Preprint Feed – Ecology

by Cabrera, S. R. S., Sarabia, R., Henry, E. H., Anderson, C. T., Daniels, J. C. on June 21, 2025 at 12:00 am

Coastal and island ecosystems are disproportionately vulnerable to sea level rise and other impacts of anthropogenic climate change. Using monitoring data collected between 2013 and 2024, we explore habitat shifts, population dynamics, and phenology of an endemic butterfly in the Florida Keys, Klot’s sawgrass skipper (Euphyes pilatka klotsi). Range-wide surveys of the butterfly and its associated habitat demonstrated that the butterfly’s sole host plant is decreasing in abundance at lower […]

by Orkin, J. D., Fournier, A., Young, D., Webb, S. E., Hernandez, S. C., Jack, K. M., Campos, F. A., Dufour, A., Melin, A. D. on June 21, 2025 at 12:00 am

Understanding how the physiology of free-ranging mammals is impacted by environmental stressors is a major focus of ecological research. However, the constraints of non-invasive sampling pose serious challenges to the acquisition of physiological data from most species of primates. As a result, little is known about how the gut responds to ecological stimuli at the cellular level in wild populations. Recent research has demonstrated that proteomics could fill this knowledge gap by sequencing […]

by Knief, U., Bouwhuis, S., Globig, A., Guenther, A., Courtens, W. on June 21, 2025 at 12:00 am

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has become a critical threat to wildlife, shifting from a seasonal epizootic to a persistent, year-round panzootic with global consequences. Here, we summarize the origin, evolutionary mechanisms, and expanding host range of the current H5N1 virus (clade 2.3.4.4b) and assess its impact on wildlife. Over the past five years, HPAI has caused the deaths of millions of wild birds, causing dramatic population declines in several seabird species. However, […]

by Mateus-Barros, E., Flores, E. P., Zanetti, J., Griffero, L., Amann, R., Alonso, C. on June 21, 2025 at 12:00 am

Bacteria are essential for ecosystem maintenance, drive biogeochemical cycles, and influence responses to climate change. Additionally, many are involved in blooms and toxin production, affecting environmental quality. Despite their crucial role, some of their characteristics are only now being understood with the development of molecular techniques independent of cultivation. Thus, the recent effort to unify classical and microbial ecology studies has led to a better understanding of their […]

by Poongavanan, J., Lucas, T. C. D., Mwanyika, G., Kraemer, M. U. G., Lourenco, J., Dunaiski, M., de Oliveira, T., Tegally, H. on June 21, 2025 at 12:00 am

Dengue risk mapping is essential for estimating disease burden, and informing targeted surveillance and control efforts. Current approaches to risk mapping vary widely in their methodology, data sources, output metrics and applications. Many existing approaches focus on predicting ecological suitability and produce high-resolution risk maps based on environmental conditions, yet high-resolution incidence maps remain scarce, leaving a critical gap in guiding precise, location-specific […]

by Sun, R., Walsman, J. C., Wilber, M., Briggs, C. J. on June 20, 2025 at 12:00 am

Disease outcomes depend heavily on infection intensity which is often heterogeneous across and within host populations. Most individuals carry low pathogen loads and a few carry high loads, a pattern known as aggregation. While well-characterized in macroparasite systems, aggregation and infection intensity are rarely incorporated into microparasite models. This raises key questions: Do similar mechanisms underlie aggregation in macro- and microparasite systems? And how do aggregation and […]

by Bozzuto, C., Ives, A. R. on June 20, 2025 at 12:00 am

Broad-scale shifts in biodiversity demand a deeper understanding of both historical and future time trends across the Tree of Life. Retrospective analyses indicate that some groups, such as birds, fishes and insects, have experienced significant declines in recent decades. Broader investigations, on the other hand, reveal a more complex picture, with declines and increases roughly balanced. Here, we address the prospective task to statistically forecast biodiversity trends and assess our […]

by Mueller, T. G., Buckner, M. A. on June 20, 2025 at 12:00 am

Pollinating insects are in decline globally, threatening pollination services and driving a growing interest in pollinator monitoring and conservation. However, the implementation of conservation programs for these insects is often hindered by labor-intensive monitoring methods and in turn insufficient data to assess population trends. We detail a method for surveying and censusing ground nesting bee aggregations, pairing automated UAV image capture with a custom trained computer vision-based […]

by Angulo, M. T., Michel-Mata, S., Velasco-Hernandez, J. X., Saavedra, S., Marquet, P. A. on June 19, 2025 at 12:00 am

Balancing population growth against finite resources remains a foundational challenge in sustainability science. Although qualitative sustainability principles have matured over decades, translating these principles into universal quantitative rules has been challenging due to the diverse environmental and cultural contexts under which human societies develop. Here, we demonstrate that a general sustainability rule emerges naturally when population-resource feedbacks follow empirically observed […]

by Tsutaya, T., Aruga, N., Ishikawa, N. F., Sasaki, Y., Kitayama, H., Yoneda, M., Ogawa, N. O., Ohkouchi, N., Hashimoto, C. on June 19, 2025 at 12:00 am

Stable isotope analysis is a widely used tool in primate ecology for investigating diet and environment, with numerous studies focusing on chimpanzees. However, few studies have explored the dietary niche of chimpanzees in comparison to other primates or examined intra-individual dietary variability. This limitation hinders the understanding of the comparability of isotopic data with the wealth of behavioral observational data in primate ecology. In this study, we report the carbon and nitrogen […]

by Hearon, L. E., Johnson, L. H., Underwood, J., Lin, C.-H., Johnson, R. M. on June 19, 2025 at 12:00 am

Ecological studies of pollinators often require long-term and extensive monitoring, posing a significant cost and limitation to research. Traditional sampling methods of observation such as sweep netting and pan trapping provide valuable information on pollinator diversity, but scale poorly when conducting large sampling efforts across space and time. We introduce "buzzdetect", our tool to apply deep learning models to audio data for conducting passive acoustic monitoring on […]

by Atukwatse, B., Cornille, O., Muhereza, J., Nsabimana, W., Ssemakula, Y., Braczkowski, A. A. on June 19, 2025 at 12:00 am

Understanding how zoonotic viruses spill over from wildlife to humans requires direct ecological observation at reservoir-host interfaces — yet such events remain rare in the literature, and no such interface has been documented at scale. As part of a broader long-term study on African leopard (Panthera pardus) population ecology in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, we deployed camera traps on animal trails and at Python Cave, a known roost site of Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus […]

by Lopez-Ricaurte, L., Vansteelant, W. M. G., Antoine, A., Duriez, O., Jiguet, F., Nissardi, S., Scridel, D., Serra, L., Tillo, S., Bechet, A., Champagnon, J. on June 19, 2025 at 12:00 am

O_LIHow early-life exploration shapes the adult annual cycle routines of migratory animals remains challenging to study, especially in long-lived species. Delayed recruitment often observed in long-lived migratory birds suggests that the first breeding attempt may be constrained by a protracted learning process in which individuals develop their annual itinerary, which may involve extensive exploration of the winter and breeding sites, potentially causing inexperienced young to wander beyond […]

by Faticov, M., Tack, A. J. M., Ortner, D., Berg, G., Abdelfattah, A. on June 19, 2025 at 12:00 am

The seed microbiome plays a key role in the assembly of the plant microbiome, which has major impacts on plant functioning. Nonetheless, little is known about the origin of the seed microbiome. We investigated the relative contributions of two hypothesized transmission routes: sexual inheritance (via reproductive organs) and asexual inheritance (via the plant vascular system). To do that, we sampled shoot endophytes both before bloom and at seed maturity stages, apple flower ovaries and pollen […]

by LaBrie, R., Selden, C. R., Mahmoudi, N. on June 19, 2025 at 12:00 am

Deep ocean dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is one of the largest pools of reduced carbon on Earth. Many DOC compounds escape microbial degradation and persist for thousands of years in the ocean. Although many hypotheses have been proposed, the mechanisms responsible for this long-term stability remain unresolved. Heterotrophic microorganisms in the deep ocean are energetically starved and exhibit low metabolic activity. Here, we investigated whether the severe energy limitation in deep sea […]

by Masuko, R., Ayin, A., Masaoka, M., Kawaguchi, F., Sasazaki, S., Dagong, M. I. A., Bugiwati, S. R. A., Masangkay, J. S., Wu, J., Yonezawa, T., Lenstra, J. A., Mannen, H. on June 19, 2025 at 12:00 am

This study aimed to reveal a comprehensive genetic diversity and genetic structure of Island Southeast Asian (ISEA) goats, and infer the details of gene introgressions and propagation routes in ISEA goats using genome-wide SNPs. Correlation analysis of the distance from the domestication center and the genetic diversity of each Asian population showed a significant negative correlation (r = – 0.796, p = 2.66E-05), while the Philippines showed a relatively high genetic diversity (He = 0.363) […]

by Berthold, M., Campbell, D. A., Vortmeyer-Kley, R. on June 19, 2025 at 12:00 am

The global carbon cycle depends heavily on the carbon sequestration rates of aquatic ecosystems. Sinking of phytoplankton is a rapid mediator of carbon sequestration, because phytoplankton are globally abundant photoautotrophs that grow rapidly. Pico- and nano phytoplankton sinking velocities vary depending on their growth state, viability, clumping, and distribution in the water column. We introduced high throughput fluorescence microscopy of well-plates, to measure sinking velocities of three […]

by Chalkowski, K., Snow, N. P., Feuka, A. B., Leland, B. R., VerCauteren, K. C., Miller, R. S., Pepin, K. M. on June 19, 2025 at 12:00 am

Culling is frequently used to control animal diseases. Intensive culling can alter the movement behavior of surviving animals, especially in socially-structured wildlife species. These behavioral responses could have unexpected consequences on the spread of a disease. Thus, planning effective culling responses to diseases in wildlife hosts requires a thorough understanding of the potential impacts of culling on the target wildlife host species. We conducted a BACI design study of behavioral […]

by Ciach, M., Binkowski, L. J., Frohlich, A., Kucharska, K. on June 18, 2025 at 12:00 am

The urban landscape acts as a novel habitat providing opportunities for certain species. However, populations of these so-called urban winners are constantly exposed to environmental contaminants, among which mercury (Hg) is perceived as a significant health concern for both wildlife and humans. While absorption of Hg is primarily related to its environmental level, it could be theoretically mitigated by near-natural habitats that have persisted within the urban landscape. Here, we investigated […]

by Teshima, Y., Genda, S., Aoki, Y., Fujisawa, M., Hiryu, S., Fujii, K. on June 18, 2025 at 12:00 am

Echolocating bats routinely navigate complex wild environments with remarkable agility, yet it remains unclear whether their flight trajectories reflect reproducible internal control strategies or are merely the result of improvised reactive behavior. To address this question, we recorded flight paths and pulse emissions of Rhinolophus nippon and Miniopterus fuliginosus as they navigated seven obstacle-rich arenas in complete darkness. Using a machine learning model–a variational recurrent […]

by Anzai, S., Tanaka, S., Tsuchida, S., Kato, R., Azmi, S. S., Izumi, S., Maruyama, Y., Hoshina, S., Masumi, S., Aizawa, I., Uchida, J., Kinoshita, T., Yamawaki, N., Aoshima, T., Morii, Y., Shimizu, K., Yagi, M. on June 18, 2025 at 12:00 am

The giant deep-sea isopod, Bathynomus doederleini, is a benthic scavenger distributed in the northwestern Pacific. Despite its ecological importance, little is known about its habitat use and intraspecific variation in body size in relation to depth. In this study, we examined the habitat depth, size structure, and distributional limits of B. doederleini off the western coast of Kyushu, Japan, using baited traps deployed at depths ranging from 151 to 821 m. A total of 1,152 individuals were […]

by Sikder, A., Kremer, C. T., Laender, F. D. on June 17, 2025 at 12:00 am

O_LIEnvironmental change often occurs as a sequence of stressors rather than as isolated events. While the individual and combined effects of multiple stressors are well studied, the ecological consequences of sequential environmental change remain poorly understood. Such sequences, for example, a marine heatwave followed by seasonal herbicide runoff, are increasingly common under global change. C_LIO_LIWe investigated how legacy effects (the imprint of past environmental conditions) influence […]

by Maiello, G., Rubio, V. B., Allen, L., Neave, E., Bonne, R., Theresine, P., Mariani, S. on June 17, 2025 at 12:00 am

Coral reefs are emblematic ecosystems of astonishing biological diversity and significant economic value for many countries, yet they are increasingly vulnerable to direct and indirect human-related threats, such as heavy tourism and global warming. To assess the biodiversity status, track assemblage changes and forecast future trends of these megadiverse ecosystems, there is pressing need for accurate, rapid and comprehensive assessments of fish communities. Here, we employed a versatile […]

by John, C., Silbiger, N. J., Adam, T. C., Barnas, D. M., Bistolas, K. S., Carpenter, R. C., Castaneda, N., Donahue, M. J., Donovan, M. K., Enright, L. N., Epstein, H. E., Gallagher, J. P., Jorissen, H., Kerlin, J. R., Leidholt, S. L., McLachlan, R. H., Molina, N., Mullenmeister, C. A., Neumann, K., Renzi, J. J., Silva, D. P., Speare, K. E., Swift, S., Vompe, A. D., Kelly, L. W., Zeff, M., Nelson, C. E., Thurber, R. V., Burkepile, D. E. on June 17, 2025 at 12:00 am

Nutrient availability drives community structure and ecosystem processes, especially in tropical lagoons that are typically oligotrophic but often receive allochthonous inputs from land. Terrestrially-derived nutrients are introduced to tropical lagoons by surface runoff and submarine groundwater discharge, which are influenced by seasonal precipitation. Lagoon habitats are distributed along an onshore-offshore gradient; terrigenous inputs presumably diminish along the same continuum. We […]

by Kumbhani, H. A., Abney, C. R., Giacometti, D., Tattersall, G. J. on June 17, 2025 at 12:00 am

Garter snakes (Thamnophis spp.) are the most widespread reptiles in North America, although evidence suggests that thermal preference has not diverged much among populations or Thamnophis species. To shed light on how thermal decisions influence local habitat use by the eastern garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis), we measured the thermal profiles of three habitats differing in canopy cover: open peat, mixed shrub, and closed forest. We installed biophysical models to record operative […]

by Veldhuisen, L. N., Seltzer, L., Navarro, J., Enquist, B. J., Dlugosch, K. M. on June 17, 2025 at 12:00 am

AimNearly 8% of species could go extinct from climate change; many organisms are already experiencing declines in abundance, local extinction, and range shifts. How such changes impact community diversity is an open question in most systems. Whether changes in phylogenetic diversity parallel those in traditional diversity metrics is also often unknown. We used experimentally transplanted plant communities to ask how different aspects of community diversity change with environmental factors […]

by Zhang, D., Qianyu, L., Helgeson, A., Serbin, S. P., Dietze, M. C. on June 17, 2025 at 12:00 am

Accurate inventories of terrestrial carbon pools and fluxes are crucial for understanding ecosystem processes, tracking climate change impacts, and meeting the monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) requirements in international treaties and voluntary carbon markets. In meeting this need, the fusion of process-based modeling, field data, and remote sensing observations has the potential to provide more accurate and precise estimates than each alone. However, as the number of data […]

by Lepretre, M., Kültz, D. on June 17, 2025 at 12:00 am

This study establishes the copper tolerance range of the colonial marine tunicate Botryllus schlosseri. Furthermore, quantitative organismal phenotyping and quantitative proteomics were combined to characterize the B. schlosseri response to, and recovery from, acute copper exposure stress. Changes in the area of B. schlosseri colony systems and pigmentation provided sensitive, dose-dependent markers of exposure to, and recovery from, copper stress. Comprehensive quantitative proteomics using […]

by Son, Y., He, P., Baldwin, M., Li, G., Wang, Z., Gu, A., Kao-Kniffin, J. on June 17, 2025 at 12:00 am

1In this study, we examined phenotypic and compositional patterns in rhizosphere microbial communities across conventionally and organically managed farms to assess impacts on soil microbiomes. We employed newly developed single-cell Raman microspectroscopy (SCRS)-based community phenotypic profiling analysis with microbiome 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to compare the soil microbial communities of alfalfa, carrot, corn, lettuce, potato, soybean, squash, tomato, triticale, wheat, oat, and […]

by Dunning, J., Gamza, A., Firth, J., Ashton-Butt, A., Kao, R. R., Brown, I., Ward, A. on June 17, 2025 at 12:00 am

The emergence of zoonotic and epizootic disease from communities of wild animals is a recurrent threat to human and animal health, to food and economic security. This is particularly true for disease systems that involve many interacting species, where the varied ecological and behavioural diversity of those species interact, driving complex pathways of transmission, and where sampling many species across time and space is difficult. As a consequence, surveillance of disease across communities […]