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Females are often dominant in spotted hyaena societies. Here, the authors show that this dominance emerges from male-biased dispersal and its effect on social bonds, which can result in increased social support for females.
Twenty years of catch data and habitat surveys in coral reef fisheries in the Seychelles reveal that total yields can be maintained after severe bleaching and associated regime shifts, but the stability of fisheries is reduced.
Combining two global datasets, the authors show that peak vegetation growth has been increasing linearly for the past 30 years, with similar proportions of NDVI variation attributable to expanding croplands, rising CO2 and intensifying nitrogen deposition.
Genomes of three Tuberaceae species and two related truffle species reveal genetic similarities across symbiotic truffle-forming fungi, including high expression of genes involved in volatile organic compound metabolism.
Data from more than 200 million observations of plants, animals and fungi provide support for the concept that terrestrial biodiversity patterns reflect distinct ecoregions.
Analysis of 4,578 Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates reveals the evolutionary history of the four tuberculosis genotypes in China, from emergence 1,000 years ago to expansion, population peaks and, more recently, dominance of the indigenous sublineage L2.3.
A major effect locus is identified that contributes to overyielding when two different accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana are grown together, suggesting a simple genetic basis for the positive effects of biodiversity on community functioning.
Evidence synthesized from 252 large-herbivore exclusion studies suggests that herbivore-induced change in dominance, independent of site productivity or precipitation, best predicts herbivore effects on biodiversity in grassland and savannah sites.
Stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis of mammal teeth associated with stone tools and cut-marked bone dated to between 300,000 and 500,000 years ago reveals that, at the time of the earliest-known hominin presence, the Arabian peninsula was home to productive grasslands similar to modern-day African savannahs.
Evidence from starch grains, theobromine residues and ancient DNA demonstrate cacao use in the upper Amazon circa 5,300 years ago. This is earlier than previous evidence for cacao domestication in Mesoamerica.
Terrestrial mammalian fossils have previously reconstructed a single cohesive late Miocene savannah biome across Eurasia and Africa. Here, palaeobotanical data tell a different story, pointing instead to mixed forest biomes across the same region. The results emphasize the need to use both palaeofaunal and palaeobotanical data in reconstructing past environments.
Ant colonies include reproductive queens and sterile workers. Based on brain transcriptomes from five ant species, the authors identify an ancestral gene network for caste differentiation that has been modified over time as ant societies evolved.
DNA metabarcoding data from the Tara Oceans expedition are combined with palaeoenvironmental data and phylogenetic models of diversification to analyse the diversity dynamics of marine diatoms since the Jurassic period.
Foliar nitrogen (N) concentrations and isotope ratios obtained from >43,000 samples acquired over 37 years suggest global declines in N supply relative to plant demand, consistent with elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Phylogenetic distribution and phenotypic traits of livestock and crops reveal that domesticated species explore a reduced portion of the phenotypic space occupied by their wild counterparts and have particular traits in common.
The loss of an essential gene may promote genome evolution. Here, the authors show that fitness of yeast cells that have lost an essential splicing factor can be restored by compensatory mutations that alter the splicing machinery or a transcription co-activator complex.
Female preference is associated with male colour in the Trinidadian guppy. By comparing gene expression patterns in the brains of females with and without preference for colourful males while they evaluate males, the authors identify neurogenomic elements associated with female preference.