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Grazing affects plant diversity, but plant diversity in turn may modulate the effect of grazing on the plant community. This global analysis explores the association between plant species richness and plant cover resistance to grazing intensity in drylands.

By combining satellite observations with ground-based data and expert validation, this analysis demonstrates considerable misestimation of grassland extent and thereby carbon stock estimates in previous global assessments based on remote sensing.

Tree ectomycorrhizal colonization in aridity regions is supported by microbial cooperation, where bacteria attach to fungal hyphae and reduce inhibitory soil metabolites, suggesting a microbiome-based strategy for tree restoration.

A wide survey of pesticide effects on soil biodiversity across 373 sites in Europe reveals that pesticide residues occur in 70% of sites and have major effects on soil biodiversity and functional ecology.

A 15-year prospective cohort study found that during times of social unrest in Hong Kong, people experienced more conflicts with family and friends and this coincided with the use of social media—these factors were also associated with higher levels of depression.

How landscapes are arranged affects soil pathogenic fungi worldwide. The authors reveal the global pattern and pronounced scale-dependency of landscape complexity and land-cover quantity on soil pathogenic fungal diversity.

Animals distribute their choices between alternative options according to relative reinforcement they receive from those options (matching law). Here, the authors propose metrics based on information theory that can predict this global behavioral rule based on local response to reward feedback.

Microbial mutualists could affect plant population persistence under climate change. Here the authors show that fungal endophytes contribute to the population persistence of a grass species by ameliorating drought stress but are more likely to disappear locally under climate variability.

There is a need for an easy-to-use clinical tool, that could predict favorable early PSA response and subsequently enhance early risk stratification, as well as guide treatment planning. Here, the authors show that based on patient data from four phase III randomized trials, Nadir androgen receptor pathway inhibitor (APRI)- Derived Integrative Response (NADIR) model predicts favorable early PSA response to ≤0.2 ng/mL by 6 months in metastatic hormone sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC) patients initiating treatment with an APRI.

Intrinsic capacity (IC) was introduced by the World Health Organization to promote healthy aging. Here, using data from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India, the authors develop an IC measure for older Indian adults. Their analysis shows that higher IC scores are associated with better health and functioning and reveals regional and sociodemographic variations.

Soil microorganisms play a crucial role in maintaining ecosystem functioning across diverse environments. This study shows that soil properties and specific microbial taxa jointly shape ecosystem functioning across European soils.

Allele-specific measurements can reveal differences in DNA methylation between homologous alleles associated with changes in genetic sequence. Here, the authors develop a method for detecting allele specific methylation events within haplotypes of linked SNPs, compare it with existing methods, and show it identifies haplotypes for which the genetic variant carries significant information about the methylation state of the allele of origin.

A comparison of alpha diversity (number of plant species) and dark diversity (species that are currently absent from a site despite being ecologically suitable) demonstrates the negative effects of regional-scale anthropogenic activity on plant diversity.

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.

Classes of autism are uncovered with a generative mixture modeling approach leveraging matched phenotypic and genetic data from a large cohort, revealing different genetic programs underlying their phenotypic and clinical traits.

Horses have lived in Iberia since the Ice Age. Using ancient genomes to study their history, Lira Garrido et al. reveal a local wild lineage lasting until Late Iron Age, and highlight the far-reaching influence of Iberian bloodlines across Europe and north Africa during the Iron Age and beyond.

Highly protected areas help drylands stay productive under increasing aridity, delaying critical ecosystem thresholds and underscoring the need to expand protection to safeguard these vulnerable regions from climate change.

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.

High near-surface nitrogen-fixation rates that promoted the recent growth of the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt were tied to greater upwelling of phosphorus from the equatorial Atlantic, according to coral-bound nitrogen isotope records from the Caribbean.

Genc and colleagues show developmental increases in neurite density and reductions in soma radius with in vivo MRI data. Combined with ex vivo gene expression data, this supports the model of protracted intra-cortical myelination throughout the adolescent period.

The authors analyse tree responses to an extreme heat and drought event across South America to understand long-term climate resistance. While no more sensitive to this than previous lesser events, forests in drier climates showed the greatest impacts and thus vulnerability to climate extremes.

Protection afforded by inorganic minerals is assumed to make mineral-associated organic carbon less susceptible to loss under climate change than particulate organic carbon. However, a global study of soil organic carbon from drylands suggests that this is not the case.

Soil processes involved in agricultural practices emit considerable levels of nitrous oxide, which detrimentally contribute to climate change. This study explores strategies to reduce nitrous oxide emissions while maintaining crop productivity in the US maize–soybean rotational cropping system.

Pathogenic fungi, such as Candida, cause millions of human deaths each year. This study found that the soil in urban greenspaces is one source and that socioeconomic factors, such as wealth and medical infrastructure, can predict the diversity and composition of these pathogens in city park soil.

Here, using a meta-analysis approach the authors compile a database of microbes hosted by insectivores, showing that a majority of them are viruses, that shrews and hedgehogs particularly contribute to the global virus sharing networks and that insectivores may spread of viruses of potential public health concern.

Low frequency brain waves convey information between regions. Here, the authors demonstrate that for patients with major depression, mood becomes more negative as low frequency waves increase intensity  across the prefrontal cortex.

An analysis of 52 million births in 26 countries shows small reductions in preterm birth during the first to third months of lockdown. Further research is needed to examine causal pathways.

It is thought that only climate change drives temporal tree mortality increases in old forests. Here, Luo and Chen show that both forest dynamics and climate change drive temporal tree mortality increases in young and old forests, and that climate change-associated mortality increases are higher in the young forests.

Genomes of nine brown algal species with different sex determination systems show that U/V sex chromosomes evolved 450–224 Ma and show remarkable conservation of genes within the sex-determining region despite independent expansions of the sex locus in each lineage.

We analyse a global dataset of genomic DNA sequences for Ophiuroidea to gain an understanding of phylogenetic divergence and biotic movement across oceans, finding phylogentically divergent faunas at shelf depths but greater connectivity of species at deep-sea depths.

Birds have evolved a large diversity of foot morphologies in the past 100 million years. Here, the authors use anatomical network analysis to find a constrained foot organization, a trend toward simplification, and no association between foot complexity and foot specialization.

The generation time (interval between successive infections in a transmission chain) is an important parameter for epidemiological modeling. Here, the authors develop a framework for estimating this parameter and how it changes over time and apply it to data from China in the first months of the pandemic.

The study revealed how nitrogen fertilization affects fast and slow turnover pools of soil organic carbon differently. The authors found labile particulate organic carbon increased if SOC was below 1.5%, while stable mineral associated organic carbon increased above this critical threshold.

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.

In this work, authors show that exclusive breastfeeding reduces antimicrobial resistance gene burden in infants by promoting Bifidobacterium, counteracting C-section and antibiotic effects, and supporting healthy gut microbiome development during early life.

Quark–antiquark annihilation measurements provide a precise determination of the ratio of down and up antiquarks within protons as a function of momentum, which confirms the asymmetry between the abundance of down and up antiquarks.

The authors link fungal diversity to the stability of terrestrial ecosystem productivity across three global datasets, finding that richness of decomposers and mycorrhizae are positively associated with stability while the richness of plant pathogens is negatively related to stability.

Neuroinflammation is observed in Alzheimer’s disease. Here the authors show that 15 proteins related to inflammation found in CSF can potentially be used as a prognostic biomarker.

Through fine-root nutrient chemistry, it is possible to study ecosystem-scale biogeochemical cycling. Compiling data from 211 studies measuring nitrogen and phosphorus in plant roots, Yuanet al. find that tropical ecosystems are more phosphorous-limited than higher latitudes.

Davis et al. demonstrate heterogeneous and distinct transcriptome programs in breast cancer micrometastasis associated with upregulated mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation.

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.

There is still no consensus on the factors favouring the evolution of same-sex sexual behaviour in mammals. This study presents evidence that it is a widespread behaviour that has evolved repeatedly in mammals, and that may play an adaptive role in bonding and conflict resolution.

Black and white fonio are two small indigenous grain cereals grown in West Africa. Here, the authors reveal their independent domestication and cultivation histories through population genetics and demographic history analyses.