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The effects of the present biodiversity crisis have been largely focused on the loss of species. However, a missed component of biodiversity loss that often accompanies or even precedes species disappearance is the extinction of ecological interactions. Here, we propose a novel model that (i) relates the diversity of both species and interactions along a gradient of environmental deterioration and (ii) explores how the rate of loss of ecological functions, and consequently of ecosystem services, can be accelerated or restrained depending on how the rate of species loss covaries with the rate of interactions loss. We find that the loss of species and interactions are decoupled, such that ecological interactions are often lost at a higher rate. This implies that the loss of ecological interactions may occur well before species disappearance, affecting species functionality and ecosystems services at a faster rate than species extinctions. We provide a number of empirical case studies illustrating these points. Our approach emphasizes the importance of focusing on species interactions as the major biodiversity component from which the ?health? of ecosystems depends.

Fleshy fruits have evolved multiple times and display a tremendous diversity of colours, shapes, aromas and textures. For over a century this was attributed, at least in part, to frugivore‐driven selection. The dispersal syndrome hypothesis posits that fruits and frugivores co‐evolved, each exerting sufficient selective pressure on one another, and resulting to in suites of fruit traits that match frugivore behaviour, morphology and sensory capacities. In the last two decades of the past century, the dispersal syndrome hypothesis has been deemed overly adaptationist. Challenges are based on a variety of arguments, primarily that previous studies did not sufficiently incorporate a phylogenetic framework, and that non‐adaptive factors can explain a great deal of extant fruit trait variation. In recent years, many studies have addressed these issues and found support for the dispersal syndrome hypothesis. As empirical evidence mounts, it's become increasingly clear that many fruit traits—primarily size, colour and scent—are strongly affected by frugivore trait preference. At the same time, many studies do not sufficiently consider the many confounding factors involved in fruit trait evolution. We review the evidence supporting the dispersal syndrome hypothesis and highlight the existing gaps in knowledge and the factors that are currently still not fully incorporated into the study of the evolution of fruit traits. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article

Mycotoxin-producing Fusarium graminearum and related species cause Fusarium head blight on cultivated grasses, such as wheat and barley. However, these Fusarium species may have had a longer evolutionary history with North American grasses than with cultivated crops and may interact with the ancestral hosts in ways which are biochemically distinct. We assayed 25 species of asymptomatic native grasses for the presence of Fusarium species and confirmed infected grasses as hosts using re-inoculation tests. We examined seed from native grasses for the presence of mycotoxin-producing Fusarium species and evaluated the ability of these fungi to produce mycotoxins in both native grass and wheat hosts using biochemical analysis. Mycotoxin-producing Fusarium species were shown to be prevalent in phylogenetically diverse native grasses, colonizing multiple tissue types, including seeds, leaves and inflorescence structures. Artificially inoculated grasses accumulated trichothecenes to a much lesser extent than wheat, and naturally infected grasses showed little to no accumulation. Native North American grasses are commonly inhabited by Fusarium species, but appear to accommodate these toxigenic fungi differently from cultivated crops. This finding highlights how host identity and evolutionary history may influence the outcome of plant–fungal interactions and may inform future efforts in crop improvement.

Fil: More, Marcela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina

Access to greater genomic resolution through new sequencing technologies is transforming the field of plant pathology. As scientists embrace these new methods, some overarching patterns and observations come into focus. Evolutionary genomic studies are used to determine not only the origins of pathogen lineages and geographic patterns of genetic diversity, but also to discern how natural selection structures genetic variation across the genome. With greater and greater resolution, we can now pinpoint the targets of selection on a large scale. At multiple levels, crypsis and convergent evolution are evident. Host jumps and shifts may be more pervasive than once believed, and hybridization and horizontal gene transfer (HGT) likely play important roles in the emergence of genetic novelty.

Severe precipitation in the Yangtze River Basin (YRB) poses escalating flood risks, underscoring urgent needs for skillful subseasonal prediction. In this study, we develop an integrated dynamical‐statistical downscaling model based on overlapping circulation‐precipitation co‐evolution (OCPCE), which merges prior and concurrent circulation evolution to predict rainfall anomalies. The core innovation shifts from conventional downscaling of dynamical model‐predicted circulation to an integrated framework combining observed recent evolution with highly predictable portions of future circulation from dynamical subseasonal‐to‐seasonal (S2S) models within an optimal overlapping time window. Implemented via evolution‐based singular value decomposition, this design maximizes retention of useful initial information while suppressing lower‐skill long‐lead predictions. The OCPCE model demonstrates statistically significant deterministic skill over YRB and reliable probabilistic predictions at 10–40‐day leads, substantially outperforming direct ECMWF‐S2S predictions. This work offers a physically coherent and operationally viable framework for improving subseasonal precipitation prediction, providing critical support for early flood warning and proactive disaster prevention.

1. Although secondary metabolites are recognized as fundamental to the defence of plants against insect and mammalian herbivores, their relative importance compared to other potential defensive plant traits (e.g. physical resistance, gross morphology, life-history, primary chemistry and physiology) are not well understood. 2. We conducted a meta-analysis to answer the question: What types of genetically variable plant traits most strongly predict resistance against herbivores? We performed a comprehensive literature search and obtained 499 separate measurements of the strength of covariation (measured as genetic correlations) between plant traits and herbivore susceptibility – these were extracted from 72 studies involving 19 plant families. 3. Surprisingly, we found no overall association between the concentrations of secondary metabolites and herbivore susceptibility – plant traits other than secondary metabolites most strongly predicted herbivore susceptibility. Specifically, genetic variation in life-history traits (e.g. flowering time, growth rate) consistently exhibited the strongest genetic correlations with susceptibility. Genetic variation in gross morphological traits (e.g. no. branches, plant size) and physical resistance traits (e.g. latex, trichomes) were also frequently correlated with variation in herbivore susceptibility, but these relationships depended on attributes of the herbivores (e.g. feeding guild) and plants (e.g. longevity). 4. These results call into question the conventional wisdom that secondary metabolites are the most important anti-herbivore defence of plants. We propose the hypothesis that herbivores select most strongly on genetic variation in life-history, morphological and physical resistance traits, but the greater pleiotropic effects of genes controlling these traits impose strong constraints on their evolution. Meanwhile, secondary metabolites could have evolved to be important defensive mechanisms not because they have the largest effect on herbivores, but because the constraints on their evolution are the weakest.

1. In this essay I summarize current trends in the evolutionary ecology of plant defence, while advocating for approaches that integrate community ecology with specific tests of classic evolutionary hypotheses. Several conclusions emerge. 2. The microevolution of defence is perhaps best studied by reciprocal transplant experiments of differentiated plant populations while simultaneously manipulating the presence of the herbivore(s) hypothesized to be the agent(s) of natural selection. 3. Although there is continued interest in the costs of defence, I argue that some empirical approaches to estimating costs (e.g. genetic engineering) may provide limited insight into evolutionary processes. 4. Essentially all plants employ several different lines of defence against herbivory. It is thus time to abandon searching for single silver bullet traits and the simple trade-off model (where traits are arbitrarily expected to negatively covary across genotypes or species). We still know very little about which trait combinations are most effective and have repeatedly evolved together. Thus, some of our prominent theories (e.g. a predicted trade-off between direct and indirect defence) need to be revised. 5. Studies of the macroevolution of plant defence are enjoying renewed interest due to available phylogenies and analytical methods. Although general trends are not currently surmisable, we will soon have strong case studies evaluating both biotic and abiotic drivers of convergent evolution in defence strategies and the role of defence evolution in the adaptive radiation of plant lineages. 6. The evolution of specificity is proposed as a final frontier in understanding complexity in plant-herbivore interactions. Although it is abundantly clear that plants can deploy highly specific defensive responses that are differentially perceived by herbivore species, how such responses evolve and are physiologically regulated remains an important gap. Relatively straightforward methodologies are now available to close the loop between plant perception of herbivory, hormonal responses, and production of defensive end-products across genotype or species.

Some scientists who study animals have emphasized the need to focus on the \"point of view\" of the animals they are studying. This methodological shift has led to animals being credited with much more agency than is warranted. However, as critics suggest, on the one hand, the \"perspective\" of another being rests mostly upon \"sympathetic projection,\" and may be difficult to apply to unfamiliar beings, such as bees or even flowers. On the other hand, the very notion of agency still conveys its classic understanding as intentional, rational, and premeditated, and is still embedded in humanist and Christian conceptions of human exceptionalism. This paper seeks, in the first part, to investigate the practical link between these two notions and the problems they raise. In the second part, following the work of two historians of science who have revisited Darwin's studies of orchids and their pollinators, it will observe a shift in the meaning of the concept of agency. Indeed, creatures may appear as \"secret agents\" as long as we adopt a conventional definition of agency based on subjective experience and autonomous intention. However, when reframed in the terms of \"agencement\"—an assemblage that produces \"agentivity\"—agency seems to be much more extensively shared in the living world. We will then explore some of the concrete situations in which these agencements are manifested, and through which creatures of different species become, one for another and one with another, companion-agents.