MotivationGroundwater ecosystems sustain a unique and globally important biodiversity but remain understudied due to sampling and exploration challenges, as well as a shortage of taxonomic experts. Groundwater ostracods, like other groundwater taxa, exhibit a high degree of endemism, rarity and subterranean specialisation, positioning them as potentially vulnerable organisms. To better understand biodiversity

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AimEcological networks describe the complex set of interconnections among species and their environment, and network structure can inform the stability, resilience, and functioning of ecosystems. Increasing attention is being paid to the mechanisms that determine species interactions. Phylogeny has informed our understanding of connections within networks, mostly by describing the strength of phylogenetic

AimWe aimed to examine the abiotic, biotic and anthropogenic drivers of non‐native plant species distribution along hiking trails in mountainous regions.LocationNine mountain regions across six continents, including North America (USA), South America (Argentina and Chile), Europe (Sweden, Norway, Czech Republic), Africa (South Africa), Asia (China) and Oceania (Australia).Time PeriodData were collected

AimDeep soils (> 30 cm) store considerable amounts of carbon and are often assumed to be less responsive to warming than topsoil. However, recent evidence indicates that deep soils are more sensitive to climate change in alpine grasslands, yet their influence on ecosystem productivity is not well understood. Here, we tested the key environmental drivers, particularly the roles of deep soil moisture

AimNitrogen (N) deposition and climate warming are the two most important factors driving soil N2O emissions in terrestrial ecosystems. Both biotic and abiotic factors impact N cycling processes and functional gene abundances, but their global responses and patterns to mineral N addition and warming and the regulatory factors affecting N2O emissions remain unclear.LocationGlobal.Time Period1986–2022

AimSpecies are often expected to track climate change via changes in their abundances and distributions. This climate tracking hypothesis generates the prediction that warming temperatures should cause species to show population increases at their poleward range limits and population decreases at their equatorward range limits. We tested these predictions for 516 species of North and Central American

AimAnthropogenic phosphorus (P) input profoundly affects carbon (C) and nutrient dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems, which poses a threat to soil health and nutrient sustainability. Litter decomposition is crucial for maintaining soil C and nutrient pools, yet there is a significant knowledge gap regarding the effects of anthropogenic P input on terrestrial litter decomposition.LocationTerrestrial

AimAnthropogenic noise is a global pollutant that threatens biodiversity. However, we currently lack effective methods to assess and compare the impacts of anthropogenic noise on extended terrestrial species. This can be critical for the majority of species that lack conservation attention and empirical measurements.LocationGlobal.Time Period1963–2023.Major Taxa StudiedBats.MethodsWe leverage the conserved

AimPlant senescence largely influences the global carbon cycle by regulating the growing season length. However, the driving mechanisms of plant senescence remain unclear, particularly the role of developmental factors. This study aims to investigate how environmental and developmental factors drive autumn senescence and evaluate whether woody and herbaceous plants exhibit divergent responses to these

AimTo assess the effectiveness of wetland restoration in reversing soil organic carbon (SOC) loss from degradation.LocationGlobal.Time Period1996–2023.Major Taxa StudiedWetland.MethodsWe conducted a global meta‐analysis to compare SOC levels in restored, degraded, and natural wetlands across different restoration approaches and wetland types and to examine the dynamic trajectories of SOC recovery and

AimThe influences of climatic gradients on biodiversity and functionality in arid ecosystems are increasingly evident. While soil microbes are susceptible to precipitation patterns, the mechanisms through which their variations affect the delivery of multiple ecosystem functions via microbial communities are poorly understood. Here, we examined the direct effect of precipitation gradients on multifunctionality

MotivationHere, we make available a second version of the BioTIME database, which compiles records of abundance estimates for species in sample events of ecological assemblages through time. The updated version expands version 1.0 of the database by doubling the number of studies and includes substantial additional curation to the taxonomic accuracy of the records, as well as the metadata. Moreover

AimThe role of ecological specialisation in shaping biogeographic and evolutionary patterns remains unresolved. To date, few studies have quantitatively examined consumer niche breadth at a global scale. We describe global biogeographic and diversification patterns of specialisation, measured using trophic and thermal niches, for a highly diverse assemblage of consumers: reef fishes. First, we investigated

AimMigratory birds are under threat by climate change. Successfully conserving them requires knowing which climatic factors drive changes in their migratory behaviour. Weather conditions may directly or indirectly affect the temporally disjointed life history stages of migratory birds, including the breeding, roosting and nonbreeding stages. However, the influences of these broad‐scale patterns are

AimTo investigate how trait correlations between life stages associated with complex life cycles (aquatic nymph and terrestrial adult) shape the functional diversity and trait–environment relationships of European dragonflies (Odonata: Anisoptera).LocationEuropean mainland.Time PeriodPre‐1990 and post‐1990.Major Taxa StudiedDragonflies (Odonata: Anisoptera).MethodsBased on functional traits linked

MotivationFunctional diversity is an important dimension of biodiversity. In animals, most species have complex life cycles, such that the same species can display great differences in traits and ecological roles across different life history stages. Consequently, the patterns and driving factors of functional diversity can vary considerably among the different life stages. However, research on stages

AimUnderstanding the joint influence of natural disturbance regime, connectivity and biogeography on the seasonal variation of community structure.LocationDrying river networks (DRN) in Europe.Time PeriodPresent.Major Taxa StudiedAquatic macroinvertebrates.MethodsWe analyse the taxonomic and trait structure of 638 macroinvertebrate communities sampled across 125 reaches with perennial and intermittent

AimCold degree days (CDD) represent the heat deficit for vegetation leaf senescence in autumn and serve as a critical parameter in modelling leaf senescence. This study aimed to quantify the spatiotemporal patterns of CDD and its key accumulation processes and determinants.LocationAt northern middle and high latitudes (> 30° N).Period2001–2022.Major Taxa StudiedVegetation.MethodsWe estimate CDD as

Lanuza, J. B., Knight, T. M., Montes-Perez, N., Glenny, W., Acuña, P., Albrecht, M., … & Bartomeus, I. (2025). EuPPollNet: A European Database of Plant-Pollinator Networks. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 34(2), e70000. In the originally published article, an error in the code resulted in duplicated interactions per study. After correcting this issue, the authors have updated several numerical values

AimThe urgency for remote, reliable and scalable biodiversity monitoring amidst mounting human pressures on ecosystems has sparked worldwide interest in Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM), which can track life underwater and on land. However, we lack a unified methodology to report this sampling effort and a comprehensive overview of PAM coverage to gauge its potential as a global research and monitoring

AimDespite global conservation efforts, the mechanisms underlying amphibians' sensitivity to habitat alteration (HA) remain poorly understood. One underexplored factor is the role of species' climatic niche structure, which comprises both niche volume and the distance of populations to the niche centroid, in shaping their responses to HA. Here, we present the first global assessment of how these components

AimTo investigate the direct effects of phosphorus (P) fertilisation on key tree photosynthetic traits and productivity, as well as its indirect effects mediated through forest community structure (tree size, species richness, and abundance).LocationWorldwide.Time Period1990–2024.Major Taxa StudiedTrees.MethodsWe conducted a meta‐analysis of 906 paired (control vs. treatment) P‐fertilisation experiments

AimEmpirical tests of conceptual hypotheses describing species invasions often differ depending on the spatial scale (spatial resolution and extent of study area) at which they were conducted. Some of this disparity may arise from tradeoffs in data quality necessitating the use of different indices of community invadedness among scales. Local‐scale studies typically use fine‐resolution, descriptive

AimA species' rate of climatic niche evolution may reflect its ability to survive changing climates. Yet large‐scale studies of these rates remain limited. Here, we assessed global patterns in climatic niche rates among angiosperms and explored the potential drivers shaping these patterns.LocationGlobal.Time PeriodCurrent.Major Taxa StudiedAngiosperms.MethodsWe estimated broad‐scale climatic niches

The Importance of the Regional Species PoolThe regional species pool—the set of species capable of entering a local community—is a foundational concept for understanding ecological processes that occur between local and extensive (biogeographic) spatial scales. However, the lack of precise definitions for the regional species pool, coupled with limited research into the dynamics of regional biodiversity

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AimThe Indo‐Australian Archipelago is known as a biodiversity hotspot with high levels of endemism typically ascribed to vicariance as reflected by the ‘Wallace's line’. However, it is unknown how vicariance has affected belowground biodiversity, especially process‐based beta diversity. Here, we relate beta diversity of soil oribatid mite (Oribatida, Acari) assemblages to geographic distance as well

BackgroundRafting of organisms on floating objects, long recognised as a key process in biogeography and evolution, has undergone tremendous change with the rapid increase of ocean litter (plastics and other human‐made materials). Resulting increases in raft longevity and abundance expand opportunities for marine species' dispersal. Here, we present a conceptual framework for the role of benthic stopovers

AimBroad biodiversity patterns (e.g., the latitudinal diversity gradient) are cornerstones of ecology that are fundamental in understanding the distribution of life on the planet. In the deep sea, declining faunal abundance/biomass with depth and a mid‐continental slope diversity maximum are among the most well‐defined patterns. However, they have largely been tested with samples of sediment faunal

AimTo compare field‐based evidence of plant and animal responses to fire with remotely sensed signals of fire heterogeneity and post‐fire biomass recovery.LocationSouth‐eastern Australia; New South Wales.Time Period2019–2022.Major Taxa StudiedA total of 982 species of plants and animals, in eight taxonomic groups: amphibians, birds, fish, insects, mammals, molluscs, plants and reptiles.MethodsWe collated

AimNon‐native plants have the potential to harm ecosystems. Harm is classically related to their distribution and abundance, but this geographical information is often unknown. Here, we assess geographical commonness as a potential indicator of invasive status for non‐native flora in the United States. Geographical commonness could inform invasion risk assessments across species and ecoregions.LocationConterminous

AimPagel's (lambda) is a useful tool in ecology and evolution for describing trait evolution, imputing missing species' data, and generalising ecological relationships beyond their study system. Here, we review the various applications and interpretations of , highlight common misconceptions, and show how confusion in defining and using can mislead our interpretation of ecological and evolutionary

Pinseel, E., Sabbe, K., Verleyen, E. and Vyverman, W. (2024), A New Dawn for Protist Biogeography. Global Ecol Biogeogr, 33: e13925. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13925 In the originally published article, the reference by Kotyk et al. was given incorrectly. The correct reference is as follows: Kotyk, M., W. A. Bourland, M. Soviš, et al. 2024. ‘Morphology Matters: Congruence of Morphology and Phylogeny

AimForests dominated by non‐native trees are becoming increasingly common. However, their impact on biodiversity remains uncertain, with a debate on whether they represent ‘green deserts’ or secondary habitats for biodiversity. We addressed this question by evaluating the patterns and ecological drivers of taxonomic and functional understory diversity between black pine (Pinus nigra) forests within

AimThe term ‘megafire’ is increasingly used to describe large fires worldwide. We proposed a size‐based definition of megafire—fires exceeding 10,000 ha arising from single or multiple related ignition events. A recent perspective in Global Ecology and Biogeography argues against a size‐based definition of megafire and suggest that the term is too emotive for scientific use. We highlight that many

AimIntroduced species can establish in climates outside of their native niche and undergo ‘niche shifts’. However, studies of niche shifts generally rely on above‐ground climate data, neglecting the potential buffering effect of ground‐level or soil climates.LocationGlobal.Time PeriodPresent.Major Taxa StudiedFormicidae.MethodsHere, we investigated the impact of soil temperatures on niche shifts in

AimTesting the impact of climate on diversification is a major goal of evolutionary biology. Birth‐death models like palaeoenvironment‐dependent diversification (PDD) models, for example, allow exploring the potential correlations between diversification dynamics and past environmental changes, such as temperature, among other abiotic variables. So far, such studies have been limited to proxy‐derived

AimThe tendency for animals in warmer climates to be longer‐limbed (Allen's Rule) is widely attributed to the demands of thermoregulation. The role of thermoregulation in structuring bird wings, however, has been overshadowed by the selective demands placed on wings by flight. We test whether occurrence in warmer climates is associated with longer wing bones.LocationGlobal.Time PeriodCurrent.Major

AimThe carbon–climate feedback of terrestrial ecosystems plays a key role in determining atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. Ecosystem respiration (ER) has been demonstrated to be more sensitive than gross primary productivity (GPP) to increasing temperature, leading to positive carbon–climate feedback. However, the direction and magnitude of the feedback are unclear across diverse thermal regimes

AimMultivariate spatio‐temporal models are widely applicable, but specifying their structure is complicated and may inhibit wider use. We introduce the R package tinyVAST from two viewpoints: the software user and the statistician.InnovationFrom the user viewpoint, tinyVAST adapts a widely used formula interface to specify generalised additive models and combines this with arguments to specify spatial

AimSpecies richness of local communities is often considered to be disconnected from the macroevolutionary diversification of lineages operating at much larger spatiotemporal scales. However, local communities occupy patches of habitat types, many of which persist across large spatiotemporal scales. We hypothesise that high local species richness of specific habitat types could result from ongoing

AimUnderstanding the distribution of foliar fungal diseases is crucial to predicting their impact on ecosystems and their future spread. However, the relative importance of abiotic and biotic factors in determining variation in pathogens between plant communities remains controversial. Here, we tested four hypotheses: warmer, wetter climates, higher soil fertility and dominance by fast‐growing plants

AimMost process‐based forest simulation models used to project the impacts of climate change on forest dynamics rely on thermal transfer functions (TTF) that describe the relationship between temperature and growth. However, these functions have faced criticism, undermining model forecasts and highlighting the need for more robust TTF based on large empirical datasets. In this study, we modelled growth

AimThe priming effect (PE) refers to changes in the decomposition of native soil organic carbon induced by exogenous carbon inputs. Specifically, an increase in native soil organic carbon decomposition is termed positive PE, whereas a decrease is referred to as negative PE. In this study, we aimed to investigate how positive and negative PE respond to experimental warming and the factors controlling

AimMicrobial carbon use efficiency (CUE) is one of the key indicators for the formation and release of soil carbon. CUE can be divided into exogenous CUE (CUEex, efficiency in using external carbon sources measured by e.g. 13C or 14C labeling) and endogenous CUE (CUEen, efficiency in using internal carbon sources measured by 18O labeling). Global changes strongly influence CUE, which response depends

AimWe addressed the role of climate and historical biogeography on the temperate‐tropical divide in Mexico, also known as the “Mexican Transition Zone” (MTZ). We asked: (1) How phylogenetic structure and species composition vary across the MTZ, (2) What roles dispersal, in situ speciation and climatic filtering play in assembling regional floras, and (3) How historical biogeographic events and climate

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AimPredicting the future distribution of invasive species is a current challenge for biodiversity assessment. Species distribution models (SDMs) have long been the state‐of‐the‐art to evaluate suitable areas for new invasions, but they may be limited by truncated niches and the uncertainties of species dispersal. Here, we developed a framework based on hierarchical SDMs and dispersal simulations to

AimGlobal change can impact the stability of biological communities by affecting species richness and synchrony. While most studies focus on terrestrial ecosystems, our research includes both terrestrial and aquatic realms. Previous works measure overall community synchrony as co‐variation among co‐occurring species, ignoring the tail dependence—when species fluctuate together at extreme abundance

AimPlants allocate sodium (Na) to leaves and roots as an adaptation to salinity and drought, potentially modulating herbivory and ecosystem carbon cycling. However, large‐scale spatial patterns and environmental drivers of plant Na allocation remain unclear.LocationChina and the world.Time PeriodField data were collected between 2013 and 2019. Literature data were collected between 1970 and 2024.Major

AimUnderstanding the processes that structure biodiversity on Earth is a major challenge in biology. Our work tests three key hypotheses driving taxonomic changes in bird communities globally, focusing on nestedness and turnover components: (1) contemporary climate, related to energy and water availability; (2) climate stability, reflecting shifts since the last glacial maximum; and (3) climatic heterogeneity

AimBeta diversity quantifies the similarity of ecological assemblages. Its increase, known as biotic homogenisation, can be a consequence of biological invasions. However, species occurrence (presence/absence) and abundance‐based analyses can produce contradictory assessments of the magnitude and direction of changes in beta diversity. Previous work indicates these contradictions should be less frequent

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Lanuza, J.B., T.M. Knight, N. Montes-Perez, et al. 2025. “ EuPPollNet: A European Database of Plant-Pollinator Networks.” Global Ecology and Biogeography 34: e70000. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.70000 In the originally published article, funding information for some authors was missing. The missing information is included below. JBL was funded by the Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt (MLU-BioDivFund).

AimTropical niche conservatism (TNC) and dispersal limitation (DL) are major ecological and evolutionary mechanisms in shaping taxonomic and phylogenetic β‐diversities. While these mechanisms have been studied in plants and vertebrates, their roles in freshwater taxa remain unclear. We leveraged Odonata species distribution and phylogenetic data to map geographical patterns of taxonomic and phylogenetic

AimPre‐degradation baseline conditions (references) provide crucial context for restoration actions. Here, we compare vegetation structure and its driving processes across the main pre‐agricultural references discussed for temperate Europe: the Last Interglacial and the early‐mid Holocene—before and after the arrival of Homo sapiens, respectively.LocationTemperate Europe.Time PeriodThe first ~4000–6000

Describing Scaling RelationshipsScaling relationships are a central feature of global ecology, quantifying general biological patterns across broad spatial and temporal scales. Traditionally characterised as scale‐invariant power laws, the scope of biological scaling has expanded in recent decades to include log–log curvilinearity and exponential functions. In macroecology and biogeography, a major

AimWe develop and test a cost framework to simulate the flyways of migratory seabirds, considering various environmental factors such as wind support, crosswind, travel distance, and food availability. Using this framework, we simulate potential migratory flyways for arctic terns and compare these simulations with tracking data. Our aim is to identify which combination of factors best explains the

MotivationThe accelerated and widespread conversion of once continuous ecosystems into fragmented landscapes has driven ecological research to understand the response of biodiversity to local (fragment size) and landscape (forest cover and fragmentation) changes. This information has important theoretical and applied implications, but is still far from complete. We compiled the most comprehensive and