadened the community δ¹⁵N range, contributing significantly to the trophic evenness and total community niche space. Basal source tracing revealed that both aquatic and terrestrial energy pathways sustained the food web. Overall, these findings show that gigantism in <i>A. japonicus</i> shapes trophic hierarchies, contributing significantly to vertical complexity and trophic diversity of the community, and highlighting how ontogenetic shifts in giant predators can structure riverine food webs. By integrating isotopic niches, TP, and basal source contributions at the whole-community scale, this study provides a generalisable framework for linking predator ontogeny to food web structure, with direct relevance for conserving vulnerable freshwater ecosystems; endangered top predators such as <i>A. japonicus</i> may contribute disproportionately to food web resilience and community structure.</p>","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"107 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148878490","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Plant biomass and macro- and micronutrients jointly drive top-heavy arthropod trophic pyramids in grassland monocultures","authors":"Xiaoming Lu,&nbsp;Xuezhen Zhao,&nbsp;Taiki Tachibana,&nbsp;Ellen A. R. Welti,&nbsp;Kei Uchida,&nbsp;Takehiro Sasaki,&nbsp;Yongfei Bai","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70483","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70483","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Identifying the key drivers of changes in species biomass, abundance, and distribution across trophic levels in terrestrial ecosystems represents a fundamental challenge in ecology. The shape of trophic pyramids—reflecting the relative biomass or abundance of various trophic groups, such as herbivores, omnivores, predators, and parasitoids—is anticipated to vary with both the quantity and nutritional quality of plants. However, a comprehensive understanding of how these factors influence the shape of trophic pyramids in grassland ecosystems remains elusive. In this study, we utilize replicated monocultures of 15 herbaceous species in the Inner Mongolian grassland to investigate the effects of plant biomass, macronutrients (including protein, carbohydrate, and phosphorus), and micronutrients (such as sodium) on the structure of arthropod trophic pyramids and the abundances within different trophic levels. Our results demonstrated that plant biomass, leaf protein-to-carbohydrate ratio, and sodium content collectively contributed to a top-heavy structure in arthropod trophic pyramids, characterized by a relatively higher proportion of predators and parasitoids. Specifically, plant biomass enhanced this top-heaviness both directly, by increasing the abundance of predators and parasitoids, and indirectly, by increasing chewing and sucking herbivores, which in turn bolstered the abundance of predators and parasitoids. Furthermore, leaf sodium and the protein-to-carbohydrate ratio positively influenced parasitoid abundance through increasing the abundance of sucking herbivores and endophytes. Given that climate change and human activities, such as nitrogen fertilization and saline water irrigation, are altering plant biomass, nutrient composition, and sodium availability globally, our findings suggest that these changes will have significant cascading effects on arthropod trophic structures and overall ecosystem functioning.</p>","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"107 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148878223","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dispersal kernels regulate environmental, biotic, and stochastic effects on the maintenance of metacommunity diversity","authors":"Nathan I. Wisnoski,&nbsp;Megan C. Szojka,&nbsp;Rachel M. Germain,&nbsp;Tadashi Fukami,&nbsp;Lauren G. Shoemaker","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70484","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70484","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Dispersal regulates patterns of diversity in metacommunities, but a primary focus on dispersal rates may mischaracterize effects that actually arise from dispersal kernels. Kernels describe probabilistic movements between donor and recipient patches, with steep kernels displaying a rapid decline in dispersal probability with distance, and shallow kernels decaying gradually over longer distances. We used simulations to measure how kernels affect diversity across metacommunity scales and ecological contexts, and developed a novel approach quantifying the effects of environmental filtering, competition, stochasticity, and dispersal on fitness. Metacommunities with shallow kernels followed expectations: emigration increased α-diversity but decreased β-diversity and γ-diversity. Metacommunities with steeper kernels did not follow expectations: steep kernels maintained regional diversity by reducing interspecific competition and stochastic extinctions, while weakening the fitness benefits of low dispersal and costs of high dispersal. Our work suggests dispersal kernels and rates jointly regulate exposure to environmental variation and the balance of assembly mechanisms in metacommunities.</p>","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"107 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148878483","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Modularity limits the spatial propagation of disturbance in experimental seagrass networks","authors":"Caterina Mintrone,&nbsp;Giulia Proserpio,&nbsp;Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70476","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70476","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Understanding how habitat structure affects disturbance dynamics among connected patches is a central issue in ecology. Network theory predicts that a modular arrangement of habitat patches can limit the spread of local perturbations, reducing the probability of large-scale impacts. We performed a field experiment to test whether modular networks were more resistant to the spread of algal turfs compared to random networks within meadows of the seagrass <i>Posidonia oceanica</i> (L.) Delile. Networks were created by manipulating the canopy of <i>P</i>. <i>oceanica</i> to promote the vegetative propagation of algal turfs among network nodes from initially disturbed patches. Algal turfs spread more widely among nodes in random networks, whereas they remained confined within the nodes of the perturbed module in modular networks. Our findings support the hypothesis that modularity is a key trait of ecological networks for mitigating the spread of perturbations and emphasize the importance of considering habitat structure for conservation efforts.</p>","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"107 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecy.70476","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148878485","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}