Search

A catalogue of the vascular flora of New Guinea indicates that this island is the most floristically diverse in the world, and that 68% of the species identified are endemic to New Guinea.

Analysis combining multiple global tree databases reveals that whether a location is invaded by non-native tree species depends on anthropogenic factors, but the severity of the invasion depends on the native species diversity.

Using 13 functional traits we characterize the Amazonian trees and the communities they form. Amazonian tree communities are distributed along a fast-slow-spectrum. This results in clear differences in traits among these forests, as well as their biomass and biomass productivity.

Tree species turnover across Amazonian forests unveils sharp floristic transitional zones, that are linked with changes in soil fertility and climate.

The collapse of tropical forests during the Permian–Triassic Mass Extinction weakened carbon sequestration, sustaining high CO2 and extreme global warmth for millions of years: an example of a runaway feedback in Earth’s climate-carbon system.

A study mapping the tree species richness in Amazonian forests shows that soil type exerts a strong effect on species richness, probably caused by the areas of these forest types. Cumulative water deficit, tree density and temperature seasonality affect species richness at a regional scale.

It is unclear whether the harsh abiotic conditions of drylands hinder biological invasions. This global analysis shows that drylands are vulnerable to non-native plants and are likely to become more so as native plant diversity declines and grazing pressure intensifies.

This study finds that crowd-sensed plants as living sensors uncover climate and soil patterns in 326 European cities; extend the urban heat island effect to moisture, pH, salinity and disturbance; and show built-up areas homogenize whereas urban forests preserve environmental diversity.

From 2014–2017, marine heatwaves caused global mass coral bleaching, where the corals lose their symbiotic algae. The authors find, this event exceeded the severity of all prior global bleaching events in recorded history, with approximately half the world’s reefs bleaching and 15% experiencing substantial mortality.

An analysis of 140 floras from China reveals that high species diversity exists in granite and mixed landforms, while low species diversity is found in karst, Danxia, and desert landforms. Based on these findings, the authors provide new clues for understanding the assembly and differentiation of mountain floras, highlighting the role of bedrock and landform processes.

Alterations in the gut microbiota affect stroke outcomes via modulation of T cells, suggesting a gut-brain axis linking commensal microbes with the CNS.

Here, using metagenomic profiling in 180 individuals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the authors find associations between the gut microbiome and konzo, a neurodegenerative disease that mostly affects children and is caused by the consumption improperly processed cassava.

Tree longevity is thought to increase in harsh environments, but global evidence of drivers is lacking. Here, the authors find two different pathways for tree longevity: slow growth in resource limited environments and increasing tree stature and/or slow growth in competitive environments.

Here, the authors present archaeology of the Namorotukunan site in Kenya’s Turkana Basin that demonstrates adaptive shifts in hominin tool-making behaviour spanning 300,000 years and increasing environmental variability. They contextualize these findings with paleoenvironmental proxies, dating, and geological descriptions.

Fires triggered by climate change threaten plant diversity in many biomes. Here the authors investigate how the catastrophic fires of 2019–2020 affected the vascular flora of SE Australia. They report that 816 species were highly impacted, including taxa of biogeographic and conservation interest.

Assessment of 38 seawater-intake facilities along the continental United States coast reveals that large scale deployment of electrochemical marine-based carbon dioxide removal hubs is possible using a multicriteria decision-making framework.

Old trees have many ecological and socio-cultural values that affect their survival. Species with greater potential height, smaller leaf size and diverse human utilization attributes had the highest probability of long-term persistence.

Population genomics of European woodland strawberry reveal distinct western and eastern genetic clusters with contrasting demographic histories across multiple glacial-interglacial cycles.

Plant functional traits may help distinguish introduced species that will become invasive from those that do not. Here, Divíšek et al. show that functional profiles of naturalized plant species are similar to natives, while those of invasive plant species exist at the edge of the functional trait space.

Analysis of 20 chemical and morphological plant traits at diverse sites across 6 continents shows that the transition from semi-arid to arid zones is associated with an unexpected 88% increase in trait diversity.

Global spatiotemporal patterns of plant diversification are unclear. Here, the authors use a genus-level phylogeny and global distribution data for 14,244 flowering plant genera, finding a negative correlation between spatial patterns of diversification and genus diversity.

Data suggest an inverse relationship exists between where plant diversity occurs in nature and where it is housed. This disparity persists across physical and digital botanical collections despite overt colonialism ending over half a century ago.

Inventory data from more than 1 million trees across African, Amazonian and Southeast Asian tropical forests suggests that, despite their high diversity, just 1,053 species, representing a consistent ~2.2% of tropical tree species in each region, constitute half of Earth’s 800 billion tropical trees.

The impact flux from kilometre-sized bodies has increased by at least a factor of two over the long-term average during the last ∼100 Myr. This surge probably was triggered by the catastrophic disruption of the parent body of the asteroid Baptistina, which broke up in the inner main asteroid belt. Fragments evolved to orbits where they could strike the terrestrial planets.

A large-scale metagenomic analysis of plant and mammal environmental DNA reveals complex ecological changes across the circumpolar region over the past 50,000 years, as biota responded to changing climates, culminating in the postglacial extinction of large mammals and emergence of modern ecosystems.

CORAL can infer the occurrence of rare species based on common species, using DNA metabarcoding data or other high-dimensional biodiversity data. The approach is illustrated on a large-scale biodiversity survey from Madagascar.

A global network of researchers was formed to investigate the role of human genetics in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity; this paper reports 13 genome-wide significant loci and potentially actionable mechanisms in response to infection.

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) mediates the toxic effects of environmental pollutants and regulates innate and adaptive immune responses. This Review discusses how, in the past, AHR activation was avoided during drug development, but now the AHR is being targeted for treating inflammation, cancer and infectious diseases.

A systematic assessment finds that at least 5.8% of threatened and near threatened species on the IUCN Red List are likely to be threatened by international trade but that only 59% of these species are currently listed for protection from such trade by CITES.

The authors report shotgun sequences from airborne environmental DNA samples, identifying local biodiversity and enabling deeper analysis of specific species and genomic regions of interest.

Romer’s Gap describes the period with few known fossils when early tetrapods were becoming increasingly terrestrial. Here, five new species, three stem tetrapods and two stem amphibians, are described from a location in Scotland shedding light on the phylogeny and environment of this period.

Pathogenic gut microbiota is responsible for a few debilitating gastrointestinal Diseases. Here, the authors develop a wireless mechanoelectronic device designed to manufacture of functional vesicles in vivo to regulate microbiome.

Commensal Candida albicans enhances the virulence and dissemination of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium.

The mechanisms underlying gut microbial metabolite (GMM) contribution towards alcohol-mediated cardiovascular disease (CVD) are unknown. Herein, the authors reveal that alcohol-induced microbial reorganization and resultant elevation in GMM phenylacetylglutamine, directly contributes to CVD.

Development of the Late Cenozoic Ice Age and Late Paleozoic Ice Age follows a comparable climate trajectory, involving secular trends superimposed with multiple astronomically forced climate-carbon cycles and transient climatic events.

Antarctica has a unique environment and geographic isolation that affect its biodiversity patterns. In this Perspective, the authors examine how five key ecological processes shape Antarctica’s biodiversity and use this information to establish predictions for future change in the region.

Nanopore sequencing coupled with a metagenomics framework that effectively removes human DNA from samples enables rapid bacterial LRI diagnosis.

Seed dispersal can determine the ability of plant species to track shifting climates; therefore, it can influence future biodiversity outcomes. Here, the authors model seed dispersal by fruit-eating vertebrates across the Australian Wet Tropics rainforest and find that it is projected to markedly decrease for many plant species.

There is emerging evidence that mice with a history of microbial exposures can better model the human immune system than laboratory mice maintained in pathogen-free conditions. In this Perspective, Rehermann and colleagues summarize different approaches that have been used to incorporate microbiota and pathogen exposures into laboratory mouse models. They suggest that the term ‘mice with natural microbiota’ should be used instead of ‘dirty mice’ to describe these systems in the future.