🌿 Category

ecology

312 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

Evaluation of Phosphogypsum and Pore Volume Water Rates for Reclaiming Saline-Sodic Cambisols of Metehara Sugar Estate, Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

A laboratory column study on Metehara Sugar Estate's saline-sodic Cambisols determined that applying phosphogypsum at 100% or higher of the gypsum requirement combined with 3–4 pore volumes of leaching water is the most effective strategy for reducing soil salinity and sodicity to levels suitable for crop production, though field validation is recommended before finalizing implementation guidelines.

Gonfa, K. F., Tsehai, K. K., Jiru, S. F., Mirkena, L. W.2026-03-13
🌿 ecology

BatSpot: a retrainable neural network for automatic detection and classification of bat echolocation and detection of buzzes and social calls

BatSpot is a retrainable convolutional neural network with a user-friendly interface that outperforms existing tools in automatically detecting and classifying bat echolocation search calls, buzzes, and social calls, while enabling researchers to easily adapt the model to specific geographic regions for improved conservation monitoring.

Smeele, S. Q., Hauer, C., Bergler, C., Dechmann, D. K. N., Dietzer, M. T., Elmeros, M., Fjederholt, E. T., Fogato, A., K (…)2026-03-13
🌿 ecology

Windthrow-generated tip-up mounds create contrasting regeneration niches for red oak and black cherry in a deer-browsed Carolinian forest

This study demonstrates that windthrow-generated tip-up mounds create drier, well-aerated soil conditions that selectively favor black cherry seedling survival over red oak, offering critical regeneration niches for specific tree species in Carolinian forests increasingly constrained by white-tailed deer browsing on the forest floor.

Anyomi, K., Duan, J.2026-03-13
🌿 ecology

SPECIES DISTRIBUTION PROJECTIONS UNDER INTERNAL CLIMATE VARIABILITY REVEAL MULTIPLE PLAUSIBLE FUTURES REQUIRING FLEXIBLE CLIMATE-READY DECISIONS

This study demonstrates that internal climate variability can produce qualitatively different and even reversed species distribution outcomes across marine and terrestrial ecosystems, necessitating flexible, stress-tested decision-making strategies that account for multiple plausible climate futures rather than relying on single best-estimate projections.

Benavides-Martinez, I. F., Mawalagedara, R., Ray, A., Aggarwal, K., Allyn, A., Mills, K. E., Ganguly, A. R.2026-03-13
🌿 ecology

Validating wing biopsies for blood-borne pathogen characterization in bats

While wing biopsies from common vampire bats show a lower probability of detecting blood-borne pathogens compared to blood samples, they remain a viable, less invasive method for initial pathogen discovery and characterizing infections, though they are less ideal for accurately estimating infection prevalence.

Simonis, M. C., Vicente-Santos, A. C., Lock, L. R., Dyer, K. E., Olbrys, B. L., Fenton, B., Sears, K. E., Volokhov, D. V (…)2026-03-13
🌿 ecology

Herbarium specimens reliably track plant phenological responses to climate change in understudied montane biomes

This study demonstrates that herbarium specimens are reliable resources for tracking plant phenological responses to climate change in montane systems, showing consistent flowering time estimates and sensitivity to snow density with field observations, though they may slightly underestimate temperature sensitivity and benefit from focusing on early-flowering individuals to capture community-level trends.

Peng, S., Inouye, B. D., Ramirez-Parada, T., Mazer, S. J., Record, S., Ellison, A. M., Davis, C. C.2026-03-13
🌿 ecology

Trait misalignment risk in North American forests under climate change

This study analyzes over 42,000 forest plots across North America to quantify the risk of trait misalignment between current forest communities and projected late-century climates, revealing that high-latitude and montane conifer forests face the greatest functional incompatibility while high species richness serves as a critical buffer against these adverse outcomes.

Pickering, A., Newbold, T., Pigot, A. L., Tovar, C., Maynard, D. S.2026-03-13