🌿 Category

ecology

429 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

Metagenomic analysis of the effects of European bison Bison bonasus (Linnaeus, 1758) presence on soil community structure and function in West Blean and Thornden Woods, Kent

This study utilizes Oxford Nanopore metagenomics to demonstrate that while the reintroduction of European bison to West Blean and Thornden Woods caused only modest shifts in soil taxonomic diversity, it significantly altered microbial functional composition, revealing a decoupling between species diversity and ecosystem function during early-stage rewilding.

Xu, C., Schalkwyk, H. V., Powell, O., Gustave, C., Ball, L., Ross, K., Murray, E., Aguirregoicoa, H., Mackins, H., Swinn (…)2026-08-20
🌿 ecology

WIO-ReefFish: A High-Resolution Dataset for Taxon-Aware Coral Reef Fish Detection in the Western Indian Ocean

This paper introduces WIO-ReefFish, a high-resolution dataset of 1,000 ultra-high-definition images with 6,768 annotations for 24 taxonomic categories from the Western Indian Ocean, which serves as a realistic benchmark demonstrating that while class-agnostic fish localization is robust, taxonomic discrimination remains a significant challenge for automated coral reef monitoring.

Gerard, J., Branger, L., Huyghe, F., Kochzius, M., Otwoma, L., Bergacker, S., op't Roodt, L., Rumisha, c., Di Bella, L.2026-08-20
🌿 ecology

Redox heterogeneity as an engine of biodiversity: A quantitative murburn formalism for micro-oxic ecosystems

This paper proposes a quantitative "murburn" formalism demonstrating that intermediate oxygen tensions in micro-oxic ecosystems drive biodiversity by generating dynamic redox heterogeneity and diffusible reactive species, which create shifting fitness landscapes that spontaneously enable species coexistence and diversification without requiring external niche partitioning.

Manoj, K. M., Parashar, A.2026-08-20
🌿 ecology

Hibernation site dimensions influence bat abundance and diversity in the boreal zone

This study demonstrates that in the Finnish boreal zone, bunker length is the primary determinant of hibernating bat abundance and species composition, with longer structures supporting higher numbers of *Myotis* and *Plecotus auritus* while *Eptesicus nilssonii* utilizes bunkers of varying sizes but remains less abundant.

Matlova, M., Blomberg, A. S., Tidenberg, E.-M., Basok, M., Lilley, T., Fjelldal, M. A.2026-08-19
🌿 ecology

Bridging Ecological Inference and Decision Optimization for Conservation Using Artificial Intelligence

This paper introduces an IPM-DRL framework that integrates detailed ecological population modeling with deep reinforcement learning to generate superior, data-driven adaptive management strategies for the endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow, significantly outperforming existing heuristic approaches in balancing population persistence and genetic health.

Yoon, H. S., Yackulic, C. B., Lawson, A. J., Wagnon, C., Pregler, K.2026-08-15
🌿 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

Impact of selective logging on the population dynamics and genetic diversity in the neotropical timber tree Dicorynia guianensis

This study demonstrates that while selective logging in French Guiana alters dispersal dynamics and reproductive patterns of *Dicorynia guianensis*, it does not cause immediate genetic erosion, highlighting the species' resilience under current management practices while underscoring the need for long-term monitoring to ensure sustainable recruitment.

Bonnier, J., Traissac, S., Brunaux, O., Troispoux, V., Tysklind, N., Heuertz, M.2026-08-10