Ecology and Evolution

Evolution is a foundational framework for understanding biology, yet it remains challenging to teach and learn. Game-based learning may offer one way to support evolution instruction by helping students visualize abstract, dynamic, and difficult-to-observe processes. In this study, we interviewed undergraduate biology instructors to examine how they evaluated video games as potential tools for evolution education, including which topics they perceived as most challenging for students. We found that instructors were broadly open to using video games for evolution instruction, particularly when games could support population-level reasoning, evolutionary mechanisms, speciation and phylogeny, quantitative reasoning, and long time scales. Instructors also emphasized that games must be scientifically accurate, accessible, and aligned with course learning goals. This study contributes an instructor-centered perspective to evolution education and game-based learning research by identifying how instructors connect persistent student learning challenges with potential design priorities for educational video games. Graphical Abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=113 SRC="FIGDIR/small/736808v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (24K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@175ce4corg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@13ae260org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@e44aceorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1eb1ef1_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

Sex ratio is a key demographic parameter shaping population dynamics and evolutionary trajectories. In biocontrol agents, demographic bottlenecks during species introduction to a new habitat and subsequent mass rearing can elevate inbreeding, potentially biasing sex ratios through sex-specific mortality associated with inbreeding depression. Moreover, reproductive endosymbionts such as Wolbachia are known to manipulate host reproduction and further skew sex ratios. However, the relative contributions of these processes to sex-ratio variation remain poorly resolved. In this study, we evaluated the effects of cross-generational full-sibling inbreeding and Wolbachia infection on sex ratio and key life-history traits in the biocontrol beetle Zygogramma bicolorata using controlled laboratory crosses across three generations. Inbreeding did not significantly alter offspring sex ratio, which remained close to parity across generations, while pupal mortality increased in later generations, consistent with delayed expression of inbreeding depression. Adult body weight remained largely unaffected by inbreeding. Wolbachia infection was detected in a subset of females and was associated with a modest but significant increase in female-biased offspring production, although the effect was variable across lineages. Strain typing identified a single supergroup A Wolbachia, consistent with previous descriptions of the wBic strain from this species. These findings indicate that sex-ratio variation in introduced populations of Z. bicolorata is not driven by inbreeding alone but instead emerges from the interaction between demographic processes and symbiont-mediated effects, providing crucial insights for optimizing biocontrol programs where sex-ratio stability is essential for population establishment and persistence. SignificanceSex ratio is a key determinant of population growth and stability - the essential parameters determining success of biocontrol programs. Yet, the mechanisms shaping sex-ratio variation remain poorly resolved. Using controlled crosses in Zygogramma bicolorata, we show that short-term inbreeding does not directly alter sex allocation, despite inducing delayed fitness costs through increased pupal mortality. In contrast, Wolbachia infection contributes to female-biased offspring production, although with variable outcome across lineages. These findings demonstrate that sex-ratio variation in Z. bicolorata arises from the interaction of demographic processes and symbiont effects, rather than a single mechanism, with important implications for predicting the establishment, persistence, and efficacy of mass-reared biocontrol populations.

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) can expand undergraduates access to research and motivate students to stay in science. Yet, little research has examined how CURE instruction shapes student motivation. We leveraged a motivation-related characterization of non-content talk of 48 CURE and non-CURE instructors to predict the motivation-related outcomes of 462 students. We fit a series of multi-level models (MLM) in which we regressed students post-course scientific self-efficacy, task values, scientific identity, and science-related intentions onto instructors self-efficacy and task values-related talk, controlling for students pre-course levels. We also fit an MLM to explore whether instructors relationship-building talk (immediacy talk) was associated with students rapport with their instructor. Instructors self-efficacy talk did not affect students self-efficacy, and instructors immediacy talk had a marginally positive but non-significant association with students rapport ratings. Instructors task values talk positively influenced students scientific identity and some but not all of their task values. Instructors task values talk also positively influenced students intentions to pursue a science career, but not graduate education or research careers. Collectively, these results suggest that instructors task values talk may underpin some of the motivational effects of CURE instruction, but that task values talk need not be limited to CUREs. HIGHLIGHTWe examine whether instructor talk predicts students motivational outcomes in CURE and non-CURE lab courses. Self-efficacy talk had no effect on student self-efficacy. Task values talk positively affected students science identity and career intentions, and some value beliefs. Immediacy talk was marginally related to student-instructor rapport.

Graduate-level genomics courses require students to integrate dense material across subfields, concepts and methods. In modular, multi-instructor courses, students may struggle because the coherence between lectures can be difficult to navigate, while the course structure may be visible to instructors. We evaluated a 2025 navigation redesign of BIO322, a graduate genomics course at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, while preserving course content, multi-instructor teaching, modular organization and assessment framework. The redesign includes introducing a standardized self-learning guide, expanded syllabus, enriched online quiz feedback, and added support for a final group research proposal. Using anonymized course evaluation scores from 2021-2025 and aggregated learning management system access data from 2023-2025, we examined student experience and resource use. In 2025, five of six course evaluation items reached their highest observed BIO322 scores, while one, lecture-specific score remained within the previous range. The consolidated self-learning guide was accessed by nearly all students, whereas access to optional readings declined across the course sequence, despite comparatively stable page views per accessing student. These course-level findings are consistent with improved perceived navigability following the introduction of standardized learning support. However, some students continued to report difficulty identifying priorities and connections among course components, indicating that challenges in perceived course coherence remained for part of the cohort despite the redesign. Practitioner PointsO_LIMaking course structure explicit may improve students perceived navigability in multi-instructor graduate genomics courses. C_LIO_LIA centralized self-learning guide can broaden access to preparatory guidance without changing core course content or assessment. C_LIO_LIOptional learning supports may be used unevenly, so resource availability should not be assumed to translate into uniform resource access. C_LI

O_LIEffective conservation of highly migratory species requires understanding genetic structure across breeding populations and access high{square}resolution markers capable of assigning individuals from mixed aggregates (e.g. bycatch or new nesting sites) to their natal origins. Genomic approaches provide unprecedented resolution but add methodological challenges; thus, it is essential to first build a genomic baseline from known breeding areas and then evaluate strategies for assigning unknown individuals. C_LIO_LITo address this, we used 2b-RAD sequencing, a genomic reduction technique useful for degraded DNA, and loggerhead turtles as a case study. This species shows philopatric breeding, while juveniles and adults form mixed aggregations in foraging grounds. C_LIO_LIOur results highlight the importance of building baselines that include all potential source populations contributing to mixed aggregations. We detected hierarchical genetic differentiation and high resolution and successfully assigned the natal origin of 124 unknown individuals from four Mediterranean foraging grounds. These grounds showed distinct source contributions, and comparisons with previous studies suggest possible temporal shifts in stock composition. C_LIO_LIWe provide a comprehensive genomic baseline for individual assignment of Altanto-Mediterranean loggerhead turtles of unknown natal origin and a general framework for identifying population-specific threats in highly migratory species. C_LI

O_LIStudying tick behavior is crucial for understanding how climate, disturbances, and land-use changes shape tick populations and tick-borne disease risk. Mark-release-recapture studies can provide valuable answers to questions regarding tick movement and behavior, population sizes, and survivorship. C_LIO_LIStandard tick mark-release-recapture provides limited resolution to understanding individual behaviors, limiting our ability to answer questions that require repeated observations of the same individuals. We developed a new, operationally simple method to track large populations of individual ticks over space and time. C_LIO_LIWe found non-random movement patterns, including directed movement towards grass, vegetation-dependent dispersal distances and rate, and sex-based differences in movement. C_LIO_LIPractical implication: This method can be applied to other tick species to assess tick longevity, determine dispersal ranges and rate, and analyze questing behavior and success. C_LI

Vole and lemming population cycles are an enigma in ecology. Decades of field observations and experimental manipulations have revealed that cycles cannot always be explained by extrinsic factors in the environment, including food availability or predator numbers. Thus, it has been proposed that intrinsic mechanisms, such as adaptive alterations in phenotype during different phases of the cycle, drive population dynamics. However, the mechanisms underlying such phenotypic changes have not been elucidated. We test the hypothesis that epigenetic changes occur over population cycles by comparing whole epigenome DNA methylation changes in brain tissue collected from northern red-backed voles (Clethrionomys rutilus) in a wild, naturally cycling population during the peak, decline, and low years. Overall, the greatest number of differentially methylated CG sites (DMCs) and differentially methylated regions (DMRs) were detected in comparisons between voles from the peak phase and low phase of the cycle. We highlight methylation differences in the promoter region of ATP synthase subunit c (Atp5g3) and an intron of insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (Igf1R), which may be associated with growth, development, and bioenergetics. There were additional changes in the promoters of members of the cytochrome P450 enzyme family, including Cyp1a1, associated with estrogen metabolism, as well as the promoter of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (Mif), and in an exon of serum/glucocorticoid regulated kinase (Sgk1), which may link changes in stressors to direct brain changes. Our study is the first interrogation into broad epigenetic changes associated with natural population cycle phase in a wild mammal.

Color polymorphism can facilitate local adaptation, maintain intraspecific diversity, or reflect early stages of speciation. Clownfishes (Amphiprion spp.) typically display a simple black, orange, and white pattern, but the saddleback clownfish (Amphiprion polymnus) shows striking variation in melanism and the number of vertical bars, which are thought to play a role in species recognition. In 2024, a revision on iNaturalist split A. polymnus into multiple species based solely on color pattern and geographic range. This raises the question of whether these morphs represent true species or intraspecific polymorphism, which we tested using genomic and image-based data. We sampled 97 individuals from seven populations across the species range and quantified color patterns from standardized photographs. Phenotypic and genomic analyses reveal a complex pattern of divergence. Image analysis identified three distinct phenotypic clusters, with A. polymnus, A. annamensis, and A. laticlavius each showing consistent differences in saddle shape and vertical bar extent. ADMIXTURE resolved three distinct genetic groups corresponding to the morphs. Pairwise FST (0.54-0.71) and dxy indicate extremely high differentiation between A. polymnus and A. annamensis, consistent with species-level divergence, whereas A. laticlavius shows much lower differentiation from A. polymnus (FST 0.09-0.18) and higher differentiation from A. annamensis (FST 0.64-0.66). Overall, phenotypic and genomic data show structured variation, but the status of A. laticlavius remains ambiguous. Our study reveals clear and structured divergence across the full range, yet the taxonomic interpretation of this variation remains inherently challenging. The key question remains: do these patterns reflect a single polymorphic species or a complex of closely related species?

Untargeted metabolomics offers a powerful lens for quantifying high-dimensional phenotypic variation within and among species in nature, but has yet to be widely adopted in evolutionary ecology. Some important initial questions are whether metabolome composition differs among populations, and to what extent such variation is genetic or plastic. Here, we use untargeted liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry to characterize the relative abundance of 5,939 molecular features of the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) liver metabolome. Native lake populations differ in metabolome composition, reflecting effects of sex, size, geography, and population ecotype (benthic versus limnetic). Stickleback from these lakes were translocated to found new populations in nine recently fishless lakes, permuting fish ecotypes across benthic and limnetic lake habitats. Several generations later, metabolomes in these experimental populations reflect effects both of their genetic ancestry (e.g., taurocholic acid, a cholane steroid bile acid, was elevated in limnetic-ancestries), as well as their present habitat (e.g., acylcarnitines). Additionally, ecotypes transplanted into a habitat to which they were maladapted exhibited a distinctive metabolomic profile. We conclude that stickleback exhibit both heritable and plastic among-population differences in liver metabolome, which could represent an important phenotypic basis of rapid evolution, population divergence, and perhaps local adaptation.

Animals often rely on cues from the environment to time reproduction with optimal conditions. However, for most species, which environmental cues are used and how their use varies across a species distribution remains poorly understood. The gray wolf (Canis lupus) is found across a broad latitudinal range (12{degrees}N to 83{degrees}N) and diverse natural habitats, making them an ideal study species to explore these questions. Using 1,261 estimated birth dates of wild and captive wolves across their global range, we investigated how environmental variables influence reproductive phenology in this widespread large carnivore. Birth dates for wild wolves ranged from November 22nd for Indian wolves (18{degrees}N) to June 15th for Arctic wolves (80{degrees}N). The best predictor of timing of birth was increasing daylength during the mating season, followed by precipitation variability during the year. The timing of birth in captive wolves was highly similar to wild wolves at same latitudes, suggesting they use similar environmental cues to time reproduction. Near the equator where photoperiod is more stable, wolves remained seasonal and likely use climatic cues to time reproduction. Our work reveals populations may use different environmental cues to time reproduction, a characteristic that likely facilitates adaptation to diverse environments.

Electric organ discharge (EOD) waveform diversity in African elephantfish is often attributed to sexual selection, yet EODs also mediate active electrolocation during prey detection, raising the possibility that natural selection on foraging ecology contributes to waveform divergence. Paramormyrops kingsleyae exhibits an intraspecific polymorphism where certain populations emit biphasic EODs whereas other populations emit triphasic waveforms. The genes underlying this polymorphism show signatures of selection; the polymorphism persists despite gene flow and is behaviorally discriminable by the fish themselves. If waveform differences influence prey detection during active electrolocation, biphasic and triphasic fish should consume systematically different prey. We tested this prediction using DNA metabarcoding of gut contents from 186 mormyrids representing 16 species across eight sites in Gabon, employing two independent COI primer sets for cross-validation and pairing dietary data with environmental invertebrate sampling to distinguish active prey preference from passive availability. At the community level in the diverse Bale Creek mormyrid assemblage, species identity was the dominant predictor of diet composition (R{superscript 2} {approx} 24%), consistent with phylogenetic signal in foraging ecology. Within P. kingsleyae, waveform type was the strongest independent predictor of dietary composition (R{superscript 2} = 5-6%), explaining variance independently of geographic region, sex, body size, and parasitism status -- a result concordant across both primer sets. Dietary differences were driven by prey species turnover rather than differential abundance of shared prey, and prey selectivity analyses confirmed that waveform types differ in which prey they actively prefer, not merely in what is locally available. These findings are consistent with natural selection on foraging ecology contributing to the maintenance of EOD waveform polymorphism, though the sensory mechanisms linking subtle waveform differences to prey detection remain an open question.

In many tropical areas, seasonal rainfall leads to distinct dry and wet seasons. Many butterflies developing under wet season conditions develop into adults with large ventral eyespots on the wing margins, whereas those developing under dry season conditions have smaller or no eyespots. In greener, wet season habitats, larger eyespots can divert predator attacks toward the wing margins, while reduced eyespot size improves camouflage in the dry leaf litter-dominated habitat during the dry season. However, the dry season is also characterised by higher desiccation stress than the wet season. We hypothesised that larvae developing under dry season conditions develop into adults with higher desiccation tolerance than those reared under wet season conditions. We tested this by rearing larvae of the butterfly Mycalesis mineus under simulated dry and wet season conditions and assaying the desiccation tolerance of the resulting adults. Butterflies reared in dry conditions survived longer under desiccation stress, lost lesser water during pupal-adult metamorphosis, and were heavier than those reared in wet conditions. We also tested the correlation between eyespot size and desiccation tolerance. A negative correlation between the traits would be expected if similar developmental pathways regulate them. Consistent with this expectation, individuals with smaller eyespots had higher desiccation tolerance. Our results demonstrate plasticity in desiccation tolerance, and suggest that predator avoidance and desiccation tolerance traits may share similar developmental pathways.

O_LITerrestrial insects are vulnerable to desiccation due to their small body size. Because insects lose most water through cuticular evaporation, cuticular traits strongly influence desiccation tolerance. Individuals with greater cuticular melanisation, i.e., darker ones, are hypothesised to tolerate desiccation better than less melanised ones. C_LIO_LIIn many butterflies, pupal colour is plastic - individuals pupating on leaves tend to be greener, while those that pupate away from leaves (off-leaf), such as on tree bark or defoliated twigs, tend to be browner. Brown pupae are hypothesised to have more cuticular melanin and are expected to experience higher desiccation stress than leaf-borne green pupae. Thus, plasticity in pupal melanisation may be an adaptation against desiccation. We tested this in the butterfly Eurema blanda. C_LIO_LIWe demonstrate that individuals pupating on on-leaf substrates are greener than those pupating on off-leaf substrates, and that desiccation stress is higher in the off-leaf substrates, a microenvironment typical of brown pupae, than in typical green pupae. Using Raman spectroscopy, we show that brown, but not green, pupal cuticles contain melanin. C_LIO_LIFollowing this, we obtained greener and browner pupae by manipulating substrate colour. When subjected to desiccation stress, browner pupae survived better than greener ones. There was no correlation between pupal colour and survival in the absence of desiccation stress. Thus, melanisation appears to confer a survival advantage to pupae by increasing desiccation tolerance. C_LIO_LISurvival under desiccating conditions was inversely related to water loss. Interestingly, melanisation did not correlate with water loss, suggesting that melanisation helps tolerate desiccation through physiological mechanisms not directly related to water loss reduction. C_LIO_LIOur findings reveal an additional, crucial, adaptive value of pupal colour plasticity, a trait that has been studied primarily from an anti-predatory perspective. C_LI

Understanding how symbiosis generates biodiversity requires comprehensive insight into the underlying ecology to reveal broad evolutionary patterns, and the clownfish-anemone symbiosis serves as an excellent model. Recently, a new paradigm revealed sea anemone host associations of adult clownfish drove convergent evolution of host specialists and generalists. An alternative study downplayed host specificity in explaining clownfish evolution due partly to an incongruence between the behavior, biology, and host specificity of a single species--Amphiprion polymnus. Previously classified as a host specialist, we revisit the host specificity and ecology of A. polymnus by studying its host associations, behavioral, and dietary ecology compared to a co-occurring host generalist and specialist. By incorporating n = 358 observations, we find A. polymnus associates with five sea anemone species, including a newly documented host, and four at the adult life stage. We show that A. polymnus swim consistently far from their hosts and have broad dietary niches, an ecology that aligns with generalists. Cumulatively, our data indicate A. polymnus is a host generalist, and not a specialist as previously classified. Our findings serve to reconcile previously conflicting studies about A. polymnus, and reinforce the hypothesis that host is the key ecological variable for understanding clownfish evolution. Suitable subject areasbehaviour, ecology, evolution

O_LIMany organisms alter phenotypically plastic traits in response to environmental cues to match their phenotypes with variable environments. In larval amphibians, development and growth rates respond to spatiotemporally variable mortality risk from predation, wetland drying, or resource limitation. However, these rates are also temperature-dependent for ectotherms. Although wild animals experience these factors simultaneously (e.g., thermal regimes, predation risk, resource limitation), most studies investigate their impacts in isolation, limiting our understanding of how they interact across ecological contexts. C_LIO_LIHere we simultaneously exposed larval Plains Leopard Frogs (Lithobates blairi) to varying resource levels and predation risk treatments across a thermal regime to investigate the joint effects of these ecological drivers on growth and development rates and their consequences for size and vagility after metamorphosis. We crossed two predation treatments (waterborne cues from Procambarus gracilis fed L. blairi larvae, control water) with three food resource levels (5%, 25%, 50% of body mass) and six thermal regimes (diel {+/-} 3{degrees}C cycles of 15, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28{degrees}C), replicating each combination five times for a total of 180 individuals. We recorded growth and development rates and completion of metamorphosis, then measured juvenile body size and jumping performance. C_LIO_LIThe number of larvae completing metamorphosis was primarily determined by temperature and temperature-dependent effects of resource limitation. Percent metamorphosis peaked at intermediate temperatures when resources were high and were higher in predation-risk treatments at the warmest temperatures. Under high resources, development and growth rates showed unimodal thermal responses that were absent when resources were constrained. Higher resources increased development rates, but proportional increases in growth maintained constant body size across temperatures. Post-metamorphic body size differed only by predation treatment, with predator-exposed individuals being smaller. Juvenile jumping performance increased with body size and individuals raised with high resources without predator cues exhibited the highest performance. C_LIO_LIThe absence of temperature effects on size at metamorphosis reflected unexpected coupling of growth and development rates across treatments, producing uniform body sizes. This pattern contrasts with the temperature-size rule and suggests that plastic responses may exhibit selection for a minimum viable size at metamorphosis. C_LI

Changing climates are reshaping animal populations, but our understanding of how demographic trends are shaped by individual responses to local environmental conditions is often limited to long-term studies with restricted spatial scales. Increasing evidence suggests that climatic extremes exert differential selection pressures across environments, often leading to nonstationary biological responses among populations. Participatory science (i.e. citizen science) observations can detect this variation at large geographic scales, but analyses of these data often lack insight into the individual-level responses that are required to explain the origins of such variation. Here we present a new research framework that uses long-term data to validate, then inform analyses of participatory science data to measure reproductive responses to environmental variation across large geographic scales. We use this approach to investigate how reproduction in a montane-adapted songbird, the mountain chickadee (Poecile gambeli), varies across elevations and latitudes in response to extreme scarcity and extreme accumulation of snow throughout the Sierra Nevada Mountains in North America. Chickadee reproduction in lower and higher elevation populations was often differentially impacted by drought and deluge snowfall extremes, but these relationships varied across latitudes. Reproductive performance in the northern Sierra Nevada was negatively affected by snow deluge conditions at high elevations, whereas snow drought conditions reduced reproductive output at low elevations. These relationships changed in the central Sierras where drought conditions negatively impacted both elevations, but deluge conditions improved reproductive performance at both low and high elevations. Reproduction in the southern Sierra Nevada was less affected by spring snow levels, likely due to the lower snow accumulation and earlier snowmelt in this region. These results emphasize the power of long-term studies to inform and interpret participatory science data in order to better understand how animal responses to environmental extremes vary across large geographic scales.

Open educational resources (OERs) contain authentic materials that benefit students, but few studies have focused on the benefits to authors of OERs. This gap needs attention considering the challenges that OER authors face, given their commitments to multiple professional activities while also being motivated to take part in OER development. It is critical to understand what benefits authors receive, to help in the continued development of these valuable educational tools. To this end, we investigated what benefits a specific group of researcher-educators perceived from investing their limited time and energy to design, create, and share authentic OERs in the OCELOTS (Online Content for Experiential Learning of Tropical Systems) Research Coordination Network in Undergraduate Biology Education. Our study was based on conceptual frameworks for teaching and learning, communities of practice, and self-determination theory. We used qualitative data from a survey specifically designed to address the question of benefits perceived by OER authors, complemented with quantitative and qualitative data from existing internal evaluations of this network. In a content-analysis framework, we analyzed the open-ended responses to identify broader themes emerging about author benefits. OER authors reported improved pedagogical practice, increased visibility of research and outreach efforts, professional rewards, and increased collaborations. Authors reported gains in pedagogical knowledge and personal fulfillment as benefits that they received, along with satisfaction from contributing to their discipline and society in general. While benefits around improving pedagogical practice was the richest theme, creation of modules also generated new collaborations and helped strengthen and broaden authors professional networks. In particular, the sense of belonging to and building the community was a significant benefit, providing implications for how to support future OER development and the critical role of peer networks. We discuss connections across these themes and compare our results with related previous studies. These results indicate that sustained investment in intentionally designed, interdisciplinary networks can generate substantial and diverse benefits for the educators and researchers who create these resources. Open Research StatementThe de-identified data associated with this manuscript will be permanently archived in Zenodo, upon the acceptance of the manuscript.

Population-specific immunity can drive variation in infection outcomes, but studying immune variation in the wild is challenging because exposure histories are unknown. Comparing wild populations with those reared in a common environment can disentangle genetic and environmental drivers of immunity. We applied this approach in freshwater threespine stickleback, where populations vary in their use of intraperitoneal fibrosis to defend against the helminth parasite Schistocephalus solidus. We combined a 46-lake immune survey with a common garden experiment using 20 representative populations to examine variation in fibrosis and infection. Laboratory assays included exposures to live tapeworms and immune challenges with tapeworm proteins and aluminum phosphate (Alum). We found heritable variation in both constitutive fibrosis and inducible fibrosis. Inducible responses to tapeworms were associated with lake environmental conditions, with fish from more eutrophic-like lakes showing stronger fibrosis induction than those from more oligotrophic-like lakes. Together, these results show how integrating wild immune variation with common garden experiments can reveal novel heritable defenses and link their evolution to ecological variation.

Parasite infections in wildlife vary across time and space due to interactions among host biology, ecological processes, and climatic variability. Under ongoing climate change, understanding how temperature, precipitation, or humidity influences parasite dynamics is important for predicting shifts in infection patterns and host-parasite interactions. Here, we examine how variation in climatic conditions is associated with helminth infections in a free-living rodent, the bank vole (Myodes glareolus), across 17 years and multiple spatial scales. Using zero-inflated generalised linear models, we quantified the effects of climatic variables on individual parasite burden. Climatic conditions (temperature and humidity or precipitation) affected helminth infections across all analysed scales, though the strength and direction of these effects differed among parasite species and between temporal and spatial scales. In the temporal dataset, parasite load was associated with seasonal variation in weather conditions, whereas in the spatial datasets, infection levels were linked to yearly average climatic variables. The differences reflect species-specific parasites life histories and transmission strategies. Our findings highlight the importance of analysing individual parasite species rather than overall parasite load or aggregated infection indices when assessing the impacts of climatic variation on host-parasite dynamics.

The global expansion of grey wolf (Canis lupus) populations, particularly in Europe, underscores the need for robust tools to study their social structure, territory use, and genetic relatedness. Wolf packs are dynamic, evolving through dispersal, mortality, and reproductive success, and their accurate identification is crucial for effective conservation and conflict mitigation. Traditional methods for estimating wolf populations and pack structures--such as snow tracking or howling surveys--are labor-intensive and often unreliable. Noninvasive genetic sampling and spatial capture-recapture models have improved monitoring, but integrating genetic and spatial data remains a challenge. We introduce WolfPackR, an R package designed to integrate genetic relatedness and spatial data for identifying wolf packs, lone individuals, and spatially isolated but genetically linked "ugly ducklings." WolfPackR uses pairwise relatedness estimators to define genetic groups and refines these groups through spatial overlap analysis based on Minimum Convex Polygons (MCPs). The package provides a comprehensive toolkit for analyzing population structure, territoriality, and social organization, including functions for genetic grouping, spatial clustering, summary statistics, and interactive visualization. We demonstrate the utility of WolfPackR using a case study of 505 genotyped and geospatialized wolf scat samples from Romania. By combining genetic and spatial data, WolfPackR accurately identifies pack structures that align with expert assessments and family tree reconstructions. The package modular design and reliance on widely used R libraries (dplyr, igraph, sf, leaflet) ensure flexibility and ease of integration into existing workflows. While sampling heterogeneity may limit territory delineation in some cases, WolfPackR offers a cost-effective and reproducible framework for studying wolf pack dynamics, with potential applications for other social species.