Ecological Applications[JOURNAL]
Sun
200 papers
Shifting stage-specific constraints on productivity shape recovery potential for Yukon River Chinook salmon.
DeFilippo LB, Howard KG, Cunningham CJ … +4 more , Suryan RM, Barry PD, Murphy JM, Larson WA
Ecol Appl · 2026 Apr · PMID 41948967 · Full text
Identifying key life history periods in which population productivity is constrained represents a persistent challenge in conservation and natural resource management. For species with complex life cycles, such as Pacifi...
Identifying key life history periods in which population productivity is constrained represents a persistent challenge in conservation and natural resource management. For species with complex life cycles, such as Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), population dynamics may be shaped by interactions between natural and anthropogenic impacts occurring across multiple habitats and life history stages. In such cases, a stage-structured modeling approach is useful for identifying key life history periods and processes therein acting to drive realized abundance trends. Here, we develop an integrated life-cycle model to explore stage-specific constraints on population productivity and recovery potential for Yukon River Chinook salmon. The Yukon River has historically supported one of the largest stock complexes of Chinook salmon in the world, forming the basis of important fisheries that are vital to the well-being of communities in this region. However, returns of Chinook salmon to the Yukon River have declined substantially, prompting conservation concerns and limitations on harvest opportunities. Our results point to periods of low juvenile recruitment as likely contributors to declining abundance levels over the past two decades, supporting previous studies implicating factors operating in the early (i.e., spawner-to-juvenile) life history stages. However, we find that elevated natural mortality in later, post-juvenile life history stages has increasingly limited population productivity and recovery potential in recent years following a protracted marine heatwave period. Collectively, our results emphasize how shifting conditions can induce novel stage-specific survival bottlenecks in species with complex life cycles, with important implications for conservation and management outcomes.
Necromass carbon but not microbes constrain soil carbon release in restoration of degraded alpine grassland.
Sun Q, Wang X, Wen Y … +5 more , Luo Q, Li W, Xie H, Zhu J, Wang Q
Ecol Appl · 2026 Apr · PMID 41943461 · Publisher ↗
Alpine grassland restoration, a critical strategy for enhancing soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration in high-altitude ecosystems, profoundly influences plant-soil-microbe interactions that govern the magnitude of carb...
Alpine grassland restoration, a critical strategy for enhancing soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration in high-altitude ecosystems, profoundly influences plant-soil-microbe interactions that govern the magnitude of carbon (C)-climate feedback. However, the mechanisms driving plant and microbial regulation of SOC mineralization (i.e., soil CO-C release) during degraded alpine grassland restoration remain unresolved, limiting predictions of SOC cycling in these vulnerable ecosystems. Here, by integrating passive and active restoration experiments with aerobic incubation, high-throughput sequencing, and biomarker analyses, we disentangled how restoration-induced shifts in SOC composition (plant- and microbial-derived C) and microbial activity and diversity regulate soil CO-C release in degraded alpine grassland on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Our results showed that soil CO-C release increased significantly with restoration progression under both passive and active approaches. Alpine grassland restoration markedly enhanced plant-derived C accumulation and its SOC contribution, while microbial-derived C remained unchanged due to reduced necromass accumulation coefficients. Notably, although active restoration accelerated plant-derived C accumulation, its oxidation decomposition degree was lower compared to passive restoration and even to unrestored heavily degraded grasslands, increasing SOC pool lability. Fungal community restructuring, particularly in the saprophytic fungal community, emerged as a hallmark of restoration. More importantly, we found that elevated soil CO-C release during degraded alpine grassland restoration was not primarily mediated by microbial activity and diversity shifts but was strongly linked to divergent plant- and microbial-derived C accumulation patterns, especially the dynamics of plant-derived C. These insights underscore the critical roles of plant- and microbial-derived C redistribution in grassland restoration and suggest new mechanisms for restoration-induced soil C dynamics.
Bird occurrence and trophic interactions vary across gradients of tree diversity and microclimate in a planted forest.
Coyne S, Osorio E, Bennett SK … +3 more , Kirchgraber A, Parker JD, Nowakowski AJ
Ecol Appl · 2026 Apr · PMID 41943459 · Publisher ↗
Deforestation reshuffles communities across landscapes with myriad consequences for ecosystem function. Following deforestation, rapid exposure to novel microclimates can act as a strong environmental filter, favoring wa...
Deforestation reshuffles communities across landscapes with myriad consequences for ecosystem function. Following deforestation, rapid exposure to novel microclimates can act as a strong environmental filter, favoring warm-adapted species and decoupling trophic interactions. Forest restoration may partly reverse this process through increased food resources, structural complexity of habitat, and buffering of microclimates-each potentially modified by tree diversity. Despite growing evidence that tree diversity and cool microclimates help maintain animal diversity in natural forests, less is known about how these factors shape species assemblages or multi-trophic dynamics in restoration areas. Here, using surveys and two field experiments within a long-term tree planting experiment, we assessed the relative effects of tree diversity, forest structure, and associated microclimate on fine-scale space use by birds and their top-down impacts on insects. Surveys showed that the probability of occurrences of birds increased in cooler plots, which were associated with higher tree diversity and vertical complexity. The strength of microclimate effects on bird occurrences was strongest for species that are forest specialists. To assess risk to insect herbivores from avian predation, we used a sentinel prey experiment and found that predation risk increased in warmer plots, counter to our expectations based on bird surveys. Last, we examined top-down effects of bird exclusion on leaf herbivory, finding that skeletonizing patterns of herbivory increased in exclosures and in cooler plots. Taken together, these results suggest that microclimate resulting from variation in forest structure shapes the space use of birds at fine scales with complex outcomes for bird-herbivore-tree interactions in planted forests. Active restoration methods that enhance below-canopy cooling may improve biodiversity outcomes and help maintain species interactions that underlie many ecosystem functions.
Historical data reveal extirpation of foundation species and kelp forest community deborealization in a coastal hotspot.
Timmer B, Reshitnyk LY, Neufeld CJ … +1 more , Baum JK
Ecol Appl · 2026 Apr · PMID 41942363 · Full text
Climate change is restructuring ecological communities globally, yet the impacts are often underestimated or poorly resolved due to the lack of historical baselines. In temperate oceans, biologically diverse and socioeco...
Climate change is restructuring ecological communities globally, yet the impacts are often underestimated or poorly resolved due to the lack of historical baselines. In temperate oceans, biologically diverse and socioeconomically important kelp forests are the marine ecosystem most threatened by climate change. However, long-term historical baselines for kelp forests are lacking and the processes driving community-level changes remain poorly resolved. Here, using recently discovered aerial imagery and subtidal quadrat data from 1972, we recreated historical baselines for kelps and associated benthic macroalgae in a global hotspot within the northern Salish Sea (British Columbia, Canada). We resurveyed the same sites in 2023 to quantify community shifts, showing that a half-century ago, bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) formed expansive kelp forests in the region (>550 ha), none of which remain today. Satellite time series of bull kelp show that the majority was lost between 1972 and 1984. These data increase baselines of bull kelp canopy extent in this area by more than 10-fold. Changes to the benthic kelp forest assemblage were mainly driven by loss of the dominant kelp, Saccharina latissima (-78%), across all depths. Historically abundant species of red algae also decreased substantially (e.g., Mazzaella splendens [-98.5%] and Plocamium pacificum, [-62.1%]), largely above three meters depth. Applying the community temperature index (CTI) to this half-century comparison, we show that CTI of the kelp forest community (+1.4°C; 95% CI: 0.43-2.37°C) had tracked increases of summer SST (+1.66°C; 95% CI: 1.20-2.13°C) more closely than winter SST (+0.65°C; 95% CI: 0.46-0.84°C), indicating that temperatures during the hottest summer months are likely driving community shifts. The abundance of cold-affinity species decreased more than warm-affinity species abundance had increased, indicating that the subtidal kelp forest community was predominantly restructured by deborealization, rather than tropicalization. Community deborealization may be prevalent in temperate hotspots that are disjunct from areas with similar climatology, creating colonization barriers for warm-affinity species. Our study underscores the importance of historical data for understanding the true magnitude of climate change impacts and suggests that deborealization of temperate kelp forest communities may be more common than has previously been recognized.
Songbird population trajectories diverge under simulations of conifer encroachment versus removal in a sagebrush ecosystem.
Zarri EC, Tack JD, Smith JT … +3 more , Morford SL, Martin TE, Naugle DE
Ecol Appl · 2026 Apr · PMID 41937558 · Full text
Woody plant encroachment into grasslands and shrublands is a global phenomenon that negatively impacts ecosystem services and wildlife populations. North American sagebrush ecosystems have experienced widespread degradat...
Woody plant encroachment into grasslands and shrublands is a global phenomenon that negatively impacts ecosystem services and wildlife populations. North American sagebrush ecosystems have experienced widespread degradation from encroaching conifers, leading to losses of sagebrush-obligate wildlife. Removal of encroaching trees is a primary restoration method, but whether management actions can influence wildlife populations at management-relevant scales is rarely investigated. We studied a local Brewer's Sparrow in the Medicine Lodge Valley of southwest Montana to understand how their territory occupancy and nest success were impacted by tree and shrub cover. From 2019 to 2022, our data collection resulted in 1161 mapped territories and 449 nests, which we used to build models of territory occupancy and reproductive productivity relative to tree and shrub cover. We then used tree and shrub cover extracted from historical imagery to estimate population size and productivity 70 years in the past. Finally, using models of tree growth and expansion, we estimated population size and reproductive productivity under two simulated scenarios 30 years in the future: with and without restoration through conifer removal. We observed that tree cover has more than tripled at the study site since 1954, which our models predicted has caused an almost 25% decrease in the local population size and a 35% decline in offspring production. In a future scenario where tree removal is conducted in areas with <20% tree canopy cover after 30 years, we predict population size and offspring production will likely remain stable. Alternatively, if tree cover is allowed to increase unabated, our simulations predict a potential population decline of 60%, with similar losses to offspring production. We observed a stark divergence in the potential futures of the local Brewer's Sparrow population and implications for the species at large. Continuing tree encroachment drastically decreases the available habitat and causes a steep decline in population size. However, proactive and continuing management of encroaching trees can alleviate further losses in a species that has already experienced significant range-wide declines. We also highlight the importance of encroaching trees as a previously underappreciated conservation risk for sagebrush avifauna.
Resource management as a conservation tool to impact genetic diversity through mating patterns in wild populations.
Kan-Lingwood NY, Sagi L, Templeton AR … +6 more , Shahar N, Altman A, Gordon N, Rubenstein DI, Bouskila A, Bar-David S
Ecol Appl · 2026 Apr · PMID 41923491 · Full text
The distribution of resources influences interactions in wild populations by affecting movement, space-use patterns, and, as a result, mating systems. Limited resources may reduce encounters between potential breeders, r...
The distribution of resources influences interactions in wild populations by affecting movement, space-use patterns, and, as a result, mating systems. Limited resources may reduce encounters between potential breeders, reducing the number and variety of individuals contributing to the population's gene pool. This can impact the variance effective population size (N), an important indicator of genetic drift and genetic diversity in populations. Despite its importance, the relationship between resource distribution and genetic diversity has received limited attention in the practical management of genetically vulnerable populations. Here, we provide empirical evidence that the number of reproducing males (adult males identified as sires by parentage analysis from foal genotypes) and N can be affected by resource management in the population of the Asiatic wild ass (Equus hemionus) in the Negev Desert, Israel, using water sources. This population, characterized by strong polygyny, has experienced declining genetic diversity. Following an intervention to increase the number of water sources from one to three during May 2020, we monitored the population using noninvasive genetic methods and direct observations. We collected 864 fecal samples from adult males, females, and foals, genotyped the DNA across 535 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and conducted a parentage analysis. The results showed an increase in the proportion of total reproducing males out of all adult males in the population from 16%-18% to 42%-48%, with a significant rise in reproducing males in 2020 that had not been sires in 2019, from 31.2% to 73.8% (Z = -2.877, p = 0.002) before and after the management, respectively. Spatial analyses indicated a higher presence of reproducing males near the new water sources. These findings demonstrate how resource management can impact N in the short term and, therefore, potentially influence genetic diversity in the long term. We suggest a management framework targeting genetic diversity within an adaptive management approach and discuss its relevance and applicability for other systems and types of resources.
Species-habitat networks reveal key habitats for landscape-level wild bee conservation.
Kasten MK, Tassoni S, Hiller T … +3 more , Röhl M, Roth M, Grass I
Ecol Appl · 2026 Apr · PMID 41923427 · Full text
Most agricultural landscapes are composed of a variety of habitats. A landscape perspective is needed to understand biodiversity decline, but many studies focus on single habitat types. In addition, the use of local reso...
Most agricultural landscapes are composed of a variety of habitats. A landscape perspective is needed to understand biodiversity decline, but many studies focus on single habitat types. In addition, the use of local resources by species within and across habitats implies that species and their habitats are linked in species-habitat networks. However, studies on these networks are scarce. Here, we used grid-based sampling to assess wild bees at 224 sampling locations across all major habitat types, that is, arable land, grassland, forest and orchard, in 14 differently composed agricultural landscapes of Southern Germany. We assigned wild bees to habitat types based on the dominant habitat cover surrounding their sampling location to establish species-habitat networks and assessed how these networks differed in modularity and robustness to habitat loss. Orchards harbored more wild bees than expected based on their proportional cover in the landscape, indicating a preference for this extensively managed but threatened habitat by wild bees. Orchards also supported the highest species richness and proportion of oligolectic wild bees, while forests harbored the lowest richness and more social species. Landscape diversity affected both structure and robustness of bee-habitat networks in response to the simulated loss of habitats. Networks in more diverse landscapes had higher modularity but tended to be less robust, showing that greater landscape diversity and modularity do not necessarily buffer against the effects of habitat loss. However, this effect appeared to be mainly driven by increases in network size, as standardized modularity and robustness (z-scores) were not affected by landscape diversity. We could show that species-habitat networks are a powerful tool to inform ecologists and policy makers about the importance of key habitats and landscape diversity for species conservation. Key habitats for wild bee conservation include extensively managed habitats like traditional orchards. Nevertheless, all habitat types support a similar proportion of endangered species, emphasizing the importance of a diverse landscape. Conserving wild bees requires a variety of complementary habitats at the landscape scale and must consider the management of traditional and intensively managed habitats alike. Policy measures targeting landscape diversity are urgently needed.
An integrated population modeling workflow for supporting mesopredator management.
Nater CR, Hofhuis SP, Grainger M … +4 more , Flagstad Ø, Ims RA, Killengreen S, Ehrich D
Ecol Appl · 2026 Apr · PMID 41920042 · Publisher ↗
Expanding populations of mesopredators threaten biodiversity and human health in many ecosystems across the world. Lethal control through harvest is commonly implemented as a mitigation measure, yet its effects on mesopr...
Expanding populations of mesopredators threaten biodiversity and human health in many ecosystems across the world. Lethal control through harvest is commonly implemented as a mitigation measure, yet its effects on mesopredator population dynamics in interaction with compensatory mechanisms and environmental conditions have rarely been assessed quantitatively due to data constraints. Recent advances involving integrated population models (IPMs) have enabled promising new avenues for overcoming these constraints by jointly analyzing multiple datasets while simultaneously accounting for bias and uncertainty. Here we developed a versatile IPM workflow for studying mesopredator population dynamics under different management regimes and applied it to an expanding population of red foxes in Arctic Norway. Our model combined routinely collected data on age, reproductive status, and genetic similarity from >4000 harvested red foxes with opportunistic field observations and information published on red foxes elsewhere. This allowed us to quantify population dynamics over a period of 20 years, and identify the drivers of changes in population growth rates using retrospective (transient Life Table Response Experiments, tLTREs) and prospective (population viability analyses, PVAs) perturbation analyses. We found dramatic year-to-year fluctuations in red fox population size due to natural mortality and immigration responding to changes in rodent prey availability and population density. Forward projections indicated that current harvest levels were likely sufficient to prevent population increase over longer time periods. However, even substantial increases in harvest levels were unable to evoke population decline due to strong buffering effects of density dependence, especially through immigration. Our study highlights the potential of IPMs for studying population dynamics even when no structured surveys of living animals are available, and illustrates the value of extracting and curating information from harvested animals. Our semi-automated and reproducible modeling workflow can be rerun periodically when new data become available for our study population. As the workflow is also designed to be easily adapted for other harvested species, it contributes to the development of cost-effective population analyses that help inform management strategies and mitigate biodiversity loss.
A model to quantify the probability of collision between birds and aircraft: Applications for onboard lighting.
Lunn RB, Blackwell BF, Fernández-Juricic E
Ecol Appl · 2026 Apr · PMID 41919794 · Full text
Globally, bird and aircraft collisions are a major safety hazard and monetary expense for the aviation industry. Empirical evidence suggests that the behavioral response of an animal within close proximity of an approach...
Globally, bird and aircraft collisions are a major safety hazard and monetary expense for the aviation industry. Empirical evidence suggests that the behavioral response of an animal within close proximity of an approaching vehicle is a critical factor in determining whether a collision occurs. However, no theoretical framework exists to predict the probability of a collision based on the escape response of the animal to an approaching vehicle. We adapted concepts from existing predator-prey theoretical frameworks to develop a novel model to quantify the outcome of an animal-vehicle interaction. Specifically, our model consists of two distinct phases. Phase one determines if a collision is even possible based on the amount of time the animal has available to clear the trajectory of the approaching vehicle. If the animal does not have enough time, then phase two of the model estimates the probability of collision based on the surface area of the vehicle given the location of the animal within the trajectory. We demonstrate the utility of the model by estimating the probability of collision between a Canada goose and an approaching Boeing-737 aircraft with the absence and presence of onboard lights of different wavelengths, a technological intervention aimed at minimizing bird strikes. Our model predicts that when a Canada goose is within the trajectory of a Boeing-737, the average probability of collision is approximately 0.43; however, onboard lights with wavelengths tuned to the visual system of the species can reduce that probability on average by either 19% (red-light onboard) or 32% (blue-light onboard). The highest probability of collision occurred when the animal was in the center of the trajectory of the vehicle. The behaviors with the largest effect on reducing the probability of collision were an increase in flight-initiation distance and an increase in escape speed. Our approach provides a framework to quantitatively predict how the probability of collision might change across different species, vehicles, and situations, which could be used in forecasting the impacts of present and future transportation projects on wildlife populations.
Multiscale habitat modeling to improve spatial prioritization for mugger crocodile conservation in riverine landscapes.
Gour R, Whitaker N
Ecol Appl · 2026 Apr · PMID 41919789 · Publisher ↗
Assessing the species distribution and their detectability is crucial, holding wide-ranging implications for effective conservation planning and management initiatives. Although species-habitat relationships are inherent...
Assessing the species distribution and their detectability is crucial, holding wide-ranging implications for effective conservation planning and management initiatives. Although species-habitat relationships are inherently scale-dependent, few studies apply robust multivariate approaches to optimize spatial scale selection. We developed a scale-optimized habitat suitability model for the mugger crocodile (Crocodylus palustris) using binomial generalized linear models, evaluating each predictor across multiple spatial scales within the Cauvery River Basin (CRB) in southern India. Model selection based on the lowest Akaike information criterion scores identified the multiscale modeling as the best performing approach. Most predictors showed the strongest associations at finer (500 m) to moderate (1000-2000 m) scales, while a subset of topographic and hydrological variables was retained at broader scales (8000 m), showing the importance of incorporating scale heterogeneity in riverine species modeling. Key variables influencing the potential distribution of muggers across the CRB include isothermality, radius of gyration area-weighted mean of wetland, distance to roads, and terrain wetness, indicating mugger prefer stable temperature, low disturbance, and localized patches but well-distributed wetland habitats. The multiscale model estimated 2209.5 km of potentially suitable habitat across the CRB of which only 38.12% lies within the existing protected area network. Integrating the best performing model into a systematic conservation planning framework that maximizes species target while minimizing human impacts, the solution identified 990 km of priority regions, including five high-priority areas with a total area of 540 km, outside the current protected network. The study offers a robust and resource-efficient approach to habitat delineation and conservation prioritization, improving the performance of suitability modeling across spatially varying environmental factors.
Pyrodiversity of boreal lake islands begets biodiversity of beetles, plants, and birds.
Bell AJ, Paterson SMA, Van Wilgenburg SL … +3 more , Laroque CP, Wardle DA, Phillips ID
Ecol Appl · 2026 Mar · PMID 41912353 · Full text
Global fire regimes are changing, raising concerns about the ability of fire-prone ecosystems to maintain biodiversity. We tested whether the pyrodiversity-biodiversity hypothesis (i.e., variation in postfire characteris...
Global fire regimes are changing, raising concerns about the ability of fire-prone ecosystems to maintain biodiversity. We tested whether the pyrodiversity-biodiversity hypothesis (i.e., variation in postfire characteristics promotes biodiversity) or alternative hypotheses better explain patterns of biodiversity in a true island system. Using fixed-area sampling plots in a chronosequence of 42 boreal lake islands spanning gradients in island area (1-350.4 ha), isolation (0.1-7.9 km from mainland), and fire history (1-231+ year since fire), we tested whether alpha and beta diversity of beetles, plants, and birds increased with spatial (within-island variation in burn severity) and temporal (variation in time since fire among islands) pyrodiversity, respectively. Species richness of plants and birds increased with spatial pyrodiversity indicating that habitat heterogeneity from localized variation in burn severity supported more species in some groups. Beta diversity of all taxa increased with temporal pyrodiversity, highlighting the importance of conserving age-class variation within the boreal patch mosaic. In contrast, the habitat amount hypothesis and island biogeography theory were weak predictors of species richness across all taxa, and island area and isolation did not consistently affect beta diversity among the islands. Our findings emphasize the importance of maintaining pyrodiversity in boreal landscapes to combat biodiversity loss in the age of "megafires" and suggest leveraging the fire refugia effects of large lakes within the region to conserve vital components of temporal pyrodiversity such as old-growth forests.
Synergies between disease and urbanization drive the decline of threatened amphibian metapopulations.
Heard GW, Robertson P, Scroggie MP … +5 more , Parris KM, McCarthy MA, Keely C, West M, Scheele BC
Ecol Appl · 2026 Mar · PMID 41891910 · Publisher ↗
As global change intensifies, species are increasingly affected by multiple co-occurring threats. Determining how co-occurring threats interact is crucial for understanding decline trajectories and guiding effective mana...
As global change intensifies, species are increasingly affected by multiple co-occurring threats. Determining how co-occurring threats interact is crucial for understanding decline trajectories and guiding effective management responses. We used dynamic occupancy models fitted to two decades of monitoring data for the Growling Grass Frog (Litoria raniformis) in southeastern Australia to examine the combined effects of two prominent global threats to amphibians: urbanization and the disease chytridiomycosis, caused by the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Site occupancy declined by 38% during the study period. Occupancy modeling demonstrated that the probability of persistence was substantially lower at sites with a high estimated prevalence of Bd infections, and that populations disconnected from neighbors by urban barriers had both a lower probability of persistence and a lower probability of being recolonized following local extinction. Population persistence was also associated with diverse aquatic vegetation communities, which are typically degraded by urbanization. We used simulations to investigate the individual and combined impacts of chytridiomycosis and urbanization on equilibrium occupancy rates in the study area, and to determine how these threats interact. These simulations revealed that chytridiomycosis has a larger impact on occupancy dynamics than urbanization, but the combined impact of these two threats is more severe than their individual impacts would suggest. Equilibrium occupancy was substantially higher than observed rates when Bd impacts were removed (even with urbanization included), whereas equilibrium occupancy under a scenario of ongoing Bd impacts but no urbanization was close to occupancy at the start of the study. Including both threats (Bd plus urbanization) reduced equilibrium occupancy by 69%, and there was evidence for synergistic effects-the joint impact of these threats was greater than the sum of their individual impacts in ~80% of simulations. This study-combining long-term monitoring, detailed statistical modeling, and metapopulation simulations-suggests that interactions between disease and other threatening processes are important drivers of amphibian declines and provides insights into the underlying ecological mechanisms. More broadly, our results add weight to concerns about interactions between threats under global change, emphasizing the need for comprehensive assessments of the impact of co-occurring threats to better target management actions.
Linking by-caught cetacean traits to fishing techniques: Insights from two species of small cetaceans.
Brevet M, Authier M, Peltier H … +1 more , Dubroca L
Ecol Appl · 2026 Mar · PMID 41887714 · Full text
By-catch is one of the main threats currently looming over small cetaceans worldwide. Improving knowledge of the interactions between fishing activities and small cetaceans is paramount to design cost-effective mitigatio...
By-catch is one of the main threats currently looming over small cetaceans worldwide. Improving knowledge of the interactions between fishing activities and small cetaceans is paramount to design cost-effective mitigation measures. In particular, not all individuals within a population may be exposed to the same by-catch risk: in dolphins, juveniles and males appear to be more sensitive to by-catch. Yet, few studies have investigated how individual-level characteristics (such as age, sex, body size) correlate with fishing practices in these species. Using French by-catch observations, declarations, and stranding databases on two small cetaceans (Delphinus delphis and Phocoena phocoena), we explored phenotypic vulnerability to by-catch by correlating the phenotypes of by-caught individuals to fishing-operation characteristics (including fishing gear, mesh size, the presence of an acoustic deterrent, targeted and fished taxa, and fishing effort). This investigation allowed us to outline by-catch sensitivity and vulnerability profiles. Again, we found that males and young individuals were more sensitive to by-catch, with spatiotemporal sensitivity patterns. Smaller individuals appeared to be caught on the northern French coast and in spring, and more males were caught on the southern French coast. We then found larger body-sized dolphins to be more vulnerable to trawls compared to gillnets. For the latter fisheries, the size and body mass of by-caught harbor porpoises were positively correlated with mesh size. Targeting soles or hakes was also associated with a larger body size of by-caught dolphins compared with targeting Sparidae or sea bass. Finally, we found larger individuals to be by-caught in the presence of an acoustic deterrent device. Our results suggest age-specific by-catch sensitivity and vulnerability to fishing techniques, which may be due to biological factors such as social behavior and diet. Our study therefore advocates for a better consideration of spatiotemporal patterns in individuals' sensitivity to by-catch and age- or sex-specific vulnerabilities to particular fishing activity profiles.
Leveraging local species data, a global database, and an occupancy model to explore bee-plant interactions.
Lee MJ, DiRenzo GV, Diao C … +1 more , Seltmann KC
Ecol Appl · 2026 Mar · PMID 41876258 · Full text
Global declines in bee populations are threatening the ecosystem services they provide, including pollination. Many bee-plant interactions are understudied, producing an incomplete understanding of resulting ecosystem-le...
Global declines in bee populations are threatening the ecosystem services they provide, including pollination. Many bee-plant interactions are understudied, producing an incomplete understanding of resulting ecosystem-level vulnerabilities. The last decade has generated a wealth of opportunistic data originating from natural history collection records, published ecological datasets, and citizen/community science initiatives in online databases such as Global Biotic Interactions (GloBI). Here, we explore hypotheses related to bee-plant interactions and detection processes using the GloBI database, curated checklists of bee and flowering plant species, and an occupancy model. We hypothesized that larger, social bees would visit a larger number of plant species, while smaller, solitary bees would visit fewer. We also predicted that flowers with open, bowl-like shapes would attract a greater diversity of bee visitors compared to closed shapes. Further, we hypothesized that both floral and bee traits, such as bright colors and conspicuous patterns, would increase detectability, and that different data collection methods would vary in their ability to capture bee-plant interactions. Lastly, we hypothesized that the interaction network generated by the output of the occupancy model, which accounted for imperfect bee-plant detection, would yield more interactions, thereby increasing measures of evenness and decreasing nestedness and specialization, as compared to the network generated from recorded interaction data. We found that smaller bees exhibited higher probabilities of plant interactions than larger bees, but we did not find evidence that bee sociality influenced the probability of interacting with plants. We found that blue flowers and closed (not-bowl-shaped) flowers had higher probabilities of bee-plant interaction than other flower colors or bowl-shaped flowers, respectively. We also found that larger bee size, blue flowers, bowl shapes, and community science sources were associated with higher detection probabilities of bee-plant interactions. Lastly, the interaction network generated by the occupancy model output showed higher levels of evenness, nestedness, and connectance than the network generated by the GloBI data. Our study is among the first to utilize occupancy modeling to directly model species' interactions, leverage aggregated, open-source databases and expert checklists, and highlight the influence of detection and collection biases on our understanding of ecological interactions.
Restoration goals: Insights from antiquity and dynamics of forest-savanna mosaics in Central India during the Holocene.
Agarwala M, Komanduri KP, Quamar MF … +2 more , Ratnam J, Kulkarni C
Ecol Appl · 2026 Mar · PMID 41873563 · Publisher ↗
Forest-savanna mosaics are important for biodiversity, but the savannas in these mosaics are often considered degraded forests due to low tree cover, and are thus targeted for tree planting. Yet, these mosaics may be nat...
Forest-savanna mosaics are important for biodiversity, but the savannas in these mosaics are often considered degraded forests due to low tree cover, and are thus targeted for tree planting. Yet, these mosaics may be naturally bistable systems, wherein disturbance regimes such as fire and herbivory create alternative stable states of forest and savanna. Globally, forest-savanna mosaics have been present from pre-historic times and map to regions with high biodiversity today. Here, we conduct a meta-analysis of paleo-ecological studies in Central India-a highly biodiverse forest-savanna mosaic landscape threatened by tree plantations today-to understand the spatiotemporal antiquity and dynamics of the mosaics across this region. We find that alternate states of low and high tree cover have been present in Central India since the early Holocene and that the tree cover is explained by the interaction of mean annual precipitation (MAP) and the disturbance regime of fire. We find no statistical evidence for bimodality or hysteresis-conditions that are required for alternative stable states-although patterns suggestive of alternative stable states are present. Further, in contradiction to the hypothesis of high and low tree cover states being stable, this system transitions between alternate states of high and low tree cover at time periods ranging from ~40 to 220 years. Switching back and forth between alternate states is significantly more frequent in sites with higher richness of fire-resistant tree taxa. Our historical data thus lend support to the idea that low tree cover regimes have been created or maintained through interactions between climatic conditions and disturbance regimes such as fire, and that tree cover can increase when either of these factors changes. The study further suggests that restoration should focus on maintaining the ability to switch between low and high tree cover rather than increasing tree cover in Central India.
In the right place at the right time: Microsite and sowing season drive post-fire restoration of an endangered conifer.
Castro M, Holz A, Veblen TT … +1 more , Paritsis J
Ecol Appl · 2026 Mar · PMID 41873209 · Publisher ↗
Understanding the interplay between environmental factors and operational practices is essential to overcoming the bottlenecks that often hinder post-fire restoration success. Selecting favorable microsites can enhance i...
Understanding the interplay between environmental factors and operational practices is essential to overcoming the bottlenecks that often hinder post-fire restoration success. Selecting favorable microsites can enhance initial seed establishment by offering conditions conducive to survival and growth, although these same sites may also increase vulnerability to seed predation. Practical interventions, such as adjusting the timing of sowing, can help mitigate this risk. This is particularly relevant for endangered, large-seeded gymnosperms with limited post-fire dispersal, such as Araucaria araucana in southern South America. These forests face major regeneration challenges due to increasingly severe wildfires, highlighting the urgent need for effective restoration strategies. This study evaluates how two sowing seasons (spring and autumn), fire severity (unburned, low, and high), and microsite characteristics (proximity to fallen logs) interact to influence the early post-fire establishment of A. araucana seedlings following direct sowing. We sowed 2400 seeds in spring and autumn across unburned and burned stands of varying burn severity, distributing seeds either close (0.1 m) or far (2 m) from fallen logs in 60 plots. Over two growing seasons, we monitored seed predation, seedling emergence, seedling survival (live seedlings from those that emerged), annual height growth, and successful establishment (live seedlings relative to seeds sown at the beginning). We also recorded temperature, relative humidity, and soil moisture near and far from fallen logs in 30% of the sowing plots. Seed predation was 50% lower, and height growth rate and successful establishment were nearly twice as high in spring compared to autumn sowings. Successful establishment was greater in high-severity stands when seeds were sown in spring. These high-severity stands experienced higher temperatures, higher vapor pressure deficits, and lower soil moisture compared to unburned stands. However, at the microsite scale, proximity to fallen logs buffered microclimatic extremes, lowering temperature and vapor pressure deficit, and promoting seedling establishment in the high-severity stand. We demonstrate that proper microsite selection and timing of sowing significantly improve seed establishment, especially in adverse environments following a wildfire. Our study offers valuable guidance for managing other large-seeded species threatened by global change.
Livestock grazing boosts plant diversity in the Greater Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem.
Kiwango Y, Venderbos R, Li Y … +2 more , Olff H, Veldhuis MP
Ecol Appl · 2026 Mar · PMID 41865296 · Full text
Intensifying land use is a global threat to biodiversity, and livestock grazing-occupying 26% of terrestrial land-is one of such threats. Designated protected areas are one of the key conservation strategies to halt biod...
Intensifying land use is a global threat to biodiversity, and livestock grazing-occupying 26% of terrestrial land-is one of such threats. Designated protected areas are one of the key conservation strategies to halt biodiversity loss, but their effectiveness is debated, in part because of data shortage at relevant spatial scales (>1 ha). We investigate how livestock grazing affects plant diversity in the Greater Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem, Tanzania. We recorded plant diversity in sites with and without livestock across different scales: from 1-m plots to nine sites spanning a 600-1000 mm year rainfall gradient. We find livestock grazing strongly increased alpha diversity (71%), with forb species richness increasing the most. Beta diversity decreased in pastoral areas both within and between sites. The total number of plant species at the landscape level was almost the same in Maasai rangelands (N = 210) and Serengeti National Park (N = 212), with a distinct vegetation composition and 85 unique species in livestock-grazed areas. Our results suggest that livestock grazing-reducing light competition and eliminating fire-facilitates coexistence at local scales, biotically homogenizes across the rainfall gradient, yet provides novel niches at the landscape scale. We conclude that livestock grazing in the Greater Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem-with a long history of pastoralism-increases plant diversity by creating a diverse and distinct plant community, so that a mosaic of livestock-grazed and ungrazed areas yields the highest value for conservation. We recommend rethinking current conservation strategies that focus on expanding protected area cover and upgrading protected area status, and instead invest in facilitating local communities in their efforts to sustainably coexist with nature.
Long-term vegetation changes in elephant-related areas of concern in Kruger National Park, South Africa.
Coetsee C, Kleyn L, Vogeler JC … +4 more , Filippelli SK, Vermeulen LM, Wigley BJ, Ferreira S
Ecol Appl · 2026 Mar · PMID 41851069 · Full text
African elephants, whether alone or in combination with other environmental factors such as floods, droughts, fire, and other herbivores, have significant impacts on large savanna trees, often contributing to declines ov...
African elephants, whether alone or in combination with other environmental factors such as floods, droughts, fire, and other herbivores, have significant impacts on large savanna trees, often contributing to declines over time. However, their effects on woody vegetation in general remain less well understood. To investigate these dynamics in a southern African savanna, we consulted park personnel in Kruger National Park to identify areas where woody cover loss had been observed and where elephants were believed to be the primary driver. Using a Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI)-fusion remote sensing method, we then measured changes in woody cover and height across these areas from 2007 to 2022. Contrary to widespread concerns, GEDI-fusion data did not indicate a general decline in woody cover across the park. In fact, the overall trend shows an increase in woody vegetation. Nonetheless, some localized areas, which were flagged by park staff, showed declines in both general woody cover and large tree height, particularly along perennial rivers and on fertile soils. While we found no overall correlation between woody losses and increases in dry-season elephant densities across the study period, certain areas, especially those along perennial rivers, had the most notable increases in local elephant densities. To better isolate the role of fire, we overlaid woody cover losses with areas that experienced no fire during the study period (2.15% of pixels or ~40,000 ha). Notably, 44% of these fire-free areas overlapped with regions identified by park staff as of concern in terms of elephant-related impacts. While flood events may have contributed to tree losses in fire-free areas where these occur along perennial rivers, the findings collectively indicate that elephants-either independently or in combination with other factors-play a substantial role in the observed declines in woody cover and tree height in these areas. This study highlights the value of combining local knowledge and grassroots insights with advanced remote sensing techniques to detect and interpret spatial patterns of change. It also emphasizes the importance of targeted and adaptive management strategies in high-impact areas to reduce elephant-driven pressure on vulnerable vegetation and to support resilience across the broader landscape.
Urban habitat restoration increases native bird diversity in the Midwestern United States.
Uiterwaal SF, Wise A, Cain M … +9 more , Deem SL, Dell A, Ferree C, Martin A, Korotev RL, Palmer J, Tylka D, Witsken G, Blake S
Ecol Appl · 2026 Mar · PMID 41846248 · Publisher ↗
Urbanization is a key driver of biodiversity loss because infrastructure development replaces native habitats and remnant biodiversity becomes concentrated in fragmented, seminatural green spaces. Ecological restoration...
Urbanization is a key driver of biodiversity loss because infrastructure development replaces native habitats and remnant biodiversity becomes concentrated in fragmented, seminatural green spaces. Ecological restoration in urban areas can improve the quality of green spaces for native wildlife, but the impact of restorative management on biodiversity is often not quantified. Urban habitat management frequently involves integrating human needs such as recreational spaces with conservation aims, potentially altering the biodiversity benefits of these efforts. Furthermore, non-native species can dominate urban biodiversity, suggesting that high biodiversity in city green spaces may not be indicative of diverse native communities. Here, we use point count surveys to explore whether restoration efforts can explain variation in avian biodiversity across time and space in a large urban greenspace, Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. First, we use surveys conducted during three distinct restoration phases spanning almost three decades to explore longitudinal effects of restoration on Shannon diversity and species richness. Second, we use data from 2023 to 2024 to explore whether variation in restoration status can explain avian biodiversity across sites. Lastly, we assess the contribution of non-native bird species to avian biodiversity. We demonstrate that restoration efforts are linked to increased diversity, but that this effect is more pronounced across a spatial rather than a temporal restoration gradient. We also show that non-native species contribute less to richness in more restored areas, but that restoration has no effect on the contribution of non-native species to Shannon diversity. We show that an urban restoration program can increase native biodiversity. We further provide insights to inform future habitat restoration efforts in cities, underscoring the importance of restoration efforts that consider landscape heterogeneity and water availability. Restoration may be most impactful in areas with limited landscape heterogeneity and water availability, and addressing these limitations may help maximize biodiversity increases. In addition, focusing on areas which already have diverse habitats and plentiful water could help reinforce existing biodiversity patterns. Our findings highlight how restoration efforts can benefit native avian biodiversity even in a multiuse urban park, with positive implications for management of biodiversity in urban greenspaces.
Marine heatwave and keystone predator loss drive broad-scale decline and hinder recovery of a rocky intertidal kelp.
Gerraty FD, Cox-Ammann KN, Douglas MA … +4 more , George M, Lohse DP, Miner CM, Raimondi PT
Ecol Appl · 2026 Mar · PMID 41839702 · Full text
Human activities are increasingly driving the co-occurrence of multiple ecological stressors, resulting in interactive and cumulative impacts that can reshape ecosystem dynamics and accelerate population declines of clim...
Human activities are increasingly driving the co-occurrence of multiple ecological stressors, resulting in interactive and cumulative impacts that can reshape ecosystem dynamics and accelerate population declines of climate-sensitive species. Here, we use over two decades of rocky intertidal monitoring data from 17 sites spanning over 1200 km of coastline to assess how two unprecedented stressors-a multiyear marine heatwave and the disease-driven loss of a keystone predator (Pisaster ochraceus)-impacted populations of the canopy-forming intertidal kelp Postelsia palmaeformis. We show that Postelsia experienced rapid and severe declines during the 2014-2016 northeast Pacific marine heatwave, with an average population decline of 50%, multiple site-level extirpations, and particularly striking losses in the southern portion of the species' geographic range. Concurrently, Pisaster declines triggered mussel bed expansion into habitats previously occupied by Postelsia, further inhibiting kelp recoveries. Our findings reveal how converging stressors can drive persistent, broad-scale ecological shifts through both direct and indirect pathways. These results also highlight the critical role of long-term, spatially extensive monitoring in detecting and understanding global change impacts and provide a foundation for guiding Postelsia conservation and restoration efforts.
About
- Frequency
- Sun
- Papers found
- 200
- RSS feed
- Subscribe