1. Fucoid forests are areas dominated by marine brown seaweed in the taxonomic order Fucales that, like the better-known marine foundation species - corals, kelps, seagrasses, salt marshes, and mangroves - are threatened by anthropogenic stressors. 2. Fucoid forests are fabulous and important because they, like the better-known marine foundation species (i) span large areas, bioregions, and ecosystems, (ii) provide ecological functions such as high productivity and biodiversity, and (iii) support a variety of ecosystem services including habitat for commercial fishery species, food for humans and cultural values. 3. Fucoid forests are, based on a new citation analysis, forgotten worldwide, because they are described orders of magnitude less than the better-known marine foundation species, in ecology and marine biology textbooks, in Google Scholar and Scopus databases over scientific literature, and in recent reports and reviews about seaweed forests. 4. Fucoid forests would be less forgotten if more people acknowledge their biological importance and societal value more often and equate their importance to that of the better-known marine foundation species. Perhaps name-recognition would also improve if fucoids are unified under a non-taxonomic common name across teaching, research, management, and conservation, like the better-known marine foundation species. We agree with the marine scientists that have used ‘rockweed’ as such a common name to describe all fucoids, but other seaweed-experts disagree because they (a) do not agree fucoids are forgotten, (b) dislike common names or (c) argue rockweed should only describe fucoid species in the family Fucaceae.

The importance of scale when investigating ecological patterns and processes is recognised across many species. In marine ecosystems, the processes that drive species distribution have a hierarchical structure over multiple nested spatial and temporal scales. Hence, multi-scale approaches should be considered when developing accurate distribution models to identify key habitats, particularly for populations of conservation concern. Here, we propose a modelling procedure to identify the best spatial and temporal scale for each modelled and remotely sensed oceanographic variable to model harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) distribution. Harbour porpoise sightings were recorded during dedicated line-transect aerial surveys conducted in the summer of 2016, 2021 and 2022 in the northeast Atlantic. Binary generalised additive models were used to assess the relationships between porpoise presence and oceanographic variables at different spatial (5, 20 and 40 km) and temporal (daily, monthly and across survey period) scales. Selected variables included sea surface temperature, thermal fronts, chlorophyll-a, sea surface height, mixed layer depth and salinity. A total of 30,514 km was covered on-effort with 216 harbour porpoise sightings recorded. Overall, the best spatial scale corresponded to the coarsest resolution considered in this study (40 km), while porpoise presence showed stronger association with oceanographic variables summarised at a longer temporal scale (monthly and averaged over survey period). Habitat models including covariates at coarse spatial and temporal scales may better reflect the processes driving availability and abundance of prey resources at the large scales covered during the surveys. These findings support the hypothesis that a multi-scale approach should be applied when investigating species distribution. Identifying suitable spatial and temporal scale would improve the functional interpretation of the underlying relationships, particularly when studying how a small marine predator interacts with its environment and responds to climate and ecosystem changes.

Abstract: This study explores the habitat distribution of Pterocarpus santalinus, a valuable rosewood species, across China, focusing on its response to current and future climate changes. Utilizing the MaxEnt model, we assess its suitable habitat under present conditions and future climate scenarios (SSPs126, SSPs245, and SSPs585). Our findings reveal that the current suitable habitat, spanning approximately 409,600 km², is primarily located in the central and southern parts of Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Yunnan, as well as in the Hainan provinces, along with the coastal regions of Taiwan, and the Sichuan-Chongqing border. The habitat’s distribution is significantly influenced by climatic factors such as temperature seasonality (bio4), mean temperature of the wettest quarter (bio8), annual mean temperature (bio1), and annual precipitation (bio12), while terrain and soil factors play a lesser role. Under future climate scenarios, the suitable habitat for P. santalinus is projected to expand, with a northeastward shift in its distribution center. This research not only sheds light on the geoecological characteristics and geographical distribution of P. santalinus in China but also offers a scientific basis for planning its cultivation areas and enhancing cultivation efficiency under changing climate conditions.

Climate change is projected to alter the structure of plant communities due to increasing temperatures and changes to precipitation patterns, particularly in midlatitude dryland ecosystems. Modifications to climatic suitability may lead to major community changes such as altered dominant plant functional types. Previous studies have indicated that climatic suitability is likely to increase for C4 grasses and decrease for C3 grasses in the western United States. However, if no C4 grass species currently exist to serve as a propagule source, expansion into areas of increased suitability will be limited. We conducted a field and modeling study in the Upper Green River Basin (UGRB) of western Wyoming to determine if 1) C4 grasses are present to provide a propagule source and 2) C4 grasses are likely to increase in importance relative to C3 grasses due to climatic changes. We searched 44 sites for C4 grasses to establish presence, and modeled suitability at 35 sites using 17 Global Climate Models, two greenhouse gas Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs; 4.5 and 8.5), and two time-periods (mid- and late-century; 2030-2060 and 2070-2099, respectively). We found C4 grasses at 10 of the 44 sites, indicating that there is a present propagule source. Our model projected increases in suitability for both C3 and C4 grasses across sites for all RCPs and time-periods. In the mid-century RCP 4.5 scenario, the C3 functional type increased in projected biomass in 29 of 35 sites, and the C4 type increased in 31 sites. In this scenario, C3 grasses increased in projected biomass by a median 4 gm-2 (5% change), and C4 grass biomass increased by a median 8 gm-2 (21% change). Our study suggests that climate change will increase climatic suitability for grasses across the UGRB, and that all requirements are in place for C4 grasses to increase in abundance.

At deep-sea hydrothermal vents, deprived of light, most living communities are fuelled by chemosynthetic microorganisms. These can form symbiotic associations with metazoan hosts, which are then called holobionts. Among these, two endemic shrimp of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR), Rimicaris exoculata and Rimicaris chacei are colonized by dense and diversified chemosynthetic symbiotic communities in their cephalothoracic cavity and their digestive system. Although both shrimp harbor similar communities, they exhibit widely different population densities, distribution patterns at small scale and diet, as well as differences in post-settlement morphological modifications leading to the adult stage. These contrasting biological traits may be linked to their symbiotic development success. Consequently, key questions related to the acquisition of the symbionts and the development of the holobiont are still open. Here we examined symbiotic development in juveniles of R. exoculata and R. chacei from TAG and Snake Pit using 16S metabarcoding to identify which symbiotic lineages are present at each juvenile stage. In addition, we highlighted the abundance and distribution of microorganisms at each stage using Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (FISH) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). For the first time, Candidatus Microvillispirillaceae (midgut tube), Candidatus Foregutplasma rimicarensis and Candidatus BG2-rimicarensis (foregut) were identified in late juveniles stages. However, these lineages were absent in early juveniles stages, which coincides for the midgut tube with our observations of an immature tissue, devoid of microvilli. Conversely, symbiotic lineages from the cephalothoracic cavity were present from the earliest juvenile stages of both species and their overall diversities were similar to those of adults. These results suggest different symbiont acquisition dynamics between the cephalothoracic cavity and the digestive system, which may also involve distinct transmission mechanisms.

Roegneria yenchiana sp. nov. (Triticeae) is described as a new species collected from Shangri-la of Yunnan Province in China based on morphological, cytological, and molecular data. It is morphologically characterized by one spikelet per node, rectangular glums, awns flanked by two short mucros in lemmas, which is distinguished from other species of Roegneria. The genomic in situ hybridization results indicate that R. yenchiana is an allotetraploid, and its genomic constitution is StY. Phylogenetic analyses based on multiple loci suggested that R. yenchiana is closely related to Pseudoroegneria and Roegneria, and the Pseudoroegneria served as the maternal donors during its polyploid speciation.

Global environmental changes are predicted to lead to warmer average temperatures and more extreme weather events thereby affecting wildlife population dynamics by altering demographic processes. Extreme weather events can reduce food resources and mortality, but the contribution of such events to demographic processes are poorly understood. Estimates of season-specific survival probabilities are crucial for understanding mechanisms underlying annual mortality. However, only few studies have investigated survival at sufficient temporal resolution to assess the contribution of extreme weather events. Here, we analysed biweekly survival probabilities of 307 radio-tracked juvenile little owls (Athene noctua) from fledging to their first breeding attempt in the following spring. Biweekly survival probabilities were lowest during the first weeks after fledging in summer and increased over autumn to winter. The duration of snow cover in winter had a strong negative effect on survival probability, while being well fed during the nestling stage increased survival during the first weeks after fledging and ultimately led to a larger proportion of birds surviving the first year. Overall annual survival probability over the first year varied by 34.3 % between 0.117 (95 % credible interval 0.052 – 0.223) and 0.178 (0.097 – 0.293) depending on the severity of the winter, and up to 0.233 (0.127 – 0.373) for well-fed fledglings. The season with the lowest survival was the post-fledging period (0.508; 0.428 – 0.594) in years with mild winters, and the winter in years with extensive snow cover (0.481; 0.337 – 0.626). We therefore show that extreme weather events reduced the proportion of first-year survivors. Increasingly warmer winters with less snow cover may therefore increase annual survival probability of juvenile little owls in central Europe, but environmental changes reducing food supply during the nestling period can have similarly large effects on annual juvenile survival and therefore the viability of populations.

Intracellular plant defense against pathogens is mediated by a class of disease resistance genes known as NB-LRRs or NLRs (R genes). Many of the diseases these genes protect against are more prevalent in regions of higher rainfall, which provide better growth conditions for the pathogens. As such, we expect a higher selective pressure for the maintenance and proliferation of R genes in plants adapted to wetter conditions. In this study, we enriched libraries for R genes using RenSeq from baits primarily developed from the common sunflower (Helianthus annuus) reference genome. We sequenced the R gene libraries of Silphium integrifolium Michx, a perennial relative of sunflower, from 12 prairie remnants across a rainfall gradient in the Central Plains of the United States, with both Illumina short-read (n=99) and PacBio long-read (n=10) approaches. We found a positive relationship between the mean effective annual precipitation of a plant’s source prairie remnant and the number of R genes in its genome, consistent with intensity of plant pathogen coevolution increasing with precipitation. We show that RenSeq can be applied to the study of ecological hypotheses in non-model relatives of model organisms.

Aim: The Amazon rainforest has approximately 23% of its sampled area dedicated to bats, making it one of the least sampled and most diverse regions for bats in Brazil. The lack of sampling results in a lack of knowledge regarding the accurate geographical distribution of bat species. This lack is referred to as the Wallacean shortfall, which should be addressed with primary data obtained from in situ collections. However, the use of Species Distribution Models (SDMs) can help alleviate this gap. Location: The states of Pará and Acre are located in the Brazilian Amazon. Methods: So, our objective is to decrease the Wallacean shortfall concerning Amazonian bat species. To achieve this, we provide (i) a list of bat species sampled in the states of Pará and Acre in the last five years (2017 to 2022); (ii) the potential distribution of species considered as new occurrences for the region; and (iii) the potential distribution of species classified as Data Deficient (DD) and Near Threatened (NT) according to the IUCN classification. Results: With 96 nights of collection and 129,600 m 2h of mist netting, we obtained 75 bat species, with an estimated total of 94.78 species. Additionally, 21 species were considered as range extensions. Main conclusions: The Brazilian Amazon region has a vast geographic expanse and few established research centers, resulting in a limited sampling of bats and other biological groups. Furthermore, we draw attention to the significant number of bat species with expanded geographical distributions, with 21 out of the 75 sampled species. This should be a reminder that primary biogeographic data is still necessary for the neotropical region.

Urban evolutionary ecology is inherently interdisciplinary. Moreover, it is a field with global significance. However, bringing researchers and resources together across fields and countries is challenging. Therefore, an online collaborative research hub, where common methods and best practices are shared among scientists from diverse geographic, ethnic, and career backgrounds would make research focused on urban evolutionary ecology more inclusive. Here, we describe a freely available online research hub for toolkits that facilitate global research in urban evolutionary ecology. We provide rationales and descriptions of toolkits for: (1) decolonizing urban evolutionary ecology; (2) identifying and fostering international collaborative partnerships; (3) common methods and freely-available datasets for trait mapping across cities; (4) common methods and freely-available datasets for cross-city evolutionary ecology experiments; and (5) best practices and freely available resources for public outreach and communication of research findings in urban evolutionary ecology. We outline how the toolkits can be accessed, archived, and modified over time in order to sustain long-term global research that will advance our understanding of urban evolutionary ecology.

Understanding animal movement and behaviour can aid spatial planning and inform conservation management. However, it is difficult to directly observe behaviours in remote and hostile terrain such as the marine environment. Behaviours can be inferred from telemetry data using hidden Markov models (HMMs), but model predictions are not typically validated due to difficulty obtaining ‘ground truth’ behavioural information. We investigate the accuracy of HMM-inferred behaviours by considering a unique dataset provided by Joint Nature Conservation Committee. The data consist of simultaneous proxy movement tracks of the boat (defined as visual tracks as birds are followed by eye) and seabird behaviour obtained at the same time-frequency by observers on the boat. We use these data to assess whether (i) visual track is a good proxy for true bird locations in relation to HMM-inferred behaviours, and (ii) inferred behaviours from HMMs fitted to visual tracking data accurately represent true behaviours as identified by behavioural observations taken from the boat. We demonstrate that visual tracking data can be regarded as a good proxy for true movement data of birds in terms of similarity in inferred behaviours. Accuracy of HMMs ranging from 71% to 87% during chick-rearing and 54% to 70% during incubation was generally insensitive to model choice, even when AIC values varied substantially across different models. Finally, we show that for foraging, a state of primary interest for conservation purposes, identified missed foraging bouts lasted for only a few seconds. We conclude that HMMs fitted to tracking data can accurately identify important conservation-relevant behaviours, demonstrated using visual tracking data. Therefore, confidence in using HMMs for behavioural inference should increase even when validation data are unavailable. This has important implications for animal conservation, where the size and location of protected areas are often informed by behaviours identified using HMMs fitted to movement data.

An important consequence of the discontinuous distribution of insect populations within their geographic range is phenotypic divergence. Detection of this divergence can be challenging when it occurs through subtle shifts in morphological traits with complex geometries, such as insect wing venation. Here, we used landmark-based wing geometric morphometrics to investigate the population-level phenotypic variation of the two subspecies of Glossina morsitans, G. m. centralis Machado and G. m. morsitans Westwood that occur in Zambia. Twelve homologous landmarks digitized on the right wings of 720 specimens collected from four and five sites (80 per site with 1:1 sex ratio) within the G. m. centralis and G. m. morsitans range respectively, were subjected to generalised Procrustes analysis to obtain wing centroid size (CS) and wing shape variable. Linear permutation models were then used to compare CS and wing shape between male and female G. morsitans, the two subspecies G. m. centralis and G. m. morsitans, and between sample locations within each subspecies range. Significant differences in CS and wing shape were observed between G. morsitans sexes, subspecies and sample locations within each subspecies range. Neighbour-joining trees derived from the analysis of Procrustes distances showed that tsetse within each subspecies range were highly divergent. We conclude that G. morsitans populations in Zambia exhibit significant population-level variation in fly size and wing shape which suggests high levels of population structuring. The main drivers of this structuring could be adaptation to local climatic condition, especially temperature and random genetic drift. We therefore recommend molecular studies to estimate the levels of gene flow between these populations and determine their levels of genetic isolation.

The geographical variation and domestication of tree species are an important part of the theory of forest introduction, germplasm tracing is the theoretical basis for the construction of high-quality plantations. The Chinese pine (Pinus tabuliformis Carr.) is an important native timber tree species widely distributed in northern China, but it is unclear the exact germplasm sources of the main Chinese pine plantation populations. Here, using two mtDNA markers, we analyzed 796 (873) individuals representing 38 populations of main natural and artificial populations in northern China (Shanxi, Hebei, and Liaoning provinces). The results confirmed that the core position of SX* natural populations in Chinese pine populations of northern China, genetic diversity of HB and LN plantations was higher than that of SX* natural populations, and there was a great difference in the genetic background within the groups of SX* and LN, HB showed the opposite. More importantly, we finished the “point-by-point” tracing of the HB and LN plantations task. The results suggested that almost all HB populations came from SX* (GDS*, ZTS*, GCS*, and THS*), which brought the genetic background homogeneity of HB populations. Most of the germplasm of LN plantations came from LN* (ZJS*, WF*), and the other part came from GDS* (SX*), which contributed to great differences in the genetic background within the LN group. Our findings provided a reliable theoretical basis for the scientific allocation, management, and utilization of Chinese pine populations in northern China, and for promoting the high-quality construction of Chinese pine plantations.

The study and importance of altitudinal migration has attracted increasing interest among zoologists. Altitudinal migrants are taxonomically widespread and move across environmental gradients that transect altitudinal and latitudinal gradients as partial or complete migrants, subjecting them to a wide array of environments and ecological interactions. Here, we present a brief synthesis of recent development and suggest future directions towards a more taxonomically inclusive conceptual framework for the study of altitudinal migration. Our framework centers on a working definition of altitudinal migration that highlights the biological relevance and scale of movement for a given taxon and its life history. Even with a revised definition, however, the distinction between the narrower phenomenon of migration and wider study of movement often blurs. We discuss nuances of altitudinal movements and encourage comparisons among taxa from divergent lineages and biomes that encounter different ecological interactions and physiological challenges across their annual cycles. We also summarize new opportunities, methods, and challenges for the ongoing study of altitudinal migration. A persistent, primary challenge is characterizing the taxonomic extent of altitudinal migration within and among species. Fortunately, a host of new methods have been developed to help researchers assess the taxonomic prevalence of altitudinal migration---each with their own advantages and disadvantages. An improved conceptual framework of altitudinal migration will allow researchers that study disparate disciplines and taxonomic groups to better communicate and operate in a comparative framework to test hypotheses regarding the evolutionary and ecological drivers underlying variation in altitudinal migration among populations and species.

Plant responses to environmental heterogeneity depend on life-history traits, which could relate to phenotypical and genetic characteristics. To elucidate this relationship, we examined the variation in population genetics and functional traits of short- and a long-lived Artemisia species that are co-occurring in the steppes of Mongolia. Mongolian steppes represent stressful, waterlimited habitats demanding phenotypic modifications in the short term and/or genetic adaptation in the long term. However, detailed knowledge is missing about both plant phenotypic and genetic differentiation and their inter-relationships in temperate grasslands. Here, we investigated 21 populations of the widely distributed subshrub A. frigida and the herbaceous biennial A. scoparia. Genetic variation was assessed with newly developed Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs) markers. Functional trait data was collected from each individual, and data on environmental variables was collected for each population. We detected significantly higher genetic diversity in the biennial species (H E =0.86) compared to the perennial (H E =0.79). For both species, the largest share of genetic variation was partitioned within populations (96%). Population genetic structure in the biennial A. scoparia was weak, while the perennial A. frigida showed some spatial genetic structure, which was impacted by geographical factors, soil nutrients, and precipitation. Morphology-related functional traits (i.e., plant height) were predominantly associated with environmental variables rather than with genetic variation, while physiology-related traits (i.e., specific leaf area) were partly genetically determined.

Genetic diversity can modulate a population’s response to a changing environment and plays a critical role in its ecological function. While multiple processes act to maintain genetic diversity, sexual recruitment remains the primary driving force. At its southern edge-of-range, warming sea surface temperatures have resulted in shifts to a mixed-annual life-history strategy in the eelgrass (Zostera marina). Given that mating systems are intimately linked to standing levels of genetic variation, understanding the scope of sexual recruitment illuminates the processes that shape genetic diversity. To that end, developing seeds on flowering Z. marina shoots were genotyped from three meadows in Topsail, North Carolina. In all meadows, levels of multiple mating were high, with shoots pollinated by an average of 8 sires (range: 3 – 16). The number of fertilized seeds (i.e., reproductive success) varied significantly across sires (range: 1 – 25) and was positively correlated with both individual heterozygosity and self-fertilization. Outcrossing rates were high (approx. 70%) and varied across spathes. The reliance on sexual recruitment was also evident among sampled shoots, as no clones were detected and kinship among shoots was low. Given the role that genetic diversity plays in enhancing resistance to and resilience from ecological disturbance, disentangling the links between life-history, sexual reproduction and genetic structure will aid in informing the management and conservation of this key foundation species.

The ongoing expansion of wolf (Canis lupus) populations has led to a growing demand for up-to-date abundance estimates. Non-invasive genetic sampling (NGS) is now widely used to monitor wolves, as it allows individual identification and abundance estimation without physically capturing individuals. However, NGS is resource-intensive, partly because of the wolf elusive behaviour and wide distribution, but also because of the cost of DNA analyses. Optimization of sampling strategies is therefore a requirement for the long-term sustainability of wolf monitoring programs. Using data from the 2020-2021 Italian Alpine wolf monitoring, we investigate how (i) reducing the number of samples genotyped, (ii) reducing the number of transects, and (iii) reducing the number of repetitions of each search transect, impacted spatial capture-recapture population size estimates. Our study revealed that a 25% reduction in the number of transects or, alternatively, a 50% reduction in the maximum number of repetitions yielded abundance estimates comparable to those obtained using the entire dataset. These modifications would result in a 2,046 km reduction in total transect length and 19,628 km reduction in total distance searched. Further reducing the number of transects resulted in up to 15% lower and up to 17% less precise abundance estimates. Reducing only the number of genotyped samples led to higher (5%) and less precise (20%) abundance estimates. Randomly subsampling genotyped samples reduced the number of detections per individual, whereas subsampling search transects resulted in a less pronounced decrease in both the total number of detections and individuals detected. Our work shows how it is possible to optimise wolf monitoring by reducing search effort while maintaining the quality of abundance estimates, by adopting a modelling framework that uses a first survey dataset. We further provide general guidelines on how to optimise sampling effort when using spatial capture-recapture in large-scale monitoring programmes.

We present notable distributional updates for 13 species from western Ecuador (six anfibians and seven reptiles). Our findings include the northernmost confirmed sighting of Pristimantis kuri (Yánez-Muñoz et al. 2016) and the southernmost documented appearance of Imantodes inornatus (Boulenger 1896) and Lepidoblepharis buchwaldi (Werner 1910). Additionally, we document new records and notes of distribution range of Agalychnis spurrelli (Boulenger 1913), Hyloscirtus alytolylax (Duellman 1972), Engystomops montubio (Ron et al. 2004), Pristimantis nyctophylax (Lynch 1976), Pristimantis walkeri (Lynch 1974), Chironius flavopictus (Werner 1909), Chironius grandisquamis (Peters 1869), Dendrophidion graciliverpa (Cadle 2012), Ninia atrata (Hallowell 1845), and Urotheca fulviceps (Cope 1886). These observations significantly contribute to filling information gaps in our understanding of these species’ distributions. The data, derived from samples collected across diverse forested areas in the western region of Ecuador (provinces of Cañar, Guayas, El Oro, and Los Rios), provide valuable insights into the ecology and conservation of these species.