Aisling Rayne, Axel Moehrenschlager, Tammy E Steeves, Marc Tadaki
{"title":"Expanding the social dimensions of conservation translocations.","authors":"Aisling Rayne, Axel Moehrenschlager, Tammy E Steeves, Marc Tadaki","doi":"10.1016/j.tree.2025.09.009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2025.09.009","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Human or 'social' dimensions are increasingly prominent in the conservation translocation literature yet in practice they tend to be infrequently or narrowly applied. To assist biophysical scientists and practitioners to act upon social dimensions, we distinguish four ways of thinking about the social dynamics of translocations: identified stakeholders, processes of decision-making, visions of nature, and values in science. We use three case studies to show how working through these four social dimensions together can help to illuminate the multiple meanings and effects of translocations. We discuss how biophysical scientists and practitioners can take responsibility for each social dimension and thus make better choices for people and nature.</p>","PeriodicalId":23274,"journal":{"name":"Trends in ecology & evolution","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":17.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145213907","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}
Guan-Long Cao, Xiao-Qian Li, Kun-Li Xiang, Andrey S Erst, Florian Jabbour, Rosa Del C Ortiz, Jian Yang, Wei Wang
{"title":"Formation of three great Asian plateaus, climate change, and biodiversity.","authors":"Guan-Long Cao, Xiao-Qian Li, Kun-Li Xiang, Andrey S Erst, Florian Jabbour, Rosa Del C Ortiz, Jian Yang, Wei Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.tree.2025.07.008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tree.2025.07.008","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Qinghai-Tibet, Iran, and Mongolia plateaus constitute the largest continuous mountain belt on Earth and harbor the world's richest temperate alpine ecosystem, but the original timing and evolutionary causes of their biodiversity are poorly understood. Here, we review the geologic and phylogenetic evidence and compare it with the formation processes of the three plateaus. We show that the formation of the three plateaus is a major driver for change in the Asian landscape and biotas. Among the three plateaus, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has the most ancient evolutionary history and hosts the oldest biotic components and the highest biodiversity. The Neogene was a period of marked diversification across the three plateaus, thus leading to the formation of modern biotas.</p>","PeriodicalId":23274,"journal":{"name":"Trends in ecology & evolution","volume":" ","pages":"970-982"},"PeriodicalIF":17.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144849176","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":"A landscape ecological approach to spatial conservation planning - ecological security pattern.","authors":"Jian Peng, Dongmei Xu, Hui Tang, Hong Jiang, Jianquan Dong, Jianguo Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.tree.2025.07.014","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tree.2025.07.014","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Addressing practical challenges in ecological conservation and restoration planning, ecological security pattern (ESP) - spatial networks composed of ecological sources and connecting corridors - offers an actionable and nature-based framework. Rooted in landscape ecology, the ESP approach integrates ecological thresholds and connectivity to ensure ecosystem integrity and landscape sustainability. Although ESP-related research has proliferated - particularly in China - critical dimensions, such as underlying ecological mechanisms, spatiotemporal dynamics, and spillover effects, have received less attention. Consequently, the foundational scientific concepts and research priorities remain insufficiently articulated, hindering ESP's further development and broader international acceptance. To fill this knowledge gap, we identify key research issues for ESP to tackle the main challenges in its construction, optimization, and evaluation, highlighting future directions as a landscape ecological approach to spatial conservation and restoration planning.</p>","PeriodicalId":23274,"journal":{"name":"Trends in ecology & evolution","volume":" ","pages":"1010-1022"},"PeriodicalIF":17.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144993535","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":"Rainforest ecology in the shade of deep time.","authors":"Chenyang Cai","doi":"10.1016/j.tree.2025.09.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tree.2025.09.006","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Our understanding of the ecology and evolution of Eocene paleobiodiversity in the Southern Hemisphere remains limited. A middle Eocene (∼41 Ma) tropical ecosystem from the Umarsar Lignite Mine, recently reported by Agnihotri et al., revealed over 800 arthropods and 118 palynomorph species thriving in warm, humid conditions. The northward drift and favorable climate of India drove diversification, offering insights for modern tropical forest conservation amid climate change.</p>","PeriodicalId":23274,"journal":{"name":"Trends in ecology & evolution","volume":" ","pages":"939-941"},"PeriodicalIF":17.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145041378","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":"Disability in ecology and evolution.","authors":"Ella Bowles, Taormina Lepore, Brooke M Fitzwater","doi":"10.1016/j.tree.2025.09.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tree.2025.09.001","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":23274,"journal":{"name":"Trends in ecology & evolution","volume":" ","pages":"925-930"},"PeriodicalIF":17.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145087560","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}
Kristy M Ferraro, Shawn J Leroux, Mark A Bradford, Oswald J Schmitz, Eric Vander Wal
{"title":"Zoogeochemical niche construction: how animal-mediated biogeochemistry affects evolution.","authors":"Kristy M Ferraro, Shawn J Leroux, Mark A Bradford, Oswald J Schmitz, Eric Vander Wal","doi":"10.1016/j.tree.2025.07.009","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tree.2025.07.009","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Animals exert control over biogeochemical processes within their ecosystems - the study of which is called zoogeochemistry. However, most zoogeochemical research stops short of examining how animal-driven biogeochemical processes feed back to influence the fitness and population dynamics of organisms. We outline how to use niche construction theory to investigate these feedbacks, introducing zoogeochemical niche construction to explicitly link zoogeochemistry with fitness and evolution trajectories. We specifically highlight how this framework reveals the capacity of animals to influence their own nutritional landscapes, creating closed zoogeochemical loops. To identify and test instances of zoogeochemical niche construction, we present experimental, correlative, and comparative tools. The novel application of niche construction theory provides alternative and complementary explanations for animal trait evolution.</p>","PeriodicalId":23274,"journal":{"name":"Trends in ecology & evolution","volume":" ","pages":"995-1009"},"PeriodicalIF":17.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144970307","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}
Jun Kitano, Kotaro Kagawa, Takashi Tsuchimatsu, Ryo Yamaguchi, Masato Yamamichi
{"title":"The genomics of discrete polymorphisms maintained by disruptive selection.","authors":"Jun Kitano, Kotaro Kagawa, Takashi Tsuchimatsu, Ryo Yamaguchi, Masato Yamamichi","doi":"10.1016/j.tree.2025.08.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tree.2025.08.003","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Disruptive selection can lead to the evolution of discrete morphs. We show that particular genetic architectures, in terms of dominance, epistasis, and linkage, are likely to evolve to produce discrete morphs under disruptive selection. Recent genomic studies have revealed that causative mutations tend to cluster, sometimes as a result of chromosomal rearrangements, but we still know little about the molecular mechanisms of dominance and epistasis. Although disruptive selection can also lead to speciation, once an optimal genetic architecture has evolved, disruptive selection no longer promotes the evolution of assortative mating. For a better understanding of the conditions that promote or constrain speciation, it is necessary to address how fast such a genetic architecture can evolve.</p>","PeriodicalId":23274,"journal":{"name":"Trends in ecology & evolution","volume":" ","pages":"1023-1034"},"PeriodicalIF":17.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145006678","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":"Cell size matters: a unifying theory across the tree of life.","authors":"Marcin Czarnoleski, Wilco C E P Verberk","doi":"10.1016/j.tree.2025.09.003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2025.09.003","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cell size shapes how organisms interact with their environment, yet our understanding of these effects remains fragmented. We synthesise these effects into a Theory of Optimal Cell Size (TOCS), predicting that the size of single-cell organisms, as well as the number and size of cells in multicellular organisms, is subject to strong selection. At the heart of TOCS lies a trade-off between power and energy conservation: cell size acts as a 'double-edged sword', influencing both resource acquisition and maintenance costs. Major evolutionary transitions across the tree of life are connected with innovations in cellular organisation. A unified framework for cell size adaptation is essential for revealing the fundamental principles governing the ecology and evolution of life.</p>","PeriodicalId":23274,"journal":{"name":"Trends in ecology & evolution","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":17.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145213822","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}
Mark Otieno, Marcell K Peters, Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter
{"title":"Safeguarding nocturnal pollinators for food security in sub-Saharan Africa.","authors":"Mark Otieno, Marcell K Peters, Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter","doi":"10.1016/j.tree.2025.08.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tree.2025.08.002","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Nocturnal pollinators are vital for food security in sub-Saharan Africa, yet they face numerous threats, including habitat loss, light pollution, and climate change. Understanding these combined risks and implementing targeted management strategies to protect them is essential for ensuring sustainable agriculture, food security, and biodiversity in the region.</p>","PeriodicalId":23274,"journal":{"name":"Trends in ecology & evolution","volume":" ","pages":"931-934"},"PeriodicalIF":17.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144993547","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}
Line S Cordes, Charles M Bishop, Luca Börger, Jacob Nabe-Nielsen, Stephanie M Harris
{"title":"Optimal movement decisions in complex landscapes.","authors":"Line S Cordes, Charles M Bishop, Luca Börger, Jacob Nabe-Nielsen, Stephanie M Harris","doi":"10.1016/j.tree.2025.07.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tree.2025.07.010","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Understanding and predicting optimal movement decisions in complex and dynamic landscapes requires identifying the mechanisms driving movements, beyond correlations or simple energetic trade-offs between costs and gains. This is increasingly important as human activities transform landscapes at unprecedented rates, altering environmental predictability. As a result, animals must continually relearn and adapt to transformed, often degraded, environments, with consequences for their movement and fitness. We propose a structured movement framework that integrates abiotic and biotic drivers of foraging decisions. The net energyscape reflects spatial variation in net energy gains, while the optimal movement landscape includes non-energetic external modifiers, such as the landscape of fear. This framework opens improved avenues for more accurately identifying critical habitats and informing effective conservation strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":23274,"journal":{"name":"Trends in ecology & evolution","volume":" ","pages":"960-969"},"PeriodicalIF":17.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144970285","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}