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

ProblemRafting is now recognised as a key process influencing the distribution and connectivity of several marine and coastal species. Rafting scenarios are, however, often invoked in ways that do not account for clear differences in biogeographic outcomes. Here, we illustrate the value of utilising multiple lines of evidence (e.g. different life histories, ecologies, and dispersal frequencies) in

AimClimate change is driving increasingly frequent and intense extreme climatic events, pushing many forests worldwide beyond their physiological thresholds. Despite the major role played by forests in the global carbon cycle, climate change threatens the future potential for carbon sequestration in forests. Hence, studies of recent changes in stand productivity and the underlying drivers over large

BackgroundHuman pressures are driving the emergence of unprecedented, ‘novel’, ecological and environmental systems. The concept of novel (eco)systems is well accepted by the scientific community, but the use and measurement of novelty has outgrown initial definitions and critiques. There are still unresolved methodological and conceptual differences in quantifying novelty that prevent a unified research

AimTo identify the broad‐scale oceanic migration routes (‘marine flyways’) used by multiple pelagic, long‐distance migratory seabirds based on a global compilation of tracking data.LocationGlobal.Time Period1989–2023.Major Taxa StudiedSeabirds (Families: Phaethontidae, Hydrobatidae, Diomedeidae, Procellariidae, Laridae and Stercorariidae).MethodsWe collated a comprehensive global tracking dataset that

AimArthropods are under‐represented in paleoecological studies but are critical agents in ecological processes. Despite rigorous documentation of diverse arthropod assemblages from ancient rodent (or paleo) middens worldwide, their use for studying ancient arthropod diversity has stalled in recent decades. Here, we review published studies to identify how paleomidden arthropods can be leveraged to

AimIn riparian zones along rivers, plant demography is shaped by hydrologic disturbances, the dendritic structure of the river networks, and asymmetric gene flow due to the prevalence of unidirectional dispersal by hydrochory. Downstream‐biased dispersal may lead to the accumulation of genetic diversity in populations situated lower within the catchment area—a phenomenon referred to as ‘downstream

AimBiological diversity is shaped by processes occurring at different spatial and temporal scales. However, the direct influence of the spatial and temporal scale on patterns of occupancy is still understudied. Today, occupancy is often negatively correlated with species richness, but it is unknown whether this relationship is scale dependent and consistent through time. Here, we use datasets of contemporary

Cerasoli, F., B. Fiasca, M. Di Cicco, et al. 2025. “EGCop: An Expert-Curated Occurrence Dataset of European Groundwater-Dwelling Copepods (Crustacea: Copepoda).” Global Ecology and Biogeography 34: e13953. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13953. In the originally-published article, the Data Availability Statement is incorrect. It should read, “The presented dataset and the related metadata are accessible

AimPlant invasions are a global problem that requires studying plants and their environmental associations across native and introduced ranges.Location2000 km transects in China, Europe and North America.Time PeriodJune 2019–July 2020.Major Taxa StudiedJapanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica).MethodsWe surveyed 150 populations of Japanese knotweed, a noxious invader of the temperate zone, along 2000

MotivationPollinators play a crucial role in maintaining Earth's terrestrial biodiversity. However, rapid human‐induced environmental changes are compromising the long‐term persistence of plant‐pollinator interactions. Unfortunately, we lack robust, generalisable data capturing how plant‐pollinator communities are structured across space and time. Here, we present the EuPPollNet (European Plant‐Pollinator

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AimThe build‐up of local species diversity requires completing the transition from allopatry to sympatry to local coexistence (syntopy). However, understanding processes than enable species arising in allopatry to become syntopic remains an unsolved challenge. Potential explanations include niche conservatism, niche divergence, and energy availability. To gauge their importance, we modelled the effects

MotivationTiming, duration and severity of marine heatwaves are changing rapidly in response to anthropogenic climate change, thereby increasing the frequency of coral bleaching events. Mass coral bleaching events result from cumulative heat stress, which is commonly quantified through degree heating weeks (DHW). Here we introduce CoralBleachRisk, a daily‐resolution global dataset that characterises

MotivationSNAPSHOT USA is an annual, multicontributor camera trap survey of mammals across the United States. The growing SNAPSHOT USA dataset is intended for tracking the spatial and temporal responses of mammal populations to changes in land use, land cover and climate. These data will be useful for exploring the drivers of spatial and temporal changes in relative abundance and distribution, as well

Scale‐Dependency of Native StatusClassifying populations as native or nonnative requires well‐defined range boundaries for species. While many studies define native status according to large biogeographic realms, natural dispersal barriers often limit species distributions at regional or smaller spatial extents. As such, native/nonnative definitions are inherently scale‐dependent and estimates of community

AimWe assess the role of spatial distance and depth difference in shaping beta diversity patterns across abyssal seascape regions. We measured the decrease of faunistic similarity across the northeast Pacific seafloor, to test whether species turnover rates differ between deep and shallow‐abyssal biogeographical provinces and whether these patterns vary across functionally or taxonomically different

AimDrought reduces plant growth and hastens the process of leaf senescence in autumn. Concurrently, increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations likely amplifies photosynthetic activity while increasing plant water‐use efficiency. However, how drought affects the date of leaf senescence (DLS) and whether elevated CO2 can alleviate this remain unknown. Here, we explore the effect of drought on DLS under

MotivationSubterranean biodiversity is increasingly threatened by multiple intertwined anthropogenic impacts, including habitat loss, pollution, overexploitation of resources, biological invasions and climate change. Worryingly, subterranean biodiversity is still poorly represented in conservation agendas, also due to persisting gaps in our knowledge of the organisms thriving in the often‐secluded

AimIncreasing aridity has driven widespread synchronous fire occurrence in recent decades across North America. The lack of historical (pre‐1880) fire records limits our ability to understand long‐term continental fire‐climate dynamics. The goal of this study is to use tree‐ring reconstructions to determine the relationships between spatiotemporal patterns in historical climate and widespread fire

AimDespite unprecedented environmental change due to anthropogenic pressure, recent work has found increasing dissimilarity due to turnover but no overall trend in species diversity through time at the local scale. Functional diversity provides a potentially powerful alternative approach for understanding community composition by linking shifts in species identity to the characteristics that underpin

AimIt has been hypothesised that niche breadth decreases with richness due to interactions, such as competition, forcing species to specialise. This hypothesis has been tested at the community‐level using species‐level niche breadth estimates. However, evidence for changes in niche‐breath among populations of the same species are scant. Our aim was to examine the niche breadth to richness relationship

AimUndersampling and other sources of sampling bias pose significant issues in marine macroecology, particularly when shaping conservation and management decisions. Yet, determining the extent to which such biases impact our understanding of marine diversity remains elusive. Here, utilising empirical data on sampling efforts, we sampled from virtually established species distributions to evaluate how

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MotivationInformation on species' population trends is essential to assess species' conservation status, make informed environmental decisions and ultimately reduce biodiversity loss. Robust population trends require a long‐term monitoring programme, often using citizen scientists, that ideally generates representative and unbiased data from the study area. Here we present the dataset of the Breeding

AimArbuscular mycorrhizas (AM) and ectomycorrhizas (ECM) have different impacts on nutrient cycling, carbon storage, community dynamics and enhancement of photosynthesis by rising CO2. Recent global analyses have concluded that patterns of AM/ECM dominance in forests worldwide are shaped by climate, with soil nutrients contributing negligible additional explanatory power. However, their reliance on

AimThe goal of this work was to investigate whether the community of avian nest predators shifts from nocturnal to diurnal with changes in latitude. This hypothesis was formulated 70 years ago, under the rationale that longer day length during the bird breeding season at high latitudes increases opportunities for visual predators. Based on other studies investigating the identity of nest predators

AimGlobally, the knowledge of insect distributions is largely insufficient, and that hinders conservation actions against biodiversity loss. Focusing on butterfly diversity, we aimed to fill knowledge gaps and provide new insights into biodiversity conservation in China.LocationChina.Time PeriodOccurrence records from 1950 to 2023.Major Taxa StudiedButterflies, Lepidoptera.MethodsWe collected butterfly

AimPlant recruitment involves both stochastic and deterministic processes. Recruits may establish independently or interact nonrandomly with canopy plants. We explore this deterministic aspect by testing whether recruitment patterns are influenced by the phylogenetic history of canopy and recruiting plants. Since the effect of canopy plants in recruitment can be positive (facilitation), negative (competition)

MotivationSPECTRE is an open‐source database containing standardised spatial data on global environmental and anthropogenic variables that are potential threats to terrestrial species and ecosystems. Its goal is to allow users to swiftly access spatial data on multiple threats at a resolution of 30‐arc seconds for all terrestrial areas. Following the standard set by Worldclim, these data allow full

AimGlobal biodiversity loss resulting from anthropogenic land‐use activities is a pressing concern, requiring precise assessments of impacts at large spatial extents. Existing models mainly focus on species richness and abundance, lacking insights into ecological mechanisms and species' roles in ecosystem functioning. To bridge this gap, we conducted an extensive analysis of the impact of human land

AimUnderstanding the organisation of the wide variety of ecological interactions is crucial to advancing our understanding and management of real ecosystems. We aimed to compile a ‘complete’ network of tetrapod trophic and non‐trophic interactions for the entire North American boreal forest biome that could be analysed to gain insights into community organisation and function. In particular, we aimed

The influences of environmental and spatial processes on species composition have been at the center of metacommunity ecology. Conversely, the relative importance of these processes for species co-occurrences and taxonomic similarity has remained poorly understood. We hypothesised that at a subcontinental scale, shared environmental preference would be the major driver of co-occurrences across species