Featured
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| Open AccessNutrient-induced acidification modulates soil biodiversity-function relationships
Nutrient enrichment is a major global change component. Here the authors show that soil acidification induced by nutrient enrichment, rather than changes in mineral nutrient and carbon availability, modulates soil biodiversity-function relationships
- Zhengkun Hu
- , Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo
- & Manqiang Liu
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Article
| Open AccessHerbicide leakage into seawater impacts primary productivity and zooplankton globally
Herbicides used in terrestrial environments pollute coastal ecosystems. Here, the authors analyse the presence of 32 herbicides at 661 bays and gulfs worldwide from 1990 to 2022, showing how under current herbicide stress, phytoplankton primary productivity was inhibited by more than 5% at 25%.
- Liqiang Yang
- , Xiaotong He
- & Yongyu Zhang
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Article
| Open AccessHost- plasmid network structure in wastewater is linked to antimicrobial resistance genes
Authors apply theory and microbial ecology modelling to a wastewater sample, and show that antimicrobial resistance carrying plasmids interact with a higher number and more diverse range of bacteria than plasmids that do not carry resistance genes.
- Alice Risely
- , Arthur Newbury
- & Dirk Sanders
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| Open AccessDisentangling microbial networks across pelagic zones in the tropical and subtropical global ocean
This study investigates the dynamic associations among microbes in the world’s tropical and subtropical oceans. It reveals that potential interactions vary with ocean depth and location, with most surface associations not persisting in deeper waters. The results contribute to understanding the ocean microbiome in the context of global change.
- Ina M. Deutschmann
- , Erwan Delage
- & Ramiro Logares
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Article
| Open AccessEcological network analysis reveals cancer-dependent chaperone-client interaction structure and robustness
How the cancer environment alters protein interactions is an open question. Galai et al. find a hierarchical pattern whereby cancer type modulates chaperone-client interactions, and they identify structures affecting cancer-specific responses to chaperone loss.
- Geut Galai
- , Xie He
- & Shai Pilosof
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Article
| Open AccessThe role of intra-guild indirect interactions in assembling plant-pollinator networks
Colonizer establishment produces fundamental building blocks that shape the structure of assembling pollination networks. In this model, while colonizers leverage indirect competition to establish, adaptive foraging by pollinators maintains species coexistence which produces nested networks.
- Sabine Dritz
- , Rebecca A. Nelson
- & Fernanda S. Valdovinos
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Article
| Open AccessPlant community stability is associated with a decoupling of prokaryote and fungal soil networks
Soil microbial networks play a crucial role in plant community stability. This study shows that decoupled prokaryote and fungal networks in dry grassland soil support plant community stability over time, while coupled networks in abandoned agricultural soil are associated to instability.
- Dina in ‘t Zandt
- , Zuzana Kolaříková
- & Zuzana Münzbergová
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Article
| Open AccessRelationships of temperature and biodiversity with stability of natural aquatic food webs
Climate change effects on food webs may be modulated by ecological variables. Here, the authors report how planktonic food web stability depends on temperature and biodiversity, and show that trophic dynamics and synchrony help elucidate the patterns.
- Qinghua Zhao
- , Paul J. Van den Brink
- & Frederik De Laender
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Article
| Open AccessBacterial detoxification of plant defence secondary metabolites mediates the interaction between a shrub and frugivorous birds
The interactions between plants and frugivores are mediated by plants’ secondary metabolites. Here the authors demonstrate that specific bacteria, capable of consuming these metabolites, can alter these interactions, benefiting both plants and fruit consumers.
- Beny Trabelcy
- , Nimrod Shteindel
- & Yoram Gerchman
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Article
| Open AccessNovel plant–frugivore network on Mauritius is unlikely to compensate for the extinction of seed dispersers
Many plant species depend on frugivores for seed dispersal. Here, the authors investigate plant-frugivore networks in Mauritius, finding that the new interactions gained from the arrival of non-native seed predators are unlikely to compensate for the extinction of seed dispersers.
- Julia H. Heinen
- , F. B. Vincent Florens
- & Michael K. Borregaard
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Article
| Open AccessTwo simple movement mechanisms for spatial division of labour in social insects
Ant and honeybee workers specialize on certain tasks and also on zones within the nest; but how do they avoid straying into the wrong zone? The authors conduct automated tracking experiments following thousands of individuals, revealing that workers use context-dependent rules to navigate inside the nest.
- Thomas O. Richardson
- , Nathalie Stroeymeyt
- & Laurent Keller
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Article
| Open AccessGlobal and regional ecological boundaries explain abrupt spatial discontinuities in avian frugivory interactions
Vertebrate frugivores play important ecological roles. Here, the authors analyse a global dataset on plants and birds and find that plant-frugivore networks are more dissimilar, yet structurally consistent, across ecoregion and biome boundaries.
- Lucas P. Martins
- , Daniel B. Stouffer
- & Jason M. Tylianakis
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Article
| Open AccessNetwork motifs shape distinct functioning of Earth’s moisture recycling hubs
By using network motifs, a new view of the global hydrological cycle is offered. With them, it is revealed that the Amazon rainforest is a one-of-a-kind moisture recycling hub, which shows that the ecosystem may be subject to increased vulnerability
- Nico Wunderling
- , Frederik Wolf
- & Arie Staal
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Article
| Open AccessBlue and green food webs respond differently to elevation and land use
Aquatic (blue) and terrestrial (green) food webs are part of the same landscape, but it remains unclear whether they respond similarly to shared environmental gradients. Using long-term monitoring data from Switzerland and a metaweb approach, this study reveals how inferred blue and green food webs exhibit different properties along an elevation gradient and among land-use types.
- Hsi-Cheng Ho
- , Jakob Brodersen
- & Florian Altermatt
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| Open AccessConsistent predator-prey biomass scaling in complex food webs
The ratio of predator-to-prey biomass is a key element in food webs. Here, the authors report a unified analysis of predator-prey biomass scaling in complex food webs, finding general patterns of sub-linear scaling across ecosystems and levels of organization.
- Daniel M. Perkins
- , Ian A. Hatton
- & Ulrich Brose
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Article
| Open AccessCausal networks of phytoplankton diversity and biomass are modulated by environmental context
Disentangling causal interactions among biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and environmental factors is key to understanding how ecosystems respond to changing environment. This study presents a global scale analysis quantifying causal interactions and feedbacks among phytoplankton diversity, biomass and nutrients along environmental gradients of aquatic ecosystems.
- Chun-Wei Chang
- , Takeshi Miki
- & Chih-hao Hsieh
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Article
| Open AccessEcological dependencies make remote reef fish communities most vulnerable to coral loss
Coral reefs face both local and global stressors. Here, the authors show how a positive relationship between distance from human settlements and ecological specialisation makes remote coral reef fish communities more vulnerable to coral loss.
- Giovanni Strona
- , Pieter S. A. Beck
- & Valeriano Parravicini
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Article
| Open AccessGlobal relationships between crop diversity and nutritional stability
Crop diversification could be important for food security. Here, using methods from network science, the authors find that a positive relationship between crop diversity and nutritional stability globally does not necessarily equate to improving nutritional stability in a given country.
- Charlie C. Nicholson
- , Benjamin F. Emery
- & Meredith T. Niles
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| Open AccessLandscape heterogeneity buffers biodiversity of simulated meta-food-webs under global change through rescue and drainage effects
Habitat fragmentation and eutrophication have strong impacts on biodiversity but there is limited understanding of their cumulative impacts. This study presents simulations of meta-food-webs and provides a mechanistic explanation of how landscape heterogeneity promotes biodiversity through rescue and drainage effects.
- Remo Ryser
- , Myriam R. Hirt
- & Ulrich Brose
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Article
| Open AccessDivide-and-conquer: machine-learning integrates mammalian and viral traits with network features to predict virus-mammal associations
A more comprehensive map of viral host ranges can help identify and mitigate zoonotic and animal-disease risks. A divide-and-conquer approach which separates viral, mammalian and network features predicts over 20,000 unknown associations between known viruses and susceptible mammalian species.
- Maya Wardeh
- , Marcus S. C. Blagrove
- & Matthew Baylis
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| Open AccessReconstruction of plant–pollinator networks from observational data
Networks describe the intricate patterns of interaction occurring within ecological systems, but they are unfortunately difficult to construct from data. Here, the authors show how Bayesian statistical techniques can separate structure from noise in networks gathered in observational studies of plant-pollinator systems.
- Jean-Gabriel Young
- , Fernanda S. Valdovinos
- & M. E. J. Newman
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Article
| Open AccessFluctuation spectra of large random dynamical systems reveal hidden structure in ecological networks
Fluctuations in ecosystems and other large dynamical systems are driven by intrinsic and extrinsic noise and contain hidden information which is difficult to extract. Here, the authors derive analytical characterizations of fluctuations in random interacting systems, allowing inference of network properties from time series data.
- Yvonne Krumbeck
- , Qian Yang
- & Tim Rogers
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Article
| Open AccessPredicting mammalian hosts in which novel coronaviruses can be generated
Homologous recombination between co-infecting coronaviruses can produce novel pathogens. Here, Wardeh et al. develop a machine learning approach to predict associations between mammals and multiple coronaviruses and hence estimate the potential for generation of novel coronaviruses by recombination.
- Maya Wardeh
- , Matthew Baylis
- & Marcus S. C. Blagrove
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Article
| Open AccessFew keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species
Not all plants are equally able to support native insects. Here, the authors use data on interactions among >12,000 Lepidoptera species and >2000 plant genera across the United States, showing that few plant genera host the majority of Lepidoptera species; this information is used to suggest priorities for plant restoration.
- Desiree L. Narango
- , Douglas W. Tallamy
- & Kimberley J. Shropshire
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Article
| Open AccessUntangling the seasonal dynamics of plant-pollinator communities
Plant-pollinator interactions are not fixed but instead can change seasonally and across years. Here, the authors provide a holistic perspective on how plants and pollinators first enter, then comprise, and ultimately leave interaction networks over time.
- Bernat Bramon Mora
- , Eura Shin
- & Daniel B. Stouffer
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Article
| Open AccessWithin-individual phenotypic plasticity in flowers fosters pollination niche shift
Floral phenotypes impact interactions between plants and pollinators. Here, the authors show that Moricandia arvensis displays discrete seasonal plasticity in floral phenotype, with large, lilac flowers attracting long-tongued bees in spring and small, rounded, white flowers attracting generalist pollinators in summer.
- José M. Gómez
- , Francisco Perfectti
- & Rubén Torices
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Article
| Open AccessAn ecological framework to understand the efficacy of fecal microbiota transplantation
Here, the authors present a theoretical framework based on community ecology and network science to investigate the efficacy of fecal microbiota transplantation in conditions associated with a disrupted gut microbiota, using the recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection as a prototype disease.
- Yandong Xiao
- , Marco Tulio Angulo
- & Yang-Yu Liu
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Article
| Open AccessDiverse interactions and ecosystem engineering can stabilize community assembly
The dynamics of ecological communities depends on interactions between species as well as those between species and their environment, however the effects of the latter are poorly understood. Here, Yeakel et al. reveal how species that modify their environment (ecosystem engineers) impact community dynamics and the risk of extinction.
- Justin D. Yeakel
- , Mathias M. Pires
- & Thilo Gross
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| Open AccessThe stability of mutualism
Mutualism is typically portrayed as a destabilizing process in community ecology. Here, via a random matrix model that considers species density, the author shows that mutualistic interactions can, in fact, enhance population density at equilibrium and increase community resilience to perturbation.
- Lewi Stone
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Article
| Open AccessPartial cross mapping eliminates indirect causal influences
It is crucial yet challenging to identify cause-consequence relation in complex dynamical systems where direct causal links can mix with indirect ones. Leng et al. propose a data-driven model-independent method to distinguish direct from indirect causality and test its applicability to real-world data.
- Siyang Leng
- , Huanfei Ma
- & Luonan Chen
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Article
| Open AccessPredicting the global mammalian viral sharing network using phylogeography
Prior studies have investigated macroecological patterns of host sharing among viruses, although certain mammal clades have not been represented in these analyses, and the findings have not been used to predict the true network. Here the authors model the species level traits that predict viral sharing across all mammal clades and validate their predictions using an independent dataset.
- Gregory F. Albery
- , Evan A. Eskew
- & Kevin J. Olival
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Article
| Open AccessMutualism increases diversity, stability, and function of multiplex networks that integrate pollinators into food webs
Aside from their pollination function, pollinators consume and are consumed by other members of ecological communities; these relationships could explain the controversial effects of pollinators on ecological networks. Here the authors show that when mutualists such as pollinators are introduced into food webs, they increase ecosystem biodiversity, stability, and function.
- Kayla R. S. Hale
- , Fernanda S. Valdovinos
- & Neo D. Martinez
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Article
| Open AccessDownsizing of animal communities triggers stronger functional than structural decay in seed-dispersal networks
Species loss from ecological networks can impair network stability and ecosystem function. Here the authors simulate animal extinctions in interaction networks between plants and avian frugivores, showing that frugivore extinctions have comparatively weak effects on network structure, but strongly reduce seed-dispersal distance.
- Isabel Donoso
- , Marjorie C. Sorensen
- & Matthias Schleuning
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Article
| Open AccessRegime shifts occur disproportionately faster in larger ecosystems
Little is known about how the speed of ecosystem collapse depends on ecosystem size. Here, Cooper, Willcock et al. analyse empirical data and models finding that although regime shift duration increases with ecosystem size, this relationship saturates and even large ecosystems can collapse in a few decades.
- Gregory S. Cooper
- , Simon Willcock
- & John A. Dearing
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Article
| Open AccessEnvironmental DNA reveals seasonal shifts and potential interactions in a marine community
Increasingly, eDNA is being used to infer ecological interactions. Here the authors sample eDNA over 18 months in a marine environment and use co-occurrence network analyses to infer potential interactions among organisms from microbes to mammals, testing how they change over time in response to oceanographic factors.
- Anni Djurhuus
- , Collin J. Closek
- & Mya Breitbart
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| Open AccessThe value of understanding feedbacks from ecosystem functions to species for managing ecosystems
Value of information analyses are a promising approach to decision-making in conservation. Here the authors develop a dynamic approach to show that knowing which species benefit from an ecosystem function improves ecosystem service and biodiversity management, particularly for risk-prone managers.
- Hui Xiao
- , Eve McDonald-Madden
- & Iadine Chadès
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| Open AccessThe stability of multitrophic communities under habitat loss
Habitat loss could affect ecological communities in variable ways depending on its structure. Here, the authors show that contiguous rather than random loss is more damaging to the stability of multitrophic communities, regardless of the fraction of mutualistic interactions within the community.
- Chris McWilliams
- , Miguel Lurgi
- & Daniel Montoya
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| Open AccessPlant diversity alters the representation of motifs in food webs
Plant diversity affects ecosystem function in myriad ways, but the effect on food webs has received less investigation. Here, the authors use high-resolution food web data from a grassland diversity experiment to show that apparent and exploitative competition motifs increase with plant diversity.
- Darren P. Giling
- , Anne Ebeling
- & Jes Hines
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| Open AccessModularity and predicted functions of the global sponge-microbiome network
Lurgi et al. analyse the distribution of microbial symbionts across many sponge species and reveal modules of non-random associations which are primarily driven by host features and microbial phylogenies, and less by the environment. Results also show that metabolic functions are distinct across modules.
- Miguel Lurgi
- , Torsten Thomas
- & Jose M. Montoya
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Article
| Open AccessMigration alters oscillatory dynamics and promotes survival in connected bacterial populations
Migration can increase survival of a metapopulation by enabling recolonization after local extinction. Here, Gokhale et al. use both microbial experiments and mechanistic modeling to show that moderate levels of migration can increase survival by altering oscillatory population dynamics.
- Shreyas Gokhale
- , Arolyn Conwill
- & Jeff Gore
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Article
| Open AccessUnifying host-associated diversification processes using butterfly–plant networks
Herbivorous insects could diversify through radiations after major host switches or through constant variability in new host use. With phylogenetic and network analyses, Braga et al. show that variability in host use supports most butterfly diversification, while rare radiations can further boost diversity.
- Mariana P. Braga
- , Paulo R. Guimarães Jr
- & Niklas Janz
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Article
| Open AccessReward regulation in plant–frugivore networks requires only weak cues
A challenge for mutualists is that partner cue reliability is often low. Here, the authors show that though fruit brightness is weakly predictive of nutritional content, the diets of birds (e.g. migrants vs. residents) are structured by fruit brightness in alignment with expected nutritional needs.
- Jörg Albrecht
- , Jonas Hagge
- & Nina Farwig
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Article
| Open AccessSize-dependent loss of aboveground animals differentially affects grassland ecosystem coupling and functions
Defaunation can have impacts on ecosystem functioning that are currently little understood. Using an exclusion experiment, Risch et al. show the impacts of vertebrate and invertebrate losses on ecosystem coupling, particularly emphasising the role of invertebrates in ecosystem functioning.
- A. C. Risch
- , R. Ochoa-Hueso
- & M. Schütz
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Article
| Open AccessCausal decomposition in the mutual causation system
Causality inference in time series analysis based on temporal precedence principle between cause and effect fails to detect mutual causal interactions. Here, Yang et al. introduce a causal decomposition approach based on the covariation principle of cause and effect that overcomes this limitation.
- Albert C. Yang
- , Chung-Kang Peng
- & Norden E. Huang
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Article
| Open AccessPlant and animal functional diversity drive mutualistic network assembly across an elevational gradient
Differential responses of plant and animal functional diversity to climatic variation could affect trait matching in mutualistic interactions. Here, Albrecht et al. show that network structure varies across an elevational gradient owing to bottom-up and top-down effects of functional diversity.
- Jörg Albrecht
- , Alice Classen
- & Matthias Schleuning
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Article
| Open AccessSoil bacterial networks are less stable under drought than fungal networks
Drought conditions can alter the composition of soil microbial communities, but the effects of drought on network properties have not been tested. Here, de Vries and colleagues show that co-occurrence networks are destabilised under drought for bacteria but not fungi.
- Franciska T. de Vries
- , Rob I. Griffiths
- & Richard D. Bardgett
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Article
| Open AccessStability criteria for complex microbial communities
Network stability is a central topic in theoretical ecology, with most work focusing on mutualistic or food web networks. Here, the authors explore the stability of microbial networks based on the consumption and exchange of resources, showing that asymmetry in crossfeeding relationships can destabilize networks.
- Stacey Butler
- & James P. O’Dwyer
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Article
| Open AccessIdentifying a common backbone of interactions underlying food webs from different ecosystems
The structure of ecological networks can vary dramatically, yet there may be common features across networks from different ecosystem types. Here, Bramon Mora et al. use network alignment to demonstrate that there is a common backbone of interactions underlying empirical food webs.
- Bernat Bramon Mora
- , Dominique Gravel
- & Daniel B. Stouffer
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Article
| Open AccessSpecies traits and network structure predict the success and impacts of pollinator invasions
The role of adaptive foraging in the threat of invasive pollinators to plant-pollinator systems is difficult to characterise. Here, Valdavinos et al. use network modelling to show the importance of foraging efficiency, diet overlap, plant species visitation, and degree of specialism in native pollinators.
- Fernanda S. Valdovinos
- , Eric L. Berlow
- & Neo D. Martinez