Ecology Letters最新文献

{"title":"Speciation History Shapes Patterns of Assemblage Species Richness in Birds","authors":"Bouwe R. Reijenga,&nbsp;Rampal S. Etienne,&nbsp;David J. Murrell,&nbsp;Alex L. Pigot","doi":"10.1111/ele.70432","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ele.70432","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Speciation is the ultimate source of biodiversity, yet because most species arise in spatial isolation (allopatry), it remains unclear how speciation history shapes patterns of sympatric species richness. Here, we examine how the timing of past speciation events influences the maximum sympatric species richness attained across 40 families of passerine birds. Using a phylogenetic model, we infer that the average waiting time for species to assemble in sympatry is remarkably long (~8 million years), occurring over macroevolutionary timescales comparable to the pace of speciation itself. Consequently, we find that the proportion of species in sympatry varies substantially across families, peaking in ancient or small clades comprised of older species, while remaining low in large, rapidly diversifying clades. Our analysis shows that macroevolutionary delays in colonisation are sufficient for speciation history to leave an indelible legacy on present-day assemblages, challenging the view that richness is strictly limited by contemporary environmental capacity.</p>","PeriodicalId":161,"journal":{"name":"Ecology Letters","volume":"29 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2026-06-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ele.70432","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148299495","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}

{"title":"Shift in Soil Fauna Feeding Mode With Litter Quality Across Forest Biomes","authors":"Sergey M. Tsurikov,&nbsp;Andrew D. Barnes,&nbsp;Ulrich Brose,&nbsp;Felicity V. Crotty,&nbsp;Anton A. Goncharov,&nbsp;Anastasia Yu. Gorbunova,&nbsp;Fujio Hyodo,&nbsp;Malte Jochum,&nbsp;Bernhard Klarner,&nbsp;Daniil I. Korobushkin,&nbsp;Zhipeng Li,&nbsp;Dana Liebke,&nbsp;Ilya I. Lyubechanskii,&nbsp;Melanie M. Pollierer,&nbsp;Di Ajeng Prameswari,&nbsp;Oksana L. Rozanova,&nbsp;Ruslan A. Saifutdinov,&nbsp;Nicole Scheunemann,&nbsp;Winda Ika Susanti,&nbsp;Irina V. Zenkova,&nbsp;Yan Zhang,&nbsp;Zheng Zhou,&nbsp;Andrey G. Zuev,&nbsp;Stefan Scheu,&nbsp;Alexei V. Tiunov,&nbsp;Anton M. Potapov","doi":"10.1111/ele.70421","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ele.70421","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Soil fauna regulates litter decomposition and soil organic matter transformation, acting as both litter and microbial feeders. Whether these feeding modes shift along environmental gradients remains unclear. We tested if microbivory increases with decreasing litter quality and in colder climates, both factors limiting detritus digestion by fauna. Using stable isotope composition (δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N) of 7408 soil invertebrate samples from 228 forest sites across temperate to tropical biomes, we determined δ¹⁵N values are positively associated with litter C:N ratio and mean annual temperature, indicating a shift from detritivory toward microbivory under low litter quality with additional modulation by climate. In contrast, δ¹³C values showed no consistent association with litter C:N ratio or climate, reflecting context dependent microbial carbon routing. Our findings highlight litter quality as the primary driver of the detritivory-to-microbivory shift in soil fauna, with implications for predicting changes in climate and plant communities on carbon cycling in terrestrial ecosystems.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":161,"journal":{"name":"Ecology Letters","volume":"29 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2026-06-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ele.70421","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148290610","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}

{"title":"A Century of Shifting Native Species-Accumulation Curves Reveals Long-Term Biodiversity Loss","authors":"Kaixuan Pan,&nbsp;Leon Marshall,&nbsp;Jacobus C. Biesmeijer,&nbsp;Geert R. de Snoo","doi":"10.1111/ele.70429","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ele.70429","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The species-area relationship is a cornerstone of biodiversity theory and conservation. Yet, its temporal stability remains largely untested. Using nearly a century of disjunct vegetation-plot data from the Netherlands, we assess changes in the species-area relationship by constructing species-accumulation curves (SACs). We show that SACs have flattened significantly over time, indicating widespread biodiversity decline driven by habitat degradation and spatial homogenization, even within protected areas. Although grassland biodiversity has rebounded, forest biodiversity continues to decline, suggesting a greater extinction debt. These findings provide unprecedented evidence that biodiversity patterns captured by SACs shift over time. They also reveal a critical limitation of conservation strategies that rely solely on protected area expansion. As global biodiversity goals aim to halt biodiversity loss by 2030, our results emphasise the need for adaptive conservation strategies that integrate area-based protection with large-scale habitat restoration and improved ecosystem management.</p>","PeriodicalId":161,"journal":{"name":"Ecology Letters","volume":"29 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2026-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ele.70429","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148248511","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}

{"title":"Neighbourhood Diversity Effects on Tree Growth Shift Over Time in a Long-Term Forest Biodiversity Experiment","authors":"Zhuo Yang,&nbsp;Bernhard Schmid,&nbsp;Chen Chen,&nbsp;Shan Li,&nbsp;Franca J. Bongers,&nbsp;Goddert von Oheimb,&nbsp;Helge Bruelheide,&nbsp;Lei Chen,&nbsp;Keping Ma,&nbsp;Xiaojuan Liu","doi":"10.1111/ele.70420","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ele.70420","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Tree species richness–productivity relationships (SPRs) at community level are generally positive but can weaken at individual levels due to increased competition. Using 12 years of growth data from a large forest biodiversity experiment, we examined effects of neighbourhood tree species richness, basal area, and niche differences on focal tree growth over time. As stands aged, the effect of greater neighbourhood basal area in more species-rich neighbourhoods on focal tree growth shifted from positive to negative, but this negative effect was offset by increasingly positive effects arising from greater niche differentiation between focal trees and their neighbours. Focal trees with acquisitive traits showed stronger growth responses to neighbourhood competition and niche difference; while the responses to neighbourhood richness were more positive in dry than in wet years. Our findings suggest that larger niche differences can balance increased competition in more species-rich forest stands, thus allowing these stands to maintain a greater total biomass than less diverse forest stands.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":161,"journal":{"name":"Ecology Letters","volume":"29 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2026-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148248178","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}

{"title":"Beyond Temperature: Relative Humidity Systematically Shifts Juvenile Thermal Performance and Projected Population Growth in a Malaria Vector","authors":"Paul J. Huxley,&nbsp;Joel J. Brown,&nbsp;Brandyce St. Laurent,&nbsp;Britny Johnson,&nbsp;Olivia Y. Cheung,&nbsp;Anna Asamoah,&nbsp;Brandon D. Hollingsworth,&nbsp;Eric R. Bump,&nbsp;Michael C. Wimberly,&nbsp;Mercedes Pascual,&nbsp;Leah R. Johnson,&nbsp;Courtney C. Murdock","doi":"10.1111/ele.70416","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ele.70416","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Understanding how temperature-sensitive organisms respond to environmental change is central to addressing challenges in public health, biodiversity conservation and food security. For many ectotherms, abiotic and biotic factors shape their abundance and distribution by generating stage-specific variation in life history traits. Although previous studies have examined temperature, rainfall, competition and habitat quality in relation to maximal population growth rate (<span></span><math>\u0000 <semantics>\u0000 <mrow>\u0000 <msub>\u0000 <mi>r</mi>\u0000 <mi>m</mi>\u0000 </msub>\u0000 </mrow>\u0000 <annotation>$$ {r}_{mathrm{m}} $$</annotation>\u0000 </semantics></math>), relative humidity has rarely been incorporated into trait-based thermal performance frameworks. Using laboratory experiments, we show that relative humidity alters juvenile life history trait responses in <i>Anopheles stephensi</i>, an important malaria vector. We then integrate these humidity-dependent juvenile trait responses into an analytic <span></span><math>\u0000 <semantics>\u0000 <mrow>\u0000 <msub>\u0000 <mi>r</mi>\u0000 <mi>m</mi>\u0000 </msub>\u0000 </mrow>\u0000 <annotation>$$ {r}_{mathrm{m}} $$</annotation>\u0000 </semantics></math> model to examine how relative humidity shifts the temperature dependence of projected population growth. Heuristic climate-suitability comparisons further illustrate that temperature–humidity interactions acting through juvenile traits alone can alter qualitative inference about when and where temperature-only models may over- or underestimate environmental suitability. These results highlight the importance of incorporating humidity alongside temperature when assessing ectotherm responses to climatic variation.</p>","PeriodicalId":161,"journal":{"name":"Ecology Letters","volume":"29 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2026-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ele.70416","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148222292","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}

{"title":"General Predictions for the Effects of Warming on Competition","authors":"Kaleigh E. Davis,&nbsp;Tess N. Grainger,&nbsp;Po-Ju Ke,&nbsp;Patrick L. Thompson,&nbsp;Mary I. O'Connor,&nbsp;Joey R. Bernhardt","doi":"10.1111/ele.70395","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ele.70395","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Understanding the effects of climate change on ecological communities has been limited by a lack of general theory for how temperature affects competition. To fill this knowledge gap, we integrated Modern Coexistence Theory and the Metabolic Theory of Ecology by incorporating empirically derived temperature sensitivities into Modern Coexistence Theory's central model. We then simulated warming in consumer-resource systems and found that warming reduced both niche and fitness differences, making species more ecologically similar and competitive interactions more neutral. The greatest shifts in competition occurred when temperature sensitivities among species were highly asymmetrical. Effects of warming on competition via niche differences were comparable to those on fitness differences, suggesting that the emphasis on vital rates in global change research may overlook key biodiversity drivers. This general theory expands the domains of two prominent ecological theories and provides predictions for how warming may alter competition even in benign regions of species' thermal niches.</p>","PeriodicalId":161,"journal":{"name":"Ecology Letters","volume":"29 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2026-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ele.70395","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148215820","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}

{"title":"Within-Night Variation in Predictor Importance Highlights Dynamic Nature of Bird Migration","authors":"Miguel F. Jimenez,&nbsp;Ali Khalighifar,&nbsp;Kyle G. Horton","doi":"10.1111/ele.70422","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ele.70422","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Ecological forecasting is increasingly important for conservation. Predicting nocturnal bird migration events is a promising vehicle for forecasts but isn't often explored at fine temporal scales. We use weather surveillance radar to examine dynamic drivers of migration in 2-h periods throughout a night. We assess the relative importance of terrestrial, atmospheric and sampling predictors (which relate to radar position and scan timing) across spring and fall. Atmospheric conditions were consistently strong predictors. In contrast, terrestrial predictors contributed relatively little to explaining variation in activity. Sampling variables, such as time after sunset, varied in importance, with the highest influence shortly after sunset. We highlight the temporal variability in predictors of migration, emphasising it as a dynamic process, involving continuous decisions and adjustments rather than following fixed routes. We underscore the value of radar for capturing transitions between habitats while revealing key limitations and opportunities for understanding fine-scale migratory behaviour.</p>","PeriodicalId":161,"journal":{"name":"Ecology Letters","volume":"29 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2026-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ele.70422","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148215742","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}

{"title":"Macrogenetic Alignment in Ecological Strategies Better Interprets Assembly Processes Than Pre-Determined Functional Groupings","authors":"Maurizio Rossetto,&nbsp;Richard Dimon,&nbsp;Robert M. Kooyman,&nbsp;Peter D. Wilson,&nbsp;Jia-Yee S. Yap","doi":"10.1111/ele.70418","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ele.70418","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Understanding how species assemble across landscapes requires integration of data representing evolutionary, ecological, and biogeographic processes. We developed a comparative macrogenetic framework, applying it across 22 co-distributed rainforest trees, to identify replicated landscape-level genetic signatures. Diversity-migration analyses and genogeographic clustering identified shared spatial dynamics in relation to refugial areas and genetic turnover, but with no direct relation to simple functional trait combinations. Three broad patterns emerged: <i>Higher Northern Diversity</i> with southward migration, <i>Higher Southern Diversity</i> with northward migration, and <i>Homogeneous Diversity</i> with no directional migration. We identified five (post hoc) species groups sharing gene flow and isolation-by-distance dynamics in relation to recognised biogeographic barriers. Replicated genetic signatures highlight how assembly processes emerge from interacting ecological and historical filters rather than single traits or biogeographic histories alone. We present a statistically replicable interpretational framework to identify shared evolutionary and ecological dynamics, offering scalable, management relevant tools to support restoration planning and biodiversity conservation under environmental change across all types of vegetation.</p>","PeriodicalId":161,"journal":{"name":"Ecology Letters","volume":"29 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2026-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ele.70418","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148196710","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}

{"title":"Comparative Analysis of Diversification Rates in Clonal and Non-Clonal Flowering Plants","authors":"Sonia Kadyan,&nbsp;Jitka Klimešová,&nbsp;Dimitar Dimitrov,&nbsp;Zhiheng Wang,&nbsp;Jan Smyčka,&nbsp;Tomáš Herben","doi":"10.1111/ele.70423","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ele.70423","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Clonality, the process of vegetative reproduction through belowground organs (rhizomes, stolons), occurs in about half of all plant species. It influences key ecological and evolutionary phenomena, including effective population size, meiosis frequency and genet longevity, which may affect diversification rates. This study investigates how clonality impacts diversification in angiosperms by comparing clonal, mixed and non-clonal genera. Using genus-level phylogeny and data on clonal status of 16,465 species across 2997 genera, we estimated speciation and net diversification rates for each genus with MoM, DR and BAMM. Our results reveal lower diversification rates in clonal genera in non-phylogenetic models, consistent with the hypothesis that clonality constrains diversification. This effect weakens when accounting for phylogenetic non-independence but remains significant overall. We show that monocots show a slightly stronger effect of clonality on diversification than eudicots. Our findings suggest that clonality may limit long-term diversification in angiosperms, influencing evolutionary dynamics where clonal reproduction predominates.</p>","PeriodicalId":161,"journal":{"name":"Ecology Letters","volume":"29 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.9,"publicationDate":"2026-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ele.70423","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148196761","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}

{"title":"Host-Pathogen Network and Eco-Evolutionary Drivers of Avian Influenza Transmission in Wild Birds.","authors":"Xinyi Wang, Zhi Ling, Xiaocan Chen, Swapnil Mishra, Lu Dong","doi":"10.1111/ele.70391","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ele.70391","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Multi-host pathogens vary in how they utilise different hosts, yet the traits determining which species occupy central positions in transmission networks remain poorly understood. We tested whether the wild bird-avian influenza virus (AIV) network exhibits a scale-free structure, implying that hub hosts disproportionately contribute to transmission and whether ecological and evolutionary traits jointly predict hub status. Using global infection records, we constructed a bipartite network linking 247 bird species to 105 AIV subtypes. Degree distributions followed a power-law pattern, confirming substantial heterogeneity in host importance. We identified 23 hub species, exclusively from Anseriformes and Charadriiformes. Interpretable machine learning revealed that hub species share strong flightability, prolonged water-surface foraging, greater longevity and higher diversification rates, indicating that both ecological exposure and evolutionary history influence hub status. These findings provide insight into host-pathogen network dynamics and highlight priority species for targeted AIV surveillance and control.</p>","PeriodicalId":161,"journal":{"name":"Ecology Letters","volume":"29 6","pages":"e70391"},"PeriodicalIF":7.7,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148025190","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}