Ecology Letters最新文献

Living on the Edge: Ecological and Evolutionary Dynamics Along Invasion Fronts 生活在边缘：沿入侵前沿的生态和进化动力学。

IF 7.7 1区环境科学与生态学

Ecology Letters Pub Date : 2026-10-15 DOI: 10.1111/ele.70465

Phillip J. Haubrock, Neil Angelo Abreo, Stelios Katsanevakis, Franz Essl, Ali Serhan Tarkan, Janeide Padilha, Philip E. Hulme, Danish A. Ahmed, António Barbosa Nogueira, Teun Everts, Cang Hui, Ronaldo Sousa, J. Robert Britton

{"title":"Living on the Edge: Ecological and Evolutionary Dynamics Along Invasion Fronts","authors":"Phillip J. Haubrock, Neil Angelo Abreo, Stelios Katsanevakis, Franz Essl, Ali Serhan Tarkan, Janeide Padilha, Philip E. Hulme, Danish A. Ahmed, António Barbosa Nogueira, Teun Everts, Cang Hui, Ronaldo Sousa, J. Robert Britton","doi":"10.1111/ele.70465","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ele.70465","url":null,"abstract":"Invasion fronts are the advancing edges of non-native species' ranges and represent dynamic, non-equilibrium boundaries where colonization, biotic interactions and rapid evolutionary processes interact. Although biological invasions are increasingly well studied, the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms operating at invasion fronts remain conceptually fragmented despite their disproportionate influence on spread dynamics, exerted impact and management. Here, we synthesize how invasion-front geometries arise from interactions among propagule pressure, landscape permeability, long-distance dispersal and environmental heterogeneity, producing continuous (including satellite colonies), patchy/fragmented or coalescing fronts that shift with invasion stage and spatiotemporal scales. We integrate ecological and evolutionary evidence from macro-organisms to show how gradients from core to front can result in declining population density, increased trait divergence, spatial sorting, serial founder effects, expansion load, and behavioural and physiological differentiation. We further draw parallels with climate-driven range expansions, while emphasizing the stronger disequilibrium and novel biotic contexts characteristic of non-native invasion fronts. Finally, we map these dynamics onto impact trajectories, demonstrating how trait-mediated interactions, resource reallocation and system-level reconfiguration can emerge sequentially along the invasion gradient. By unifying ecological and evolutionary processes across appropriate spatial and temporal scales, we establish invasion fronts as powerful natural laboratories and critical leverage points for predicting, monitoring and managing biological invasions.","PeriodicalId":161,"journal":{"name":"Ecology Letters","volume":"29 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ele.70465","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149190470","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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}

引用次数: 0

Coinfections Dampen the Effects of Temperature on Host–Parasite Interactions 共感染抑制温度对宿主-寄生虫相互作用的影响

IF 7.7 1区环境科学与生态学

Ecology Letters Pub Date : 2026-10-14 DOI: 10.1111/ele.70464

I. Will, C. A. Smith, T. E. Hector, K. C. King

{"title":"Coinfections Dampen the Effects of Temperature on Host–Parasite Interactions","authors":"I. Will, C. A. Smith, T. E. Hector, K. C. King","doi":"10.1111/ele.70464","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ele.70464","url":null,"abstract":"Coinfections by multiple parasite species are widespread and often modify disease outcomes. To what degree other forms of ecological complexity, such as environmental change, influence the impacts of coinfecting parasites on disease remains unclear. We exposed nematodes (Caenorhabditis elegans) to naturally coinfecting parasites (Leucobacter celer and Leucobacter musarum) at temperatures across the host's thermal range. While we found that host mortality varied widely with temperature during single infections, coinfections buffered hosts against temperature-mediated variation via ongoing parasite competition. We extended our experiments with mathematical models indicating that changing virulence, rather than transmission, most plausibly underpins temperature-dependent host mortality. At moderate, but not extreme temperatures, we found coinfection continued to dampen mortality outcomes due to another source of host variation, genotypic susceptibility. Coinfection may provide a stabilizing effect on disease in a warming world—but this effect can falter when hosts are faced with multiple stressors.","PeriodicalId":161,"journal":{"name":"Ecology Letters","volume":"29 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ele.70464","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149172724","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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}

引用次数: 0

Pyrodiversity and Phylodiversity: Insights on Post-Fire Forest Communities 热解多样性和系统多样性：对火灾后森林群落的认识

IF 7.7 1区环境科学与生态学

Ecology Letters Pub Date : 2026-10-09 DOI: 10.1111/ele.70460

Rebecca C. Wilcox, Becky L. Estes, Brent D. Mishler, Sarah J. Jacobs

{"title":"Pyrodiversity and Phylodiversity: Insights on Post-Fire Forest Communities","authors":"Rebecca C. Wilcox, Becky L. Estes, Brent D. Mishler, Sarah J. Jacobs","doi":"10.1111/ele.70460","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ele.70460","url":null,"abstract":"Fire is a fundamental process that structures community assembly and biodiversity patterns; however, altered disturbance regimes associated with anthropogenic change present a major threat to fire-adapted systems. Reintroducing fire to increase pyrodiversity (spatiotemporal diversity in fire) has been identified as an important step in restoring fire-adapted western temperate forests. Here, we utilize phylogenetic and taxonomic metrics to assess how pyrodiversity influences plant community assembly dynamics and diversity patterns in the central Sierra Nevada, California, USA. Compared to fire exclusion, regional taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity generally increased after fire. Further, with increased pyrodiversity, community assembly mechanisms diversified and occurrences of diverse plant lineages and local phylogenetic endemism increased, illustrating how evolutionary history influences responses of plants to pyrodiversity. These results demonstrate the importance of restoring mixed-severity fire to these systems and how phylogenetic tools can provide a valuable way to understand and monitor restoration impacts.","PeriodicalId":161,"journal":{"name":"Ecology Letters","volume":"29 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ele.70460","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149140462","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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}

引用次数: 0

Seasonal Temperature Fluctuation Enables Persistence of a Model Multi-Trophic System 季节温度波动使模式多营养系统能够持续存在

IF 7.7 1区环境科学与生态学

Ecology Letters Pub Date : 2026-10-07 DOI: 10.1111/ele.70461

Tiantian Liu, Lin Wang, Jinlin Chen, Minghui Fei, Jeffrey A. Harvey, Owen T. Lewis, Dongbo Li, Nuo Xu, Chi Xu, Shucun Sun, Xinqiang Xi

{"title":"Seasonal Temperature Fluctuation Enables Persistence of a Model Multi-Trophic System","authors":"Tiantian Liu, Lin Wang, Jinlin Chen, Minghui Fei, Jeffrey A. Harvey, Owen T. Lewis, Dongbo Li, Nuo Xu, Chi Xu, Shucun Sun, Xinqiang Xi","doi":"10.1111/ele.70461","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.70461","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 Seasonal thermal fluctuation is a dominant environmental force in temperate ecosystems, yet its role in shaping community dynamics and persistence remains poorly understood. We addressed this question by tracking high-resolution seasonal dynamics of a model system composed of host Drosophila flies and two parasitoid species attacking hosts at larval and pupal stages respectively. Both parasitoid species increased in abundance steadily during the spring. The pupal parasitoid declined in summer but resurged in autumn, whereas the larval parasitoid declined after a summer peak. The host population remained relatively stable after an initial spring increase. Modelling predicted that the system would collapse under constant cool environments due to excessive parasitism on hosts, whereas pupal parasitoids would be excluded under constant warmth. These predictions were validated by controlled laboratory mesocosm experiments. Life history assays clearly revealed that cool and warm seasons favour different parasitoid species: cooler temperatures resulted in higher mortality of immature larval parasitoids due to host immunity, whereas warmer temperatures narrowed the host exposure window and increased mortality of immature pupal parasitoids. These results demonstrate that seasonal temperature fluctuation maintains a fragile multi-trophic motif by preventing resource overexploitation and competitive exclusion, highlighting that intra-annual periodic forcing sustains biodiversity.\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":161,"journal":{"name":"Ecology Letters","volume":"29 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149099756","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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}

引用次数: 0

Toward an Ecology of Household Biomes 迈向家庭生物群落生态学

IF 7.7 1区环境科学与生态学

Ecology Letters Pub Date : 2026-10-06 DOI: 10.1111/ele.70462

Raul Costa-Pereira, Robert R. Dunn

引用次数: 0

The Effect of Biogeographic Origin on the Adaptive Trajectories of Plants in Urban Environments 生物地理来源对城市环境下植物适应轨迹的影响

IF 7.7 1区环境科学与生态学

Ecology Letters Pub Date : 2026-10-06 DOI: 10.1111/ele.70463

Bojana Stojanova, Lucrezia Laccetti, Tsipe Aavik, Pierluigi Cortis, Federica Fumo, Charlotte Møller, Zuzana Münzbergová, Markéta Průšová, Christoph Rosche, Virve Sõber, Epp Valdaru, Giuseppe Pellegrino, Giovanni Scopece

{"title":"The Effect of Biogeographic Origin on the Adaptive Trajectories of Plants in Urban Environments","authors":"Bojana Stojanova, Lucrezia Laccetti, Tsipe Aavik, Pierluigi Cortis, Federica Fumo, Charlotte Møller, Zuzana Münzbergová, Markéta Průšová, Christoph Rosche, Virve Sõber, Epp Valdaru, Giuseppe Pellegrino, Giovanni Scopece","doi":"10.1111/ele.70463","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ele.70463","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 Parallel adaptation is a hallmark of urban evolution, yet whether plant responses to urbanization are globally consistent or influenced by biogeographic origin remains unclear. We investigated pollinator communities, floral display and reproductive allocation in Trifolium repens along urbanization gradients in 11 European urban areas spanning boreal, continental, and Mediterranean biogeographic regions. We found strong differences, with boreal and continental gradients showing no consistent floral trait shifts, whereas Mediterranean gradients showed parallel reductions in flower and inflorescence size with increased urbanization. This pattern persisted under common-garden conditions, indicating a genetic basis. Pollinator assemblage, lacking consistent variation along the gradients, did not explain phenotypic changes. Instead, in the Mediterranean, we found an increased asexual investment, suggesting an adaptive trade-off with floral display. These findings highlight that urban evolutionary trajectories can be modulated by biogeographic origin, with semi-arid Mediterranean environments emerging as hotspots of urban-driven adaptation and particularly vulnerable to future urban expansion.\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":161,"journal":{"name":"Ecology Letters","volume":"29 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149090797","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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}

引用次数: 0

Functional Identity Drives Directional Shifts in Freshwater Plankton Biomass–Size Relationships 功能同一性驱动淡水浮游生物生物量大小关系的方向性变化

IF 7.7 1区环境科学与生态学

Ecology Letters Pub Date : 2026-10-04 DOI: 10.1111/ele.70458

Heather L. Wander, Yannick Huot, Beatrix E. Beisner

{"title":"Functional Identity Drives Directional Shifts in Freshwater Plankton Biomass–Size Relationships","authors":"Heather L. Wander, Yannick Huot, Beatrix E. Beisner","doi":"10.1111/ele.70458","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ele.70458","url":null,"abstract":"Body size is a master variable in ecology that can predict ecosystem-level processes and reflect environmental conditions across diverse ecosystems. In freshwater ecosystems, the relationship between body size and biomass provides a powerful tool for characterizing community structure and trophic transfer efficiency. While these relationships are well established at the whole-community level, responses within plankton functional groups with distinct ecological characteristics have yet to be explored. In this study, we analysed plankton biomass-size relationships across > 550 Canadian lakes. For phytoplankton, we found that mixotrophs exhibited positive biomass-size slopes, while autotrophs exhibited negative slopes. For zooplankton, herbivores exhibited relatively flat slopes, while non-herbivores exhibited negative slopes. Biomass-size relationships also differed among lake trophic states, but only for phytoplankton functional groups. This work should improve predictions and assessments of freshwater ecosystem functioning and food web pathways, based on our observation of directional shifts in biomass-size relationships across functional groups and trophic states.","PeriodicalId":161,"journal":{"name":"Ecology Letters","volume":"29 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ele.70458","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149086870","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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}

引用次数: 0

Land Use Mediates Long-Term Arthropod Functional Change 土地利用介导节肢动物的长期功能变化

IF 7.7 1区环境科学与生态学

Ecology Letters Pub Date : 2026-09-24 DOI: 10.1111/ele.70457

Carlos Martínez-Núñez, Martin M. Gossner, Felix Neff, Marco Moretti, Martin K. Obrist, Felix Herzog, Kurt Bollmann, Peter Duelli, Eva Knop, Henryk Luka, Matthias Albrecht

{"title":"Land Use Mediates Long-Term Arthropod Functional Change","authors":"Carlos Martínez-Núñez, Martin M. Gossner, Felix Neff, Marco Moretti, Martin K. Obrist, Felix Herzog, Kurt Bollmann, Peter Duelli, Eva Knop, Henryk Luka, Matthias Albrecht","doi":"10.1111/ele.70457","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ele.70457","url":null,"abstract":"Global change reshapes arthropod communities, yet long-term effects on their functional diversity remain unclear. Using a long-term dataset comprising > 1.3 million individuals of 728 carabid and spider species, we quantified temporal trends in functional diversity across forests, grasslands and croplands. Trajectories diverged strongly among land uses: functional richness increased in forests and grasslands but declined sharply in croplands. In forests, communities became more specialised and less redundant, suggesting increasing niche differentiation, but experienced greater functional richness loss under simulated species extinctions. Cropland assemblages became functionally homogenised. Losses of key effect traits among spiders suggest potential erosion of ecosystem functions in croplands. Moreover, genera dominated by species with unique trait combinations were typically larger-bodied and less dispersive, and their loss would remove irreplaceable functional strategies from communities. Overall, our study reveals diverging long-term trajectories of arthropod functional diversity across land uses, indicating potential negative consequences for ecosystem functioning in arable landscapes.","PeriodicalId":161,"journal":{"name":"Ecology Letters","volume":"29 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2026-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ele.70457","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149033096","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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}

引用次数: 0

Experimental Evidence of High-Dimensional Elementome Shifts Due to Coexistence and Its Effects on Growth Rates 共存导致的高维元素组移位及其对生长速率影响的实验证据

IF 7.7 1区环境科学与生态学

Ecology Letters Pub Date : 2026-09-20 DOI: 10.1111/ele.70456

M. Fernández-Martínez, A. Martín, E. Rodríguez-Penedo, S. Poblador, E. Romero, F. Sabater, R. Grau-Andrés

{"title":"Experimental Evidence of High-Dimensional Elementome Shifts Due to Coexistence and Its Effects on Growth Rates","authors":"M. Fernández-Martínez, A. Martín, E. Rodríguez-Penedo, S. Poblador, E. Romero, F. Sabater, R. Grau-Andrés","doi":"10.1111/ele.70456","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ele.70456","url":null,"abstract":"Elementomes (i.e., the concentration of bioelements of an organism) have been shown to be related to organism traits and function, and to change across space and time mostly due to changes in environmental conditions, but also due to coexistence amongst species. While there is vast observational evidence for that, experimental evidence remains elusive. Here we set up a diversity experiment, based on 20 aquatic microcosms where we grew one, two, three or four moss species together, to test whether coexistence amongst species is an important driver of high-dimensional elementome shifts in mixed communities. Our results provide experimental evidence showing that species tend to shift their elemental composition in response to coexistence, and that the magnitude of this shift increases with the elemental diversity of the community. Overall, our results provide the first experimental evidence of high-dimensional shifts in elementomes due to coexistence, supporting the biogeochemical niche hypothesis.","PeriodicalId":161,"journal":{"name":"Ecology Letters","volume":"29 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2026-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ele.70456","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149009908","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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}

引用次数: 0

Phylogeny Drives Carrion Consumption by Vertebrate Scavengers Towards Distantly Related Species 系统发育驱使脊椎动物食腐动物向远亲物种消耗腐肉

IF 7.7 1区环境科学与生态学

Ecology Letters Pub Date : 2026-09-20 DOI: 10.1111/ele.70455

Tatiana Pessano-Serrat, Roberto C. Rodríguez-Caro, Daniel Redondo-Gómez, Adrian Orihuela-Torres

{"title":"Phylogeny Drives Carrion Consumption by Vertebrate Scavengers Towards Distantly Related Species","authors":"Tatiana Pessano-Serrat, Roberto C. Rodríguez-Caro, Daniel Redondo-Gómez, Adrian Orihuela-Torres","doi":"10.1111/ele.70455","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ele.70455","url":null,"abstract":"Carrion is a highly nutritious resource that attracts diverse organisms and plays a key role in ecosystem functioning. However, it could also pose pathogen risks, especially from phylogenetically close carcass-scavenger pairs sharing traits that facilitate transmission. Although phylogenetic distance has long been suggested to influence scavenger feeding patterns, evidence remains scarce and limited at specific scales. To address this gap, we used camera-trap monitoring to record scavenging events on fish, bird, and mammal carcasses in a Mediterranean wetland and evaluated how phylogenetic distance between vertebrate scavengers and available carcasses shaped feeding patterns. Our results revealed a consistent pattern across the assemblage, showing that scavengers consumed carcasses that were more phylogenetically distant than expected by chance, although this pattern varied slightly between taxonomic classes and at the species level. Our findings suggest the existence of a natural mechanism by which scavengers may reduce pathogen exposure when selecting carcasses.","PeriodicalId":161,"journal":{"name":"Ecology Letters","volume":"29 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2026-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ele.70455","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149010052","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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}

引用次数: 0