Nature ecology & evolution最新文献

{"title":"Critical thresholds of adult patch density and spacing during coral fertilization","authors":"Gerard Ricardo, Christopher Doropoulos, Russell C. Babcock, Elizabeth Buccheri, Andrew Khalil, Peter J. Mumby","doi":"10.1038/s41559-025-02844-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-025-02844-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Climate change and other anthropogenic stressors have severe impacts on the ecological functioning of marine ecosystems by causing widespread declines in population sizes and, for surviving individuals, limiting the capacity for population recovery through sexual reproduction. Ecological theory suggests that affected populations can suffer local extinction because of Allee effects, where reduced population densities prevent gamete encounters, resulting in reproductive failure. Without understanding the relationship between the density or spacing of spawning individuals and fertilization success, coral reefs may unknowingly pass a critical population threshold, further complicating conservation efforts. In this study we conducted a series of independent manipulative field experiments using three common simultaneous hermaphroditic spawning <i>Acropora</i> species in two locations (One Tree Island, Great Barrier Reef, and Ngermid Bay, Palau) to assess evidence of Allee effects in small populations. Experimental ‘patches’ of corals were structured with mean intercolonial distances ranging from 1 m to 2 m, resulting in low but measurable fertilization success (1.2–8.7%). We developed a mechanistic coral fertilization model and validated its predictions against this empirical data, finding close alignment. Depending on the species and their colony size, the model predicts that adult coral densities need to exceed 13–50 colonies per 100 m² for reefs to ensure 10% fertilization success.</p>","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"162 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":16.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144928181","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":"Hominin glacial-stage occupation 712,000 to 424,000 years ago at Fordwich Pit, Old Park (Canterbury, UK)","authors":"Alastair Key,&nbsp;James Clark,&nbsp;Tobias Lauer,&nbsp;Jennifer Bates,&nbsp;Mark-Jan Sier,&nbsp;Claire Nichols,&nbsp;Carmen Martín-Ramos,&nbsp;Adela Cebeiro,&nbsp;Eleanor Williams,&nbsp;Sunghui Kim,&nbsp;Finn Stileman,&nbsp;Anna Mika,&nbsp;Matthew Pope,&nbsp;David Bridgland,&nbsp;David Redhouse,&nbsp;Michela Leonardi,&nbsp;Geoff M. Smith,&nbsp;Tomos Proffitt","doi":"10.1038/s41559-025-02829-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41559-025-02829-x","url":null,"abstract":"Few high-latitude archaeological contexts are older than marine isotope stage (MIS) 15 and even fewer provide evidence of early human occupation during a glacial period. New discoveries at Old Park, Canterbury (UK), provide evidence of both the oldest accessible artefact-bearing sediment in northern Europe and cold-stage adaptation. Radiometric and palaeomagnetic dating places the earliest suggested occupation of this site between 773 thousand years ago (ka) and 607 ka, with hominin presence inferred during MIS 17–16. Two additional artefact-bearing stratigraphic units, dated to around 542 ka and 437 ka, strongly align with the MIS 14 and 12 cold stages, respectively. The latter unit contains convincing evidence of glacial-stage occupation by Acheulean hominins; fresh, unabraded flakes (including biface-thinning) between clearly defined glacial-aged sediments displaying mixed grassland palaeoenvironmental evidence. An historically collected assemblage of more than 330 handaxes is argued to be derived from both the MIS 17–16 and MIS 12 sediments, providing evidence of the earliest known Acheulean bifaces in northern Europe, and re-occupation by Acheulean populations 200,000 years later. Together, Old Park provides evidence for Lower Palaeolithic hominins reoccupying a location over several mid-Pleistocene MIS cycles, early human presence above 51° latitude during a glacial stage and handaxe production in northern Europe from MIS 17 to 16. The authors report Acheulean hominin occupation of eastern Britain during glacial marine isotope stages 17–16 and again in glacial marine isotope stage 12 via stone tools in sediments dated to 712,000 to 424,000 years ago.","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"9 10","pages":"1781-1790"},"PeriodicalIF":13.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-025-02829-x.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144924122","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Independent origins of long snouts","authors":"Vaishali Bhaumik","doi":"10.1038/s41559-025-02856-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41559-025-02856-8","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"9 9","pages":"1547-1547"},"PeriodicalIF":13.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144906266","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":"Lake Tanganyika cichlids partition habitat by time","authors":"Andrew J. Conith","doi":"10.1038/s41559-025-02847-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41559-025-02847-9","url":null,"abstract":"New experimental evidence suggests that cichlids in Lake Tanganyika exhibit diverse activity patterns, and these differences are associated with variation in unexpected genetic loci.","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"9 10","pages":"1763-1764"},"PeriodicalIF":13.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144906355","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":"Widespread temporal niche partitioning in an adaptive radiation of cichlid fishes","authors":"Annika L. A. Nichols,&nbsp;Maxwell E. R. Shafer,&nbsp;Adrian Indermaur,&nbsp;Attila Rüegg,&nbsp;Rita Gonzalez-Dominguez,&nbsp;Milan Malinsky,&nbsp;Carolin Sommer-Trembo,&nbsp;Laura Fritschi,&nbsp;Amelia Mesich,&nbsp;Ayasha Abdalla-Wyse,&nbsp;Walter Salzburger,&nbsp;Alexander F. Schier","doi":"10.1038/s41559-025-02819-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41559-025-02819-z","url":null,"abstract":"The partitioning of ecological niches is a fundamental component of species diversification in adaptive radiations. However, it is currently unknown if and how such bursts of organismal diversity are influenced by temporal niche partitioning, wherein species avoid competition by being active or sleeping during different time windows. Here we address this question through profiling temporal activity patterns in the exceptionally diverse fauna of cichlid fishes from the African Lake Tanganyika. By integrating week-long longitudinal behavioural recordings of over 500 individuals from 60 species with eco-morphological and genomic information, we provide two lines of evidence that temporal niche partitioning occurs in this massive adaptive radiation. First, Tanganyikan cichlids exhibit all known circadian temporal activity patterns (diurnal, nocturnal, crepuscular and cathemeral) and display substantial interspecific variation in daily amounts of locomotion. Second, many species with similar habitat and diet niches occupy distinct temporal niches. Moreover, our results suggest that shifts between diurnal and nocturnal activity patterns are facilitated by a crepuscular intermediate state. Genome-wide association studies indicate that the genetics underlying activity patterns is complex, with different clades associated with different combinations of variants. The identified variants were not associated with core circadian clock genes but with genes implicated in synapse function. These observations indicate that temporal niche partitioning may have contributed to adaptive radiation in cichlids and that many genes are associated with the diversity and evolution of temporal activity patterns. An analysis of behavioural, eco-morphological and genomic data in 60 species of Lake Tanganyika cichlids reveals a remarkable diversity of temporal activity patterns across species, suggesting that temporal niche partitioning may have played a role in the adaptive diversification of this group.","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"9 10","pages":"1938-1950"},"PeriodicalIF":13.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-025-02819-z.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144906312","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Wave succession in the pandemic clone of Vibrio parahaemolyticus driven by gene loss","authors":"Chao Yang, Hongling Qiu, Sarah L. Svensson, Chengpei Ni, Song Gao, Zhizhou Jia, Huiqi Wen, Li Xie, Wenxuan Xu, Yujiao Qin, Shuzhu Lin, Jiancheng Wang, Yiquan Zhang, Yinghui Li, Min Jiang, Xiaolu Shi, Qinghua Hu, Zhemin Zhou, Yanjie Chao, Ruifu Yang, Yujun Cui, Jaime Martinez-Urtaza, Hui Wang, Daniel Falush","doi":"10.1038/s41559-025-02827-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-025-02827-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p>While spontaneous mutation and gene acquisition are well-established drivers of pathogen adaptation, the role of gene loss remains underexplored. Here we investigated the emergence and diversification of the pandemic clone of <i>Vibrio parahaemolyticus</i> through large-scale phylogenomic analysis of 8,684 global isolates. The pandemic clone rapidly acquired multiple marker genes and genomic islands, subsequently diverging into successive sublineages mediating independent waves of cross-country transmission, as also observed in <i>Vibrio cholerae</i>. Wave succession in the last two decades was driven by loss of putrescine utilization (Puu) genes, conferring phenotypic advantages for environmental adaptation (enhanced biofilm formation) and human transmission (increased cell adhesion and intestinal colonization and reduced virulence), consistent with the virulence trade-off hypothesis. We identified Puu-gene loss in several bacterial genera, with effects on biofilm and adhesion replicated in <i>V. cholerae</i> and <i>Escherichia coli</i>, suggesting convergent evolution and universal phenotypic effects. Our results highlight the indispensable role of gene loss in bacterial pathogen adaptation.</p>","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":16.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144906265","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":"Seed dispersers wanted","authors":"Walter Andriuzzi","doi":"10.1038/s41559-025-02857-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41559-025-02857-7","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"9 9","pages":"1546-1546"},"PeriodicalIF":13.9,"publicationDate":"2025-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144906264","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":"Red Queen dynamics shape host immunogenetic diversity","authors":"Wei Huang","doi":"10.1038/s41559-025-02841-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-025-02841-1","url":null,"abstract":"A longitudinal observational study in a wild meerkat population investigates the pattern of pathogen-mediated selection and provides evidence of an arms race between immune genes and pathogens.","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":16.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144900372","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":"Origin and evolutionary trajectories of brown algal sex chromosomes","authors":"Josué Barrera-Redondo, Agnieszka P. Lipinska, Pengfei Liu, Erica Dinatale, Guillaume Cossard, Kenny Bogaert, Masakazu Hoshino, Rory J. Craig, Komlan Avia, Goncalo Leiria, Elena Avdievich, Daniel Liesner, Rémy Luthringer, Olivier Godfroy, Svenja Heesch, Zofia Nehr, Loraine Brillet-Guéguen, Akira F. Peters, Galice Hoarau, Gareth Pearson, Jean-Marc Aury, Patrick Wincker, France Denoeud, J. Mark Cock, Fabian B. Haas, Susana M. Coelho","doi":"10.1038/s41559-025-02838-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-025-02838-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Research on the biology and evolution of sex chromosomes has primarily focused on diploid XX/XY and ZW/ZZ systems. In contrast, the rise, evolution and demise of U/V systems has remained an enigma. Here we analyse genomes of nine brown algal species with different sexual systems to determine the history of their sex determination. U/V sex chromosomes emerged between 450 and 224 million years ago, when a region containing the pivotal male-determinant <i>MIN</i> ceased recombining. Seven ancestral genes within the sex-determining region show remarkable conservation over this vast evolutionary time, although nested inversions caused expansions of the sex locus, independently in each lineage. We evaluate whether these expansions are associated with increased morphological complexity and sexual differentiation, and show that taxonomically restricted genes evolve unexpectedly often in U and V chromosomes. We also investigate two situations in which U/V-linked regions have changed. First, we demonstrate that convergent evolution of two monoicous species occurred by ancestral males acquiring U-specific genes. Second, the <i>Fucus</i> dioecious system involves new sex-determining gene(s), acting upstream of formerly V-specific genes during development. Both situations have led to the demise of U and V chromosomes and erosion of their specific genomic characteristics.</p>","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":16.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144900410","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 tree growth–herbivory relationship depends on functional traits across forest biodiversity experiments","authors":"Yi Li, Andreas Schuldt, Jürgen Bauhus, Michaël Belluau, Sylvie Berthelot, Karin T. Burghardt, Helge Bruelheide, Bastien Castagneyrol, Chengjin Chu, Nico Eisenhauer, Olga Ferlian, Jochen Fründ, Tobias Gebauer, Dominique Gravel, Hervé Jactel, Shan Li, Yu Liang, John D. Parker, William C. Parker, Michael Scherer-Lorenzen, Michael Staab, Kris Verheyen, Bernhard Schmid, Keping Ma, Xiaojuan Liu","doi":"10.1038/s41559-025-02835-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-025-02835-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p>While studies have demonstrated that higher tree species richness can increase forest productivity, the relationships between tree species richness, tree growth and herbivore damage remain insufficiently explored. Here we investigate these linkages using data from 8,790 trees across 80 species in 9 biodiversity experiments, spanning temperate and subtropical biomes. Despite considerable geographic variation, we reveal an overall positive relationship between tree species richness and insect herbivory, as well as between tree growth and herbivory, at individual, species and community levels. The tree growth–herbivory relationship is further influenced by leaf functional traits. In particular, we show that tree species with a higher carbon to nitrogen ratio and, to a lesser extent, tougher leaves, experienced higher herbivory when their growth rate increased. The associations between tree growth and herbivory are further modulated by climatic and soil variation among the sites. Our study highlights the role of functional traits in shaping the relationship between tree growth and herbivory, supporting the resource availability and plant vigour hypotheses.</p>","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":16.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144900373","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}