Ecology

Variation in thermal physiology can drive the temperature-dependence of microbial community richness

1. Tom Clegg
2. Samraat Pawar

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study proposes a phenomenologically motivated theoretical framework to explain observed patterns of the temperature dependence of microbial diversity. The methodology is overall convincing, but the explanations of approximations and assumptions, and of their regime of validity, are incomplete. The manuscript should be of interest to microbial ecologists.

Reviewed by eLife

Reconstructing prevalence dynamics of wildlife pathogens from pooled and individual samples

1. Benny Borremans
2. Caylee A Falvo
3. Daniel E Crowley
4. Andrew Hoegh
5. James O Lloyd-Smith
6. Alison J Peel
7. Olivier Restif
8. Manuel Ruiz-Aravena
9. Raina K Plowright

Reviewed by Peer Community in Ecology

The Plasmodium transmission-blocking symbiont, Microsporidia MB , is vertically transmitted through Anopheles arabiensis germline stem cells

1. Thomas O. Onchuru
2. Edward E. Makhulu
3. Purity C. Ronnie
4. Stancy Mandere
5. Fidel G. Otieno
6. Joseph Gichuhi
7. Jeremy K. Herren

Reviewed by Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases

Multi-dimensionality of tree communities structure host-parasitoid networks and their phylogenetic composition

1. Ming-Qiang Wang
2. Shi-Kun Guo
3. Peng-Fei Guo
4. Juan-Juan Yang
5. Guo-Ai Chen
6. Douglas Chesters
7. Michael Orr
8. Ze-Qing Niu
9. Michael Staab
10. Jing-Ting Chen
11. Yi Li
12. Qing-Song Zhou
13. Felix Fornoff
14. Xiaoyu Shi
15. Shan Li
16. Massimo Martini
17. Alexandra-Maria Klein
18. Andreas Schuldt
19. Xiaojuan Liu
20. Keping Ma
21. Helge Bruelheide
22. Arong Luo
23. Chao-Dong Zhu

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The valuable work by authors improves our understanding on the effects of tree diversity on host-parasitoid communities of insects in forests in an experimental setting. Most of the analyses used are solid, but some of the conclusions seem a bit too strong and stretched.

Reviewed by eLife

Cross-transmission of resistant gastrointestinal nematodes between wildlife and transhumant sheep

1. Camille Beaumelle
2. Carole Toïgo
3. Rodolphe Papet
4. Slimania Benabed
5. Mathieu Beurier
6. Léa Bordes
7. Anaïs Brignone
8. Nadine Curt-Grand-Gaudin
9. Mathieu Garel
10. Justine Ginot
11. Philippe Jacquiet
12. Christian Miquel
13. Marie-Thérèse Poirel
14. Anna Serafino
15. Eric Vannard
16. Gilles Bourgoin
17. Glenn Yannic

Reviewed by Peer Community In Zoology

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

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

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study enhances our understanding of how habitat fragmentation and climate change jointly influence bird community thermophilization in a fragmented island system. The evidence supporting some conclusions is incomplete, as while the overall trends are convincing, some methodological aspects, particularly the isolation metrics and interpretation of colonization/extinction rates, require further clarification. This work will be of broad interest to ecologists and conservation biologists, providing crucial insights into how ecosystems and communities react to climate change.

Reviewed by eLife

Deciphering deep-sea chemosynthetic symbiosis by single-nucleus RNA-sequencing

1. Hao Wang
2. Kai He
3. Huan Zhang
4. Quanyong Zhang
5. Lei Cao
6. Jing Li
7. Zhaoshan Zhong
8. Hao Chen
9. Li Zhou
10. Chao Lian
11. Minxiao Wang
12. Kai Chen
13. Pei-Yuan Qian
14. Chaolun Li

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study provides an important cell type atlas of the gill of the mussel Gigantidas platifrons using a single nucleus RNA-seq dataset, a resource for the community of scientists studying deep sea physiology and metabolism and intracellular host-symbiont relationships. The evidence supporting the conclusions is convincing with high-quality single-nucleus RNA sequencing and transplant experiments. This work will be of broad relevance for scientists interested in host-symbiont relationships across ecosystems.

Reviewed by eLife

Accounting for observation biases associated with counts of young when estimating fecundity: case study on the arboreal-nesting red kite (Milvus milvus)

1. Rahel Sollmann
2. Nathalie Adenot
3. Peter Spakovszky
4. Jendrik Windt
5. Brady J. Mattsson

Reviewed by Peer Community in Ecology

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

  This work proposes that positive biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships found in experiments have been exaggerated because commonly used statistical analyses are flawed. As an alternative, the authors suggest a new analysis based on species competitive responses. Unfortunately, the presented methods are not reproducibly described, not yet complete, and inadequate for hypothesis testing. The reviewers agreed that the authors have either misinterpreted or chosen not to take into account much of the current research literature in the field of plant competition and biodiversity research.

Reviewed by eLife

Combining radio-telemetry and radar measurements to test optimal foraging in an aerial insectivore bird

1. Itai Bloch
2. David Troupin
3. Sivan Toledo
4. Ran Nathan
5. Nir Sapir

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This valuable work advances our understanding of the foraging behaviour of aerial insectivorous birds. Its major strength is the large volume of tracking data and the accuracy of those data. However, the evidence supporting the main claim of optimal foraging is incomplete.

Reviewed by eLife