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Over 20 species of geographically and phylogenetically diverse bird species produce convergent whining vocalizations towards their respective brood parasites. Model presentation and playback experiments across multiple continents suggest that these learned calls provoke an innate response even among allopatric species.

Evidence is provided for plasticity between symbiotrophic and saprotrophic lifestyles of the ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungus Piloderma croceum associated with Quercus robur L., indicating a role for deadwood as an underestimated EM fungus propagule bank.

Biological nitrogen fixation may impose stronger constraints on the carbon sink in natural terrestrial biomes and represent a larger source of agricultural nitrogen than is generally considered in analyses of the global nitrogen cycle.

Bio-based adhesives with high cohesive density are often difficult to recycle. Here the authors propose a supramolecular nanoconfined network based on cellulose which combines strong and switchable adhesion.

An improved method for compressing wood substantially increases its strength and stiffness, opening up the possibility of applications in engineering for which natural wood is too weak.

Wood-feeding 'higher' termites rely on their hindgut symbionts for the intitial steps in cellulose degradation. Metagenomic analysis of this microbial community reveals a diverse range of bacterial cellulase and hydrolase genes, as well as genes important in other metabolic functions, such as H2 metabolism, CO₂-reductive acetogenesis and N₂ fixation.

Archaeological discoveries from Malta suggest that humans were present on the Maltese islands from around 8,500 years ago, providing evidence that Mesolithic hunter-gatherers made sea crossings as long as 100 km.

Oligodendrocytes are critical for brain myelination and repair. Here, the authors show that erythropoietin enhances oligodendrocyte lineage progression, promoting myelination through transcriptional regulation.

The number of individuals in a given space influences animal interactions and network dynamics. Here the authors identify general rules underlying density dependence in animal networks and reveal some fundamental differences between spatial and social dynamics.

A global analysis reveals regional trends of net forest ageing but also that widespread stand-replacing disturbances, such as fire and harvest, are driving declining forest age in many areas, often accompanied by substantial losses in aboveground carbon stocks and shifts in carbon sink dynamics.

Actionable research recommendations are outlined to improve the monitoring and modelling of forest resources and their carbon sink, and to better inform forest management decisions and the European Green Deal.

Long-term high-resolution data on social relationships, space use and microhabitat in a wild population of mice (Apodemus sylvaticus), accompanied by sampling of the gut microbiota, show that distinct sets of microorganisms dominate social and environmental transmission routes of microbiota. Microorganisms with low oxygen tolerance are more reliant on social transmission.

A pan-Amazon study of forests shows large variations in drought tolerance traits and finds that forests in regions of pronounced climate change are losing biomass and may be operating beyond their hydraulic limits.

Iridoids are terpenoid metabolites found in thousands of plants. Using single-cell transcriptomics, the authors discovered an unexpected enzyme that has been neofunctionalized to catalyse the cyclization required to form the iridoid scaffold.

Birds have an excellent ability to learn to discriminate harmless insects from those that they mimic on the basis of subtle differences in appearance.

Integrating environmental effects into a bookkeeping model finds an increase in CO₂ emissions from land-use change by 14% in 2012–2021. It further shows that state-of-the-art process-based models overestimate the natural terrestrial CO₂ sink by 23%.

Genome-wide association meta-analyses of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptom measures and clinical diagnoses identify new risk loci, highlight putative effector genes and yield improved polygenic risk scores.

Indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) is an immunosuppressive enzyme that is expressed in tumours and enables them to escape immunologically mediated rejection. However, we are far from understanding the biological relevance of IDO expression during tumorigenesis. We need a better understanding of IDO biology to provide a rationale for the use of IDO inhibitors in the clinic.

Building on recent explainable AI techniques, this Article highlights the pervasiveness of Clever Hans effects in unsupervised learning and the substantial risks associated with these effects in terms of the prediction accuracy on new data.

The Einstein Probe has discovered a fast X-ray transient, EP240414a, associated with a broad-lined type Ic supernova. Its unusually soft spectrum and weak jet add to the diversity of stellar deaths and suggest a previously unknown Wolf–Rayet star explosion mechanism.

Through RNA profiling of right ventricular tissue from patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, Jafari et al. uncover mechanisms underlying disease severity-associated remodeling, identify key signaling molecules involved in fibrotic and proliferative pathways, and reveal processes driving right ventricular recovery after pulmonary endarterectomy.

It is unclear whether CO₂-stimulation of photosynthesis can propagate through slower ecosystem processes and lead to long-term increases in terrestrial carbon. Here the authors show that CO₂-stimulation of photosynthesis leads to a 30% increase in forest regrowth over a decade of CO₂ enrichment.

Analysis of species distribution models in a pan-African database comprising chronometrically dated archaeological sites over the past 120,000 years shows major expansion in the human niche from 70 ka, driven by adaptation to diverse habitats.

Some researchers say that US-agency policies provide opportunities for political interference.

Chronological assumptions in marine sediment records can result in uncertainties in paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Here, using computed tomography to identify in situ woody debris, the authors construct a robust ¹⁴C chronology and reassess ventilation ages in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific during the LGM.

This Perspective discusses how well-established theoretical models of evolution can be adapted to study and generate testable predictions about the evolutionary dynamics of host–microbiota associations.

Managing power exhaust in fusion reactors is a key challenge, especially in compact designs for cost-effective commercial energy. This study shows how alternative divertor configurations improve exhaust control, enhance stability, absorb transients and enable independent plasma regulation.

Methane is an important anthropogenic greenhouse gas and is thought to be produced by industrial processes and prokaryotic methanogenic Archaea. In this study, the saprotrophic fungi,Basidiomycetes, is shown to produce methane in the absence of methanogenic Archaea.

Site-level quantification of Net Ecosystem Production (NEP) and associated components rely on eddy covariance and biometric methods. Here these techniques are compared for global forest carbon fluxes, revealing differences in NEP, but similar estimates of ecosystem respiration and gross primary production.

Understanding patterns in woody plant trait relationships and trade-offs is challenging. Here, by applying machine learning and data imputation methods to a global database of georeferenced trait measurements, the authors unravel key relationships in tree functional traits at the global scale.

Microbial pre-emption of mineralized soil P limits the capacity of trees for increased P uptake and assimilation under elevated CO₂ and therefore restricts their capacity to sequester extra C.

Conventional methods to gasify or liquefy carbon-based polymers use high temperatures because of carbon–carbon bond stability. Here, the authors describe a mechanochemical ball milling method to break carbon–carbon bonds without heating.

The model–inventory discrepancy in net land-use carbon emissions mainly results from conceptual differences in estimating anthropogenic forest sinks. A revised disaggregation of global land model results allows greater comparability with inventories.

An examination of the potential use of fruit and wood from olive trees on the coast of Morocco approximately 100,000 years ago.

The authors use individual-based models to assess the contribution of frugivore-mediated seed dispersal to forest restoration. They show that the movement of large birds—which disperse seeds with higher carbon storage potential—is limited in landscapes with low forest cover (<40%).

Little is known about the way bats recognize large objects, such as trees, buildings or a lake. Greif and Siemers show that bodies of water are recognized solely by echolocation, and that this ability is innate, thus smooth surfaces are recognized as water by naive juvenile bats.

Scientists show that refinements to atmospheric CO₂ growth rates and improved models of land and ocean carbon sinks have significantly reduced a long-standing gap in the global carbon budget, boosting confidence in climate science

Carbon sequestration by Siberian forests has been low over the past decade due to disturbances that have decreased live biomass and increased dead wood, according to passive microwave observations.

‘Candidatus Methanoliparum’ overexpresses genes encoding alkyl-coenzyme M and methyl-coenzyme M reductases—markers of archaeal multicarbon alkane and methane metabolism—and thrives on a variety of long-chain alkanes and n-alkylcyclohexanes, and n-alkylbenzenes with long n-alkyl (C_≥13) moieties.

Tropical tree and shrub microparticles uncovered from ancient human tooth plaque in Vanuatu show that early colonists were horticulturalists and foragers who adapted to and modified their environments depending on their local ecology and subsistence needs.

Vessel elements arise from cambium stem cells and support plant growth by supplying water and nutrients. This study reveals that strigolactone signalling inhibits vessel formation in response to drought, affecting transpiration and drought resistance.