Biological Reviews最新文献

{"title":"The pace and shape of ant ageing.","authors":"Luisa M Jaimes-Nino, Jan Oettler","doi":"10.1111/brv.70035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.70035","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ants have been proposed as good models to study ageing and the effects of extrinsic mortality because of their long lifespans and plasticity of ageing within species. We discuss how age-dependent extrinsic mortality might influence queen lifespan, and how the effect of age-independent extrinsic mortality needs further study, accounting for different density-dependence scenarios. Based on a critical review of the available demographic data, we discuss the selective forces underlying ant ageing. We discuss differences and similarities between the life-history strategy of ants and the reproductive strategies iteroparity and semelparity. We consider how late-life fitness gains for the \"superorganism\" select for a delay of actuarial, and reproductive senescence, and we suggest future research directions.</p>","PeriodicalId":133,"journal":{"name":"Biological Reviews","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144075062","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The evolution of reproduction in Ediacaran-Cambrian metazoans.","authors":"Rachel A Wood, Mary L Droser","doi":"10.1111/brv.70036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.70036","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The evolution of reproductive style is a fundamental aspect of metazoan life history but has not been explored holistically through the Ediacaran-Cambrian rise of metazoans. Recent molecular clock analyses based on only unequivocal metazoan fossil calibrations suggest that Porifera were present by at least 590 million years ago (Ma), all major eumetazoan clades originated in the mid-late Ediacaran, and bilaterians were probably present by the late Ediacaran. An alternating pelagic larval (potentially for dispersal) and benthic adult life cycle appears to be an ancestral feature of metazoans. A compilation of inferred reproductive styles from the fossil record reveals that the low-competition, deep-water communities of the Ediacaran Avalon macrofossil assemblage (ca. 575 to 560 Ma) had current-borne sexually produced larval with both local (non-planktotrophic, with no feeding) and more widespread (planktotrophic, with feeding) dispersal followed by vegetative growth. By ca. 560 Ma, White Sea assemblage communities in shallow settings show dense aggregations, which were often dominated by single populations of episodic sexually produced larval spatfalls. Some taxa may show potential larval philopatry. By 550 Ma, with the rise of biomineralization and colonisation of shallow marine carbonate settings, the ability to encrust hard substrates, create multiple branches via budding, and rudimentary mutual attachment of inferred clones, first appear. The dominant apparent mode of reproduction throughout the Ediacaran was therefore via current-borne sexually produced larvae followed by asexual reproduction, via either budding, fragmentation or fission. In these communities where biotic interactions were limited, this enabled colonisation of newly available soft and hard substrates followed by rapid growth. Early Cambrian communities showed increased endemism, enhanced trophic interactions and widespread macropredation. By the early Cambrian Fortunian stage (ca. 535 Ma), gonochorism (separate sexes) may have been present in priapulid worms. During Cambrian Stage 2 (ca. 532 Ma), internal fertilisation probably appeared in molluscs but widespread planktotrophy did not appear until the latest Cambrian/early Ordovician. Mutual attachment of diverse skeletal taxa became more common, particularly within reefs. Evidence for egg brooding and parental care in arthropods had appeared by the early Stage 3 (ca. 518 Ma). While reproductive styles were independently acquired, this overall pattern suggests a shift both to higher fecundity and to higher quality offspring in some groups during the Ediacaran-Cambrian Radiation, driven by increasing biotic interactions, including the rise of macropredation.</p>","PeriodicalId":133,"journal":{"name":"Biological Reviews","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144075059","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Look past the cooperative eye hypothesis: reconsidering the evolution of human eye appearance.","authors":"Juan Olvido Perea-García, Aurora Teuben, Kai R Caspar","doi":"10.1111/brv.70033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.70033","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The external appearance of the human eye has been prominently linked to the evolution of complex sociocognitive functions in our species. The cooperative eye hypothesis (CEH) proposes that human eyeballs, with their weakly expressed conjunctival and scleral pigmentation, are uniquely conspicuous and evolved under selective pressures to behave cooperatively, therefore signalling attentiveness to conspecifics. Non-human primates are instead assumed to display less-salient eye morphologies that help mask their gaze to facilitate competitive, rather than cooperative actions. Here, we argue that the CEH, although continuing to be influential, lacks robust empirical support. Over the past two decades, multidisciplinary research has undermined its original rationale and central premises: human eye pigmentation does not uniquely stand out among primates, it is not uniform at species level and the available evidence does not conclusively suggest that it facilitates gaze following to notable extents. Hence, the CEH currently provides a theoretical framework that risks confusing, rather than informing, inferences about the evolution of human external eye appearance and its selective drivers. In a call to move past it, we review alternative hypotheses with the potential to elucidate the emergence of the human ocular phenotype from the considerable spectrum of diversity found within the primate order.</p>","PeriodicalId":133,"journal":{"name":"Biological Reviews","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143959061","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Biodiversity in mountain soils above the treeline.","authors":"Nadine Praeg, Michael Steinwandter, Davnah Urbach, Mark A Snethlage, Rodrigo P Alves, Martha E Apple, Peter Bilovitz, Andrea J Britton, Estelle P Bruni, Ting-Wen Chen, Kenneth Dumack, Fernando Fernandez-Mendoza, Michele Freppaz, Beat Frey, Nathalie Fromin, Stefan Geisen, Martin Grube, Elia Guariento, Antoine Guisan, Qiao-Qiao Ji, Juan J Jiménez, Stefanie Maier, Lucie A Malard, Maria A Minor, Cowan C Mc Lean, Edward A D Mitchell, Thomas Peham, Roberto Pizzolotto, Andy F S Taylor, Philippe Vernon, Johan J van Tol, Donghui Wu, Yunga Wu, Zhijing Xie, Bettina Weber, Paul Illmer, Julia Seeber","doi":"10.1111/brv.70028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.70028","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Biological diversity in mountain ecosystems has been increasingly studied over the last decade. This is also the case for mountain soils, but no study to date has provided an overall synthesis of the current state of knowledge. Here we fill this gap with a first global analysis of published research on cryptogams, microorganisms, and fauna in mountain soils above the treeline, and a structured synthesis of current knowledge. Based on a corpus of almost 1400 publications and the expertise of 37 mountain soil scientists worldwide, we summarise what is known about the diversity and distribution patterns of each of these organismal groups, specifically along elevation, and provide an overview of available knowledge on the drivers explaining these patterns and their changes. In particular, we document an elevation-dependent decrease in faunal diversity above the treeline, while for cryptogams there is an initial increase above the treeline, followed by a decrease towards the nival belt. Thus, our data confirm the key role that elevation plays in shaping the biodiversity and distribution of these organisms in mountain soils. The response of prokaryote diversity to elevation, in turn, was more diverse, whereas fungal diversity appeared to be substantially influenced by plants. As far as available, we describe key characteristics, adaptations, and functions of mountain soil species, and despite a lack of ecological information about the uncultivated majority of prokaryotes, fungi, and protists, we illustrate the remarkable and unique diversity of life forms and life histories encountered in alpine mountain soils. By applying rule- as well as pattern-based literature-mining approaches and semi-quantitative analyses, we identified hotspots of mountain soil research in the European Alps and Central Asia and revealed significant gaps in taxonomic coverage, particularly among biocrusts, soil protists, and soil fauna. We further report thematic priorities for research on mountain soil biodiversity above the treeline and identify unanswered research questions. Building upon the outcomes of this synthesis, we conclude with a set of research opportunities for mountain soil biodiversity research worldwide. Soils in mountain ecosystems above the treeline fulfil critical functions and make essential contributions to life on land. Accordingly, seizing these opportunities and closing knowledge gaps appears crucial to enable science-based decision making in mountain regions and formulating laws and guidelines in support of mountain soil biodiversity conservation targets.</p>","PeriodicalId":133,"journal":{"name":"Biological Reviews","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144075053","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How do parasites and predators choose their victim? A trade-off between quality and vulnerability across antagonistic interactions.","authors":"Mairenn C Attwood","doi":"10.1111/brv.70037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.70037","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>From blood-sucking lice and food-stealing gulls to pandemic-inducing viruses and egg-eating snakes: parasites and predators are ubiquitous in shaping ecology and evolution. Fundamental to these interactions is the way in which parasites and predators choose their victim. Here, I argue that a trade-off between host quality and vulnerability can be generalised across systems to understand parasites' choice of hosts. This principle defines quality as the value of resources a host has, and vulnerability as the ease with which a parasite can obtain those resources. A parasite can choose a low-quality host, which is easier to attack but offers limited resources, or a high-quality host, which is more challenging to attack but offers more resources if the parasite is successful. The optimal decision for a parasite will depend on its ecology and the shape of the trade-off in a given system. The trade-off applies equally to predator-prey systems. Many studies of different types of parasitism and predation across taxa have investigated traits pertaining to quality or vulnerability, but their findings have not previously been integrated. Doing so makes it possible to draw out broad principles that determine whether quality or vulnerability has the greater impact on victim choice. It can also help explain contradictory findings, such as why the same antagonists choose high-quality victims in some studies, and low-quality victims in others. Further applications include predicting the effects of global change on host-parasite and predator-prey dynamics, and providing an integrated perspective on coevolutionary adaptations.</p>","PeriodicalId":133,"journal":{"name":"Biological Reviews","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144075055","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Critical insights into the potential risks of antipsychotic drugs to fish, including through effects on behaviour.","authors":"Gabrielle Wasser-Bennett, A Ross Brown, Samuel K Maynard, Stewart F Owen, Charles R Tyler","doi":"10.1111/brv.70031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.70031","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Antipsychotic drugs (APDs) are a diverse class of neuroactive pharmaceuticals increasingly detected in surface and ground waters globally. Some APDs are classified as posing a high environmental risk, due, in part, to their tendency to bioaccumulate in wildlife, including fish. Additional risk drivers for APDs relate to their behavioural effects, potentially impacting fitness outcomes. However, standard ecotoxicological tests used in environmental risk assessment (ERA) do not currently account for these mechanisms. In this review, we critically appraise the environmental risks of APDs to fish. We begin by reading-across from human and mammalian effects data to standard ecotoxicological effects endpoints in fish. We then explore the wide range of behaviours suitable for ecotoxicological assessment of APDs (and other neuroactive) pharmaceuticals, principally through laboratory studies with zebrafish, and assess the potential for using these behavioural phenotypes to predict adverse individual- and population-level outcomes in wild fish, taking into account phenotypic plasticity. Next, we illustrate the advantages and challenges of measuring and applying behavioural endpoints for fish, including within current regulatory risk assessments. In our final analysis, the implications of relying on apical endpoints for ERA of neuroactive drugs (including APDs) are assessed and recommendations provided for the development of a more refined and tailored mechanistic approach, which would enable more robust assessment of their environmental risk(s).</p>","PeriodicalId":133,"journal":{"name":"Biological Reviews","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143957611","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ecology needs a causal overhaul.","authors":"Daniel W Franks, Graeme D Ruxton, Tom Sherratt","doi":"10.1111/brv.70029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.70029","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ecology has yet to embrace causal inference, yet most questions in ecology are causal. Despite the common use of terms that imply causation, such as \"shapes\", \"drives\", or \"impacts\", many studies shy away from directly acknowledging their causal ambitions. This avoidance not only obscures the true intent of research but also underpins a broader challenge within the field's approach to science. Ecology relies heavily on observational data, and so the necessity for robust causal inference becomes paramount. However, causal methods are also needed for non-randomised experiments. We critique the predominance in ecology of scientifically empty statistical procedures that lack scientific clarity and value. We advocate for a shift towards explicit causal inference, arguing that understanding causality is not confined to randomised controlled trials but can also be enriched through observational data when paired with rigorous causal inference methodologies. This paper elucidates the common pitfalls in ecological studies, such as throwing all variables into an analysis, use of the Akaike information criterion (AIC) for model selection, the \"Table 2 fallacy\" and the misuse of controls: all of which can lead to misleading scientific understanding. The good news is that causal inference is not primarily a statistical problem, but rather a scientific one that is accessible to all ecologists. We can achieve reasonable progress by continuing to use the standard statistical toolbox based around regression models, familiar to many ecologists, paired with causal diagrams. For regression, causal inference is about understanding what we should condition on (good controls) and what we should not condition on (bad controls). We provide not only a critique but a constructive guide, aiming to demystify causal inference and encourage its adoption in ecological studies using familiar approaches. By doing so, we seek to elevate the quality and impact of ecological research, moving beyond routine convenient statistical procedures and towards a more scientifically sound and insightful understanding of ecology.</p>","PeriodicalId":133,"journal":{"name":"Biological Reviews","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143957488","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"New perspectives on body size and shape evolution in dinosaurs.","authors":"Matthew Dempsey, Samuel R R Cross, Susannah C R Maidment, John R Hutchinson, Karl T Bates","doi":"10.1111/brv.70026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.70026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Diversity in the body shapes and sizes of dinosaurs was foundational to their widespread success during the Mesozoic era. The ability to quantify body size and form reliably is therefore critical to the study of dinosaur biology and evolution. Body mass estimates for any given fossil animal are, in theory, most informative when derived from volumetric models that account for the three-dimensional shapes of the entire body. In addition to providing estimates of total body mass, volumetric approaches can be used to determine the inertial properties of specific body segments and the overall distribution of mass throughout the body, each of which are essential for the modelling and interpretation of form-function relationships and their associations with ecology. However, the determination of body volumes in fossil taxa is often subjective, and may be sensitive to varied artistic inference. This highlights the need for an approach to body mass estimation in which body segment volumes are systematically constrained by quantitative scaling relationships between the hard tissues that fossilise and the soft tissues only observable in extant taxa. To this end, we used recently published skeletal to soft tissue volumetric scaling factors derived from CT data of extant sauropsids to estimate body segment mass properties from skeletal models of 52 non-avian dinosaurs representing the majority of major clades and body plans. The body masses estimated by this study range from less than 200 g in the tiny avialan Yixianornis to over 60 tonnes in the giant sauropod Patagotitan, which is currently the largest dinosaur known from mostly complete skeletal remains. From our models, we infer that many previous reconstructions of soft tissue envelopes may be too small, and that many dinosaurs were therefore heavier than previous estimates. Our models generally overlap with the range of body mass estimates derived from limb bone shaft dimensions, but with considerable quantitative variability among major clades. This suggests that different taxa either differed in skeletal to soft tissue volume ratios, or that their limb bone dimensions varied relative to body mass, perhaps related to differences in locomotor dynamics and postural evolution. Our models also allowed us to investigate variation in mass distribution and body proportions across different dinosaurs from a perspective grounded in extant anatomical data, framing long-standing hypotheses about their form, function, and behaviour in a quantitative context. For example, reconstructed disparity in whole-body centres of mass reflects a broad array of postures in different dinosaur clades, while the lack of strong positive allometry in the dimensions of the weight-bearing limb segments relative to total body mass corroborates previous studies suggesting an overall decrease in dinosaur locomotor performance as body size increased.</p>","PeriodicalId":133,"journal":{"name":"Biological Reviews","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143954073","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Global consequences of dam-induced river fragmentation on diadromous migrants: a systematic review and meta-analysis.","authors":"Jeffery C F Chan, Billy Y K Lam, David Dudgeon, Jia Huan Liew","doi":"10.1111/brv.70032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.70032","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The global proliferation of dams has altered flow and sediment regimes in rivers, presenting a major threat to freshwater biodiversity. Diadromous species, such as fishes, decapod crustaceans and gastropods, are particularly susceptible to fragmentation because dams obstruct their breeding migrations between coastal waters and rivers. Although dams have contributed to significant declines in abundance of some commercially important diadromous fishes (salmonids and anguillids) and Macrobrachium shrimps, understanding of the impacts of fragmentation on the majority of diadromous animals is limited. Moreover, the number of species known to have diadromous life cycles has risen substantially during the last four decades, from ~250 to more than 800. This synthesis aims to consolidate the global impacts of fragmentation on diadromous animals and highlight potential knowledge gaps. We identified 338 publications documenting the impacts of dams on diadromous fishes and decapods, but this was reduced to 65 publications after application of our strict selection criteria. Specifically, we only included studies that compared unfragmented (e.g. undammed) or restored (e.g. dams with fish passes) with fragmented (e.g. site above dams) rivers. To assess statistical significance, the results of studies that were replicated sufficiently to enable calculation of standardised effect sizes were also subject to meta-analysis focusing on three topics: impacts of dam-induced fragmentation; efficacy of fish passes; and the mitigative potential of dam removal. Study outcomes were evaluated from five key variables: abundance; species richness; assemblage composition; population genetic diversity; and population genetic structure. We found that fragmentation led to net negative effects across all key variables for diadromous fishes. Fishes with limited jumping or climbing ability and obligate diadromous migrants that cannot persist as landlocked populations were more threatened by fragmentation. However, fishes that were capable climbers or jumpers and facultatively diadromous were nonetheless susceptible to impacts, particularly in their abundance and gene flow between fragmented populations. Installation of fish passes did not lead to positive outcomes, whereas dam removal was effective in restoring connectivity for fishes, suggesting that it is a more effective, albeit potentially contentious, approach (e.g. the dam may serve an important societal need), for restoring habitat connectivity. A smaller number of publications investigated diadromous decapods (seven versus 61 on fishes), and our synthesis of their findings suggests that decapods were vulnerable to habitat alteration by dams, but were less sensitive to their barrier effects because they were better climbers than fishes. Gastropods were the least studied diadromous taxon, and none met our criteria for systematic review or meta-analysis. The imbalance in information about diadromous taxa was compounded by ","PeriodicalId":133,"journal":{"name":"Biological Reviews","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143956014","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Grasping at water: a gap-oriented approach to bridging shortfalls in freshwater biodiversity conservation.","authors":"Charles B van Rees, Juergen Geist, Angela H Arthington","doi":"10.1111/brv.70030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.70030","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Freshwater biodiversity is the fastest declining part of the global biota, threatened by multiple stressors including habitat loss and fragmentation, climate change, invasive species, water pollution, and abstraction by humans. A multitude of recent agenda-setting publications have pointed out key objectives and goals for addressing this freshwater biodiversity crisis, but important gaps must be overcome to reach ambitious conservation targets. In this perspective, we complement these high-level papers in freshwater conservation by highlighting important gaps in knowledge, governance, and implementation. This gap-oriented approach is designed to facilitate meaningful action by highlighting missing 'pieces' in the conservation process, and their connection to existing and emerging solutions in the literature. We derive 13 overarching gaps from a conference session and informal synthesis of recent literature in freshwater biodiversity conservation to catalyse research, advocacy, and action to meet freshwater goals for the post-2020 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). Key gaps include inventory data on global freshwater biodiversity, collating and mobilizing conservation evidence in practice, improving coordination of ecological governance at scale -including within and across catchments-and navigating trade-offs between economic development, resource consumption, and priorities for freshwater biodiversity. Finally, we apply this gap-oriented approach to key language describing GBF goals for freshwater biodiversity conservation, and point out existing and emerging solutions which may help address important gaps. Major themes that address multiple gaps include the use of Nature-based Solutions and Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs), navigation of water management trade-offs between human and environmental needs, co-production of knowledge with Indigenous and local people and other stakeholders, integration of conservation research and action between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and funding and policy mechanisms to facilitate conservation action and support meaningful monitoring of conservation evidence across hydrological scales.</p>","PeriodicalId":133,"journal":{"name":"Biological Reviews","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143951914","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}