May 2025

• Advisory Board and Contents

TrendsTalk

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  Disability in ecology and evolution

  • Sara L. Middleton,
  • Haley Branch

  In this TrendsTalk series ‘Disability in ecology and evolution’ in Trends in Ecology and Evolution, we will be hearing from people about their experiences being disabled in ecology and evolution. We are asking ecologists and evolutionary biologists with disabilities what the community could do to make our field more inclusive – these changes can be very practical things (e.g., large fonts), they could be institutional, or involve people’s attitudes and beliefs. If you identify as disabled or have a chronic condition and would like to share your thoughts, please get in touch – [email protected], we would love to hear from you.

Scientific Life

• Elevating local perspectives for equity in ecological research

  • Daniela de Angeli Dutra,
  • Alan Erikson,
  • Luísa Genes,
  • Rodolfo Dirzo,
  • Andressa M. Venturini

  High-profile studies conducted in Global South (GS) countries with few, or no GS authors are published frequently, underrepresenting GS researchers in local high-impact publications. Here, we reiterate the importance of conducting equitable research, valuing GS researchers as equal contributors, and propose pathways to decolonize science.

Letters

• From field to framework: response to Soga and Gaston

  • Rafael D. Guariento

  If you ask a quantum theoretical physicist how to build a cavity blackbody radiator, they are unlikely to know all the practical details required for the task. Similarly, asking an experimental physicist to derive solutions to the Dirac equation is unlikely to yield a flawless response. This happens because theoretical and experimental physicists specialize in different aspects of physics. Despite their differing skill sets, the two fields complement each other. Concerns about the declining participation of ecologists in fieldwork, and the potential risks this poses to the discipline, have long been debated [1].
• Fieldwork in ecology: why and how it matters

  • Masashi Soga,
  • Kevin J. Gaston

  In response to our paper in TREE discussing the decline in fieldwork in ecology [1], Guariento [2] suggests that this could be a hopeful sign of the maturation and progress of the discipline. They argue that, while historically ecology has relied on direct field observations and experiments, it is now advancing through a range of other approaches, such as mathematical modelling, simulation, and evidence synthesis, alongside fieldwork. We fully acknowledge the value of these other methods; indeed, in our paper [1], we explicitly recognise their importance and have no doubt that they will continue to have a key and developing role in ecological research.
• The potential for AI to divide conservation

  Response to ‘The potential for AI to revolutionize conservation: a horizon scan’

  • Katie I. Murray,
  • Kimberley J. Hockings,
  • Dave Hodgson

  We welcome the recent article by Reynolds et al. [1], highlighting the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in automating labour-intensive tasks and generating new insights from large-scale ecological data. Much has been written about the dangers of scientific colonialism [2], and Conservation Science must benefit from AI in ways that avoid the mistakes of scientific history. Reynolds et al. [1] briefly address inequalities between AI project developers, conservation practitioners, researchers, and governance institutions; however, two points warrant more explicit attention to fully engage conservation stakeholders in the entire development process of AI-driven tools and solutions.
• Conservation changed but not divided

  • Sam A. Reynolds,
  • Sara Beery,
  • Neil Burgess,
  • Mark Burgman,
  • Stuart H.M. Butchart,
  • Steven J. Cooke,
  • David Coomes,
  • Finn Danielsen,
  • Enrico Di Minin,
  • América Paz Durán,
  • Amy Hinsley,
  • Sadiq Jaffer,
  • Julia P.G. Jones,
  • Binbin V. Li,
  • Anil Madhavapeddy,
  • Lloyd Peck,
  • Nathalie Pettorelli,
  • Jon Paul Rodríguez,
  • William J. Sutherland

  We acknowledge the valuable perspectives presented in the letter by Murray et al. [1] in response to our recent publication [2]. They highlight the risk that artificial intelligence (AI) may divide conservation if ecological and field experience do not underpin the design of AI tools, and if AI capacity in the Global South does not develop to avoid further scientific inequities. We agree wholeheartedly with these points and recognise that the task of equitable integration of AI into conservation is beyond the scope of any single group and requires collective action.

Spotlights

• Germination changes can restructure communities through priority effects

  • Vicky M. Temperton

  Open Access

  Priority effects caused by different species’ arrival order can significantly influence community assembly and also plant community composition. Dawson-Glass et al. show for the first time in a multi-species setting, that warming-induced shifts in germination timing can restructure communities via seasonal priority effects that influence assembly and affect plant performance.
• 

  Climate-warming alters resource allocation in unpredictable ways

  • Diana S. Macias,
  • Miranda D. Redmond

  Open Access

  Indirect effects of climate change on demographic processes are likely widespread but difficult to measure. Hacket-Pain et al. show that climate warming increased European beech seed production, depleting internal resources and causing long-term growth declines. If similar trade-offs occur across species, climate change may weaken forest resilience through resource depletion.

Forums

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  Deriving meaning from acoustic data in hyper-diverse ecosystems

  • Tom Bradfer-Lawrence,
  • Zuzana Buřivalová,
  • Daisy H. Dent

  Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) can offer novel ecological insights and inform conservation of hyper-diverse ecosystems. Acoustic indices present one analytical option that is broadly used but frequently misinterpreted. Effective use requires (i) hypothesising how biotic and abiotic components influence sound; (ii) selecting valid, robust, intuitive indices; and (iii) integrating complementary data sources.
• 

  Plant invasion resistance due to 2D native diversity

  • Qiaoqiao Huang,
  • Mark van Kleunen,
  • Yanjie Liu

  Biodiversity entails species diversity both within a trophic level (horizontal diversity) and across levels (vertical diversity). While invasion resistance studies usually focus on horizontal diversity, vertical diversity could provide additional biotic resistance to invasion. Quantifying the role of such 2D diversity will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the diversity–invasibility relationship.

Opinions

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  Shifting, expanding, or contracting? Range movement consequences for biodiversity

  • Jedediah F. Brodie,
  • Benjamin G. Freeman,
  • Philip D. Mannion,
  • Anna L. Hargreaves

  Climate change is causing species ranges to shift, expand, and contract, with divergent and underappreciated consequences for local and global biodiversity. Widespread range shifts should increase local diversity in most areas but reduce it in the tropical lowlands. Widespread expansions should maintain diversity at low latitudes while increasing diversity elsewhere, leading to stable global biodiversity. Expansions and shifts are both common responses to climate change now and in the deep past. To understand how changing ranges will reshape Earth’s biodiversity, we argue for three research directions: (i) leverage paleontological data to reveal long-term biodiversity responses, (ii) better monitor low-elevation and latitude limits to distinguish shifts from expansions, and (iii) incorporate dispersal barriers that can turn would-be shifts into contractions and extinctions.
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  Emergent feedback between symbiosis form and population dynamics

  • Lutz Becks,
  • Ursula Gaedke,
  • Toni Klauschies

  Open Access

  Symbiotic relationships represent prolonged physical interactions between different species and include various forms such as mutualism, commensalism, exploitation, and competition. Here, we show that the form of symbiosis may change with the densities of the symbiotic partners as they influence the costs and benefits each species experiences. In turn, the form of symbiosis is expected to influence species persistence, population dynamics, and ultimately ecosystem stability. Based on this, we introduce the theoretical concept of a density–symbiosis feedback, where population densities affect the form of symbiosis, and symbiosis form in return affects population dynamics. This dynamic interplay calls for a re-evaluation of traditional ecological concepts and a framework considering the flexibility in symbiosis forms.
• Featured Article
  

  A horizon scan for Arctic coastal biodiversity research: understanding changes requires international collaboration

  • Jakob Thyrring,
  • Philippe Archambault,
  • Michael Burrows,
  • Katrin Iken,
  • Fernando P. Lima,
  • Joana Micael,
  • Markus Molis,
  • Catia Monteiro,
  • Sergej Olenin,
  • Paul E. Renaud,
  • Ricardo A. Scrosati,
  • Rui Seabra,
  • Alexey A. Sukhotin,
  • Jan-Marcin Węsławski,
  • Nadescha Zwerschke,
  • Mikael K. Sejr

  Arctic coastal biodiversity faces increasing threats from anthropogenic activities and climate change. However, the effects on biodiversity are still poorly understood, hindering actions aimed at mitigating the impacts at a pan-Arctic scale. We present the results of a horizon scan that provides a road map to address knowledge gaps on the influence of anthropogenic activities, from increased shipping and harvesting to consequences of climate change including increasing temperatures, cryosphere loss, and freshwater runoff. Predictions on ecological change, species range expansions, and anthropogenic impacts on Arctic coasts are hampered by the lack of biodiversity data and scarcity of biological long-term monitoring programs. Filling these knowledge gaps will require coordinated international efforts and standardized experiments across the diverse ecosystems characterizing the Arctic.
• Featured Article
  

  Resilience and robustness: from sub-organismal responses to communities

  • Maren N. Vitousek,
  • Conor C. Taff,
  • Jessie L. Williamson

  Coping with challenges is essential to life on earth. Determining the processes that generate resilience and robustness to disturbance across levels of biological organization is increasingly important as the pace of global change accelerates; however, to date, multiscale models have primarily focused on population to ecosystem scales. In this opinion article we combine conceptual models from different fields to develop a unified a framework of resilience and robustness that explicitly links sub-organismal responses with higher-level outcomes. This framework predicts that interactions among sub-organismal response components – including their temporal dynamics and the plasticity of homeostatic regulatory networks – are key drivers of current and future resilience.
• Featured Article
  

  Ecosystems have multiple interacting processes that buffer against co-occurring stressors

  • Xiang Kong,
  • Baile Xu,
  • James A. Orr,
  • Peter Meidl,
  • Matthias C. Rillig,
  • Gaowen Yang

  There are multiple processes that buffer the effects of anthropogenic stressors. Much is known about how single buffering processes (e.g., biodiversity, adaptation) mitigate the effects of stressors on ecosystem properties and functions, but how multiple buffering processes combine to mitigate the effects of multiple co-occurring stressors is poorly understood. We outline how single processes (e.g., cross-tolerance) can buffer the effects of multiple stressors, whereas multiple buffering processes can act jointly across ecological and temporal scales to reduce the effects of single or multiple stressors. Synergistic interactions between multiple buffering processes can further enhance ecosystem resistance to multiple stressors. A wider awareness of interacting buffering processes in ecosystems will enhance our understanding of ecosystem stability in the face of multiple stressors.

Reviews

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  Multiplayer videogames to analyze behavior during ecological interactions

  • Pierre-Olivier Montiglio,
  • Maxime Fraser Franco,
  • Francesca Santostefano

  Behavior shapes population and community dynamics through feedbacks with habitat configuration and interaction networks. Work on this interplay includes longitudinal surveys, experiments, and models. Multiplayer online video games foster real-time interactions among lots of players in virtual spaces. Data from these games could complement theoretical and empirical work, but research on them is only emerging now. We highlight how these games allow us to track individual movement, decisions, interactions, and performance in a tractable environment. We use our work on the game Dead by Daylight as an example to show that social and predator–prey interactions can generate complex ecoevolutionary dynamics favoring an array of behavioral traits we often study in nature. These games can foster progress in ecoevolutionary and behavioral research.
• Featured Article
  

  Climate mediates the predictability of threats to marine biodiversity

  • Kylie L. Scales,
  • Jessica A. Bolin,
  • Daniel C. Dunn,
  • Elliott L. Hazen,
  • Lee Hannah,
  • David S. Schoeman

  Anthropogenic climate change is driving rapid changes in marine ecosystems across the global ocean. The spatiotemporal footprints of other anthropogenic threats, such as infrastructure development, shipping, and fisheries, will also inevitably shift under climate change, but we find that these shifts are not yet accounted for in most projections of climate futures in marine systems. We summarise what is known about threat-shifting in response to climate change, and identify sources of predictability that have implications for ecological forecasting. We recommend that, where possible, the dynamics of anthropogenic threats are accounted for in nowcasts, forecasts, and projections designed for spatial management and conservation planning, and highlight key themes for future research into threat dynamics in a changing ocean.

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