Featured
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Article
| Open AccessGlobal assessment of current extinction risks and future challenges for turtles and tortoises
This study shows that turtle and tortoise extinctions are non-random; they are tied to large body sizes and small ranges, with Indomalaya as a hotspot. Future climate change is predicted to outpace adaptive evolution of turtle and tortoise species, and eight species not yet evaluated for the Red List are projected to face extinction.
- Chuanwu Chen
- , Jiang Wang
- & Yanping Wang
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Article
| Open AccessMultiple bursts of speciation in Madagascar’s endangered lemurs
Here, the authors characterize the tempo and mode of lemur speciation with a phylogenomic dataset that also includes lorisiforms. They find that lemurs exhibited multiple bursts of diversification (without subsequent decline in diversification rate) with the highest diversification rates accompanied by high introgression rates.
- Kathryn M. Everson
- , Luca Pozzi
- & David W. Weisrock
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Article
| Open AccessGlobal divergence in plant and mycorrhizal fungal diversity hotspots
This study shows that aboveground plant diversity is only weakly related to belowground mycorrhizal fungal diversity, although these relationships can be stronger at regional scales. Therefore, conservation efforts centered only on plant diversity may overlook critical fungal diversity hotspots.
- Laura G. van Galen
- , Justin D. Stewart
- & Michael E. Van Nuland
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Article
| Open AccessLarge-scale experimental evidence of carbon-mediated N and P co-amplification in proglacial soils
In early soil, N and P mutually enhance each other’s availability via C-mediated processes, challenging traditional views of nutrient co-limitation and offering a new framework for understanding soil nutrient cycle in nascent ecosystems.
- Hongyang Sun
- , Dong Yu
- & Yang Chen
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Article
| Open AccessGrazing reverses climate-induced soil carbon gains on the Tibetan Plateau
The effects of climate change and livestock grazing on the Tibetan Plateau’s vast soil carbon stocks remain insufficiently understood. In this study, the authors show that ongoing grazing could nearly offset climate-driven increases in soil carbon across the region by 2060.
- Shuai Ren
- , Tao Wang
- & Jinzhi Ding
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Article
| Open AccessMicrobial responses to changing plant community protect peatland carbon stores during Holocene drying
This study reveals that Holocene drying-induced woody plant expansion in peatlands suppresses microbial heterotrophic activity and enhances organic matter stability, creating a natural buffer for carbon storage under climatic stress.
- Yiming Zhang
- , Xianyu Huang
- & Shucheng Xie
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Article
| Open AccessNorthern peatland microbial communities exhibit resistance to warming and acquire electron acceptors from soil organic matter
Climate change is expected to impact microbes degrading organic matter in northern peatlands. Here, using a warming experiment, the authors show that communities remain stable after three years of warming, likely due to metabolic versatility and an ability to obtain electron acceptors from organic matter cleavage.
- Katherine Duchesneau
- , Borja Aldeguer-Riquelme
- & Joel E. Kostka
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Article
| Open AccessDiversity and transmission and zoonotic potential of microbes in true insectivores
Here, using a meta-analysis approach the authors compile a database of microbes hosted by insectivores, showing that a majority of them are viruses, that shrews and hedgehogs particularly contribute to the global virus sharing networks and that insectivores may spread of viruses of potential public health concern.
- Hongfeng Li
- , Zheng Y. X. Huang
- & Yifei Xu
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Article
| Open AccessGlobal incidence of female birdsong is predicted by territoriality and biparental care in songbirds
Elaborate traits like birdsong are thought to be sexually selected in males but are poorly understood in females. This study shows that year-round territoriality and biparental care are selected for female birdsong, whereas migration, seasonal territoriality, and loss of male care led to losses of female song.
- Karan J. Odom
- , Marcelo Araya-Salas
- & Katharina Riebel
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Article
| Open AccessNewly established forests dominated global carbon sequestration change induced by land cover conversions
Global land cover conversions increased carbon uptake during 1982 to 2019, with newly established forests in the Northern Hemisphere driving gains that counterbalanced emissions from tropical deforestation.
- Dailiang Peng
- , Bing Zhang
- & Xiaoyang Zhang
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Article
| Open AccessSynchronized seasonal excretion of multiple coronaviruses coincides with high rates of coinfection in immature bats
Bats harbor diverse coronaviruses but temporal dynamics are less well studied. Here, the authors analyzed coronaviruses in Australian flying foxes over 3 years showing peak shedding and co-infections in juveniles and subadults and providing evidence of historical and contemporary recombination between viral clades.
- Alison J. Peel
- , Manuel Ruiz-Aravena
- & Raina K. Plowright
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Article
| Open AccessGlobal alternatives of natural vegetation cover
Conserving and restoring ecosystems requires understanding what natural vegetation would look like without human disturbance. This study maps the most likely global cover of trees, short vegetation, and bare ground, showing that land management through fire and herbivory may influence ecosystems more than climate change alone.
- Jean-François Bastin
- , Nicolas Latte
- & Philippe Lejeune
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Article
| Open AccessGlobal wood fuel production estimates and implications
With over 2,000 newly identified data points, this study estimates 2,525 million m3 of wood fuel removals globally in 2019, approximately 30% higher than previously understood. Global production of wood charcoal is estimated at 70.5 million tonnes, approximately 50% higher than previous values.
- E. Ashley Steel
- , Oliver Stoner
- & Leonardo R. Souza
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Article
| Open AccessThe defensome of prokaryotes in aquifers
Bacteria and archaea have developed various antiviral defense mechanisms. Here, Li et al. present a catalogue of such defense systems, as well as viral anti-defense systems, identified in metagenomic datasets generated from groundwater samples across China.
- Pengwei Li
- , Zongzhi Wu
- & Jinren Ni
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Article
| Open AccessArctic Ocean virus communities and their seasonality, bipolarity, and prokaryotic associations
Based on bulk DNA time-series sequencing of the surface Arctic Ocean, Calayag et al. show that planktonic viruses are strongly seasonal in abundance and community composition, and are correlated strongly with their prokaryote hosts.
- Alyzza M. Calayag
- , Taylor Priest
- & David M. Needham
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Article
| Open AccessTranslating microbial kinetics into quantitative responses and testable hypotheses using Kinbiont
In this work, authors present Kinbiont, which combines dynamical models with explainable machine learning to streamline data analysis and support theoretical formulation in microbiology.
- Fabrizio Angaroni
- , Alberto Peruzzi
- & Fernanda Pinheiro
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Matters Arising
| Open AccessDifferences between dumbbell and kidney-bean stomatal types may influence relationships between stomatal traits and the environment
- Kaixiong Xing
- , Na Zhou
- & Hongbo Li
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Matters Arising
| Open AccessReply to: Differences between dumbbell and kidney-bean stomatal types may influence relationships between stomatal traits and the environment
- Congcong Liu
- , Lawren Sack
- & Nianpeng He
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Article
| Open AccessClimate change has increased the odds of extreme regional forest fire years globally
The authors show that extreme fire years in global forests align with rare fire weather extremes. Climate change has made such extremes 88-152% more probable. These findings highlight the need for action towards adaptation and mitigation of fire impacts.
- John T. Abatzoglou
- , Crystal A. Kolden
- & Matthew W. Jones
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Article
| Open AccessImproving forest ecosystem functions by optimizing tree species spatial arrangement
Planting diverse forests is widely promoted as a way to counter climate change and improve ecosystem functioning. This study finds that the spatial arrangement of tree species matters: forests with higher spatial mixing of tree species yield greater biomass, faster nutrient cycling, and thus enhanced ecosystem functioning.
- Rémy Beugnon
- , Georg Albert
- & Nico Eisenhauer
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Article
| Open AccessQuantifying the intra- and inter-species community interactions in microbiomes by dynamic covariance mapping
Coupling of ecology and evolution in microbiomes can lead to time-dependent community interactions. Here, the authors introduce Dynamic Covariance Mapping (DCM), an approach to quantify the community matrix and, with high-resolution lineage tracking, show how inter- and intra-species interactions shape the dynamics of mouse gut colonization.
- Melis Gencel
- , Gisela Marrero Cofino
- & Adrian W. R. Serohijos
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Article
| Open AccessSeasonal stabilization effects slowed the greening of the Northern Hemisphere over the last two decades
Rising CO₂ and warming enhance vegetation greening, but drought, heat stress, and resource limits constrain this trend. Here, the authors show that within a year, increased early- and peak- season greenness often leads to late-season declines, highlighting water/heat stress limits on greening and the carbon sink.
- Wen Zhang
- , William K. Smith
- & David J. P. Moore
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Article
| Open AccessGlobal increase in the endemism of birds from north to south
Global patterns of endemism (irreplaceability) are still not well known. This study shows that endemism of birds increases from north to south, and highlights the vulnerability of southern hemisphere communities to climate change.
- D. Matthias Dehling
- & Steven L. Chown
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Article
| Open AccessNeurogenomic and behavioral principles shape freezing dynamics and synergistic performance in Drosophila melanogaster
Collective behavior plays an important role in predator evasion, but its neurogenetic basis is poorly understood. Here, Sato and Takahashi show that genetic diversity within groups of fruit flies enhances collective antipredator performance.
- Daiki X. Sato
- & Yuma Takahashi
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Article
| Open AccessSoil phosphorus crisis in the Tibetan alpine permafrost region
Phosphorus is vital for permafrost ecosystems. Here, the authors combine soil resampling with a modified process-balanced model to assess the historical changes of soil phosphorus and the key flows of phosphorus across the Tibetan permafrost region.
- Jiangtao Hong
- , Bo Pang
- & Xiaodan Wang
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Article
| Open AccessTaylor’s law predicts unprecedented pulses of forest disturbance under global change
Large pulses of disturbance have been observed globally in response to climate change. Using Taylor’s Law, the authors show that those pulses were not unpredictable but expected given a strong scaling between mean disturbance rates and variability of disturbances rates through time.
- Cornelius Senf
- , Rupert Seidl
- & Tommaso Jucker
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Article
| Open AccessPhylogenetically informed predictions outperform predictive equations in real and simulated data
Phylogenetically informed predictions account for phylogenetic relationships among species while predicting unknown trait values. Here, the authors critically compare this approach with equations derived from phylogenetic generalised least squares and ordinary least squares, demonstrating its improved performance across diverse datasets.
- Jacob D. Gardner
- , Joanna Baker
- & Chris L. Organ
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Article
| Open AccessThe importance of distinguishing between natural and managed tree cover gains in the moist tropics
Tree cover gains in the moist tropics (1982–2015) were 56% naturally regenerated forests and 27% managed tree systems, with forest type influencing carbon recovery. Effective forest restoration requires robust tracking of forest types established by restoration efforts.
- Xueyuan Gao
- , Peter B. Reich
- & Dongdong Wang
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Article
| Open AccessNarrow-spectrum resource-utilizing bacteria drive the stability of synthetic communities through enhancing metabolic interactions
Methods for constructing targeted synthetic communities using existing microbial resources remain limited. Here, the authors report a genome-scale metabolic model-integrated strategy for bottom-up construction of synthetic microbial communities in the plant rhizosphere.
- Wei Wang
- , Yanwei Xia
- & Ruifu Zhang
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Article
| Open AccessEarly Triassic super-greenhouse climate driven by vegetation collapse
The collapse of tropical forests during the Permian–Triassic Mass Extinction weakened carbon sequestration, sustaining high CO2 and extreme global warmth for millions of years: an example of a runaway feedback in Earth’s climate-carbon system.
- Zhen Xu
- , Jianxin Yu
- & Benjamin J. W. Mills
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Article
| Open AccessLeaf economic strategies drive global variation in phosphorus stimulation of terrestrial plant production
This study reveals that the varying responses of plant biomass to phosphorus addition across plant functional groups align with the leaf economics spectrum, with plants characterized by more acquisitive traits exhibiting stronger responses to phosphorus addition.
- Nan Yang
- , Constantin M. Zohner
- & Zhengbing Yan
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Article
| Open AccessNitrogen inputs suppress plant diversity by overriding consumer control
Nitrogen deposition can increase plant biomass and reduce plant diversity, but herbivores are predicted to offset these effects by increasing consumption. Here, the authors demonstrate that added nitrogen can disrupt top-down control by herbivores, reducing herbivore abundance and increasing plant biomass and community dominance.
- Xiaofei Li
- , Dean E. Pearson
- & Zhiwei Zhong
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Article
| Open AccessMapping previously undetected trees reveals overlooked changes in pan-tropical tree cover
Accurate tree cover mapping is vital for fighting climate change and land degradation. This high-resolution study reveals that 17% of pan-tropical tree cover was previously undetected, with over half of recent losses linked to human activities.
- Shidong Liu
- , Jie Zhang
- & Zheng Niu
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Review Article
| Open AccessVulnerability of mineral-organic associations in the rhizosphere
Organic matter associated with reactive soil minerals is assumed to be the most persistent terrestrial carbon pool. This work introduces a novel mechanistic framework for the vulnerability of this vast carbon reservoir to disruption in the rhizosphere.
- Tobias Bölscher
- , Zoe G. Cardon
- & Marco Keiluweit
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Article
| Open AccessMicrobial bioremediation of persistent organic pollutants in plant tissues provides crop growth promoting liquid fertilizer
Polluted plants from constructed wetlands are considered unusable waste. Here, authors present a cost-effective, sustainable, scalable, nature-based method that eliminates micropollutants and transforms this waste into phytoprotective and biostimulant liquid fertilizers for agriculture.
- James Butcher
- , Claire Villette
- & Dimitri Heintz
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Article
| Open AccessIntergenerational metabolomic signatures of bleaching resistance in corals
Bleaching threatens corals worldwide as the oceans warm from climate change. Here the authors provide insight into intergenerational acclimatization potential by identifying metabolomic signatures of coral resistance to bleaching at all stages of development, including in the new generation.
- Ty N. F. Roach
- , Crawford Drury
- & Robert A. Quinn
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Article
| Open AccessNitrogen and phosphorus differentially control marine biomass production and stoichiometry
Mesocosm experiments revealed that both phytoplankton community composition and cellular acclimation influence marine particulate C:N:P ratios, with community shifts more sensitive to nitrogen supply and acclimation to the nutrient N:P supply ratio
- Emily A. Seelen
- , Samantha J. Gleich
- & Seth G. John
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Article
| Open AccessDroughts preceding tree mortality events have increased in duration and intensity, especially in dry biomes
Warmer and more arid conditions are triggering forest die-off and mortality events worldwide, but how are the droughts’ characteristics leading to tree death? This study shows that tree-killing droughts are longer and more intense in dry versus wet biomes, while mortality-inducing droughts are higher in intensity in angiosperm-dominated forests.
- Antonio Gazol
- , Manuel Pizarro
- & J. Julio Camarero
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Article
| Open AccessSoil fungi influence the relationship between plant diversity and ecosystem multifunctionality
Fungal diversity is critical for ecosystem functioning, yet its role in mediating the relationship between plant diversity and ecosystem multifunctionality remains unclear. This study finds that fungal diversity can buffer reductions in ecosystem multifunctionality associated with low plant diversity.
- Zhenwei Xu
- , Xiao Guo
- & Weihua Guo
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Review Article
| Open AccessUn(der)explored links between plant diversity and particulate and mineral-associated organic matter in soil
Plant-diversity effects on particulate and mineral-associated organic matter in soil remain underexplored. The authors propose that elucidating the mechanisms underlying these effects can help explain inconsistencies in plant-diversity–soil-carbon relationships across studies and better predict consequences of biodiversity loss/gain for soil carbon stocks.
- Šárka Angst
- , Gerrit Angst
- & Nico Eisenhauer
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Article
| Open AccessInducing hour-level humification of Enteromorpha prolifera to fabricate fulvic-like acid fertilizer with Fenton’s reagent
The phenomenon of Enteromorpha prolifera (EP) flooding caused by marine eutrophication has resulted in serious environmental impact. Here, the authors demonstrate an application of Fenton’s reagent in the rapid recovery and utilization of EP.
- Dongqing Cai
- , Yezhen Lu
- & He Xu
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Article
| Open AccessGlobal meta-analysis shows that threatened flowering plants have higher pollination deficits
Insufficient pollen reception, pollen limitation, could exacerbate the threat of extinction or be a consequence of decline in threatened plants. Here, the authors conduct a meta-analysis on pollen limitation studies to find that threatened plants show stronger pollen limitation.
- Hanyang Lin
- , Yongge Yuan
- & Tiffany M. Knight
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Article
| Open AccessDistinct genes and microbial communities involved in nitrogen cycling between monsoon- and westerlies-dominated Tibetan glaciers
Microbial nitrogen cycling on Tibetan Plateau glacier surfaces remains poorly understood. This study reveals over 90% taxa possess nitrogen metabolic potential (33% transcriptionally active), with temperature-nitrogen co-regulation identified.
- Zhihao Zhang
- , Yongqin Liu
- & Mukan Ji
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Article
| Open AccessNitrogen-shaped microbiotas with nutrient competition accelerate early-stage residue decomposition in agricultural soils
The mechanisms by which N inputs alter residue decay remain elusive. Here, the authors find that the usually overlooked fast-growing non-decomposers reshape a community dominated by strong decomposers through sugar depletion, facilitating residue decay.
- Meiling Zhang
- , Liyu Zhang
- & Chao Ai
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Perspective
| Open AccessThe microbiota vault initiative: safeguarding Earth’s microbial heritage for future generations
- Maria G. Dominguez-Bello
- , Dominik Steiger
- & Martin J. Blaser
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Article
| Open AccessPhenotypic plasticity co-varies with elevational range in two avian species of elevational migrants in the Himalayas
Many montane birds seasonally migrate between elevations. This study shows two bird species exhibit phenotypic plasticity in response to this altitude shift: the small-scale elevational migrant shows greater temperature-driven plasticity, while the large-scale migrant displays stronger hypoxia-driven plasticity.
- Boning Xue
- , Huishang She
- & Yanhua Qu
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Article
| Open AccessA continental scale analysis reveals widespread root bimodality
This study shows that many plants form a second, deeper root layer underground, enabling access to nutrient-rich deep soil. This previously unnoticed rooting pattern adds to the growing recognition that deep soil dynamics are overlooked.
- Mingzhen Lu
- , Sili Wang
- & Robert B. Jackson
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Article
| Open AccessStable isotopes unveil ocean transport of legacy mercury into Arctic food webs
Mercury pollution in the Arctic has reached toxic levels. Here, the authors compile mercury isotope data from peat and aquatic predator species collected across Greenland over the past 40 years, observing both regional differences and temporal trends.
- Jens Søndergaard
- , Bo Elberling
- & Rune Dietz
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Article
| Open AccessAddressing critiques refines global estimates of reforestation potential for climate change mitigation
Reforestation is a key climate change mitigation strategy, but global maps of its potential are widely criticized. This study shows that addressing those critiques substantially refines estimates of the places with reforestation potential.
- Kurt A. Fesenmyer
- , Erin E. Poor
- & Susan C. Cook-Patton
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