Ecological Complexity最新文献

{"title":"Antagonistic interactions and their impact on species formation and biodiversity maintenance","authors":"Isabelle Bueno Silva de Godoy ,&nbsp;Marcus Aloizio Martinez de Aguiar","doi":"10.1016/j.ecocom.2026.101156","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecocom.2026.101156","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In antagonistic interactions, adaptive responses to reciprocal attacks can drive the cyclical dynamics of the “arms race”. Since attack and defense mechanisms are linked to gene expression, which may also affect mate choice, these interactions can drive speciation on an evolutionary scale. Mathematical and computational models play an important role in the investigation of this type of dynamics, since experiments or observations that uncover such long term effects are not generally possible. Although previous works have explored the roles of spatial scale and phylogenetic association on antagonistic interactions, the role of such ecological interactions on the evolutionary dynamics is still not clear. This article aims to analyze how antagonistic interactions between consumers and resources influence consumer diversity, population dynamics, and speciation. Using an IBM model, we analyze the formation of species and the maintenance of biodiversity across extended temporal scales. We considered that resources can have two phenotypes describing two potential niches for the consumers. We demonstrated that the coexistence of consumers and resources occurs under conditions of low resource mutation and that diversity is generally reduced when the two initial phenotypes of the consumers are similar. Our results also indicate that niche separation is likely when initial niche distance is sufficiently large. In contrast, when the initial phenotypes are similar, niche width tends to expand while separating from each other. These simulations effectively illustrate the impacts of the “arms race” between consumers and resources and their coevolution.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50559,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Complexity","volume":"65 ","pages":"Article 101156"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146001837","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Effect of current global warming trends on temperature-sensitive tri-trophic interactions","authors":"Karthik K Murthy ,&nbsp;Krishna Kumar S ,&nbsp;Ashwin K Seshadri","doi":"10.1016/j.ecocom.2025.101138","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecocom.2025.101138","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding the impact of current warming trends on trophic interactions in diverse ecosystems presents a formidable challenge. While theoretical studies have explored multi-trophic interactions across broad temperature gradients, applying these models to realistic ecological scenarios where ecosystems experience modest gradual change in mean temperature remains underexplored. We address this research gap by examining a dynamic tri-trophic (resource-consumer-predator) system, where all ecological rates are modelled as explicit functions of temperature. We focus on the system’s bistable behaviour, characterized by chaotic attractor sustaining oscillations of all trophic levels and periodic attractor in resource–consumer plane. Under warming conditions, the chaotic attractor transitions through a sequence of states, including chaos, transient chaos, chaos, and ultimately, loss of bistability, as temperature rises. These transitions occur within narrow temperature range aligned with recent warming trends and this pattern remains consistent over a wide range of species’ thermal sensitivity, suggesting a generic feature of tri-trophic system’s response to warming. However, the temperature thresholds associated with these transitions differ between temperate and tropical biomes, indicating spatial heterogeneity in ecosystem responses to warming. Our findings support the hypothesis that tropical regions are more vulnerable to warming, despite experiencing low increase in temperature. Finally, we demonstrate the utility of partial control method applied during transient chaos phase as a potential strategy for preventing predator population collapse. Overall, our findings offer novel insights into complex, nonlinear impacts of warming on ecological systems and provide theoretical basis for partial control method as a management tool to prevent extinction.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50559,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Complexity","volume":"64 ","pages":"Article 101138"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145027812","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Evolutionary dispersal of ecological species via Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning","authors":"Wonhyung Choi ,&nbsp;Inkyung Ahn","doi":"10.1016/j.ecocom.2025.101146","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecocom.2025.101146","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding species dynamics in heterogeneous environments is essential for ecosystem studies. Traditional models assumed homogeneous habitats; however, recent approaches incorporate spatial and temporal variability, highlighting the importance of species migration. We adopt starvation-driven diffusion (SDD) models as a nonlinear diffusion approach to describe species dispersal based on local resource conditions, which has been shown to offer advantages for species survival. However, accurate prediction remains challenging due to model simplifications. This study uses Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning (MARL) with Deep Q-Networks (DQN) to simulate single-species and predator–prey interactions, incorporating SDD-type rewards. Our simulations reveal evolutionary dispersal strategies, providing insights into species dispersal mechanisms and validating traditional mathematical models.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50559,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Complexity","volume":"64 ","pages":"Article 101146"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145571526","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Are root functional traits good predictors of wetland plant diversity and biomass under agricultural managements in a semi-arid region?","authors":"Mai Lv ,&nbsp;Yifan Li ,&nbsp;Mingye Zhang ,&nbsp;Yu An ,&nbsp;Shouzheng Tong ,&nbsp;Haitao Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.ecocom.2025.101147","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecocom.2025.101147","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Wetland conversion to agricultural use is widespread globally, particularly in semi-arid regions. As key indicators of wetland responses to global change, plant diversity and biomass are fundamentally influenced by management practices and plant functional strategies. While existing research has largely focused on aboveground traits, the role of root functional traits in mediating plant diversity and biomass remains poorly understood. This study investigated the predictive value of root functional traits for plant species diversity and biomass across a range of agriculturally managed wetlands in the Songnen Plain of semi-arid China. The management practices included natural wetlands (NW), moderately grazed wetlands (MG), mowed and grazed wetlands (MSG), mowed wetlands (TM), and heavily grazed wetlands (HG). The results demonstrated NW exhibiting the highest biomass but lowest diversity, whereas HG sites displayed the opposite pattern. Root traits also varied significantly across wetland sites. Stepwise regression analysis revealed that root phosphorus content (RPC), root carbon-to-phosphorus ratio (RCPR), and root length (RL) were key predictors of diversity (<em>R</em>² = 0.957), while root carbon content (RCC) and specific root area (SRA) are robust predictors of biomass (<em>R</em>² = 0.762). The partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) further elucidated two primary pathways by which root functional traits influence diversity and biomass: (1) a direct effect of morphological traits (RL) exerted on diversity, and (2) an indirect effect of morphological traits (SRA, RL) on both diversity and biomass via modulation of root nutrient acquisition traits (RCC, RPC, RCPR). Notably, trade-offs between RL and RPC, together with synergies between SRA and RPC, were associated with reduced diversity but increased biomass. In contrast, synergies between RL and RCC and trade-offs between SRA and RCC exerted negative effects on biomass. In conclusion, integrated root trait combinations and their interactions serve as robust predictors of plant diversity and biomass in agriculturally managed wetlands. These findings advance the theoretical framework for understanding wetland ecological dynamics and provide valuable insights for sustainable resource management in semi-arid regions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50559,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Complexity","volume":"64 ","pages":"Article 101147"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145571525","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Climate change and the shifting dynamics of marine ecology","authors":"Abhijit Jana ,&nbsp;Aparna Das ,&nbsp;Sankar Kumar Roy","doi":"10.1016/j.ecocom.2025.101137","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecocom.2025.101137","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study presents a four-dimensional mathematical model with time-varying parameters to analyse the diverse effects of global warming on marine ecology over the next 100 years. Key environmental factors, including rising sea surface temperature and decreasing dissolved oxygen concentrations, are evaluated in relation to their influence on plankton species. The model’s predictions are validated through a case study, comparing results with prior research. Findings indicate that rising temperatures accelerate the dilution of dissolved oxygen, significantly affecting plankton densities, with zooplankton being more susceptible to temperature changes than phytoplankton. This reduction in zooplankton and oxygen levels is anticipated to impact overall ocean productivity. The study also proposes a threshold for annual temperature increments aligned with global environmental targets. Additionally, a second model incorporating a time delay examines the period required for phytoplankton-released toxins to impact zooplankton populations. Results suggest that the time delay has minimal long-term effect on marine ecology within the study time frame. Overall, this research provides insights into the impact of atmospheric changes due to global warming on oceanic ecosystems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50559,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Complexity","volume":"63 ","pages":"Article 101137"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144749506","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Network analysis reveals humans as top predators and the key role of cuttlefish in the food web structure of a marine protected area (Arrábida Natural Park)","authors":"Catarina Vinagre ,&nbsp;Luís Almeida ,&nbsp;Pilar Ronquillo ,&nbsp;Vanessa Mendonça ,&nbsp;Duarte Frade ,&nbsp;Emanuel J. Gonçalves ,&nbsp;Karim Erzini ,&nbsp;Ester A. Serrão","doi":"10.1016/j.ecocom.2025.101134","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecocom.2025.101134","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The marine protected area (MPA) of the Arrábida Natural Park is a mid-latitude hotspot for biodiversity. To understand its trophic structure, a highly defined food web network was assembled for this ecosystem, consisting of 884 taxa. Network analysis showed that humans are the top predators, as well as various seabirds, dolphins and sharks. This web is dominated by intermediate species, and its general organization follows previously reported patterns for other marine and coastal ecosystems. Two swimming crabs, <em>Polybius navigator</em> and <em>Polybius henslowii</em>, assume important roles as mid-trophic level consumers and prey, due to their high connectivity in the network. The cuttlefish, <em>Sepia officinalis</em>, a cephalopod of high commercial value, assumes the most pivotal role in the network, as it is the species with the highest number of prey and is among the top 10 most highly connected species (with more links to other species). Additionally, the cuttlefish is among the species with shortest path length, that is the lowest number of links connecting it to any other species. Since, this cephalopod is highly mobile and extends its territory outside the MPA, into the Sado estuary, where it is the main target of local fisheries, and is exposed to various pollution sources, close monitoring the local population of cuttlefish is of the utmost importance, not only in the Arrábida MPA but also in the adjacent Sado estuary.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50559,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Complexity","volume":"63 ","pages":"Article 101134"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144241312","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Edge effect evaluation on natural regeneration in fragment of Atlantic Forest, south of Minas Gerais, Brazil","authors":"Ingled Borges Toledo ,&nbsp;Farley Soares Braz ,&nbsp;Pedro Henrique Abreu Moura ,&nbsp;Vanessa da Fontoura Custódio Monteiro ,&nbsp;Valter Henrique Marinho dos Santos","doi":"10.1016/j.ecocom.2025.101135","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecocom.2025.101135","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Atlantic Forest, one of the most biodiverse yet threatened biomes worldwide, has undergone extensive fragmentation, resulting in pronounced edge effects. This study investigates how edge effects influence species diversity and natural regeneration structure in an Atlantic Forest fragment in southern Minas Gerais. We established eighteen 5 × 5 m plots along two transects to analyze phytosociological patterns and calculated the Shannon-Wiener diversity and Pielou evenness indices for regenerating individuals (DBH &lt; 5 cm, height 1–3 m). Results show that edge effects significantly influence species composition and regeneration dynamics, revealing distinct patterns between transects. Transect 2 exhibited greater species stability, suggesting better conservation conditions. These findings highlight the need for targeted conservation strategies to mitigate edge-related disturbances and enhance forest regeneration in fragmented landscapes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50559,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Complexity","volume":"63 ","pages":"Article 101135"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144704172","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Tri-trophic networks of oak gall-inducing-insects and their parasitoids in Mexican avocado agrosystems: Forest coverage and local climatic variables importance","authors":"Icauri Sofía Prieto-Dueñas ,&nbsp;Pablo Cuevas-Reyes ,&nbsp;Marcela Sofía Vaca-Sánchez ,&nbsp;Ken Oyama ,&nbsp;Walter Santos de Araújo ,&nbsp;Magno Augusto Zazá Borges ,&nbsp;Marcílio Fagundes ,&nbsp;G․Wilson Fernandes ,&nbsp;Yurixhi Maldonado-López","doi":"10.1016/j.ecocom.2025.101133","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecocom.2025.101133","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Despite trees of temperate forest ecosystems (TFEs) maintain a great diversity of biotic interactions, they are threatened by changes in land use. In Mexico, the main threat to TFEs is the conversion to avocado orchards, generating forest fragmentation affecting trophic networks, like gall-inducing insects (GII) and their parasitoids. We determined the changes in structure and diversity of trophic assemblages of GII and their parasitoids associated in <em>Quercus castanea, Q. obtusata</em> and <em>Q. magnolifolia</em>, as well as the plant vigor roll on GII diversity in sites with different percentages of forest and avocado orchards in Mexico. Per study site, we selected 20 trees with gall presence for each oak species. Also, we assessed climatic variables effects on plant vigor and GII diversity. We found that plant vigor traits and GII diversity for all oak species increases as avocado orchard does. Contrary, a decrease of parasitoid diversity was detected for areas with greater avocado orchard cover. GII diversity had a positive relationship with temperature, but negatively with precipitation in all study sites. Tri-trophic networks differed among sites, having lower connectance and greater modularity in sites with higher avocado orchard cover, while in sites with higher forest cover was the most connected and diverse. Our results suggest that TFEs conversion to avocado orchards increases plant vigor and GII diversity, but decreases parasitoid diversity and modifications in trophic networks. Therefore, we highlight the need to conserve and manage forest remnants in the avocado belt because they preserve and maintain a great diversity of biotic interactions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50559,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Complexity","volume":"63 ","pages":"Article 101133"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144322815","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Advances in Rhea pennata: A global bibliometric perspective and emerging trends","authors":"Jesús Miranda-Mamani ,&nbsp;Alfredo Loza-Del Carpio ,&nbsp;Humberto Peñaranda-Barra ,&nbsp;Ingrid Maldonado","doi":"10.1016/j.ecocom.2025.101136","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecocom.2025.101136","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><em>Rhea pennata</em> populations play a vital ecological role in the Andean highland ecosystems. This study aims to critically assess the evolution, scope, and focus of global scientific research on <em>Rhea pennata</em>, in order to identify trends, gaps, and opportunities that can guide future conservation and ecological studies on the species. For this purpose, we realize a bibliometric analysis of 73 articles published from 1974 to 2024. For this purpose, the bibliometric tools Biblioshiny in R and the VOSviewer were utilized. Results reveal an urgent need to expand scientific research on this species, given its projected 50-year extinction risk in Peru. Furthermore, a low publication rate and several emerging research areas with potential for future investigation were identified. Key authors, significant keywords, influential sources, and high-impact publications in this field were also highlighted. Argentina stands out, particularly through the Applied Zoology Centre of the University of Córdoba, for its major scientific contributions and international collaborations. Although there are reports of captive breeding of the <em>Rhea pennata</em>, no successful reintroduction cases in the wild have been documented. In contrast, population increases have been observed in protected natural areas without direct human intervention and in semi-captive conditions, suggesting a shift in conservation strategies for the <em>Rhea pennata</em> compared to current approaches.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50559,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Complexity","volume":"63 ","pages":"Article 101136"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144685803","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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":"Accelerating ecosystem monitoring through computer vision with deep metric learning","authors":"Yurika Oba,&nbsp;Hideyuki Doi","doi":"10.1016/j.ecocom.2025.101124","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ecocom.2025.101124","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Significant progress has been made in the application of deep learning models to ecosystem monitoring. Deep learning has opened up new opportunities in the interpretation of ecological data, such as detecting and identifying objects in images and acoustic monitoring analysis. However, these have created new challenges, such as the need to further improve the efficiency of data processing due to the increasing volume of data, the need for more advanced feature extraction methods due to the complexity of data characteristics, and limitations of available annotated data. In this study, we focused on deep metric learning as a new application for environmental observation data to overcome these challenges. The extraction of features such as patterns and changes from large and complex environmental observation data using a deep metric learning approach may provide new opportunities for monitoring ecosystems experiencing unprecedented loads from climate change and human activities. While these methods demonstrate the potential of deep metric learning for flora and fauna and various datasets, they also suggest challenges to overcome, such as the need for more valid training datasets, diverse data collection, training time proportional to the data volume, and the identification of unknown classes. We expect that deep metric learning will be a powerful tool for various ecosystem monitoring systems, from remote sensing of wide-area data to ecological data obtained through field surveys.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50559,"journal":{"name":"Ecological Complexity","volume":"62 ","pages":"Article 101124"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143929545","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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}