Wolbachia is the most frequent bacterial endosymbiont of arthropods and nematodes. Although it is mostly vertically transmitted, from parent to offspring through the egg cytoplasm, horizontal transfer of Wolbachia is thought to be common over evolutionary timescales. However, the relative frequency of each transmission mechanism has not been studied systematically in closely related species. Additionally, while Wolbachia is ge...

Understanding the variability of bio-optical properties in coastal seas is essential to assessing the impact of natural and anthropogenic activities on the quality of the coastal environments and their resources. This study investigated the vertical distribution of bio-optical properties and their potential driving forces in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) using a bio-optical dataset collected during the w...

The status of many amphibian populations remains unclear due to undetected declines driven by disease and difficulties in obtaining accurate population estimates. Here, we used genome complexity reduction-based sequencing technology to study the poorly understood Littlejohn’s treefrog , Litoria littlejohni across its fragmented distribution in eastern Australia. We detected five identifiable genetic clusters, with moderate to...

Insects are capable of extraordinary feats of long‐distance movement that have profound impacts on the function of terrestrial ecosystems. The ability to undertake these movements arose multiple times through the evolution of a suite of traits that make up the migratory syndrome, however the underlying genetic pathways involved remain poorly understood. Migratory hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) are an emerging model group for...

Article impact statement : Combining native and non‐native species to evaluate biodiversity is overly simplistic and may undermine the conservation of ecosystems.

Compassionate conservation focuses on 4 tenets: first, do no harm; individuals matter; inclusivity of individual animals; and peaceful coexistence between humans and animals. Recently, compassionate conservation has been promoted as an alternative to conventional conservation philosophy. We believe examples presented by compassionate conservationists are deliberately or arbitrarily chosen to focus on mammals; inherently not co...

Human dispersal of organisms is an important process modifying natural patterns of biodiversity. Such dispersal generates new patterns of genetic diversity that overlie natural phylogeographical signatures, allowing discrimination between alternative dispersal mechanisms. Here we use allele frequency and DNA sequence data to distinguish between alternative scenarios (unassisted range expansion and long range introduction) for...