🌿 Category

ecology

328 papers

Ecology explores the intricate relationships between living organisms and their environments, revealing how life adapts, interacts, and sustains itself across the planet. From microscopic soil communities to vast migratory patterns, this field examines the delicate balance that keeps ecosystems functioning and resilient. Understanding these connections is vital for addressing urgent challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss.

At Gist.Science, we make the latest research from bioRxiv accessible to everyone. We process every new preprint in this category as it appears, offering both clear plain-language explanations and detailed technical summaries to suit every reader. This approach ensures that groundbreaking findings in ecological science are not locked behind complex terminology but are available for immediate understanding and discussion.

Below are the latest papers in ecology, curated to help you stay informed about the evolving story of life on Earth.

🌿 ecology

PREDICTING HISTORIC, CONTEMPORARY, AND FUTURE DISTRIBUTIONS OF CULEX CORONATOR FOLLOWING RAPID RANGE EXPANSION

This study utilizes species distribution models to demonstrate that *Culex coronator*'s rapid range expansion across the United States is driven by increasing environmental suitability in humid subtropical regions, a trend that historical models failed to predict but contemporary and future projections successfully capture, highlighting the critical need to update occurrence data for effective surveillance and control.

Magaletta, O., Bauer, A., Lee, Y., Campbell, L. P., Thongsripong, P.2026-08-11
🌿 ecology

The Role of Arthrobacter pascens 13LEP5 in mitigating Drought and Cold stress in Soybean (Glycine Max (L.) Merr.)

This study demonstrates that the application of the bacterial strain *Arthrobacter pascens* 13LEP5, particularly in combination with *Bradyrhizobium japonicum* and plant-derived protein hydrolysate, effectively mitigates drought and cold stress in soybeans by improving biometric parameters and pigment indices during both early development and post-stress recovery.

Jamil, Y., Kaziuniene, J., Colla, G., Ramoskaite, S., Toleikiene, M.2026-08-09
🌿 ecology

Knowledge gap and conditional receptivity: why tree and forest professionals underutilize citizen science for quarantine pest detection in France

A survey of 101 French tree and forest professionals reveals that while they possess varying levels of knowledge about regulated pests and value citizen science platforms for information, they underutilize these tools for active reporting, showing greater receptivity to monitoring established species than for the early detection of quarantine pests.

CASTAGNEYROL, B., Bah, S., Bedessem, B., de Groot, M., Ennabih, A.2026-08-05
🌿 ecology

A simulation-based framework to detect marine animal-vessel interactions using tracking data

This paper introduces a simulation-based framework, implemented in the R package *intersimR*, that effectively distinguishes genuine behavioral responses (attraction and following) from incidental co-occurrence in marine animal-vessel interactions, revealing that while fishing vessels constitute a small fraction of traffic, they drive the majority of significant interactions with Scopoli's shearwaters.

March, D., Navarro-Herrero, L., Gonzalez-Solis, J.2026-08-05
🌿 ecology

End-of-outbreak determination under seasonal transmission

This paper proposes a seasonal transmission framework for determining when it is safe to relax interventions at the end of an outbreak, demonstrating that accounting for seasonal decline in transmission—such as in the 2017 Italy chikungunya outbreak—allows for more timely decision-making by significantly reducing the required waiting period after the last observed case compared to models based solely on incidence data.

Hart, W. S., Mills, C., Manica, M., Menegale, F., Spaziante, M., Vairo, F., Poletti, P., Guzzetta, G., Thompson, R. N.2026-08-04
🌿 ecology

Trickle-down ecology: Vertical stratification of temperate forests drives asymmetric cross-layer effects on consumer communities

This study demonstrates that in temperate forests, vertical stratification drives asymmetric ecological effects where canopy conditions disproportionately shape understorey consumer communities through a top-down flow of resources, while local layer conditions primarily filter abundance and trophic interactions remain largely compartmentalized within vertical strata.

Vigues Jorba, J., Bhardwaj, M., Cordeiro Pereira, J. M., Hendel, A.-L., Kukenbrink, D., Villarroya Villalba, L., Scherre (…)2026-08-04