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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.

Understanding collective behaviour is an important aspect of managing the pandemic response. Here the authors show in a large global study that participants that reported identifying more strongly with their nation reported greater engagement in public health behaviours and support for public health policies in the context of the pandemic.

Species’ traits and environmental conditions determine the abundance of tree species across the globe. Here, the authors find that dominant tree species are taller and have softer wood compared to rare species and that these trait differences are more strongly associated with temperature than water availability.

Wood density is an important plant trait. Data from 1.1 million forest inventory plots and 10,703 tree species show a latitudinal gradient in wood density, with temperature and soil moisture explaining variation at the global scale and disturbance also having a role at the local level.

Analysis of ground-sourced and satellite-derived models reveals a global forest carbon potential of 226 Gt outside agricultural and urban lands, with a difference of only 12% across these modelling approaches.

Examining drivers of the latitudinal biodiversity gradient in a global database of local tree species richness, the authors show that co-limitation by multiple environmental and anthropogenic factors causes steeper increases in richness with latitude in tropical versus temperate and boreal zones.

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias identifies new loci and enables generation of a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Alternative stable states in forests have implications for the biosphere. Here, the authors combine forest biodiversity observations and simulations revealing that leaf types across temperate regions of the NH follow a bimodal distribution suggesting signatures of alternative forest states.

Integrating inventory data with machine learning models reveals the global composition of tree types—needle-leaved evergreen individuals dominate, followed by broadleaved evergreen and deciduous trees—and climate change risks.

Species-rich plant communities often have higher productivity than monocultures. Here, the authors analyse biodiversity-ecosystem functioning experiments in grasslands and forests and find that the biodiversity effects on community productivity strengthen over time thanks to shifts in contributions of species with different resource acquisition traits.

Analysis of temperate lakes finds a widespread decline in dissolved oxygen concentrations in surface and deep waters, which is associated with reduced solubility at warmer surface water temperatures and increased stratification at depth.

Genetic variants at multiple loci of chr5p15.33 have been associated with susceptibility to numerous cancers. Here the authors show that the association of one of these loci may be explained by a variant, rs36115365, influencing telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) expression via ZNF148.

The timing of life-history events has a strong impact on ecosystems. Now, analysis of the phenology of temperate forests in the eastern US indicates that in the case of an earlier spring and a later autumn, carbon uptake (photosynthesis) increases considerably more than carbon release (respiration).

The protein ATG5 is known to be involved in the formation of autophagosomes. Here, Maskey et al. identify a new role of ATG5 in response to drug-induced DNA damage whereby ATG5 translocates to the nucleus, leading to chromosome misalignment and mitotic catastrophe.

To assess drivers underpinning biogeographic patterns of leaf nitrogen and phosphorus stoichiometry, this study used a global dataset of leaf nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations of 3,625 species from 7,549 sites. They found strong within-species variation related to environmental gradients, challenging the idea of a fixed biogeochemical niche.

Wetland methane emissions contribute to global warming, and are oversimplified in climate models. Here the authors use eddy covariance measurements from 48 global sites to demonstrate seasonal hysteresis in methane-temperature relationships and suggest the importance of microbial processes.

Jones et al. examine the generalizability of the valence–dominance model of social judgements of faces in 41 countries across 11 world regions. They find evidence of both generalizability and variation, depending on the analytical method.

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) residing within tumors can impede immune responses. Knolle and colleagues show that MDSCs poison immune cells by producing methylglyoxal, which functionally alters their cellular metabolism and hence their effector responses.

Efforts to make graphene more useful for applications include altering its bandgap and increasing its processability. Both of these can be solved by chemically modifying the material, and now a wet chemical method has been developed that functionalizes graphene in bulk starting from pristine graphite.

Broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) develop in a minority of HIV-infected individuals. Analyzing data from more than 4,000 infected individuals, Alexandra Trkola and colleagues identify viral, host and disease factors associated with the development of bNAbs that may inform future vaccine design.

TRACERx Lung: Intratumoral transcriptional heterogeneity, which often hinders the development of clinically useful RNA-expression-biased biomarkers for cancer, can now be overcome with an approach for the identification of clonal expression biomarkers.

A spatially explicit global map of tree symbioses with nitrogen-fixing bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi reveals that climate variables are the primary drivers of the distribution of different types of symbiosis.

Present-day forests use water more efficiently, probably owing to the effect of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide on leaf stomata, which partially close to maintain a near-constant level of carbon dioxide inside the leaves despite increasing atmospheric levels.

Similarity of antibody responses in HIV-1 transmission pairs reveals a significant impact of the virus genome on imprinting antibody responses.

Both a high number of species and abundance in multiple trophic levels are required for ecosystems to continue to provide the services humans require of them.