npj biodiversityPub Date : 2025-10-01DOI: 10.1038/s44185-025-00109-2
Lara Parata, Emma de Jong, Richard J Edwards, Philipp E Bayer, Liam Anstiss, Stephen R Burnell, Adrianne Doran, Priscila Goncalves, Lauren Huet, Glenn I Moore, Tyler E Peirce, Shannon Corrigan
{"title":"Ocean Genomes: reference genome resources for marine vertebrates.","authors":"Lara Parata, Emma de Jong, Richard J Edwards, Philipp E Bayer, Liam Anstiss, Stephen R Burnell, Adrianne Doran, Priscila Goncalves, Lauren Huet, Glenn I Moore, Tyler E Peirce, Shannon Corrigan","doi":"10.1038/s44185-025-00109-2","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44185-025-00109-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We present Ocean Genomes, a program dedicated to producing reference genome resources to facilitate improved monitoring approaches and management outcomes for marine vertebrate biodiversity. Ocean Genomes will generate high-quality reference genomes of representatives of all marine vertebrate families and additional high-conservation-value species. Draft-quality genomes may be produced for a more comprehensive sampling of species. We include case studies of Enoplosus armatus, Old Wife and Pempheris klunzingeri, Rough Bullseye.</p>","PeriodicalId":520249,"journal":{"name":"npj biodiversity","volume":"4 1","pages":"38"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12488967/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145208809","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
npj biodiversityPub Date : 2025-10-01DOI: 10.1038/s44185-025-00111-8
Morgan F Bennett-Smith, Helena Villela, Micaela S S Justo, Viktor Nunes Peinemann, Michael L Berumen, Susana Carvalho, Neus Garcias-Bonet, Francisca C García, Melissa Versteeg, Theresa Rueger, Peter M Buston, Raquel S Peixoto
{"title":"Author Correction: Near complete local extinction of iconic anemonefish and their anemone hosts following a heat stress event.","authors":"Morgan F Bennett-Smith, Helena Villela, Micaela S S Justo, Viktor Nunes Peinemann, Michael L Berumen, Susana Carvalho, Neus Garcias-Bonet, Francisca C García, Melissa Versteeg, Theresa Rueger, Peter M Buston, Raquel S Peixoto","doi":"10.1038/s44185-025-00111-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44185-025-00111-8","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":520249,"journal":{"name":"npj biodiversity","volume":"4 1","pages":"39"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12489054/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145208858","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
npj biodiversityPub Date : 2025-10-01DOI: 10.1038/s44185-025-00105-6
Ana Genua-Olmedo, Sílvia Poblador, Judit Lecina-Diaz, María Mar Sánchez-Montoya, Pablo Rodríguez-Lozano, Mireia Bartrons, Elena Hernández-Del Amo, María Anton-Pardo, Núria Catalán, Ada Pastor, Miguel Cañedo-Argüelles, Anna Freixa, Susana Bernal
{"title":"Breaking barriers: ten essential steps to achieve gender equality in academia through scientific societies.","authors":"Ana Genua-Olmedo, Sílvia Poblador, Judit Lecina-Diaz, María Mar Sánchez-Montoya, Pablo Rodríguez-Lozano, Mireia Bartrons, Elena Hernández-Del Amo, María Anton-Pardo, Núria Catalán, Ada Pastor, Miguel Cañedo-Argüelles, Anna Freixa, Susana Bernal","doi":"10.1038/s44185-025-00105-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44185-025-00105-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The gender gap in STEM is a persistent global issue. Scientific societies can address this by promoting gender equity through collaboration, advocacy, and leadership. This study analyses gender representation on executive boards and the presence of gender groups in freshwater societies. Drawing on a decade of experience, it proposes ten actionable steps, highlights obstacles, and calls on societies to actively foster gender equity within academia and beyond.</p>","PeriodicalId":520249,"journal":{"name":"npj biodiversity","volume":"4 1","pages":"37"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12488902/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145208811","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
npj biodiversityPub Date : 2025-09-30DOI: 10.1038/s44185-025-00101-w
Giacomo Puglielli, Carlos P Carmona, Agnese Bissi, Enrico Tordoni
{"title":"Quantifying the influence of intraspecific variability in trait spaces.","authors":"Giacomo Puglielli, Carlos P Carmona, Agnese Bissi, Enrico Tordoni","doi":"10.1038/s44185-025-00101-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44185-025-00101-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The role of intraspecific trait variability (ITV) in trait spaces is still overlooked. We outline the swapping procedure, which detects changes in the main properties of any trait space as a function of ITV. Building on the properties of eigendecomposition analysis, we propose a set of target parameters, statistical tests and related interpretations to stimulate further research on this topic. We also link R functions to perform the swapping procedure.</p>","PeriodicalId":520249,"journal":{"name":"npj biodiversity","volume":"4 1","pages":"36"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12484079/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145202566","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
npj biodiversityPub Date : 2025-09-12DOI: 10.1038/s44185-025-00107-4
Morgan F Bennett-Smith, Helena Villela, Micaela S S Justo, Viktor Nunes Peinemann, Michael L Berumen, Susana Carvalho, Neus Garcias-Bonet, Francisca C García, Melissa Versteeg, Theresa Rueger, Peter M Buston, Raquel S Peixoto
{"title":"Near complete local extinction of iconic anemonefish and their anemone hosts following a heat stress event.","authors":"Morgan F Bennett-Smith, Helena Villela, Micaela S S Justo, Viktor Nunes Peinemann, Michael L Berumen, Susana Carvalho, Neus Garcias-Bonet, Francisca C García, Melissa Versteeg, Theresa Rueger, Peter M Buston, Raquel S Peixoto","doi":"10.1038/s44185-025-00107-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44185-025-00107-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A fundamental question in modern-day ecology is: How will populations and their interactions respond to a rapidly changing climate? Documenting local collapses of ecologically and economically important populations can offer insight into broader patterns of decline. Here, we monitored anemonefish (Amphiprion bicinctus) and their host sea anemones (Radianthus magnifica) on three central Saudi Arabian Red Sea reefs from 2022 to 2024, including a 2023 marine heatwave that peaked at a Degree Heating Weeks (DHW) value of ~22 °C-weeks. Across all reefs, we observed a sequence of 100% anemone bleaching, 94.3-100% anemonefish mortality, and 66.4-94.1% anemone mortality. We compare these findings to other recent Indo-Pacific heat stress events of varying intensity, where similar declines were not observed. Our study highlights the vulnerability of mutualistic reef species to extreme heat and suggests that such events may drive local, if not regional, extinctions of ecologically important symbioses.</p>","PeriodicalId":520249,"journal":{"name":"npj biodiversity","volume":"4 1","pages":"35"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12432162/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145056588","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
npj biodiversityPub Date : 2025-09-02DOI: 10.1038/s44185-025-00103-8
L Merquiol, A-S Tribot, D Faget, G P J Denys, T Richard, T Changeux
{"title":"Italian still life paintings as a resource for reconstructing past Mediterranean aquatic biodiversity.","authors":"L Merquiol, A-S Tribot, D Faget, G P J Denys, T Richard, T Changeux","doi":"10.1038/s44185-025-00103-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44185-025-00103-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Our study explores the use of Italian still-life paintings from the Early Modern Period (16<sup>th</sup>-18<sup>th</sup> centuries) as historical records of past Mediterranean aquatic biodiversity. Following an environmental history approach, we analysed taxonomic composition in paintings, first examining geographic and temporal variations shaped by technical and socio-cultural influences. After consideration of these factors, we performed a detailed ecological interpretation of depicted taxa. Our findings reveal a shift from freshwater to marine resource use, driven by evolving fishing practices and technological advances. Socio-cultural elements, such as culinary traditions, religion and aesthetics also strongly shaped species representation. We discuss ecological interpretation of the representation of vulnerable and emblematic Mediterranean species in light of climate change, overexploitation and species biogeography. Our research highlights the powerful role of paintings in reconstructing past exploited ecosystems, offering a unique perspective for informing contemporary conservation efforts.</p>","PeriodicalId":520249,"journal":{"name":"npj biodiversity","volume":"4 1","pages":"33"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12405436/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144985843","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
npj biodiversityPub Date : 2025-09-02DOI: 10.1038/s44185-025-00104-7
Chi Xu, Xing Chen, Qiang Dai, Bing Yang, Ke He, Zhisong Yang, Xiaodong Gu, Xuyu Yang, Biao Yang, Lifeng Zhu
{"title":"Multispecies view of the effectiveness of the giant panda conservation programme.","authors":"Chi Xu, Xing Chen, Qiang Dai, Bing Yang, Ke He, Zhisong Yang, Xiaodong Gu, Xuyu Yang, Biao Yang, Lifeng Zhu","doi":"10.1038/s44185-025-00104-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44185-025-00104-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) conservation programs have attracted significant funding and helped increase panda numbers. However, their effectiveness in achieving wider conservation goals is often doubted. This study evaluates the impact of giant panda reserves on the habitat suitability of 12 endangered species within 5 km of roads and assesses changes in human disturbances. Using data from the third and fourth national panda surveys and a matching approach, results show that these reserves enhance giant panda population density and habitat suitability, and benefit most wildlife species, particularly ungulates, with spillover effects improving adjacent areas' habitat suitability, likely due to reduced human disturbances. However, some species like the Chinese red panda (Ailurus styani) still gain limited protection. The findings stress the need for more targeted measures in the Giant Panda National Park's development. This multispecies study offers solid evidence for the effectiveness of giant panda conservation efforts and useful insights for protecting other flagship species.</p>","PeriodicalId":520249,"journal":{"name":"npj biodiversity","volume":"4 1","pages":"34"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12405537/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144985846","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
npj biodiversityPub Date : 2025-08-18DOI: 10.1038/s44185-025-00106-5
Krista N Oswald, Tamir Rozenberg, Oded Keynan, Gabriel Oliveira de Caetano, Sivan Toledo, Ran Nathan, Uri Roll, Oded Berger-Tal
{"title":"Publisher Correction: The value of human resources changes with season for a social desert passerine bird.","authors":"Krista N Oswald, Tamir Rozenberg, Oded Keynan, Gabriel Oliveira de Caetano, Sivan Toledo, Ran Nathan, Uri Roll, Oded Berger-Tal","doi":"10.1038/s44185-025-00106-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44185-025-00106-5","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":520249,"journal":{"name":"npj biodiversity","volume":"4 1","pages":"32"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12361392/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144877806","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
npj biodiversityPub Date : 2025-08-11DOI: 10.1038/s44185-025-00095-5
J W Bull, I Taylor, A de Valença, R IJspeert, B van Erve, P Modernel, J A C Poore
{"title":"Towards positive net outcomes for biodiversity, and developing safeguards to accompany headline biodiversity indicators.","authors":"J W Bull, I Taylor, A de Valença, R IJspeert, B van Erve, P Modernel, J A C Poore","doi":"10.1038/s44185-025-00095-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44185-025-00095-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Achieving the Global Biodiversity Framework will necessitate whole production systems contributing towards 'halting and reversing' net biodiversity loss, counterbalancing negative impacts with comparable gains. Here, we report on an illustrative quantitative exploration into the feasibility of monitoring for positive net biodiversity outcomes for the Dutch dairy production sector, using a composite metric. We analysed performance data from 8,950 dairy farms across the Netherlands, combining these data into an integrated biodiversity index. Usefully, this index allowed us to calculate sectoral baseline biodiversity impacts, and explore possible biodiversity strategies. We show that the largest overall source of impacts is imported feed; interestingly, nutrient loads contribute little to the footprint, despite representing an important political issue nationally. This highlights a general risk in using single indices to track net biodiversity outcomes: that they could result in an exclusionary focus, and perverse outcomes. Consequently, we develop safeguards to accompany the index; showing the necessity of incorporating safeguards, but also that meeting them could reduce sectoral biodiversity impacts by ~94%. Our proposed strategies vary in feasibility, all requiring trade-offs between biodiversity, land availability, and production.</p>","PeriodicalId":520249,"journal":{"name":"npj biodiversity","volume":"4 1","pages":"31"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12340042/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144824710","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
npj biodiversityPub Date : 2025-08-04DOI: 10.1038/s44185-025-00099-1
Marie Le Geay, Kyle Mayers, Anna Sytiuk, Ellen Dorrepaal, Martin Küttim, Mariusz Lamentowicz, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, Béatrice Lauga, Vincent E J Jassey
{"title":"Uncovering diversity and abundance patterns of CO<sub>2</sub>-fixing microorganisms in peatlands.","authors":"Marie Le Geay, Kyle Mayers, Anna Sytiuk, Ellen Dorrepaal, Martin Küttim, Mariusz Lamentowicz, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, Béatrice Lauga, Vincent E J Jassey","doi":"10.1038/s44185-025-00099-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44185-025-00099-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Microorganisms play a crucial role in the carbon (C) dynamics of peatlands - a major terrestrial C reservoir. Because of their role in C emissions, heterotrophic microorganisms have attracted much attention over the past decades. CO<sub>2</sub>-fixing microorganisms (CFMs) remained largely overlooked, while they could attenuate C emissions. Here, we use metabarcoding and digital droplet PCR to survey microorganisms that potentially fix CO<sub>2</sub> in different peatlands. We demonstrate that CFMs are abundant and diverse in peatlands, with on average 1021 CFMs contributing up to 40% of the total bacterial abundance. Using a joint-species distribution model, we identified a core and a specific CFM microbiome, the latter being influenced by temperature and nutrients. Our findings highlight that ASV richness and community structure were direct drivers of CFM abundance, while environmental parameters were indirect drivers. These results provide the basis for a better understanding of the role of CFMs in peatland C cycle inputs.</p>","PeriodicalId":520249,"journal":{"name":"npj biodiversity","volume":"4 1","pages":"30"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12322008/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144786388","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}