Volume 8 Issue 2, February 2024

The causation of sexual orientation is likely to be complex and influenced by multiple factors. We advocate incorporating a broader cultural view into evolutionary and genetic studies to account for differences in how sexual orientation is experienced, expressed and understood in both humans and nonhuman animals.

Species co-occurrences have long been used as proxies for interactions, but not all co-occurring species interact. A study now reveals that super-generalist consumers realize a higher portion of their potential interactions in bipartite networks.

Two decades of global satellite observations reveal enhanced greening in mangrove forests relative to adjacent evergreen forests, which highlights important differences in the response of coastal and terrestrial ecosystems to climate change.

Two recent studies come to different yet complementary conclusions about the factors — species traits, climate conditions and past disturbances — that determine the responses of bird species to forest loss and fragmentation.

Inferring the evolutionary history of prokaryotic pangenomes is complicated by the lack of a reference for neutral genetic variation. A study that uses pseudogenes as a neutral reference provides support for selection as a force that shapes pangenomes.

Data that span 15 generations reveal how gene flow and selection in a subordinate mesopredator are affected by pathogen-driven declines in the population density of a top predator. This work highlights the evolutionary impacts of interspecific competition and elucidates landscape-scale effects of an indirect interaction between a pathogen and nonhost species.

Efforts to monitor genetic diversity in populations vary greatly among European countries. The populations and species that are most likely to experience the greatest impacts of climate change are not well covered by these efforts, which suggests an urgent need for a substantial expansion in their monitoring.

The canopies of European forests are being increasingly disturbed by drought and other drivers, many of which are associated with climate change. This Perspective discusses how such disturbances will lead to changed light conditions at the forest floor, with consequences for below-canopy biodiversity and functions.

Analysing ten bipartite networks of empirically sampled biotic interactions and the associated species’ spatial distribution, the authors model how network degree distributions can be predicted by accounting for the frequency of co-occurrences between species.

Combining long-term atmospheric CO₂ records with satellite observations of vegetation activities across the Northern Hemisphere, the authors identify a weakening trend of the link between spring and summer productivity over the past 40 years.

The authors compare how grasslands, shrublands and forests differ in their capacity to recover from fires, and how this recovery depends on deviations in water balance caused by drought; they show that the compound effects of fire and drought are less impactful in forests than in non-forests, owing to deeper rooting structures that can maintain access to water.

Remote sensing of vegetation productivity in mangroves and nearby terrestrial evergreen forests shows that mangrove productivity has increased more but also shown more variability in the last two decades compared to nearby terrestrial forests, suggesting they are more vulnerable to coastal water deficits.

The authors collate literature on the responses of bird assemblages to forest loss and show that locations with a more variable natural environment and a longer history of agricultural land use have bird assemblages that are more tolerant to forest loss.

Comparing data on genetic monitoring efforts across Europe with the distributions of areas at species’ climatic niche margins, the authors show that monitoring efforts should be expanded to populations at trailing niche margins to include genetic variation that may prove important for adaptation to ongoing climate warming.

An analysis of three ancient Iberian lynx genomes shows that genetic admixture with the Eurasian lynx contributed to levels of modern Iberian lynx genetic diversity higher than those experienced millennia ago, despite recent population decline.

Decline of the Tasmanian devil due to transmissible cancer has allowed mesopredator release of the spotted-tailed quoll. Population genomic analysis of the quoll shows the effect of devil decline on population structure, and selection on genes, including those for muscle development and locomotion.

Using pseudogenes as a neutral reference, the authors examine whether prokaryotic pangenomes have evolved primarily under selection or neutral drift. They show that even rare intact accessory genes are often under selection, providing support for an adaptive pangenome model.

The authors evolved antibiotic-resistant Helicobacter pylori in the absence of antibiotics and presence of DNA from antibiotic-sensitive strains. Horizontal gene transfer mediated the molecular reverse evolution of the antibiotic-resistance gene to the antibiotic-sensitive allele, and the authors used theoretical modelling to determine the evolutionary conditions that promote reverse evolution.

The authors apply explicit phylogenetic methods to single-cell transcriptomic data of eye cells to reconstruct the evolutionary history of cell types in distantly related mammals.

Comparative analysis of whole-genome sequencing of six zokor species that live at different altitudes show the contribution of deletions and inversions to adaptation to high altitude in these subterranean rodents.