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1. Community-engaged research enhances the scientific quality and societal impact of a long-term avian monitoring program in northwest Ecuador

   https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2024.1452459  

   Karubian, Jordan; Olivo, Jorge; Cabrera, Domingo; Freile, Juan; Browne, Luke; Anderson, H Luke; Cabo, Jairo; Paladines, Gregory; Loor, Gloria; Perlin_Wilde, Liat (January 2025, Frontiers in Conservation Science)

   IntroductionThere has been a growing realization that a more inclusive approach to research can provide both ethical and practical benefits. Long-term avian monitoring programs, and indeed the academic and research community as a whole, are still learning how best to implement these methodologies effectively. MethodsThis paper provides information on a twenty-plus-year effort to conduct community-engaged avian monitoring in northwest Ecuador, with a focus on how this approach has impacted the quality and scope of the project’s science and broader societal impacts. We focus on three case studies that have been proceeding for varying lengths of time to highlight various stages of project development and maturity. ResultsA community-engaged approach has improved the quality of our scientific research by adding traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), technical capacity, and intellectual contributions to our monitoring efforts. Community-engaged research has also enhanced the breadth and quality of societal impacts, in terms of education, capacity building, and conservation, particularly in the formation of an ecological reserve that protects threatened species and habitat. We also discuss systemic and local challenges, and potential strategies to overcome these challenges DiscussionWe conclude that community-engaged research can improve the intellectual merit and broader societal impacts of long-term avian monitoring, and we advocate for continued investment, efforts, and careful reflection on best practices in this space. 

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2. Dispersal Limitation Governs Bacterial Community Assembly in the Northern Pitcher Plant ( Sarracenia purpurea ) at the Continental Scale

   https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13922  

   Cagle, Grace A; McGrew, Alicia; Baiser, Benjamin; Record, Sydne; Gotelli, Nicholas J; Gravel, Dominique; Bittleston, Leonora S; Young, Erica B; Gray, Sarah M; Freedman, Zachary B (December 2024, Global Ecology and Biogeography)

   ABSTRACT AimEcological theory suggests that dispersal limitation and selection by climatic factors influence bacterial community assembly at a continental scale, yet the conditions governing the relative importance of each process remains unclear. The carnivorous pitcher plantSarracenia purpureaprovides a model aquatic microecosystem to assess bacterial communities across the host plant's north–south range in North America. This study determined the relative influences of dispersal limitation and environmental selection on the assembly of bacterial communities inhabitingS. purpureapitchers at the continental scale. LocationEastern United States and Canada. Time Period2016. Major Taxa StudiedBacteria inhabitingS. purpureapitchers. MethodsPitcher morphology, fluid, inquilines and prey were measured, and pitcher fluid underwent DNA sequencing for bacterial community analysis. Null modelling of β‐diversity provided estimates for the contributions of selection and dispersal limitation to community assembly, complemented by an examination of spatial clustering of individuals. Phylogenetic and ecological associations of co‐occurrence network module bacteria was determined by assessing the phylogenetic diversity and habitat preferences of member taxa. ResultsDispersal limitation was evident from between‐site variation and spatial aggregation of individual bacterial taxa in theS. purpureapitcher system. Selection pressure was weak across the geographic range, yet network module analysis indicated environmental selection within subgroups. A group of aquatic bacteria held traits under selection in warmer, wetter climates, and midge abundance was associated with selection for traits held by a group of saprotrophs. Processes that increased pitcher fluid volume weakened selection in one module, possibly by supporting greater bacterial dispersal. ConclusionDispersal limitation governed bacterial community assembly inS. purpureapitchers at a continental scale (74% of between‐site comparisons) and was significantly greater than selection across the range. Network modules showed evidence for selection, demonstrating that multiple processes acted concurrently in bacterial community assembly at the continental scale. 

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3. Temporal changes in the individual size distribution modulate the long‐term trends of biomass and energy use of North American breeding bird communities

   https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13777  

   Diaz, Renata M; Ernest, S_K Morgan (October 2023, Global Ecology and Biogeography)

   Abstract AimThe frequency of different body sizes in an ecological community (the individual size distribution, or ISD) is a key link between the number of individual organisms present in a community and community function—total biomass or total energy use. If the ISD changes over time, the dynamics of community function may become decoupled from trends in abundance. Understanding how, and how often, the ISD modulates the relationship between abundance, biomass and energy use is of critical importance to understand biodiversity trends in the Anthropocene. Here, we conduct the first macroecological‐scale analysis of this type for avian communities. LocationNorth America, north of Mexico. Time Period1989–2018. Major Taxa StudiedBreeding birds. MethodsWe used species' traits to generate annual ISDs for bird communities in the North American Breeding Bird Survey. We compared the long‐term trends in total biomass and energy use to the trends generated from a null model of an unchanging ISD. ResultsTrends in biomass have been evenly split between increases and decreases, but the trends predicted by the null model were dominated by decreases. A substantial number of communities have undergone a shift in the ISD favouring larger bodied species, resulting in a less negative trend in biomass than would be expected had the ISD remained static. Trends in energy use more closely paralleled the null model. Main ConclusionsTaking changes in the ISD into account qualitatively changes the continental‐scale picture of how biomass and energy use have changed over the past 30 years. For North American breeding birds, shifts in species composition favouring larger bodied species may have partially offset declines in standing biomass driven by losses of individuals over the past 30 years. 

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4. Dominance and rarity in tree communities across the globe: Patterns, predictors and threats

   https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13889  

   Hordijk, Iris; Bialic‐Murphy, Lalasia; Lauber, Thomas; Routh, Devin; Poorter, Lourens; Rivers, Malin C; ter_Steege, Hans; Liang, Jingjing; Reich, Peter B; de‐Miguel, Sergio; et al (October 2024, Global Ecology and Biogeography)

   Abstract AimEcological and anthropogenic factors shift the abundances of dominant and rare tree species within local forest communities, thus affecting species composition and ecosystem functioning. To inform forest and conservation management it is important to understand the drivers of dominance and rarity in local tree communities. We answer the following research questions: (1) What are the patterns of dominance and rarity in tree communities? (2) Which ecological and anthropogenic factors predict these patterns? And (3) what is the extinction risk of locally dominant and rare tree species? LocationGlobal. Time period1990–2017. Major taxa studiedTrees. MethodsWe used 1.2 million forest plots and quantified local tree dominance as the relative plot basal area of the single most dominant species and local rarity as the percentage of species that contribute together to the least 10% of plot basal area. We mapped global community dominance and rarity using machine learning models and evaluated the ecological and anthropogenic predictors with linear models. Extinction risk, for example threatened status, of geographically widespread dominant and rare species was evaluated. ResultsCommunity dominance and rarity show contrasting latitudinal trends, with boreal forests having high levels of dominance and tropical forests having high levels of rarity. Increasing annual precipitation reduces community dominance, probably because precipitation is related to an increase in tree density and richness. Additionally, stand age is positively related to community dominance, due to stem diameter increase of the most dominant species. Surprisingly, we find that locally dominant and rare species, which are geographically widespread in our data, have an equally high rate of elevated extinction due to declining populations through large‐scale land degradation. Main conclusionsBy linking patterns and predictors of community dominance and rarity to extinction risk, our results suggest that also widespread species should be considered in large‐scale management and conservation practices. 

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5. Consequences of the Megafauna Extinction: Changes in Food Web Networks on the Edwards Plateau Across the Pleistocene–Holocene Transition

   https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.70113  

   Smith, Quentin A; Tomé, Catalina P; Gearty, William; Smith, Felisa A; Shizuka, Daizaburo; Lyons, S Kathleen (December 2025, Global Ecology and Biogeography)

   ABSTRACT AimsToday, we are experiencing rapid biodiversity loss due to climate change and human impacts. Such biodiversity loss is not only harmful to the environment but can also alter the composition of communities and the interactions of their members. The late Pleistocene experienced a drastic loss of large‐bodied mammals which resulted in significant changes in community structure due to changes in body size, diet, and species associations. However, the effect of climate change on species interactions and community structure across the Pleistocene–Holocene transition remains poorly understood. LocationEdwards Plateau, Texas. Time PeriodLate Pleistocene–Holocene. Major Taxa StudiedTerrestrial Mammals. MethodsUsing a robust data set on mammal species composition, stable isotopes, and body size, we constructed ecological networks for 16 time intervals across the last 22,000 years on the Edwards Plateau, Texas. We compared the structure and shifts in the food web over time using modularity and an index of node overlap and segregation. ResultsWe found that node overlap and connectance increased while modularity decreased over time. Spearman‐Rank correlation analyses indicate that changes in all network metrics were not driven by changes in species richness across time, nor were they driven by climate change. The degree of node overlap and connectance also shifted dramatically across the Pleistocene–Holocene transition and was significantly different from null model expectations in the Holocene but not in the Pleistocene. Main ConclusionsThese results suggest that the transition from a diverse and compartmentalised network to a network of less complexity with an overlap of interacting species may have been driven by other factors that altered the food web. This implies that the change in mammal food web structure of the Edwards Plateau was mainly a consequence of the megafauna extinctions and not coupled with climate change. 

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