Z. Tao, K. Zhang, R.M. Callaway, E. Siemann, Y. Liu, and W. Huang, "Native Plant Diversity Generates Microbial Legacies That Either Promote or Suppress Non-Natives, Depending on Drought History," Ecology Letters 27, no. 9 (2024): e14504, https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14504. The above article, published online on 2 October 2024 in Wiley Online Library (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/), has been retracted by agreement between the journal Editor-in-Chief, Peter H. Thrall; and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Concerns about the data were raised by one of the journal editors. Following publication, the editors identified unusual repetitive patterns in the data underlying the study. The editors concluded that the patterns, identified using common statistical analysis tools, were unlikely to have occurred by chance from a typical environmental data collection effort. When asked about the concerns, the authors shared some raw data but were unable to provide a satisfactory explanation to the editors for the patterns in the published data that the editors could not reconcile with the study's conclusions. When later presented with the possibility of retraction and a draft retraction statement, the authors disagreed strongly and provided a detailed rebuttal of the editors' assessment. They argued in part that the software tools the editors used to identify the duplication patterns had not been peer reviewed or otherwise validated. As part of an extensive investigation of the authors' rebuttal claims, the publisher consulted an anonymous and independent subject matter expert (SME), who confirmed the findings of the editors and noted that the repetitive patterns observed in the underlying data were inconsistent with the reliability required to support the article's conclusions. As a result of the post-publication review by the SME, the editors affirm that they have lost confidence in the results and conclusions. In line with the journal's editorial policies, the editors determined that unresolved concerns regarding data reliability warranted retraction. The authors disagree with the retraction.

ABSTRACTGlobal environmental change is driving widespread insect declines, yet underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood, particularly when mediated by trophic interactions. Many studies purportedly test global change stressors on insect herbivores mediated via their host plants (bottom‐up) and natural enemies (top‐down), but we lack a comprehensive understanding of overall effects. Here, we performed a meta‐analysis of 246 papers testing 18 distinct global change stressors impacting insect herbivores via trophic interactions. We found variable, often opposing impacts of global change stressors on herbivore fitness when herbivores and their host plants were exposed, while the only detected significant effect involving natural enemies was a reduced herbivore fitness under warming, potentially due to increased enemy attacks. Notably, generalists exhibited greater vulnerability to global change than specialists, challenging assumptions that dietary generalists are more resilient. Insect herbivores tested in agricultural systems were more prone to be benefited by global change, whereas closed experimental systems amplified negative outcomes. Our results underscore the importance of considering trophic interactions and context‐specific dynamics in predicting ecological responses to environmental change. By integrating bottom‐up and top‐down mechanisms, our study provides a nuanced quantitative understanding of how global change influences insect herbivores, with important implications for biodiversity conservation in the Anthropocene.

Population recovery following environmental stress is known to depend on demographic structure, life-history and evolutionary dynamics. However, it is unclear how traits shaped by sexual selection affect population dynamics and recovery. We examined this by manipulating presence/absence of males expressing either a non-aggressive 'scrambler' phenotype or an aggressive and lethally armed 'fighter' phenotype in soil mite populations of different size. We experimentally altered the male phenotype in populations, subjected them to heat stress, and analysed their population dynamics and recovery. We show that populations with fighter males exhibited (i) reduced population size and stability, (ii) greater decline in response to heat stress in larger populations, (iii) higher rate of growth and (iv) incomplete population recovery. Such reduced population stability and recovery linked with armed and aggressive phenotypes underlines the importance of sexual selection in mediating population dynamics and resilience to environmental change with implications for managing natural populations.

Assessing the functional role of species in a changing world is critical for effectively preserving ecosystems. Intuitively, this role should relate to how the loss of a species ultimately impacts a function. We introduce the notion of a species dynamic contribution, which takes into account biotic interactions as they develop in the community. Contrary to the static contribution-a measure of what a species directly does-the dynamic contribution captures what the presence of the species causes. Using both model simulations and empirical data from a ciliate microcosm experiment, we demonstrate that dynamic and static contributions of species are generically unrelated. Our novel characterisation of species' functional contributions reveals that, due to biotic interactions, rare species that do not possess unique functional traits are just as likely as any other species to play an important role for ecosystem functioning.

Accurate prediction of community assembly is a central goal in ecology but is challenging because assembly is governed by numerous mechanisms. Few theoretical models explicitly incorporate or test multiple mechanisms at once. We empirically tested the predictive performance of a plant community assembly model built using all possible combinations of four 'mechanisms' (soil resource competition, dispersal and colonisation, spatiotemporal niche differentiation, population growth rates) and 11 underlying 'attributes' based on measured traits (e.g., fecundity, phenology). The full model accurately predicted out-of-sample biomass observations of five grasses sown in mixture along a soil nitrogen gradient (overall R2 = 0.65). Alternative model variants, parameterised using subsets of the mechanisms and their nested attributes, still retained high explanatory power if the model included at least three of the four mechanisms. Our results suggest that plant community composition is determined by simultaneous effects of multiple mechanisms, and simpler theories have much lower predictive abilities.

The current prevailing perception is that human impacts on the biological realm have been overwhelmingly negative. Here, we test this narrative by considering the consequences for aspects of floristic diversity of the 'Black Death era' (1300-1400 ce), where one third of Europe's population died within half a decade. Based on evidence from 109 pollen records spanning the Common Era, we find increasing floristic diversity from 0 to ~1300 ce as human populations increased, followed by rapid and substantial diversity reductions during the famine- and disease-driven human mortality events of the 'Black Death era'. As human populations recovered following the mortality shock, diversity also recovered. Strikingly, it was landscapes characterized by cereal cultivation that generated both the overall Common Era increases and the Black Death era declines in diversity. The highest diversity levels were achieved in human-generated, mosaic landscapes, highlighting the integral role of human action in biodiverse European landscapes.

Species-specific feedback between plants and soil microbial communities is an important driver of vegetation dynamics. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi colonise most terrestrial plants but are not expected to generate specific feedbacks due to low host specificity. We tested whether variation in mycorrhizal associations and associated rhizosphere metabolomes among co-existing temperate grassland species leads to species-specific plant-soil feedback. More mycorrhizal plant species showed more divergent plant-soil feedback: they experienced reduced growth and mycorrhizal colonisation in soils originating from weakly mycorrhizal species, but feedback became neutral in soil from species with similar mycorrhizal strategies. The species with the most self-promoting soil feedback was characterised by strong metabolome shifts related to stress and immune responses following soil inoculum manipulation, while the metabolomes of species with more negative feedback were unresponsive. This study demonstrates that AM fungi can generate species-specific plant-soil feedback, which can be predicted from plant mycorrhizal strategies and rhizosphere chemistry.

Parasites have repeatedly evolved the ability to modify their host's behaviour to enhance transmission. However, the conditions shaping such host manipulation remain unclear. I conducted a phylogenetic meta-analysis of 207 studies comprising 1635 observations from 82 parasite and 80 host taxa to identify patterns in host manipulation and test ecological and evolutionary drivers of host manipulation in trophically transmitted helminths. Manipulation reliably increased host susceptibility to predation and effects depended strongly on parasite stage: mature parasites consistently enhanced predation susceptibility, whereas immature stages showed little or inconsistent impact. In mixed infections, mature parasites dominated, and manipulation was stronger in the presence of the correct predator. Phylogenetic constraints were minimal, in line with repeated independent origins. The ecological and evolutionary drivers and constraints tested here had only weak or inconsistent effects.

Soil carbon-degrading enzymes mediate terrestrial carbon cycling, yet their roles in driving SOC dynamics under altered plant detritus inputs lack global quantification. Using 564 observations across global forest biomes, we systematically evaluated impacts of detritus input regimes on carbon-degrading enzymes and SOC dynamics, as well as their linkages. Double litter enhanced cellulase without affecting SOC content and ligninase activities. In contrast, all detrital removal treatments significantly suppressed cellulase activity and reduced SOC pools, with no root exerting the strongest effect. Cellulase activity was the main driver of SOC responses, modulated by forest type and experimental duration. Initially, SOC regulation differed between two forests (i.e., microbial biomass dominated in coniferous, litter inputs dominated in broad-leaved forests), but over time (> 2 years), shifted to cellulase dominance in both forests. Collectively, our findings improve predictions of soil C dynamics under climate change and support the management of forests as effective C sinks.