Articles in 2025

Mushroom-forming fungi have along evolutionary history and a suite of important ecological roles. This Review highlights advances in understanding of Agaricomycetes evolution and ecology driven by genomic research.

Although long neglected in biodiversity conservation policy, the importance of soil biodiversity is now recognized by the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. This Perspective describes this important policy breakthrough and offers strategies to build on it for successful monitoring and conservation outcomes.

Amphibians are the most threatened vertebrate group but receive a disproportionately small fraction of conservation funding. In this Review, the authors discuss the status of amphibian conservation, highlighting examples of successful initiatives that have occurred despite global funding challenges.

Mangroves are valued for their diverse range of ecosystem services, but the role of biodiversity in supporting these services is not thoroughly understood. This Review examines the relationships between biodiversity, ecosystem processes and ecosystems services, and examines how future research could address knowledge gaps to guide effective, equitable mangrove conservation.

China has committed to restoring populations of critically endangered sea turtles but is focused on conservation methods with minimal evidence of efficacy. China’s National Wildlife Protection Law should be modified to reduce the emphasis on artificial breeding and release.

Global conservation agendas now emphasize habitat connectivity, with the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework calling for well-connected systems by 2030. These efforts focus strongly on connectivity benefits while dismissing costs, despite emerging evidence for potential negative effects. Further empirical assessment of the costs of connectivity, and the incorporation of these risks into connectivity decision-making, is urgently needed.

Model organisms are key to understanding principles of animal function and adaptation, although they are singular representatives of their lineages and biodiversity. Here, we propose considering model organisms alongside biological questions to guide effective data collection, experimentation and biomechanical analyses, and thus enhance researchers’ understanding of phenotypic evolution.

Model organisms have a role in biology, but the dominance of model-organism thinking hinders innovation amid profound biodiversity loss. Biology needs a new intellectual framework that values studying all of life’s diversity and inspires an appreciation of that diversity by students and non-experts.

Biological research focused on canonical research organisms can yield profound insights, but it can also obscure evolutionary context and hinder understanding of biodiversity itself. Biology researchers should tap the underutilized potential of Earth’s biodiversity by matching the biological question to the organism best suited to answer it.

Cumulative pressures are driving tropical coral reefs, pivotal components of the ocean social ecological system, to functional collapse. This Review summarizes their trends and threats, before detailing a strategy to avoid the functional collapse of coral reefs by deploying a global action plan layering a broad range of science-based interventions.

Seabirds are top predators and nutrient cyclers in marine island ecosystems, but are threatened by risk of extinction. This Review explores the circular seabird economy around islands and discusses how healthy seabird populations can support more resilient island ecosystems.

Palaeontologists and comparative neurobiologists share a common interest in the evolution of the mammalian brain, but often fail to realize the benefits of this shared interest. This Review draws these fields together, demonstrating the utility of a cross-disciplinary, synergistic approach.

Natural history museums, art museums and other historical sources are treasure troves of biodiversity data. Content in this month’s issue highlights important insights that these sources can yield.

Multifunctional land-use systems supply multiple ecosystem services while contributing to biodiversity conservation. This Review summarizes the provision of ecosystem services and their trade-offs and synergies with biodiversity at the landscape scale, explores traditional, contemporary and emerging land-use systems, and highlights strategies and challenges to achieve multifunctionality in conservation and restoration.

Implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework requires robust commitments from actors across society. However, the Convention on Biological Diversity’s pledge system is still nascent and has structural deficiencies. Integrated guidance on society-wide biodiversity commitments that complement governmental efforts is urgently needed to effectively accelerate progress towards global biodiversity targets.