Ecology Letters最新文献

Elementomes (i.e., the concentration of bioelements of an organism) have been shown to be related to organism traits and function, and to change across space and time mostly due to changes in environmental conditions, but also due to coexistence amongst species. While there is vast observational evidence for that, experimental evidence remains elusive. Here we set up a diversity experiment, based on 20 aquatic microcosms where we grew one, two, three or four moss species together, to test whether coexistence amongst species is an important driver of high-dimensional elementome shifts in mixed communities. Our results provide experimental evidence showing that species tend to shift their elemental composition in response to coexistence, and that the magnitude of this shift increases with the elemental diversity of the community. Overall, our results provide the first experimental evidence of high-dimensional shifts in elementomes due to coexistence, supporting the biogeochemical niche hypothesis.

Carrion is a highly nutritious resource that attracts diverse organisms and plays a key role in ecosystem functioning. However, it could also pose pathogen risks, especially from phylogenetically close carcass-scavenger pairs sharing traits that facilitate transmission. Although phylogenetic distance has long been suggested to influence scavenger feeding patterns, evidence remains scarce and limited at specific scales. To address this gap, we used camera-trap monitoring to record scavenging events on fish, bird, and mammal carcasses in a Mediterranean wetland and evaluated how phylogenetic distance between vertebrate scavengers and available carcasses shaped feeding patterns. Our results revealed a consistent pattern across the assemblage, showing that scavengers consumed carcasses that were more phylogenetically distant than expected by chance, although this pattern varied slightly between taxonomic classes and at the species level. Our findings suggest the existence of a natural mechanism by which scavengers may reduce pathogen exposure when selecting carcasses.

Stomata, the micro-valves on leaves, regulate CO₂ uptake and water loss. Thus, the anatomical maximum stomatal conductance, g_max, is a key influence on gas exchange, growth and productivity. For 145 geographically diverse ecotypes of Arabidopsis thaliana grown in a common garden we tested hypotheses for the drivers of variation in g_max and a stomatal size-density trade-off, considering epidermal optimization, epidermal development and climate adaptation. Ecotypes native to colder and drier macroclimates had higher g_max, consistent with leaf-scale stress-avoidance, despite having longer times to flowering. A high g_max was achieved through greater epidermal allocation to stomata, via both increased guard cell initiation and smaller epidermal pavement cells. Stomatal traits showed polygenic associations with climate. A weak stomatal size-density trade-off was observed for only the abaxial surface, consistent with flexible constraints on stomatal development and independent trait adaptation. Dovetailing mechanisms influence stomatal adaptation to climate across a wide-ranging species.

Behavioural individuality is widespread, yet its developmental origins are unclear. We subjected clonal individuals to a critical ecological challenge—the threat of predation—to disentangle the developmental mechanisms of individuality. Predation may erode or amplify among-individual differences, demonstrating that individuality is developmentally plastic. If individuality is instead determined before birth, it should resist environmental influences. We tracked behaviours of genetically identical fish (Amazon mollies), reared with or without predation stress, continuously from birth for 4 weeks. While predation shifted mean-level behaviours, the magnitude of individuality was unaffected, indicating that individuality crystallizes robustly over time under stress and without genetic variation. Surprisingly, maternal identity strongly shaped swimming velocity but not refuge use, suggesting distinct developmental mechanisms for different ecologically relevant behaviours. We show that individuality persists despite ecological stress and is seeded before birth through non-genetic factors. Even in the face of a shared environmental challenge, the behavioural trajectories of individuals are unique.

Brennan, J. and S. J. Schreiber. 2026. “ Using Modern Coexistence Theory to Understand Community Disassembly.” Ecology Letters 29, no. 6: e70424. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.70424.

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Meta-analyses in ecology and evolution sometimes target the magnitude of differences between groups rather than their direction, for example, when the question concerns deviation from a biological optimum or divergence from a reference state. A common practice is to convert signed effects into magnitudes by taking absolute values, but this can induce upward distortion and non-normal sampling distributions under standard meta-analytic models. Here we introduce lnM, a log-ratio effect size for the magnitude of difference between two groups, defined from one-way ANOVA components. lnM is asymptotically normal, supports standard multilevel meta-analysis and meta-regression and applies to both ratio- and interval-scale traits. Using theory, simulations and worked examples, we show when delta-method and single-fit bootstrap estimators perform well, and how lnM can be used to assess publication bias.

Plant recruitment—the transition from seed dispersal to seedling establishment—is a vulnerable stage strongly shaped by canopy plants, which modify microclimates, soils, and biotic interactions relative to open ground. Using a global database covering 142 communities across ten terrestrial biomes, we examined canopy effects on taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity at global and local scales, quantified with Hill numbers (q = 0, 1, 2) to weight rare, common, and dominant species. Globally, canopy microsites hosted five times more exclusive species and over three times more evolutionary history than open ground. Locally, canopies buffered aridity's negative effects, sustaining higher diversity. For q = 1, open ground had higher diversity under low aridity, but under dry conditions canopies promoted rare, stress-sensitive species alongside dominants. These patterns show that canopy plants act as microrefugia, preserving both species richness and evolutionary history, highlighting their critical role as guardians of plant diversity under increasing climatic aridity.

The fast-slow continuum is a key axis of variation in life history strategies capturing the evolutionary trade-off between allocation in lifespan versus reproduction. It has been suggested that social behaviour, and therefore network structure, may vary across this continuum, but formal theory remains scarce. We develop a mathematical model to examine how the rate of demographic replacement may influence emergent social network structures under a range of social preferences and modes of social inheritance. Our key finding is that rapid demographic replacement can constrain emergent social network structure. We predict that generation time determines the drivers of variation in network structures; for longer generation times, emergent network properties are primarily influenced by social preferences, whereas for shorter generation times it is social inheritance. Variation in generation time alone can lead to substantial shifts in network properties; therefore, diversity in life history strategies can help explain diversity in social network structures.