Ecography

Reliable models of species niches and distributions depend on accurately matching occurrences to environments via spatial and temporal coordinates. For fossil occurrences, time-averaging and age uncertainty can create mismatches between fossils and their associated environments, distorting inferred niches and distributions. Using a virtual ecology approach, we assessed how temporal uncertainty ({+/-}200 years to the full late Quaternary) influences niche and distribution estimates for four virtual species centered on three periods: Holocene (6,000 y.b.p), deglacial (13,500 y.b.p.), and Last Glacial Maximum (18,000 k.y.b.p.). We compared uncertain estimates, derived by matching occurrences with environmental layers drawn from different times within each uncertainty window, against true niches and distributions. We found that during environmentally stable intervals, niches and distributions were robust to temporal uncertainty until it reached {+/-}2500 years. Higher environmental variability reduced accuracy, with the greatest mismatch occurring during the deglacial. These results demonstrate both the promise and limitations of paleodistribution reconstruction.

AimUnderstanding whether invasive species retain or shift their ecological niches has traditionally relied on scalar overlap metrics that quantify the magnitude of niche change, but not its structure. Here, we test whether biological invasions involve a reorganisation of the environmental axes along which native and invasive ranges are differentiated, and whether the dominant axes of this reorganisation are consistently associated with invasion pathway type (intercontinental vs. within-continent). LocationGlobal (North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australasia). Time periodContemporary (environmental variables representing long-term averages, 1980-2021). Major taxa studiedFreshwater crayfish (Decapoda: Astacidea): Procambarus clarkii, Faxonius limosus, Pacifastacus leniusculus, Faxonius virilis, Faxonius rusticus. MethodsWe analysed native and invasive occurrences for five globally important crayfish invaders using [~]400 hydrologically resolved environmental variables from the Global Crayfish Database of Geospatial Traits. Classification models were used to quantify environmental differentiation between native and invasive ranges, and feature contributions were aggregated by environmental domain (climate, topography, soil, land cover). Patterns were evaluated across intercontinental and within-continent invasion pathways and assessed for robustness using cross-validation, permutation tests, sample-size sensitivity, and comparisons with classical niche overlap metrics. ResultsNative and invasive occurrences were consistently distinguishable across all species (accuracy 96.5-99.9%). A pathway-dependent pattern emerged: intercontinental invaders were primarily differentiated along climatic dimensions (58-76% of model importance), whereas within-continent invaders showed a more balanced contribution of climatic and topographic variables ([~]42% each), including strong signals from river network position. This contrast was stable across cross-validation folds (SD < 1.6%), and supported by permutation tests (P = 0.001). Classical niche overlap metrics (Schoeners D = 0.30-0.62) did not capture this qualitative distinction. Main conclusionsBiological invasions involve not only changes in niche position but a reorganisation of the environmental axes that distinguish species distributions. Our results suggest that the dominant axes of this reorganisation differ systematically with invasion pathway, reflecting whether species encounter novel climatic regimes or primarily shift within existing climatic space along topographic and network-position gradients. By resolving which environmental dimensions underpin native-invasive differentiation, this approach provides a complementary perspective to scalar overlap metrics and a basis for more mechanistic interpretations of invasion processes.

Sky islands, mountain-top forests isolated by surrounding lowlands, offer unique opportunities to test how past and present landscapes shape species distributions. We examined the distribution of the Arizona gray squirrel (Sciurus arizonensis) across the Madrean Archipelago to test the constraint-based dynamic island biogeography (C-DIB) model, which posits that current occupancy in the sky islands reflects historical habitat size and connectivity. Using verified specimen records, we modeled climatically suitable habitats across four time periods: the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), Mid-Holocene (MH), Present, and Future. For each mountain, we quantified suitable habitat area and estimated least-cost dispersal distances to assess both persistence and colonization potential. Our results suggest that species presence is best explained by LGM habitat metrics, which marginally outperformed models based on current conditions. Mountains that were large or well-connected during the LGM continue to support S. arizonensis, whereas historically isolated ranges remain unoccupied despite suitable contemporary habitat. These findings indicate a legacy of Pleistocene connectivity and reveal patterns of distributional disequilibrium. Furthermore, climatically suitable habitat for S. arizonensis has shifted both elevationally and geographically through time, reflecting long-term responses to climatic change. Together, these results emphasize the importance of protecting historically connected refugia, restoring riparian corridors that facilitate dispersal, and developing mountain range-specific management strategies that account for elevational shifts and potential downslope habitat recovery under future climate scenarios.

AimThe Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is the most prominent source of species occurrence data for modeling climate niches, but exhibits strong unevenness in its data coverage across different geographic regions. The impact of this spatial bias on the reliability of GBIF-based plant climate niches in Europe remains unexplored. This study aims to address this gap, and to investigate whether the targeted integration of additional atlas data can reduce the potential impact of the spatial bias. LocationEurope. Time period1950s - 2024 Major taxa studiedEuropean grassland plant species. MethodsWe analyzed the climate niches of a large number of grassland species, with diverse distribution patterns across Europe, based on a) GBIF and b) on an enriched version of GBIF with national atlas data from Eastern European countries (GBIF+), where data coverage is currently low in GBIF. We followed best practices in niche characterization, particularly by performing environmental subsampling. The accuracy in climate niche properties was determined by comparing niches based on GBIF and GBIF+ data with niches based on a careful implementation of expert range maps as reference dataset. We focused on niche optimum position and niche similarity. Additionally, we investigated how biogeographical indicators can predict variability in climate niche accuracy. ResultsMost species exhibited reliable climate niche characterization using GBIF data, especially for widely distributed species. Yet, reliability decreased with continentality; that is, when species were primarily distributed in Eastern Europe. Integrating additional data did not significantly reduce this bias in niche characterization. Main conclusionsDespite the spatial bias in its records, GBIF can be used to reliably characterize the climate niches of many species in Europe if uneven sampling effort is accounted for. The laborious integration of additional data to address spatial bias does not yield the desired increase in niche reliability.

A defining feature of climate change is the increasing frequency, intensity, and severity of extreme weather events. Among them, extreme heat is recognized as a critical driver of ecological and evolutionary change. Intense heat episodes can exceed physiological limits, alter animal movement, restructure geographic ranges, and increase extinction risk more than gradual changes to mean temperatures. Yet links between extreme heat events and organismal biology remain limited, in part because definitions and metrics are not standardized, and user-friendly workflows and guides are lacking for many biologists. We present a methodological roadmap, with reproducible code, for integrating extreme heat into studies of behavior, physiology, biophysical ecology, species distribution models (SDMs), and population dynamics. First, we provide standardized computational approaches to define and quantify extreme heat. Second, we fit species distribution models for California quail (Callipepla californica) that include an extreme heat metric and showcase improved predictions of habitat suitability, particularly at range edges. Third, we compute biophysical simulations to quantify exposure to thermal stress in Sleepy lizards (Tiliqua rugosa) across distinct macro- and microclimates. Finally, accounting for temporal autocorrelation in temperature profiles in population simulation models, we show that clustered heat extremes--missed by averages--can increase the risk of population collapse. As extreme heat events become more common, incorporating their dynamics is essential for understanding ecological and evolutionary change, designing experiments across species geographic ranges, and supporting conservation in a rapidly warming world. Together, these case studies illustrate a reproducible, organism-informed roadmap to integrate extreme heat into predictions of ecological impacts and inference across levels of biological organization under ongoing climate change.

The scale at which diversity is observed shapes the patterns we find. While spatial scale is known to influence biodiversity patterns, the effects of temporal scale, namely the average duration of sampling (known as temporal span), have been mostly overlooked. Here, we investigate how temporal span affects species richness patterns, their environmental drivers, and species richness hotspots. We used species richness data from several large bird datasets from Czechia, with over 7000 observations, a spatial grain ranging from 0.03 to 100 km2, and a temporal span ranging from 1 to 36 years (1985-2017). Using Random Forests, we modelled species richness as a response to temporal span, while also including area, geographic location, time, and environmental and land-cover predictors. We found that the temporal span is consistently among the most important predictors of bird species richness. Moreover, temporal span interacts with key environmental conditions, particularly precipitation and water bodies, modulating their effects on species richness and revealing processes that differ from those traditionally attributed solely to spatial grain. We also found that using different time spans can shift the predicted locations of biodiversity hotspots. Our results provide empirical evidence that temporal span should be included in studies about biodiversity and conservation planning, given the urgent challenges arising from ongoing biodiversity change and the complexity of its drivers.

Theory suggests that different components of environmental fluctuations, from daily and seasonal cycles to multidecadal trends, can have distinct and even opposing effects on species abundances and community dynamics, depending on their specific adaptations. But empirical research that deconstructs the influence of these different cycles on communities is lacking. Here, we used long-term biological monitoring data together with flow records of rivers across New Zealand to (i) investigate the role of fast, slow, and seasonal river-flow fluctuations in structuring macroinvertebrate communities; and (ii) to assess whether life-history and mobility traits mediate the response. Using joint species distribution models, we found striking differences in taxon and community responses to the different components of river flow variation. Responses to slow fluctuations were generally stronger and better predicted by traits, while responses to seasonal fluctuations were highly heterogeneous. Fast increases in flow, typical of flooding events, had pervasive negative effects on species abundances, but the severity of impact partly depended on mobility traits. Our results suggest that different ecological mechanisms underpin the response to distinct environmental fluctuations, highlighting the value of jointly considering multiple temporal scales of variation and species functional traits to understand and predict how communities reorganise under fluctuating environmental regimes.

Biologists aim to predict where species will survive and thrive as the planet warms. To do so, we often rely on data-hungry species distribution models (SDMs) that use associations between species occurrences and environmental predictors to capture the realised niche. An alternative basis for predictions is to experimentally quantify the effect of environmental drivers on performance, which captures the fundamental niche. We presently do not know which of these approaches represents a better path towards accurate forecasts. SDMs may depend too strongly on present-day environmental covariation, which will change in the future. In contrast, a major shortcoming of experiments is that they ignore most environmental drivers to focus on one or two. Quantifying how well fundamental and realised niches agree today would help establish how useful both SDMs and experiments are likely to be. We therefore compared both niches in 39 relatively common marine phytoplankton species. The temperature-dependence of population growth rate was characterised with a thermal performance curve model applied to lab experimental data, and the temperature-dependence of species occurrence probability estimated with SDMs applied to a global compilation of marine presence records. We found a fairly strong, near 1:1 relationship between measures of thermal niche centre: the median growth temperature in the lab and the median occurrence temperature in the field (R2 = 0.49). We also found a modest positive relationship between measures of thermal niche width, the growth niche width and the occurrence niche width (R2 = 0.24). This agreement should increase our confidence in environmental preferences inferred with SDMs. It also suggests that simple experiments can reliably constrain species ranges and help forecast range shifts. This has important implications for forecasting community composition and ecosystem processes, as we ought to be able to predict range shifts in biogeochemically-important taxa such as diatoms and nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria.

Species interactions can determine species population sizes, geographic ranges, evolutionary trajectories, and responses to environmental change. Yet, despite their importance to many fundamental and applied questions, information on species interactions is often lacking due to constraints in data collection. Billions of text comments that have been submitted by millions of citizen scientists around the world have the potential to fill these gaps. Comments can be used to identify biotic interactions using advanced large language models (LLMs), providing a novel source of interaction data that is unusually high in spatiotemporal coverage, breadth, and resolution. This novel approach opens new avenues to evaluate species interactions on a broader scale, and to characterize and conserve biodiversity under pressing global change. Highlights- Although species interactions are central to biodiversity dynamics, progress in resolving their fundamental properties and forecasting their shifts under global change has been hindered by persistent data limitations - Citizen science platforms contain billions of observer text comments that often contain valuable information about species interactions, but the unstructured format of the information and the size of the datasets make these comments difficult to use - Large language models (LLMs) provide an unparalleled opportunity to collect and analyze species interactions from such comments - Using two case studies, we present a workflow that leverages LLMs to automatically collect species interaction observations from citizen science comments in multiple languages around the world - Such a novel source of data greatly expands the data coverage and resolution of species interactions across space and time and can help to answer both long-standing ecological questions and new, pressing questions about ecological responses to global change

Substantial anthropogenic changes to the environment have motivated efforts to quantify temporal trends in population dynamics. While most ecological research has focused on the mean and variance of population density and reproduction, the frequency of these fluctuations through time may also be changing. We analyzed 1,563 datasets of population density and 1,456 datasets of plant reproduction (masting) across the globe. The average frequency of fluctuations increased by [~] 0.5 - 3% per decade within each time series, representing a moderate change (Cohens d {approx} 0.4) over a period of 60 years. We tested four hypothesized mediators of this trend: increased temperature, increased frequency of environmental forcing, increased intrinsic growth rate, and increased distance from a saddle at zero density. Although all hypotheses were rejected, changes in the frequency of environmental forcing and intrinsic growth rate exhibited positive correlations with changes in population fluctuation frequency as expected. Our results suggest that successive peaks in population and masting density fluctuations are becoming closer in time, which may reduce the effectiveness of predator satiation, resilience of food-webs, and the risk of critical transitions, such as population extinction. We suggest some alternative hypotheses for what may underlie this surprising global pattern.

Urbanization and human-induced environmental changes create unique and unprecedented thermal landscapes, yet the extent to which species respond to these changes remains poorly understood. One major challenge in studying these responses is the spatial mismatch between the small scale at which organisms experience their environment and the broader scale at which climate data are typically collected. We use Infrared Thermography (IRT) to quantify the fine scale microclimate in urban and rural habitats used by two tropical agamid lizards, Calotes versicolor and Psammophilus dorsalis. By combining field-based body temperatures and lab-based measures of thermal limits (CTmax, CTmin)and preferences (Tpref), we assess how the thermal heterogeneity of these fine mosaics of microhabitats influence the degree of thermoregulation (k) of these species. We find that thermal responses to urbanization are shaped by species-specific thermal traits and patterns of microhabitat use. Between the species, urban individuals did not differ markedly in habitat thermal heterogeneity, substrate temperature used or degree of thermoconformity. However, within species, P. dorsalis experiences warmer and more heterogeneous conditions in rural habitats, whereas C. versicolor experiences similar thermal conditions across habitats. Calotes versicolor also exhibits broader thermal tolerance and preferred temperature ranges than P. dorsalis. Collectively, our results suggest that P. dorsalis may be more susceptible to the thermal constraints imposed by human-modified landscapes. Overall, we demonstrate the critical need to account for microclimatic conditions and species-specific thermal traits when determining how animals respond to changes in the thermal environment expected from climate change.

Paleobiologists commonly use genera as a proxy for species in biodiversity studies. However, a lingering concern is that patterns among genera might not always faithfully reflect patterns among species. To date, the concern has focused chiefly on measured patterns of richness over time and on implied origination and extinction rates. However, similar issues might arise for studies of morphological disparity. Moreover, there potentially are additional implications of disparity patterns among species versus those among genera concerning the range of observable anatomical characters and whether disparity within genera is comparable to disparity among genera. If clades have some relatively slowly changing characters that workers have used to denote different genera, then we would expect to see congeneric species to cluster in morphospace; however, if such characters are rare, then within-genus disparity might approach among-genus disparity. Here, we use genus-level and species-level disparity patterns among acanthoceratid ammonoids from the Late Cretaceous. In particular, we examine whether these different level imply different evolutionary dynamics over a major ecological event (Ocean Anoxic Event 2) and how disparity within genera (i.e., among congeneric species) compares to disparity among genera. We find genus-level disparity somewhat inflates early acanthoceratid disparity but implies similar patterns over the OAE2. We also find that within-genus disparity is slightly lower than among-genus, but not hugely so. The combined results suggest that acanthoceratoid shell anatomy does not really show "genus" level characters, even if congeneric species do tend to be more similar to each other than to species in other genera. Thus, this might provide more of a warning for other types of studies using anatomical data (e.g., phylogenetic studies) than for disparity studies. Non-technical SummaryMany paleobiologists use genera to examine scientific questions. This leads to questions over whether this broader approach misses important species-level patterns. This study uses acanthoceratid ammonoids from the Late Cretaceous to examine disparity patterns at both the genus-level and the species-level. We specifically examine the disparity at both levels of this group over a time of high stress for this group, Ocean Anoxic Event 2 (OAE2). Our results show that genus-level disparity slightly exaggerates early acanthoceratid disparity but lowers to a similar pattern to the species-level disparity during OAE2. Within-genus disparity is shown to be slightly lower than among-genus, but not enough to be startling. Together, these results indicate that while some species within the same genus tend to be more alike to each other than those in other genera, there isnt a set of true "genus" level characters. This outcome leads to a warning against using anatomical data in phylogenetic studies, but less so for disparity studies.

The Humboldt upwelling ecosystem has been intensively harvested by people since the early Holocene. Understanding past and present human choices under climatic variability in these productive environments may hold key insights for its future sustainability by unraveling different adaptive pathways. To this end, we studied shellfish exploitation and climate patterns in the Taltal region of the Atacama desert coast (25{whitebullet}S) from the early Holocene until today using a compilation of archaeological, and modern benthic fisheries data together with direct ecological surveys. In addition we obtained satellite sea surface temperature (SST) and published{delta} 18O SST for the study region. The archaeological record and the modern rocky shore assemblage were dominated by herbivorous gastropods -Fissurella spp., Enoplochiton spp., Tegula spp.-and the carnivorous whelk Concholepas concholepas. Functional composition from the early Holocene to the present was remarkably stable. Using SST as a latent variable, we examined changes in functional composition across the Holocene and in a 16-year series of artisanal fisheries landings using bayesian ordination. The analysis identified functional groups characteristic of kelp ecosystems in association with cooler SST conditions during the Holocene and the present. Changes in functional composition during warm and cold periods of the Holocene broadly mirrored effects of interannual SST variability in the modern fisheries. The archaeological record suggests two cross-Holocene transitions social-ecological transitions. The generalized shoreline harvesting strategy that prevailed during the cold early Holocene shifted to a specialized maritime economy towards the warmer mid-Holocene. The maritime technological and cultural adaptions remained, but were part of more diversified lifestyles in the cooler and more variable late Holocene. The latter emerged at the same time as the modern El Nino climate pattern. Our insights from the direct analysis of human choices and SST variability highlight the role of flexibility and agency under a changing environment. The broad range of human decisions in the past, inform current regulatory frameworks for benthic artisanal fisheries. Marine resources and the livelihoods that depend on them are integrated into coupled coastal socioecological systems; their future sustainability hinges on fostering the different dimension of their adaptive capacity.

Hyper-arid ecosystems operate close to physiological tolerance limits, such that relatively small increases in temperature may trigger abrupt and non-linear demographic responses once critical thresholds are exceeded. We analysed long-term climatic trends (1980-2026) and reproductive dynamics of the Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) in the hyper-arid central desert of Oman, one of the southernmost and most climatically marginal populations of the species. Reproductive and occupancy data were derived from repeated surveys conducted at a minimum of 21 confirmed breeding territories (144 survey visits), complemented by an independent long-term observational dataset (1975-2020; 675 records). Mean annual temperature increased by more than 2 {degrees}C over the study period, while precipitation remained persistently low (<40 mm yr{square}1). Confirmed reproductive activity declined sharply and collapsed to near zero beyond a narrow thermal threshold ([~]28.3-28.6 {degrees}C), despite intermittent adult presence. Reproductive activity was strongly negatively correlated with temperature, whereas precipitation showed a secondary effect that did not rescue reproduction once thermal limits were exceeded. Independent demographic observations revealed progressive loss of juveniles and immatures and dominance of isolated adults. Together, these results provide strong evidence for climate-driven functional extinction sensu reproductive failure, with demographic erosion occurring well before adult disappearance, highlighting extinction-debt dynamics in long-lived desert raptors under ongoing climate warming. This study has implications for climate adaptation policies in arid regions of the Arabian Peninsula.

AimAnalysis of species distributions often rests on the assumption of environmental equilibrium. That is, the distribution of a species (as documented by observation records) captures the full range of environmental conditions under which that species can maintain viable populations. Despite the centrality of this assumption to a variety of biogeographic questions, it is rarely empirically tested. This is particularly critical for recently introduced invasive species that are characterized by rapid expansion in their introduced range, often coupled with a niche shift relative to their native distribution. Defining equilibrium under these dynamic conditions is difficult. We developed the concept of environmental stasis as a more tractable proxy for equilibrium. In the context of species invasions, we define stasis as a prolonged period without an increase in the environmental conditions occupied by a species. LocationNorth America Time Period1614 to 2020. Major Taxa StudiedInvasive plants MethodsWe applied the metric of climatic stasis to a suite of 258 invasive plant species in North America. We categorized their invasion trajectories into three classes (linear, two- and three-phase) based on theoretical expectations and then assessed how many had demonstrated environmental (climatic) stasis over a period of at least thirty years. ResultsMore than 80% of the species were best fit by two- or three-phase models, indicating a declining rate of expansion. Climatic stasis was only documented for 44% of the species. In contrast, 85% of the species were in climatic stasis in their native ranges. The time to reach stasis ranged from 30 to 145 years (mean 90), and species at stasis in their invaded range occupied 97% of the climatic space they occupied in their native range. Main ConclusionsThis assessment provides valuable insight into the unrealized threat posed by the majority of invasive plants that have not yet reached stasis, as well as identifying which species can be most appropriately evaluated by methods that depend on the equilibrium assumption. Our work also demonstrates the useful perspective provided by the environmental stasis concept, which enables empirical quantification of one of the key aspects of equilibrium.

O_LISpecies occurrence data are fundamental to understanding, predicting, and conserving global biodiversity. However, biodiversity datasets remain affected by substantial data-quality issues, particularly erroneous or imprecise geographic coordinates. Most available tools for identifying problematic records rely primarily on automated spatial or metadata-based checks and rarely integrate expert-curated species range information, which can reveal introductions or geographic errors that often escape standard validation procedures. C_LIO_LIHere, we introduce RuHere, an R package designed to manage species occurrence data, flag potential errors, and support the iterative exploration of problematic records. RuHere streamlines the data-cleaning process by integrating six main steps: (1) obtaining species occurrence records; (2) merging datasets and standardizing spatial information; (3) flagging records based on metadata; (4) flagging records using expert-derived distribution data; (5) visualizing, investigating, and summarizing flagged issues in the final datasets; and (6) exploring and reducing sampling bias. C_LIO_LIWe demonstrate the applicability of RuHere using occurrence data for a plant species (Araucaria angustifolia) and an animal species (Cyanocorax caeruleus). Nearly 75% of records were flagged as potentially problematic, including records identified exclusively by functions relying on specialist range information. C_LIO_LIThe main strengths of RuHere lie in its integrated and computationally efficient workflow, its tools for exploring and evaluating flagged records, and its ability to incorporate expert-derived distribution data to identify occurrences outside a species known natural range. By combining metadata-based checks, coordinate validation, and specialist knowledge, RuHere provides a robust and reproducible framework for improving the quality of species occurrence datasets. C_LI

O_LIUnderstanding functional community structure and the niche-based mechanisms that enable coexistence among sympatric species is essential for explaining how biodiversity is maintained in natural systems, and for anticipating how ecological communities will respond to ongoing environmental change. Stable isotope analysis provides a process-oriented perspective on resource use by integrating information across time and space, thereby allowing reconstruction of realised isotopic niches that reflect multiple dimensions of ecological differentiation. C_LIO_LIWe applied this framework to a community of ungulates in the Central-Eastern Italian Alps, including red deer (Cervus elaphus), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), and Alpine chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra). Using stable isotope ratios in summer-grown hair segments ({delta}13C, {delta}15N, {delta}34S, {delta}18O, {delta}2H), we quantified species-specific n-dimensional niche hypervolumes within a Bayesian framework and estimated niche regions, overlap probabilities, univariate differentiation and multivariate structure. C_LIO_LIDespite broad dietary overlap typically observed among these ungulates, we found clear isotopic niche segregation, with mean pairwise overlap consistently remaining below 40%. Three dimensions emerged as primary drivers of differentiation: water sourcing ({delta}18O), diet quality ({delta}15N), and habitat openness ({delta}13C). Specifically, chamois appeared to derive more water from plants in their diet rather than from drinking, and to consume a higher-quality diet compared to Cervids. Red deer relied more heavily on forested habitats for resource use compared to roe deer and chamois, and additional isotopic differences between red deer and roe deer may stem from fine-scale abiotic conditions like microclimate and topography. We found no isotopic evidence for differential niche breadth among the three ungulate species. C_LIO_LITogether, these patterns highlight functional differentiation across multiple ecological axes, offering mechanistic insight into how these ungulates segregate realised niche space despite substantial potential for resource overlap. This multi-element isotope perspective underscores the value of integrative, process-based approaches for understanding current coexistence as well as improving predictions of how mammal communities may reorganise under accelerating environmental change. C_LI

O_LIStandardising temperature data across heterogeneous study sites is essential for ecological meta-analyses, yet elevation-driven lapse rates often confound direct comparisons of coarse-grid climate data. Ecological studies frequently document only site altitude - particularly historical datasets - limiting analysis of thermal influences on spatial organism distribution. C_LIO_LIA dual-approach protocol was developed to derive regional correction factors ({Delta}H) from altitude-temperature regressions (Lapse Rate Method: SW Germany/Italian Alps, n=33 stations) and cross-regional station pairs (TAV Matching Method, n=27) with closely aligned long-term mean temperatures ({Delta}TAV [&le;] 1.2{degrees}C). Applied to 109 Ixodes ricinus study sites across nine European regions, correction factors were calculated only for regions with consistent altitude shifts ({Delta}H > 100m) relative to Southwest German reference stations. C_LIO_LIRegional correction factors ({Delta}H) from both methods included +1300 m (Finland, TAV Matching), +370 m (Netherlands/NE Germany, TAV Matching), and -220 m (Italian Alps, Lapse Rate Method) across five regions. In total, 27 cross-regional TAV matched pairs demonstrated high matching precision (median {Delta}TAV = 0.05{degrees}C, 89 % [&le;] 0.2{degrees}C). These factors standardised site altitudes to a common SW German thermal reference frame, enabling cross-site comparability. C_LIO_LIThe dual-method protocol requires no automation and is applicable to any taxa with documented site altitudes. The complete methodological workflow - including station data, lapse rate regressions, matching decisions, and correction calculations is publicly available at Zenodo [DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18835116], providing ecologists with a pragmatic, fully reproducible template for elevation-standardised temperature estimation in meta-analyses. C_LI

The influence of environmental factors on the dynamics of living organisms can imply non-linear relationships. Some of them exhibit threshold effects. Hyperbolic functions effectively represent ecological processes that display threshold behaviours, such as those described by the law of the minimum, or law of the limiting factor. However, the mathematical formulation of the hyperbola is complex, which makes its use challenging and its parameters difficult to interpret. In this article, we propose an efficient mathematical formulation for the hyperbola, one in which all the parameters are independent and easily interpretable. We also provide an R script and a Python script to facilitate the implementation of this hyperbolic formulation in modelling studies. We then used this new hyperbolic function to model the influence of edaphic and climatic factors on the growth of 18 forest tree species widely distributed across Europe based on a dataset of 8,330 plots from the French National Forest Inventory. Our hyperbolic function allowed us to identify the threshold effects of summer climatic constraints on forest growth for several species. In particular, we found negative effects for soil water deficit and maximum summer temperature, although for several species these effects only appear beyond a certain level of constraint. Accounting for such threshold effects is crucial to improve our ability to understand and predict forest ecosystem responses in the context of climate change.

The European Pleistocene populations of the narrow-headed vole (Stenocranius gregalis), an index species of the Palearctic glacial communities, were recently found to differ from the extant Asian species by a deep genetic divergence and are to be considered a separate species, Stenocranius anglicus, which had to persist through the interglacial stages in local European refugia. Here, we analyze over 2000 first lower molars from 14 stratified localities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, spanning the Middle Pleistocene to Holocene, employing geometric morphometrics, biometric measurements, and morphotype classifications to assess molar shape variation. Our results demonstrate persistent morphological variability, with particularly high morphotype diversity during MIS 5-3, followed by simplification and reduced variance in post-LGM populations. Morphological divergence was greater among geographic localities than stratigraphic stages, suggesting strong regional and ecological influences. Stratified sequences reveal diverse evolutionary trajectories from long-term morphological stability in refugia to gradual simplification preceding extinction in the early Holocene. These patterns align with broader Eurasian trends but also highlight regionally specific responses to climatic and ecological change accompanying the species extinction dynamics during the early to middle Holocene. The paper underscores the importance of integrating detailed morphometrics with stratigraphic and ecological evidence to shed light on these topics.