No universal mathematical model for thermal performance curves across traits and taxonomic groups.

In ectotherms, the performance of physiological, ecological and life-history traits universally increases with temperature to a maximum before decreasing again. Identifying the most appropriate thermal performance model for a specific trait type has broad applications, from metabolic modelling at the cellular level to forecasting the effects of climate change on population, ecosystem and disease transmission dynamics. To date, numerous mathematical models have been designed, but a thorough comparison among them is lacking.

Temperature-dependent predation predicts a more reptilian future.

Diversity increases toward the tropics, but the strength of this pattern diverges with thermoregulatory strategy. Synthesizing over 30,000 species distributions, we quantified patterns of richness in terrestrial vertebrates, and present evidence for a latitudinal gradient of community composition. We observe a two orders of magnitude shift in comparative diversity with temperature, from endothermic mammal and avian dominance near the poles, toward ectothermic reptile and amphibian majority in the tropics.

Trait variation in patchy landscapes: Morphology of spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) varies more within ponds than between ponds.

The influence of intraspecific trait variation on species interactions makes trait-based approaches critical to understanding eco-evolutionary processes. Because species occupy habitats that are patchily distributed in space, species interactions are influenced not just by the degree of intraspecific trait variation but also the relative proportion of trait variation that occurs within- versus between-patches. Advancement in trait-based ecology hinges on understanding how trait variation is distributed within and between habitat patches across the landscape.

Foraging rates from metabarcoding: Predators have reduced functional responses in wild, diverse prey communities.

Functional responses describe foraging rates across prey densities and underlie many fundamental ecological processes. Most functional response knowledge comes from simplified lab experiments, but we do not know whether these experiments accurately represent foraging in nature. In addition, the difficulty of conducting multispecies functional response experiments means that it is unclear whether interaction strengths are weakened in the presence of multiple prey types.

Insights into the spatial ecology of severely injured free-living felids: Iberian lynx, bobcat, and snow leopard.

Severe musculoskeletal diseases, such as those associated with congenital or traumatic events, that result in missing limbs may compromise the fitness and survival of free-living felids. Here we report the space use of four amputee individuals from three felid species captured from 2017 to 2022 in Missouri (USA), Toledo and Badajoz (Spain), and Suitai Khairkhan Mountain (Mongolia). We describe home ranges and daily travel distances post-release of free-living felids that had either suffered a traumatic amputation or following a surgical amputation.

The role of abiotic and biotic factors in the unequal body shape diversification of a Gondwanan fish radiation (Otophysi: Characiformes).

Understanding why some clades diversify greatly while others do not is a major goal of evolutionary biology. Both abiotic and biotic factors are important in driving unequal morphological diversity across the tree of life. However, few studies have quantified how abiotic habitat and community composition differences influence unequal morphological diversification in spatiotemporally diffuse radiations.

A framework for untangling the consequences of artificial light at night on species interactions.

Although much evidence exists showing organismal consequences from artificial light at night (ALAN), large knowledge gaps remain regarding ALAN affecting species interactions. Species interactions occur via shared spatio-temporal niches among species, which may be determined by natural light levels. We review how ALAN is altering these spatio-temporal niches through expanding twilight or full Moon conditions and constricting nocturnal conditions as well as creating patches of bright and dark.

Long-term ecological research in freshwaters enabled by regional biodiversity collections, stable isotope analysis, and environmental informatics.

Biodiversity collections are experiencing a renaissance fueled by the intersection of informatics, emerging technologies, and the extended use and interpretation of specimens and archived databases. In this article, we explore the potential for transformative research in ecology integrating biodiversity collections, stable isotope analysis (SIA), and environmental informatics. Like genomic DNA, SIA provides a common currency interpreted in the context of biogeochemical principles.

Climate predicts wildland fire extent across China.

Wildland fire extent varies seasonally and interannually in response to climatic and landscape-level drivers, yet predicting wildfires remains a challenge. Existing linear models that characterize climate and wildland fire relationships fail to account for non-stationary and non-linear associations, thus limiting prediction accuracy. To account for non-stationary and non-linear effects, we use time-series climate and wildfire extent data from across China with unit root methods, thus providing an approach for improved wildfire prediction.

Integrating land cover, point source pollution, and watershed hydrologic processes data to understand the distribution of microplastics in riverbed sediments.

Microplastics are emerging contaminants ubiquitously distributed in the environment, with rivers acting as their main mode of transport in surface freshwater systems. However, the relative importance of hydrologic processes and source-related variables for benthic microplastic distribution in river sediments is not well understood. We therefore sampled and characterized microplastics in river sediments across the Meramec River watershed (eastern Missouri, United States) and applied a hydrologic modeling approach to estimate the relative importance of river discharge, river sediment load, land cover, and point source pollution sites to understand how these environmental factors affect microplastic distribution in benthic sediments.

Impacts of urbanization on chloride and stream invertebrates: A 10-year citizen science field study of road salt in stormwater runoff.

The use of deicing agents during the winter months is one of many stressors that impact stream ecosystems in urban and urbanizing watersheds. In this study, a long-term data set collected by citizen scientists with the Missouri Stream Team was used to evaluate the relationships between watershed urbanization metrics and chloride metrics. Further, these data were used to explore the effects of elevated chloride concentrations on stream invertebrate communities using quantile regression.

The allometry of locomotion.

Organismal locomotion mediates ecological interactions and shapes community dynamics. Locomotion is constrained by intrinsic and environmental factors and integrating these factors should clarify how locomotion affects ecology across scales. We extended general theory based on metabolic scaling and biomechanics to predict the scaling of five locomotor performance traits: routine speed, maximum speed, maximum acceleration, minimum powered turn radius, and angular speed.

Abundance of montane salamanders over an elevational gradient.

Climate change is expected to systematically alter the distribution and population dynamics of species around the world. The effects are expected to be particularly strong at high latitudes and elevations, and for ectothermic species with small ranges and limited movement potential, such as salamanders in the southern Appalachian Mountains. In this study, we sought to establish baseline abundance estimates for plethodontid salamanders (family: Plethodontidae) over an elevational gradient in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Predicted alteration of surface activity as a consequence of climate change.

Wildlife are faced with numerous threats to survival, none more pressing than that of climate change. Understanding how species will respond behaviorally, physiologically, and demographically to a changing climate is a cornerstone of many contemporary ecological studies, especially for organisms, such as amphibians, whose persistence is closely tied to abiotic conditions. Activity is a useful parameter for understanding the effects of climate change because activity is directly linked to fitness as it dictates foraging times, energy budgets, and mating opportunities.

The body size and temperature dependence of organismal locomotion.

The speed and maneuverability of organisms are central to their fitness, determining the strength and outcome of many species interactions that drive population and community-level processes. While locomotion is influenced by many internal and external factors, body size and temperature are two key factors governing organismal locomotion. Biologists have been measuring locomotor performance, particularly maximum speed, for over a century.

Developmental ecomorphology of the epibranchial organ of the silver carp, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix.

Silver carp regularly consume and digest particles of food as small as 5 μm. This ability drives their efficient consumption of phytoplankton and because they feed low on the food chain they have an important place in aquaculture worldwide. In North America, where they are considered invasive, silver carp deplete food resources for native species and in so doing occupy increased niche space.

Characterization of sp. Infection in a midwestern state-endangered salamander () and a co-occurring common species ().

Ichthyosporean parasites (order Dermocystida) can cause morbidity and mortality in amphibians, but their ecology and epidemiology remain understudied. We investigated the prevalence, gross and histologic appearance, and molecular phylogeny of a novel dermocystid in the state-endangered silvery salamander (Ambystoma platineum) and the co-occurring, non-threatened small-mouthed salamander (Ambystoma texanum) from Illinois. Silvery salamanders (N = 610) were sampled at six ephemeral wetlands from 2016 to 2018.

Resource distribution and internal factors interact to govern movement of a freshwater snail.

Movement enables mobile organisms to respond to local environmental conditions and is driven by a combination of external and internal factors operating at multiple scales. Here, we explored how resource distribution interacted with the internal state of organisms to drive patterns of movement. Specifically, we tracked snail movements on experimental landscapes where resource (algal biofilm) distribution varied from 0 to 100% coverage and quantified how that movement changed over a 24 h period.

Long-term exposure to higher temperature increases the thermal sensitivity of grazer metabolism and movement.

Ecological studies of global warming impacts have many constraints. Organisms are often exposed to higher temperatures for short periods of time, probably underestimating their ability to acclimate or adapt relative to slower but real rates of warming. Many studies also focus on a limited number of traits and miss the multifaceted effects that warming may have on organisms, from physiology to behaviour.

Metabolic asymmetry and the global diversity of marine predators.

Species richness of marine mammals and birds is highest in cold, temperate seas-a conspicuous exception to the general latitudinal gradient of decreasing diversity from the tropics to the poles. We compiled a comprehensive dataset for 998 species of sharks, fish, reptiles, mammals, and birds to identify and quantify inverse latitudinal gradients in diversity, and derived a theory to explain these patterns. We found that richness, phylogenetic diversity, and abundance of marine predators diverge systematically with thermoregulatory strategy and water temperature, reflecting metabolic differences between endotherms and ectotherms that drive trophic and competitive interactions.

Altered spring phenology of North American freshwater turtles and the importance of representative populations.

Globally, populations of diverse taxa have altered phenology in response to climate change. However, most research has focused on a single population of a given taxon, which may be unrepresentative for comparative analyses, and few long-term studies of phenology in ectothermic amniotes have been published. We test for climate-altered phenology using long-term studies (10-36 years) of nesting behavior in 14 populations representing six genera of freshwater turtles (, , , , , and ).

Collective animal navigation and migratory culture: from theoretical models to empirical evidence.

Animals often travel in groups, and their navigational decisions can be influenced by social interactions. Both theory and empirical observations suggest that such collective navigation can result in individuals improving their ability to find their way and could be one of the key benefits of sociality for these species. Here, we provide an overview of the potential mechanisms underlying collective navigation, review the known, and supposed, empirical evidence for such behaviour and highlight interesting directions for future research.

The thermal dependence of carbon stable isotope incorporation and trophic discrimination in the domestic cricket, Acheta domesticus.

Stable isotopes are valuable tools in physiological and ecological research, as they can be used to estimate diet, habitat use, and resource allocation. However, in most cases a priori knowledge of two key properties of stable isotopes is required, namely their rate of incorporation into the body (incorporation rate) and the change of isotope values between consumers and resources that arises during incorporation of the isotopes into the consumer's tissues (trophic discrimination). Previous studies have quantified these properties across species and tissue types, but little is known about how they vary with temperature, a key driver of many biological rates and times.