Pub Date : 2026-03-31DOI: 10.1038/s41559-026-03025-1
Ya-Lei Feng (, ), Hai-Hua Hu (, ), Bing Liu (, ), Dan-Xiao Peng (, ), Yu-Chang Yang (, ), Russell L. Barrett, Alexandre Antonelli, Zhi-Duan Chen (, ), Li-Min Lu (, )
Identifying centres of neo- and palaeo-endemism is crucial for defining global conservation priorities, yet data gaps hinder prioritization in megadiverse regions. Using a dated phylogeny of 16,585 native vascular plant species, we unravel spatio-temporal dynamics of China’s extant flora. Temporally, most genera originated in the Oligocene–Miocene, whereas the Pleistocene was key for speciation, tying floristic assembly to Pleistocene climatic oscillations. Spatially, mismatched phylogenetic and taxonomic endemism centres highlight complementary conservation priorities. We identify three major taxonomic endemism centres across China, with Central China, embedded within the East Asian subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest ecoregion, emerging as a critical and overlooked conservation gap. This region harbours over 14,431 vascular plant species, including at least 2,024 endemics, but has experienced severe loss of its original natural vegetation. We therefore advocate its designation as a global biodiversity hotspot. Our multi-dimensional assessment challenges frameworks that neglect evolutionary history and underscores the global conservation importance of Central China. A dated phylogeny of 16,585 vascular plant species native to China reveals three major centres of endemism, including a potential new global biodiversity hotspot.
{"title":"A comprehensive dated phylogeny of China’s vascular plants reveals a hidden global biodiversity hotspot","authors":"Ya-Lei Feng \u0000 (, ), Hai-Hua Hu \u0000 (, ), Bing Liu \u0000 (, ), Dan-Xiao Peng \u0000 (, ), Yu-Chang Yang \u0000 (, ), Russell L. Barrett, Alexandre Antonelli, Zhi-Duan Chen \u0000 (, ), Li-Min Lu \u0000 (, )","doi":"10.1038/s41559-026-03025-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41559-026-03025-1","url":null,"abstract":"Identifying centres of neo- and palaeo-endemism is crucial for defining global conservation priorities, yet data gaps hinder prioritization in megadiverse regions. Using a dated phylogeny of 16,585 native vascular plant species, we unravel spatio-temporal dynamics of China’s extant flora. Temporally, most genera originated in the Oligocene–Miocene, whereas the Pleistocene was key for speciation, tying floristic assembly to Pleistocene climatic oscillations. Spatially, mismatched phylogenetic and taxonomic endemism centres highlight complementary conservation priorities. We identify three major taxonomic endemism centres across China, with Central China, embedded within the East Asian subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest ecoregion, emerging as a critical and overlooked conservation gap. This region harbours over 14,431 vascular plant species, including at least 2,024 endemics, but has experienced severe loss of its original natural vegetation. We therefore advocate its designation as a global biodiversity hotspot. Our multi-dimensional assessment challenges frameworks that neglect evolutionary history and underscores the global conservation importance of Central China. A dated phylogeny of 16,585 vascular plant species native to China reveals three major centres of endemism, including a potential new global biodiversity hotspot.","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"10 4","pages":"794-806"},"PeriodicalIF":13.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-026-03025-1.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147584081","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}
Pub Date : 2026-03-31DOI: 10.1038/s41559-026-03030-4
Stephan Kamrad, Simran K. Aulakh, Simone Mozzachiodi, Sonja Blasche, David Scheidweiler, Arianna Basile, Rui Guan, Rob Bradley, Naomi Iris van den Berg, Michael Mülleder, Markus Ralser, Kiran R. Patil
Species in microbial communities need to stave off competition and capitalize on new resources that become available because of metabolic activities of others. However, intra-cellular molecular changes that underpin these responses are understudied, preventing mechanistic insights into community function and dynamics. Here we analyse proteomic and metabolomic responses in 104 pairwise co-cultures of 15 gut bacteria, spanning a diversity of ecological interactions from competition to mutualism. We find that molecular responses to co-culturing are substantial, with typically 50% of the quantified proteome changing in at least one co-culture, jointly influenced by genome size, species abundance and pH. Even closely related species and orthologue proteins show different expression profiles in response to the same partner, indicating functional diversification at both protein and species level. Small-molecule transport and carbon metabolism are among the most responsive processes, indicating pervasive metabolic interactions. Using metabolomics, we identify likely cross-fed metabolites, emergent polyamine metabolism and niche partitioning in amino acid utilization. Overall, our study uncovers how bacteria respond to the presence of other species through extensive remodelling of their proteome and metabolome.
{"title":"Interspecies interactions drive bacterial proteome reorganization and emergent metabolism","authors":"Stephan Kamrad, Simran K. Aulakh, Simone Mozzachiodi, Sonja Blasche, David Scheidweiler, Arianna Basile, Rui Guan, Rob Bradley, Naomi Iris van den Berg, Michael Mülleder, Markus Ralser, Kiran R. Patil","doi":"10.1038/s41559-026-03030-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-026-03030-4","url":null,"abstract":"Species in microbial communities need to stave off competition and capitalize on new resources that become available because of metabolic activities of others. However, intra-cellular molecular changes that underpin these responses are understudied, preventing mechanistic insights into community function and dynamics. Here we analyse proteomic and metabolomic responses in 104 pairwise co-cultures of 15 gut bacteria, spanning a diversity of ecological interactions from competition to mutualism. We find that molecular responses to co-culturing are substantial, with typically 50% of the quantified proteome changing in at least one co-culture, jointly influenced by genome size, species abundance and pH. Even closely related species and orthologue proteins show different expression profiles in response to the same partner, indicating functional diversification at both protein and species level. Small-molecule transport and carbon metabolism are among the most responsive processes, indicating pervasive metabolic interactions. Using metabolomics, we identify likely cross-fed metabolites, emergent polyamine metabolism and niche partitioning in amino acid utilization. Overall, our study uncovers how bacteria respond to the presence of other species through extensive remodelling of their proteome and metabolome.","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":16.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147585967","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}
Pub Date : 2026-03-30DOI: 10.1038/s41559-026-03009-1
Gustavo Sanchez, Fernando Ángel Fernández-Álvarez, Ainhoa Bernal, Elizabeth Heath-Heckman, Raphael Lami, Margaret McFall-Ngai, Michele Nishiguchi, Spencer Nyholm, Oleg Simakov, A. Louise Allcock, Daniel S. Rokhsar
The evolutionary relationships among decapodiform lineages (cuttlefish and diverse types of squid) remain uncertain, with implications for the origin of internalized structures (for example, gladius, cuttlebone and coiled shell) derived from the ancestral chambered shell as well as the ecological shifts between the deep ocean and shallow coastal habitats. To address these questions, we adopted a phylogenomic approach that integrated three new high-quality genome sequences with available genomic and transcriptomic datasets. Our analyses support a novel topology that separates a clade of open-ocean lineages (Oegopsida and Spirulida, together Acorneata) from a clade comprising the remaining coastal and shallow-water orders (Sepiida, Myopsida, Idiosepiida and Sepiolida, together Corneata). Molecular clock estimates suggest a rapid cladogenesis of modern decapodiform orders in the deep open ocean during the mid-Cretaceous, consistent with fossil data. This early diversification set a ‘long fuse’ that led to the explosive radiation of squid and cuttlefish into coastal and shallow-water environments as they recovered from the Cretaceous–Palaeogene extinction event. Phylogenomic analyses of newly sequenced and published decapodiform cephalopods separate open-ocean and coastal shallow-water clades, following rapid cladogenesis from the mid-Cretaceous.
{"title":"Rapid mid-Cretaceous diversification of squid and cuttlefish preceded radiation into coastal niches","authors":"Gustavo Sanchez, Fernando Ángel Fernández-Álvarez, Ainhoa Bernal, Elizabeth Heath-Heckman, Raphael Lami, Margaret McFall-Ngai, Michele Nishiguchi, Spencer Nyholm, Oleg Simakov, A. Louise Allcock, Daniel S. Rokhsar","doi":"10.1038/s41559-026-03009-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41559-026-03009-1","url":null,"abstract":"The evolutionary relationships among decapodiform lineages (cuttlefish and diverse types of squid) remain uncertain, with implications for the origin of internalized structures (for example, gladius, cuttlebone and coiled shell) derived from the ancestral chambered shell as well as the ecological shifts between the deep ocean and shallow coastal habitats. To address these questions, we adopted a phylogenomic approach that integrated three new high-quality genome sequences with available genomic and transcriptomic datasets. Our analyses support a novel topology that separates a clade of open-ocean lineages (Oegopsida and Spirulida, together Acorneata) from a clade comprising the remaining coastal and shallow-water orders (Sepiida, Myopsida, Idiosepiida and Sepiolida, together Corneata). Molecular clock estimates suggest a rapid cladogenesis of modern decapodiform orders in the deep open ocean during the mid-Cretaceous, consistent with fossil data. This early diversification set a ‘long fuse’ that led to the explosive radiation of squid and cuttlefish into coastal and shallow-water environments as they recovered from the Cretaceous–Palaeogene extinction event. Phylogenomic analyses of newly sequenced and published decapodiform cephalopods separate open-ocean and coastal shallow-water clades, following rapid cladogenesis from the mid-Cretaceous.","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"10 4","pages":"662-676"},"PeriodicalIF":13.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-026-03009-1.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147578376","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}
Pub Date : 2026-03-30DOI: 10.1038/s41559-026-03032-2
Brown algae independently evolved complex multicellularity with an atypical chromatin toolkit, including early loss of DNA methylation and PRC2-mediated gene silencing. By profiling histone modifications across five brown algal species, we highlight the emergence of H3K79 methylation as a conserved compensatory repressive system, uncover sex-associated chromatin dynamics, and reconstruct their ancestral epigenetic landscape.
{"title":"Loss of canonical epigenetic silencing reveals distinct chromatin evolution in brown algae","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s41559-026-03032-2","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41559-026-03032-2","url":null,"abstract":"Brown algae independently evolved complex multicellularity with an atypical chromatin toolkit, including early loss of DNA methylation and PRC2-mediated gene silencing. By profiling histone modifications across five brown algal species, we highlight the emergence of H3K79 methylation as a conserved compensatory repressive system, uncover sex-associated chromatin dynamics, and reconstruct their ancestral epigenetic landscape.","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"10 4","pages":"630-631"},"PeriodicalIF":13.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147578381","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}
Pub Date : 2026-03-27DOI: 10.1038/s41559-026-03040-2
Ali Omer,Stefan Dullinger,Johannes Wessely,Bernd Lenzner,Adrián García-Rodríguez,Anna Schertler,Dietmar Moser,Andreas Gattringer,Amy J S Davis,Wayne Dawson,Trevor S Fristoe,Matthias Grenié,Nicole L Kinlock,Holger Kreft,Jan Pergl,Petr Pyšek,Mark van Kleunen,Patrick Weigelt,Marten Winter,Damaris Zurell,Franz Essl
Biological invasions by plants pose a growing threat to biodiversity. Here we model potential current and future distributions of 9,701 naturalized alien plant species to project their potential spread by the end of the twenty-first century. Our analysis reveals that 33.9% of the global land surface is suitable for at least 10% of these species, identifying key hotspots for invasion. Under future climate and land-use scenarios, these hotspots are projected to expand moderately to 37.7% and 36.6% of land surface under mild and severe changes, respectively. However, this moderate absolute increase conceals substantial spatial shifts in hotspot locations, with expansion into currently cooler regions and contraction in hotter, drier areas. Additionally, we observe substantial species turnover within regional naturalized plant pools, indicating not only increases in plant invasion risk, but also shifts in the composition of the alien plant species pools. Our models predict regionally divergent responses of naturalized plant richness and species pool composition to climate and land-use changes.
{"title":"The global geography of plant invasion risk under future climate and land-use changes.","authors":"Ali Omer,Stefan Dullinger,Johannes Wessely,Bernd Lenzner,Adrián García-Rodríguez,Anna Schertler,Dietmar Moser,Andreas Gattringer,Amy J S Davis,Wayne Dawson,Trevor S Fristoe,Matthias Grenié,Nicole L Kinlock,Holger Kreft,Jan Pergl,Petr Pyšek,Mark van Kleunen,Patrick Weigelt,Marten Winter,Damaris Zurell,Franz Essl","doi":"10.1038/s41559-026-03040-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-026-03040-2","url":null,"abstract":"Biological invasions by plants pose a growing threat to biodiversity. Here we model potential current and future distributions of 9,701 naturalized alien plant species to project their potential spread by the end of the twenty-first century. Our analysis reveals that 33.9% of the global land surface is suitable for at least 10% of these species, identifying key hotspots for invasion. Under future climate and land-use scenarios, these hotspots are projected to expand moderately to 37.7% and 36.6% of land surface under mild and severe changes, respectively. However, this moderate absolute increase conceals substantial spatial shifts in hotspot locations, with expansion into currently cooler regions and contraction in hotter, drier areas. Additionally, we observe substantial species turnover within regional naturalized plant pools, indicating not only increases in plant invasion risk, but also shifts in the composition of the alien plant species pools. Our models predict regionally divergent responses of naturalized plant richness and species pool composition to climate and land-use changes.","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":16.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147524402","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}
Pub Date : 2026-03-27DOI: 10.1038/s41559-026-03031-3
Jeromine Vigneau, Jaruwatana Sodai Lotharukpong, Pengfei Liu, Remy Luthringer, Bérangère Lombard, Damarys Loew, Fabian B. Haas, Michael Borg, Susana M. Coelho
Chromatin structure plays a central role in regulating transcription, genome stability and epigenetic inheritance in eukaryotes. Much of our understanding of chromatin architecture and histone post-translational modifications (hPTMs) comes from a narrow set of animal and plant models, but emerging data from non-model lineages are challenging canonical views of how chromatin functions across the tree of life. Brown algae are complex multicellular eukaryotes that provide a unique perspective on chromatin evolution given their independent origin of complex multicellularity. Here we compile the chromatin toolkit of brown algae and show that canonical silencing systems involving DNA cytosine methylation and Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2)-mediated histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27) methylation were lost early in their evolution. By generating hPTM profiles from diverse brown algal clades, we resolve the nature and regulatory roles of chromatin states in this lineage and show how H3 lysine 79 (H3K79) methylation emerged and diversified as a repressive system. We further uncover sex-specific reconfigurations in species with varying degrees of sexual dimorphism and reconstruct the ancestral regulatory landscape that probably preceded the emergence of brown algae. Together, our findings illuminate the dynamic evolution of chromatin regulation in a distinct multicellular lineage and challenge assumptions about the universality of chromatin-based mechanisms across eukaryotes. Chromatin plays a central role in gene regulation, but chromatin systems are only known for a few model species. This study analyses chromatin regulatory landscapes in brown algal lineages to elucidate the structural organization and evolution of chromatin in these multicellular eukaryotes.
{"title":"Evolution of a distinct chromatin regulatory landscape in brown algae","authors":"Jeromine Vigneau, Jaruwatana Sodai Lotharukpong, Pengfei Liu, Remy Luthringer, Bérangère Lombard, Damarys Loew, Fabian B. Haas, Michael Borg, Susana M. Coelho","doi":"10.1038/s41559-026-03031-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41559-026-03031-3","url":null,"abstract":"Chromatin structure plays a central role in regulating transcription, genome stability and epigenetic inheritance in eukaryotes. Much of our understanding of chromatin architecture and histone post-translational modifications (hPTMs) comes from a narrow set of animal and plant models, but emerging data from non-model lineages are challenging canonical views of how chromatin functions across the tree of life. Brown algae are complex multicellular eukaryotes that provide a unique perspective on chromatin evolution given their independent origin of complex multicellularity. Here we compile the chromatin toolkit of brown algae and show that canonical silencing systems involving DNA cytosine methylation and Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2)-mediated histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27) methylation were lost early in their evolution. By generating hPTM profiles from diverse brown algal clades, we resolve the nature and regulatory roles of chromatin states in this lineage and show how H3 lysine 79 (H3K79) methylation emerged and diversified as a repressive system. We further uncover sex-specific reconfigurations in species with varying degrees of sexual dimorphism and reconstruct the ancestral regulatory landscape that probably preceded the emergence of brown algae. Together, our findings illuminate the dynamic evolution of chromatin regulation in a distinct multicellular lineage and challenge assumptions about the universality of chromatin-based mechanisms across eukaryotes. Chromatin plays a central role in gene regulation, but chromatin systems are only known for a few model species. This study analyses chromatin regulatory landscapes in brown algal lineages to elucidate the structural organization and evolution of chromatin in these multicellular eukaryotes.","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"10 4","pages":"779-793"},"PeriodicalIF":13.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-026-03031-3.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147524403","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}
Pub Date : 2026-03-24DOI: 10.1038/s41559-026-03020-6
Peter I. Macreadie, George E. Biddulph, Pere Masque, Hilary Kennedy, Jimena Samper-Villarreal, J. Patrick Megonigal, Hannah K. Morrissette, Tania E. Romero-Gonzalez, Vanessa Hatje, Jana Friedrich, Sigit D. Sasmito, Kenta Watanabe, Inés Mazarrasa, Dorte Krause-Jensen, Janine B. Adams, Miguel Cifuentes-Jara, Ariane Arias-Ortiz, Andre S. Rovai, Milica Stankovic, Kirsten Isensee, Ana M. Queirós, Luzhen Chen, Jorge Herrera-Silveira, Catriona L. Hurd, Rashid Ismail, Ken W. Krauss, Anna Lafratta, Maria M. Palacios, William E. N. Austin
Blue carbon ecosystems, classically defined as mangroves, tidal marshes and seagrasses, but increasingly expanded to include ecosystems such as tidal flats, macroalgal forests and shelf sediments, contribute to climate change mitigation and biodiversity support. Here, seven years after the last global assessment of research priorities, we conducted a priority-setting exercise to identify persistent knowledge and implementation gaps, and the strategic priorities that must be addressed to enable scalable, high-integrity and equitable management of blue carbon ecosystems in a rapidly evolving policy and finance landscape. The highest priority focuses on managing blue carbon ecosystems to support coastal communities while integrating traditional ecological knowledge, emphasizing the essential role of social legitimacy and equity in enabling scalable, long-lasting outcomes. Additional priorities focus on developing cost-effective restoration methods, improving the accuracy of greenhouse gas flux estimates, quantifying the impacts of human activities on carbon cycling and integrating co-benefits such as biodiversity and coastal protection into natural capital frameworks. Emerging technologies like remote sensing, machine learning and data-sharing platforms are also highlighted as transformative tools to fill knowledge gaps and scale solutions. Collectively, these priorities highlight the complexity of blue carbon science and the need for inclusive interdisciplinary approaches that support the resilience and livelihoods of coastal communities. This paper conducted a priority-setting exercise to identify ten questions that define the future direction of blue carbon science. It highlights key gaps, emerging challenges and opportunities for advancing climate mitigation, ecosystem management and evidence-based policy.
{"title":"Priority questions for the next decade of blue carbon science","authors":"Peter I. Macreadie, George E. Biddulph, Pere Masque, Hilary Kennedy, Jimena Samper-Villarreal, J. Patrick Megonigal, Hannah K. Morrissette, Tania E. Romero-Gonzalez, Vanessa Hatje, Jana Friedrich, Sigit D. Sasmito, Kenta Watanabe, Inés Mazarrasa, Dorte Krause-Jensen, Janine B. Adams, Miguel Cifuentes-Jara, Ariane Arias-Ortiz, Andre S. Rovai, Milica Stankovic, Kirsten Isensee, Ana M. Queirós, Luzhen Chen, Jorge Herrera-Silveira, Catriona L. Hurd, Rashid Ismail, Ken W. Krauss, Anna Lafratta, Maria M. Palacios, William E. N. Austin","doi":"10.1038/s41559-026-03020-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41559-026-03020-6","url":null,"abstract":"Blue carbon ecosystems, classically defined as mangroves, tidal marshes and seagrasses, but increasingly expanded to include ecosystems such as tidal flats, macroalgal forests and shelf sediments, contribute to climate change mitigation and biodiversity support. Here, seven years after the last global assessment of research priorities, we conducted a priority-setting exercise to identify persistent knowledge and implementation gaps, and the strategic priorities that must be addressed to enable scalable, high-integrity and equitable management of blue carbon ecosystems in a rapidly evolving policy and finance landscape. The highest priority focuses on managing blue carbon ecosystems to support coastal communities while integrating traditional ecological knowledge, emphasizing the essential role of social legitimacy and equity in enabling scalable, long-lasting outcomes. Additional priorities focus on developing cost-effective restoration methods, improving the accuracy of greenhouse gas flux estimates, quantifying the impacts of human activities on carbon cycling and integrating co-benefits such as biodiversity and coastal protection into natural capital frameworks. Emerging technologies like remote sensing, machine learning and data-sharing platforms are also highlighted as transformative tools to fill knowledge gaps and scale solutions. Collectively, these priorities highlight the complexity of blue carbon science and the need for inclusive interdisciplinary approaches that support the resilience and livelihoods of coastal communities. This paper conducted a priority-setting exercise to identify ten questions that define the future direction of blue carbon science. It highlights key gaps, emerging challenges and opportunities for advancing climate mitigation, ecosystem management and evidence-based policy.","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"10 4","pages":"751-764"},"PeriodicalIF":13.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-026-03020-6.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147506146","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}
Pub Date : 2026-03-24DOI: 10.1038/s41559-026-03029-x
James Gahan, Helen F. Yan, David R. Bellwood, Graham J. Edgar, Leo Nankervis, Alexandre C. Siqueira, Rick D. Stuart-Smith, Sterling B. Tebbett
The functioning of high-diversity ecosystems, such as coral reefs, is intrinsically tied to the integrity and efficiency of the trophic pathways within these systems. Coral reef productivity depends, in part, on the input of external nutrients, primarily zooplankton, that is assimilated by extraordinarily diverse fish communities. The plankton–planktivore trophic pathway is thus crucial for sustaining the productivity that exemplifies coral reef ecosystems; however, it remains poorly understood at large spatial scales. Here we explore global patterns in reef fish community structure, revealing a major discrepancy between the Indo-Pacific and Caribbean in the productivity and fisheries potential of planktivorous reef fishes. Indo-Pacific reefs support 6.6 times more planktivorous fish biomass and 3.4 times greater productivity than the Caribbean, a difference largely due to the marked contribution of species that feed on gelatinous plankton in the Indo-Pacific. Although species that feed on gelatinous plankton constitute only 4% of the planktivorous fish abundance in the Indo-Pacific, they account for one-third of the biomass and one-quarter of the productivity. This divergence reflects the contrasting biogeographic histories of the two realms, with Indo-Pacific oceanography fostering diversification, while repeated extinction events and trophic erosion may have constrained planktivory in the Caribbean. Ultimately, these differences in energy flow translate into fundamental differences in coral reef functioning and, potentially, their capacity to support ecosystem services, including fisheries.
{"title":"Missing planktivore functions drive global variation in reef fish productivity","authors":"James Gahan, Helen F. Yan, David R. Bellwood, Graham J. Edgar, Leo Nankervis, Alexandre C. Siqueira, Rick D. Stuart-Smith, Sterling B. Tebbett","doi":"10.1038/s41559-026-03029-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-026-03029-x","url":null,"abstract":"The functioning of high-diversity ecosystems, such as coral reefs, is intrinsically tied to the integrity and efficiency of the trophic pathways within these systems. Coral reef productivity depends, in part, on the input of external nutrients, primarily zooplankton, that is assimilated by extraordinarily diverse fish communities. The plankton–planktivore trophic pathway is thus crucial for sustaining the productivity that exemplifies coral reef ecosystems; however, it remains poorly understood at large spatial scales. Here we explore global patterns in reef fish community structure, revealing a major discrepancy between the Indo-Pacific and Caribbean in the productivity and fisheries potential of planktivorous reef fishes. Indo-Pacific reefs support 6.6 times more planktivorous fish biomass and 3.4 times greater productivity than the Caribbean, a difference largely due to the marked contribution of species that feed on gelatinous plankton in the Indo-Pacific. Although species that feed on gelatinous plankton constitute only 4% of the planktivorous fish abundance in the Indo-Pacific, they account for one-third of the biomass and one-quarter of the productivity. This divergence reflects the contrasting biogeographic histories of the two realms, with Indo-Pacific oceanography fostering diversification, while repeated extinction events and trophic erosion may have constrained planktivory in the Caribbean. Ultimately, these differences in energy flow translate into fundamental differences in coral reef functioning and, potentially, their capacity to support ecosystem services, including fisheries.","PeriodicalId":18835,"journal":{"name":"Nature ecology & evolution","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":16.8,"publicationDate":"2026-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147506145","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}
Pub Date : 2026-03-20DOI: 10.1038/s41559-026-03037-x
Xiaoyu Yang,Guanjing Cai,Runlin Cai,Haifeng Gu,Yuerong Chen,Jianmin Xie,Zhong Hu,Jonathan Y S Leung,Hanno Teeling,Hui Wang
Dinoflagellates and diatoms are key marine phytoplankton, with ecological roles strongly influenced by their associated phycosphere bacteria. However, the ecophysiological functions of these bacteria remain enigmatic as a result of insufficient taxonomic and genomic characterization. Here, by combining single-cell isolation with a custom statistical pipeline, we profiled resident bacterial communities associated with 108 diatom and 86 dinoflagellate strains, collected across temperate and tropical oceans worldwide. We examined genomic traits of key bacterial populations through whole-genome sequencing of representative isolates. Taxonomic compositions of dinoflagellate- and diatom-associated microbiota were distinct, highlighting host-specific differences. Each microbiota harboured characteristic genera with adaptive traits reflecting host metabolic profiles. Dinoflagellate-associated bacteria were enriched in genes responsible for motility and sulfur-compound use, whereas diatom-associated bacteria specialized in glycan use. We identified 'foundation' genera, defined as taxa with high occupancy and community-level impact in both phycosphere types (for example, Marivita and Marinobacter), sharing host-specific traits with characteristic bacteria while universally excelling in environmental response and resistance. Notably, foundation bacteria were enriched in Type VI secretion systems, emerging as a universal hallmark of phycosphere bacteria across global oceans. Overall, this study provides insights into the taxonomic and metabolic nature of phycosphere bacteria, highlighting the profound influences of interspecific interactions on marine ecological processes.
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