Ecology

Habitat fragmentation mediates the mechanisms underlying long-term climate-driven thermophilization in birds

1. Juan Liu
2. Morgan W Tingley
3. Qiang Wu
4. Peng Ren
5. Tinghao Jin
6. Ping Ding
7. Xingfeng Si

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This fundamental study substantially advances our understanding of how habitat fragmentation and climate change jointly influence bird community thermophilization in a fragmented island system. The authors provide convincing evidence using appropriate and validated methodologies to examine how island area and isolation affect the colonization of warm-adapted species and the extinction of cold-adapted species. This study is of high interest to ecologists and conservation biologists, as it provides insight into how ecosystems and communities respond to climate change.

Reviewed by eLife

General mechanisms for a top-down origin of the predator-prey power law

1. Onofrio Mazzarisi
2. Matthieu Barbier
3. Matteo Smerlak

Reviewed by Peer Community in Ecology

The Neuropeptide Sulfakinin, a peripheral regulator of insect behavioral switch between mating and foraging

1. Hong-Fei Li
2. Bao Dong
3. Yuan-Yuan Peng
4. Hao-Yue Luo
5. Xiao-Lan Ou
6. Zheng-Lin Ren
7. Yoonseong Park
8. Jin-Jun Wang
9. Hong-Bo Jiang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important work investigates the mechanism that underlies the switch between feeding and mating behaviors in the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis. Using a variety of approaches, the authors show that this switch is mediated by the neuropeptide, sulfakinin, acting peripherally through the sulfakinin receptor 1 to regulate the expression of antennal odorant receptors. The evidence is solid in support of the hypothesis that sulfakinin signaling mediates changes in the periphery, although additional experimental details would strengthen these claims.

Reviewed by eLife

Partitioning changes in ecosystem productivity by effects of species interactions in biodiversity experiments

1. Jing Tao
2. Charles A. Nock
3. Eric B. Searle
4. Shongming Huang
5. Rongzhou Man
6. Hua Yang
7. Grégoire T. Freschet
8. Cyrille Violle
9. Ji Zheng

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The authors propose that positive biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships found in experiments have been exaggerated because commonly used statistical analyses are flawed. To remedy this, a new type of analysis based on a concept of "partial density monoculture yield" is proposed. However, the presented concept and analysis methods are not reproducibly described, do not appear to be complete, and are inadequate for hypothesis testing. The reviewers found that the authors misinterpret current research in the field and made limited efforts to understand or address the reviewer comments on a previous version of the study.

Reviewed by eLife

Range geographies, not functional traits, explain convergent range and phenology shifts under climate change

1. Catherine Sirois-Delisle
2. Susan CC Gordon
3. Jeremy T Kerr

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This article presents valuable findings on the impact of climate change on odonates, integrating phenological and range shifts to broaden our understanding of biodiversity change. The study leverages extensive natural history data, offering a combined analysis of temporal trends in phenology and distribution and their potential drivers. The support for the findings is solid, though additional clarification regarding the methods and alternative sensitivity analyses could make the conclusions stronger.

Reviewed by eLife

Neuropeptide Bursicon and its receptor-mediated the transition from summer-form to winter-form of Cacopsylla chinensis

1. Zhixian Zhang
2. Jianying Li
3. Yilin Wang
4. Zhen Li
5. Xiaoxia Liu
6. Songdou Zhang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study reports that the neurohormone, bursicon, and its receptor, play a role in the seasonal polyphenism of the bug Cacopsylla chinensis. Low temperature activates the bursicon signaling pathway during the transition from the summer to the winter form, affecting cuticle pigment and thickness as well as chitin content. The solid experiments reveal how bursicon signaling, which is modulated by the microRNA miR-6012, regulates features of polyphenism related to the exoskeleton, although it is less clear what the upstream regulatory events are.

Reviewed by eLife

Negative impact of mild arid conditions in natural rodent populations revealed using markers of physiological condition in natura

1. Hamilcar Keilani
2. Nico Avenant
3. Pierre Caminade
4. Neville Pillay
5. Guila Ganem

Reviewed by Peer Community In Zoology

Desmodium Volatiles in “Push-Pull” Agriculture and Protection Against the Fall Armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda

1. Daria M Odermatt
2. Frank Chidawanyika
3. Daniel M Mutyambai
4. Bernhard Schmid
5. Luiz A Domeignoz-Horta
6. Amanuel Tamiru
7. Meredith C Schuman

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Research on push-pull systems often focuses on controlled environments, limiting our understanding of their effectiveness under real-world conditions. This important study has validated how push-pull systems work in natural settings. However, the manuscript remains incomplete, since the findings have only been partially supported, as acknowledged by the authors.

Reviewed by eLife

Full factorial construction of synthetic microbial communities

1. Juan Diaz-Colunga
2. Pablo Catalan
3. Magdalena San Roman
4. Andrea Arrabal
5. Alvaro Sanchez

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This manuscript introduces a new low-cost and accessible method for assembling combinatorially complete microbial consortia using basic laboratory equipment, which is a valuable contribution to the field of microbial ecology and biotechnology. The evidence presented is convincing, demonstrating the method's effectiveness through empirical testing on both synthetic colorants and Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains.

Reviewed by eLife, Arcadia Science

Wilting Wildflowers and Bummed-Out Bees: Climate Change Threatens U.S. State Symbols

1. Xuezhen Ge
2. Ya Zou
3. Heather A Hager
4. Jonathan A Newman

Reviewed by PREreview