Searches
/
Philosophical Transactions Of The Royal Society Of London. Series B, Biological Sciences[JOURNAL]
Philosophical Transactions Of The Royal Society Of London. Series B, Biological Sciences[JOURNAL]
Sun
200 papers
Neonatal auditory input affects vocal development in harbour seals.
Raimondi T, Haas CE, de Reus K … +3 more , Mendez-Arostegui M, Jadoul Y, Ravignani A
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci · 2026 Feb · PMID 41641488 · Publisher ↗
Vocal individuality has important biological functions in mammals: at crucial stages of development, it ensures feeding and is a prerequisite for auditory-based mother-pup recognition. Is vocal individuality only shaped...
Vocal individuality has important biological functions in mammals: at crucial stages of development, it ensures feeding and is a prerequisite for auditory-based mother-pup recognition. Is vocal individuality only shaped by maturation or also by the degree of conspecific acoustic input? Here, we test how the neonatal auditory environment shapes development and individualization of calls in harbour seal pups (Phoca vitulina). To simulate low- versus high-conspecific acoustic density, 18 pups heard playbacks of calls from either 2 or 30 conspecifics. We recorded calls before and after playback exposure and extracted 12 acoustic parameters. Supervised machine learning and discriminant function analyses showed greater individual distinctiveness in both groups after playback, indicating a developmental trend toward individualization. Notably, pups exposed to less-variable input showed higher individuality. Euclidean distances on call parameters showed that both groups diverged from the playback signals. Distances on within-pup and between-pups housed together revealed opposite trajectories in the two groups: after the exposure, less-variable auditory input determined steadier individual calls, while more-variable auditory input scattered calls across the acoustic space. Altogether, our findings indicate that auditory input modulates vocal development in pups, making harbour seals a promising model for unravelling how neonatal environment affects vocal plasticity in a non-human mammal. This article is part of the theme issue 'Mechanisms of learning from social interaction'.
Dynamic vocal and behavioural contingencies vary between learning and courtship interactions in zebra finches.
Chen Y, Sayanvala F, Sakata JT
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci · 2026 Feb · PMID 41641487 · Publisher ↗
During communicative interactions, individuals exert reciprocal influences on each other; senders influence receivers and receivers influence senders. Relatively little is known about how contingent interactions vary acr...
During communicative interactions, individuals exert reciprocal influences on each other; senders influence receivers and receivers influence senders. Relatively little is known about how contingent interactions vary across social contexts (audiences), and such investigations could provide insight into the function of behavioural contingencies. Here, we analyse behavioural contingencies across two different social contexts in zebra finches. Specifically, because male zebra finches learn their vocalizations during social interactions in development and use these learnt vocalizations during courtship interactions in adulthood, we analysed behavioural contingencies between adult and juvenile males (learning) and between adult males and females (courtship). We discovered that adult male zebra finches (senders) can display 'overt behaviours' before song production that increase the attention of receivers and, moreover, that the contingent attentional responses of juvenile males but not of adult females predicted the type of song produced by the adult male. Specifically, adult males were more likely to direct songs at juveniles when juveniles became attentive after the overt behaviour, but they directed songs at females regardless of the female's attentional state. Together, these data underscore that audiences differentially affect song production in songbirds and suggest that behavioural contingencies could be more important for learning than for reproduction. This article is part of the theme issue 'Mechanisms of learning from social interaction'.
Social communication development in a contingent world: insights from autism.
West K, Piergies A, Alviar C … +1 more , Lense M
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci · 2026 Feb · PMID 41641486 · Publisher ↗
Children learn to communicate via real-time behavioural feedback loops with their social partners (e.g. infant vocalizes, caregiver responds and infant learns from the response). Across development, feedback loops become...
Children learn to communicate via real-time behavioural feedback loops with their social partners (e.g. infant vocalizes, caregiver responds and infant learns from the response). Across development, feedback loops become increasingly complex as children master new skills, engage in new activities, interact with a growing network of social partners, and thus elicit a tremendous variety of social responses. For autistic individuals, these feedback loops unfold in distinct ways. Autistic people's social behaviours (like gaze, gestures and language) differ from the behaviours of non-autistic people; as a result, they elicit different input from social partners, which then has cascading impacts on future social behaviour. Here, we review literature on the mechanisms that underpin social communication development in autism from infancy through adulthood. We discuss how changes in abilities (e.g. motor, cognitive, emotion, communication), social demands and environmental contexts (e.g. interactions with peers) influence the social contingency experiences of autistic individuals. We propose that differences in real-time behavioural feedback loops contribute, in part, to broader developmental trends in autism (e.g. the pace of language learning). Research from neurodiverse samples offers insights into how feedback loops facilitate social communicative development broadly and has real-world implications for clinical and educational initiatives. This article is part of the theme issue 'Mechanisms of learning from social interaction'.
Prior social feedback creates residual differences in infant attention.
Mason GM, Goldstein MH
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci · 2026 Feb · PMID 41641485 · Publisher ↗
For human infants, attention is a crucial skill that both facilitates and constrains learning, with individual differences predicting cognitive development. Traditionally, early attention differences were posited to aris...
For human infants, attention is a crucial skill that both facilitates and constrains learning, with individual differences predicting cognitive development. Traditionally, early attention differences were posited to arise from predetermined non-social mechanisms. However, given human infants' altriciality and extended dependence on carers, persistent attention differences may also be affected by early social feedback. Here, we experimentally tested social influences on early attention by manipulating the form and timing of social interactions, then assessing infant attention in a subsequent behavioural vigilance task. Eighty infants aged 6-7 months interacted with an experimenter who responded to infants' looks and vocalizations using one of four response schedules, varying in contingency (rate of responding to infant behaviour) and joint focus (response congruency with infants' attention). Infants then completed the vigilance task with a new adult. We found that experimenters' prior contingency predicted infants' later attention. When rarely responded to, infants subsequently showed higher vigilance (frequent visual scanning and shorter response latencies) than infants who received high response rates. Furthermore, highly vigilant infants attended more rigidly to highly salient stimuli across task trials. Our findings provide strong experimental evidence that contingent social feedback causally organizes infant attention in later settings, suggesting possible mechanisms for interventions supporting adaptive outcomes. This article is part of the theme issue 'Mechanisms of learning from social interaction'.
Infants' sensitivity to the predictability of exchanged actions in socially contingent exchanges: the contingency cube.
Tauzin T
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci · 2026 Feb · PMID 41641484 · Publisher ↗
Previous studies on social contingency have revealed that young infants are sensitive to the consistent temporal pairing of contingent responses and can draw various, evolutionarily relevant inferences from it. For examp...
Previous studies on social contingency have revealed that young infants are sensitive to the consistent temporal pairing of contingent responses and can draw various, evolutionarily relevant inferences from it. For example, when infants identify that it is highly probable for an unfamiliar entity to produce temporally contingent responses to another agent's actions, they can infer that the reactive entity is an intentional agent, even if it shows no other cues of agency. However, the consistent temporal pairing of contingently exchanged actions is not sufficient to account for the full range of inferences induced by contingent social reactivity. Based on recent findings, I argue that recognizing socially contingent interactions relies on the sensitivity to the predictability of subsequent actions along three dimensions. I propose that young infants monitor 'what', 'when' and 'how' response actions are produced. By tracking these three factors, infants can represent the relatedness of subsequent actions exhibited by interacting social partners, guiding their contingency-based inferences, including those that have traditionally been viewed as independent of social contingency. I conjecture that the cognitive mechanism to monitor the predictability of exchanged actions may have become further specialized during human evolution, enabling social partners to engage in complex cooperative and communicative interactions. This article is part of the theme issue 'Mechanisms of learning from social interaction'.
Stories and science: two roles for palaeontology in the Anthropocene.
Williams M, Zalasiewicz JA, Waters CN … +3 more , Petrovskii S, Whitehead H, Wong Hearing TW
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci · 2026 Jan · PMID 41568696 · Publisher ↗
People have observed and collected fossils for thousands of years, sometimes using these to tell stories about mythical beasts or events. In more recent times, fossils have been fundamental to the development of a deep u...
People have observed and collected fossils for thousands of years, sometimes using these to tell stories about mythical beasts or events. In more recent times, fossils have been fundamental to the development of a deep understanding of Earth's dynamic processes, including its evolving biosphere, with notable contributions to the development of this science from Western, Middle Eastern and Asian traditions. Thus, fossils have been used both through technical studies in scholarly research and for telling stories about our broader relationships with the biosphere. Here, we examine the fossil records of two aspects of anthropogenic impact on the biosphere, those of extinction and of non-native species. We discuss how a scientific understanding of the fossil record grounds our projections of future environmental change, while storytelling is an essential art that helps people understand and forge a more sustainable relationship with a biosphere that has maintained life for billions of years. This article is part of the theme issue 'The biosphere in the Anthropocene'.
The new Anthropocene biosphere.
Barnosky A, Hadly E
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci · 2026 Jan · PMID 41568695 · Publisher ↗
The Anthropocene biosphere has markedly and abruptly diverged from its Holocene predecessor since the middle of the twentieth century. Its unique characteristics now include a domination of human bodies and domesticated...
The Anthropocene biosphere has markedly and abruptly diverged from its Holocene predecessor since the middle of the twentieth century. Its unique characteristics now include a domination of human bodies and domesticated animals at the expense of wild species, transformation of most of Earth's ecosystems to serve humans, and globally decreased biodiversity coupled with increased homogeneity on both land and sea. The interactions of the Anthropocene biosphere with other aspects of the Earth system also differ from the typical Holocene condition, because humans have changed such fundamentals as the global energy budget, climate, biogeochemical cycling and hydrological dynamics. While a few relicts of Holocene diversity and ecosystems remain in some protected areas, essentially as museums of nature, even their survival is at risk from the same local and global human-caused pressures that already have pushed the Anthropocene biosphere into a state distinct from that of the Holocene. Although the roadmap to mitigating these pressures has been clearly laid out by numerous scientific and philosophical studies, the press of humanity is increasing, ensuring that the Anthropocene biosphere will continue its steep, irreversible trajectory of departure from Holocene conditions. This article is part of the theme issue 'The biosphere in the Anthropocene'.
Bending the curve of agricultural expansion offers a new era for biodiversity and climate.
Borrell JS
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci · 2026 Jan · PMID 41568694 · Publisher ↗
A defining feature of humanity through the Holocene has been our inexorable expansion of agriculture. This increased the supply of provisioning services from our environment, enabling dramatic population expansion and im...
A defining feature of humanity through the Holocene has been our inexorable expansion of agriculture. This increased the supply of provisioning services from our environment, enabling dramatic population expansion and improved living standards, but at great cost to biodiversity and carbon cycling. Several lines of evidence now indicate that global agricultural extent has peaked and is declining. This paper synthesizes evidence for a new phase of human agriculture, focusing two emerging trends: agricultural intensification and the abandonment of spared former agricultural land. Together these enable diverse opportunities for restoration encompassing biodiversity gain and carbon sequestration with the potential to generate a global signal unprecedented in the Holocene, and distinct from the near-exponential agricultural expansion of the Anthropocene era to date. To realize these benefits this paper characterizes the opportunities of retreat from marginal agricultural lands, landscapes rich in biodiversity or carbon, systems with high potential for recovery or areas with enabling socio-economic conditions. While global conservation efforts have struggled to measurably bend the curve of biodiversity loss, innovations in agriculture have convincingly succeeded in bending the curve of agricultural expansion. As the dominant driver of biodiversity loss, progress towards the Global Biodiversity Framework goals will depend as much, if not more, on our management of global agriculture as it will on traditional biodiversity conservation. This article is part of the theme issue 'The biosphere in the Anthropocene'.
Extinction threats from anthropogenic climate change and overexploitation interactions.
Bonebrake TC
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci · 2026 Jan · PMID 41568693 · Publisher ↗
Over the past century and into the present, rates of overexploitation of species globally have increased significantly (for large species and small) coupled with human-caused global warming. Here, I document the primary...
Over the past century and into the present, rates of overexploitation of species globally have increased significantly (for large species and small) coupled with human-caused global warming. Here, I document the primary mechanisms of extinction caused by combinations of overexploitation and climate change. Species affected in the past by one or the other (e.g. leading to distribution reduction) are often those most vulnerable to one or both (e.g. exploitation of remnant populations). There are also important trait and genetic consequences of both climate change and overexploitation that can render species vulnerable to on-going biodiversity threats. Together, changes in distributions, population sizes and traits caused by both climate change and overexploitation can lead to complex outcomes for species. Particularly in the face of habitat loss, invasive species, pollution and other escalating biodiversity threats in the Anthropocene, the combined effects of overexploitation and climate change are certain to have widespread consequences for ecosystems and the future of biodiversity. Advancement in our understanding of how these threats drive extinction and biodiversity change will provide support for improved management decisions to mitigate these consequences for human health and well-being. This article is part of the theme issue 'The biosphere in the Anthropocene'.
Life on New Earth: biodiversity change and humanity in a novel future.
Lyon C, Gordon JD, Fagan B … +10 more , Gillson L, Hatfield JH, Kabora TK, Martins IS, Pettersson HL, Redeker KR, Stringer LC, Thomas CD, Timberlake TP, Wei G
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci · 2026 Jan · PMID 41568692 · Publisher ↗
Accounting for ecological novelty, gains and past human experiences through social-ecological-technological systems (SETS) can help society navigate accelerating global biodiversity change. Popular narratives stress esca...
Accounting for ecological novelty, gains and past human experiences through social-ecological-technological systems (SETS) can help society navigate accelerating global biodiversity change. Popular narratives stress escalating loss of species and ecosystems, and the potential collapse of the benefits they provide to people. In the public sphere, this can present the spectre of an uninhabitable Earth and the extinction of the human species. Research suggests that these crisis narratives can raise awareness, but are counterproductive in stimulating mitigating or adaptive action. They also omit evidence of biodiversity gains and ongoing adaptation alongside losses. Archaeological evidence also highlights the human ability to take advantage of and thrive under an extremely wide range of changing and challenging ecological conditions and the provisioning opportunities these provide. This perspective provides an evidenced counterargument to claims of civilizational collapse amid environmental change. Projections show that rather than universal ecological decline, a cosmopolitan biosphere of losses and gains will probably emerge. Distilled, these insights provoke a new research agenda, centred on how we measure, frame and imagine alternative futures so that we can systematically explore pathways and scenarios for a just and thriving humanity on a climatically and ecologically transforming Earth. This article is part of the theme issue 'The biosphere in the Anthropocene'.
Devastation of island biodiversity: a land snail perspective.
Cowie RH, Bouchet P, Fontaine B
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci · 2026 Jan · PMID 41568691 · Publisher ↗
Many islands are remote and the level of interest in land snails as a component of the global biodiversity conservation agenda is low. The conservation status of many island land snail faunas thus remains at best out of...
Many islands are remote and the level of interest in land snails as a component of the global biodiversity conservation agenda is low. The conservation status of many island land snail faunas thus remains at best out of date. However, land snails have an asset that other groups do not-their shells, which can remain post mortem in the shell bank of the soil for many tens or several hundreds of years after the death of the animal. Consequently, numerous island land snails are known only based on empty shells-modern but of uncertain age, and thus escaping the strict requirements for Red Listing extinctions after ad 1500. Many high volcanic islands had extraordinarily diverse and highly endemic land snail faunas, with 50-100 endemic species on land masses sometimes as small as 30-50 km2. 'Devastation' is not a hyperbolic term to describe the fate of many of these island microcosms, with levels of extinction variously documented but not uncommonly in the order of 30-50%, and up to 80%. Historically, loss of habitat-namely deforestation-has been the prime cause of species loss, triggered or accelerated by the introduction of livestock and other feral mammals, which did not directly impact the snails but contributed to habitat loss and degradation. Another wave of extinctions followed the introduction-mostly deliberate-of non-native carnivores (snails and worms), directly preying on endemic snails that had evolved in the absence of such predators. The most infamous of these failed 'biological control' plans was the introduction of neotropical predatory snails, Euglandina spp., to the high islands of the remote Pacific to control the giant African snail pest, Lissachatina fulica, resulting in the extermination of several tens-and probably hundreds-of narrow-range endemic land snail species. Ornamental use of shells and hobbyist shell collecting may have impacted populations of larger, more colourful species. By contrast, climate change has not been documented as having caused any land snail extinctions. Few land snails are charismatic animals and, in view of the broad and deep impact of aliens on devastated natural habitats, in situ conservation of endemic island snails appears to be possible in only rare cases. There are, however, limited initiatives for ex situ conservation that can buy time and offer a glimmer of hope for positive thinking. Concerted and targeted field work to find and collect representative specimens of remaining species is needed in order that knowledge of the existence of these diverse faunas be available to posterity. This article is part of the theme issue 'The biosphere in the Anthropocene'.
Invited reply: Fire-driven alternative vegetation states across the temperate Andes.
Ramírez DP, Estay SA, Miranda A … +2 more , Pausas JG, Paula S
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci · 2026 Jan · PMID 41568690 · Publisher ↗
Abstract loading — click title to view on PubMed.
The concept of biological invasions in the Anthropocene: introductions and range expansions.
Carlton JT, Schwindt E
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci · 2026 Jan · PMID 41568689 · Publisher ↗
In the warming world of the Anthropocene, as well as classically, biological invasions include introductions (introduced species) and range expansions, both of which describe the arrival of species into regions where the...
In the warming world of the Anthropocene, as well as classically, biological invasions include introductions (introduced species) and range expansions, both of which describe the arrival of species into regions where they did not occur historically (but where they may have existed prehistorically). Such species may then become important actors on the ecological stage and may also impact many axes of human society, including the economy and health. Here we offer a detailed clarification on why range expansions are fully accommodated within the framework of biological invasions, based upon fundamental biogeographic and ecological-evolutionary principles. Critically, range expansions may occur owing to both dispersal by ocean currents, winds or birds, and by anthropogenic vectors transporting species into regions previously too cold for colonization. Thus, many range expansions may in fact be human-mediated introductions. We emphasize that invasion (as opposed to invasive) is a biogeographic concept and does not imply any particular type or level of impact. An invasion is an invasion, regardless of the source, vector, rates of movement, presumed evolutionary familiarity of arriving species with resident taxa in the sink region, geological history (prehistoric occurrences), genetics, ecology, biology or predicted consequences of a species' arrival, including predicted intensity of impacts. All of these attributes are fundamental aspects of understanding a species' past, present and future history, but do not remove a species from the category of being a new arrival in historical time in a community. This article is part of the theme issue 'The biosphere in the Anthropocene'.
Ostracod introductions show how the Lessepsian invasion is undermining the unique evolutionary history of the Mediterranean Sea.
Weerachai L, Yasuhara M, Wei CL … +5 more , Zhang J, Hong Y, Chiu WR, Albano PG, Hyams-Kaphzan O
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci · 2026 Jan · PMID 41568688 · Publisher ↗
The Lessepsian invasion, the largest marine biological invasion from the Indo-Pacific to the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal, can be regarded as a partial human-induced reversal of the main direction of geological-time-...
The Lessepsian invasion, the largest marine biological invasion from the Indo-Pacific to the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal, can be regarded as a partial human-induced reversal of the main direction of geological-time-scale biodiversity shifts from the Tethys Sea (present Mediterranean) to the Coral Triangle (southeast Asia and Melanesia) over tens of million years. To fully understand this macroevolutionary 'round trip', we need to investigate marine taxonomic groups with high fossilization potential and excellent fossil records. One such group is ostracods (Crustacea). While ostracods are well studied in regard to their Cenozoic biodiversity shifts, almost nothing is known about their role in the Lessepsian invasion. Here, we investigate present-day shallow-marine assemblages from surface sediment samples of the Israeli shelf (eastern Mediterranean) to investigate the occurrence of non-indigenous ostracods, identifying potentially eight such species. Based on our assessment of their geographical distribution, many of them belong to lineages that moved from Tethys to the central Indo-Pacific during the Cenozoic, before the counter migration to the Mediterranean. This is the first comprehensive assessment of ostracods during the Lessepsian invasion and an important step forward to a fuller understanding of this unique 'round trip' that undermines the biogeographical and evolutionary uniqueness of the Mediterranean ecosystem. This article is part of the theme issue 'The biosphere in the Anthropocene'.
Signals of coastal marine bioinvasions in the geological record.
Cohen AN
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci · 2026 Jan · PMID 41568687 · Publisher ↗
Changes resulting from anthropogenic biological invasions in coastal marine and estuarine waters may be preserved as signals in the fossil record. Three types of signals-species appearances, species reductions or disappe...
Changes resulting from anthropogenic biological invasions in coastal marine and estuarine waters may be preserved as signals in the fossil record. Three types of signals-species appearances, species reductions or disappearances and morphological changes in fossil remains-are discussed. Biological invasions recognized in the geological record have often been characterized by multiple species moving along a new physical connection between two previously isolated regions; however, the signal from anthropogenic marine invasions (with the possible exception of invasions through major canals) will be more diffuse, owing to the multiplicity of invasion routes and frequent changes in the dominant invasion vectors over geologically short periods of time. Governing authorities could limit the anthropogenic marine invasion signal by adequately regulating the transport and release of marine species from one part of the world to another. Unfortunately, even for what is arguably the most important and easiest to manage of modern marine invasion vectors-organisms carried in ships' ballast water tanks-the world's governments have so far failed to take the most obvious regulatory actions. This article is part of the theme issue 'The biosphere in the Anthropocene'.
Welcome to the Homogenocene? Trajectories of change in global freshwater fish biodiversity during the Anthropocene: evidence from tropical East Asia.
Dudgeon D, Liew JH
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci · 2026 Jan · PMID 41568686 · Publisher ↗
Interactions between climate change and anthropogenic stressors such as poor water quality and habitat degradation have had deleterious consequences for freshwater biodiversity, enhancing the spread of non-native species...
Interactions between climate change and anthropogenic stressors such as poor water quality and habitat degradation have had deleterious consequences for freshwater biodiversity, enhancing the spread of non-native species tolerant of a range of conditions, while reducing the resilience of native species. Analysis of freshwater fishes (Actinopterygii) reveals a gradual rise in the proportion of non-native species, and the homogenization of biotas since the start of the Anthropocene has accelerated in recent years. This process has been more apparent in some regions, but after a slight lag, less impacted regions, such as East Asia, are catching up, and the greater prevalence of non-native species has increased assemblage homogeneity. Using examples from human-dominated landscapes in tropical East Asia, especially China, we describe the increasing dominance of non-native fishes (NNF) in degraded or novel habitats. In highly urbanized Hong Kong and Singapore, their richness has grown to exceed the number of native species. They include fishes introduced for aquaculture and a growing variety imported for tropical aquaria. Species that have life-history adaptations with no analogues among their East Asian counterparts have become particularly successful. As climate-change 'winners', NNF will become more prevalent in a warmer world, leaving a distinctive Anthropocene fingerprint upon freshwater ecosystems. This article is part of the theme issue 'The biosphere in the Anthropocene.'
Distinct Anthropocene biosphere recorded by the rise of green algae and chrysophytes in varved sediments of Crawford Lake (Ontario, Canada).
McCarthy FMG, Moraal JM, Hamilton PB … +5 more , Pilkington PM, Alderson A, Boyce JI, Llew-Williams B, Heyde A
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci · 2026 Jan · PMID 41568685 · Publisher ↗
The Crawford Lake biosphere evolved in response to both natural and anthropogenic stressors since water filled this karstic basin on the Niagara Escarpment. It was substantially impacted by hydrologic/limnological change...
The Crawford Lake biosphere evolved in response to both natural and anthropogenic stressors since water filled this karstic basin on the Niagara Escarpment. It was substantially impacted by hydrologic/limnological changes attributed to environmental conditions that define the Northgrippian and Meghalayan Ages, but the greatest impact was human activity in its small catchment. Cultural eutrophication from Indigenous agriculture in the late 13th century altered the lake chemistry, promoting seasonal precipitation of calcite that allows sub-annual resolution. Global signatures of the Great Acceleration are recorded in varved sediments deposited since the mid-20th century, despite little direct human impact on the Crawford Lake catchment since 1900 CE. A sharp increase in green algae and chrysophytes that rely on passive diffusion of CO2 for photosynthesis closely tracks global CO2 emissions concentrations since the mid-20th century. Elevated pCO2 affects lake biospheres in numerous and complex ways, with synergistic responses with limiting nutrients. The reported widespread increase in both groups of non-RuBisCO algae suggests that algal phyla limited by Holocene CO2 concentrations are favoured by atmospheric conditions not experienced since the middle Miocene. Novel lake biospheres are an additional argument for adding an Anthropocene epoch and Crawfordian age to the geologic time scale. This article is part of the theme issue 'The biosphere in the Anthropocene'.
'Okea ururoatia': the role of Indigenous activism in the restoration and protection of nature.
Walker E, Cox M, Whaanga H … +1 more , Wehi P
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci · 2026 Jan · PMID 41568684 · Publisher ↗
Indigenous peoples advocate for environmental and social justice in distinctive ways that may also benefit the conservation and restoration of biodiversity. We consider the ways that Māori self-determination movements ha...
Indigenous peoples advocate for environmental and social justice in distinctive ways that may also benefit the conservation and restoration of biodiversity. We consider the ways that Māori self-determination movements have acted as a catalyst for increased environmental restoration across Aotearoa New Zealand (AoNZ). We examine contemporary understandings of cultural stewardship before examining protest movements, environmental legislation and funding for Māori-led environmental projects between 1974 and 2024. Our findings reveal that social and environmental justice are closely linked to ideas of place-based identity for Māori communities. Moreover, our research shows that support for Māori-led restoration was reflected in funding mechanisms across Aotearoa. Physical restoration of nature has oftentimes developed as a consequence of restoration of cultural knowledge, practice and rights of Māori communities to self-determination. This is clear through our analysis of both protest and environmental legislation alongside understandings of kaitiakitanga. Critically, supporting Indigenous communities to meet their responsibilities to culture, people and nature to mitigate the harms of colonization requires effort from state institutions and a shift in consciousness by wider society. The outcomes of these combined efforts for social and environmental justice can support the sustainability and conservation of nature and people. This article is part of the theme issue 'The biosphere in the Anthropocene'.
What do you mean, 'fire-driven alternative vegetation states'? A Comment on: 'Fire-driven alternative vegetation states across the temperate Andes' (2025), by Ramírez et al.
Conradi T, Higgins SI
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci · 2026 Jan · PMID 41568683 · Publisher ↗
Abstract loading — click title to view on PubMed.
Craft and the ethics of consolation: slow organizing in the Anthropocene.
Johnsen R, Gasparin M
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci · 2026 Jan · PMID 41568682 · Publisher ↗
This article develops the concept of slow organizing to explore how communities can respond to irreversible ecological loss in the Anthropocene. Drawing on ethnographic research with textile artist Birgitta Nordström, wh...
This article develops the concept of slow organizing to explore how communities can respond to irreversible ecological loss in the Anthropocene. Drawing on ethnographic research with textile artist Birgitta Nordström, who weaves shrouds for stillborn children, we examine how time-sensitive, materially embedded and emotionally attuned practices can facilitate collective mourning. Rather than treating grief as a private or individual pathology, we argue that slow organizing turns mourning into a shared, generative and practical labour. By attending to the embodied, relational and anticipatory dimensions of this work, the article demonstrates how slow organizing can cultivate forms of care and responsibility that sustain communities facing ongoing planetary change. This article is part of the theme issue 'The biosphere in the Anthropocene'.
About
- Frequency
- Sun
- Papers found
- 200
- RSS feed
- Subscribe