Biodiversity is highly heterogeneous across space, shaped by factors such as climate, geographical distance, and human activities. However, as we enter the Anthropocene, the impacts of habitat loss and fragmentation on biodiversity are becoming increasingly severe and insufficiently disentangled. Here we assess how habitat amount, habitat fragmentation, regional climate, and geographical distance influence beta diversity and e...

Forest allocation of net primary productivity (NPP) to reproduction (carbon required for flowers, fruits, and seeds) is poorly quantified globally, despite its critical role in forest regeneration and a well‐supported trade‐off with allocation to growth. Here, we present the first global synthesis of a biometric proxy for forest reproductive allocation (RA) across environmental and stand age gradients from a compiled dataset o...

The electrochemical performance of microbial fuel cells is conventionally assessed through linear sweep voltammetry at predefined potential scan rates. Nevertheless, this approach frequently falls short in representing the long-term behavior of microbial fuel cells under actual external loads, highlighting the need for a standardized evaluation method incorporating both linear sweep voltammetry and external loads. To address t...

Defining the environmental occurrence and distribution of chemicals of emerging concern (CECs), including pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in coastal aquatic systems, is often difficult and complex. In this study, 70 compounds representing several classes of pharmaceuticals, including antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, insect repellant, antibacterial, antidepressants, chemotherapy drugs, and X-ray contrast med...

The earthworm Eisenia fetida is a commonly used model organism for unspecific soil feeders in ecotoxicological studies. Its intestinal cells are the first to encounter possible pollutants co-ingested by the earthworm, which makes them prime candidates for studies of toxic effects of environmental pollutants on the cellular as compared to the organismic level. In this context, the aim of this study was to demonstrate the suitab...

Global freshwater biodiversity is declining dramatically, and meeting the challenges of this crisis requires bold goals and the mobilisation of substantial resources. While the reasons are varied, investments in both research and conservation of freshwater biodiversity lag far behind those in the terrestrial and marine realms. Inspired by a global consultation, we identify 15 pressing priority needs, grouped into five research...

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) Mussel Watch Program (MWP), conducts basin-wide monitoring and place-based assessments using dreissenid mussels as bioindicators of chemical contamination in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) body burden results for the period 2009–2018 were combined into one dataset from multiple MWP...

Fine roots constitute a significant component of the net primary productivity (NPP) of forest ecosystems but are much less studied than aboveground NPP. Comparisons across sites and regions are also hampered by inconsistent methodologies, especially in tropical areas. Here, we present a novel dataset of fine root biomass, productivity, residence time, and allocation in tropical old‐growth rainforest sites worldwide, measured u...

Globally, grasslands are shaped by grazing and fire, and grassland plants are adapted to these disturbances. However, temperate grasslands have been hotspots of land‐use change, and how such changes affect interrelations between herbivory, fire and vegetation are poorly understood. Such land‐use changes are widespread on the Eurasian steppe, where the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 triggered the abandonment of croplan...