Cameroon Blackbelly sheep are a domestic breed of hair sheep from West/Central Africa. They are popular with small‐holder farmers in Cameroon as they are highly resilient to local environmental challenges and are prolific a‐seasonal breeders. The aim of this study was to characterise the genetics of Cameroon Blackbelly sheep in relation to global sheep populations and to investigate their relationship to Caribbean hair sheep....

Ornamental aquaculture and fishkeeping are very popular with millions of enthusiasts worldwide. The number of newly imported fish species for ornamental purposes grew slowly from World War I until the 1980s. It then exponentially increased until now with more than 7900 species and a large number of scientifically undescribed morphotypes. Here we present the first comprehensive review of freshwater and brackish fish importation...

Aim Climate and land use are key determinants of biodiversity, with past and ongoing changes posing serious threats to global ecosystems. Unlike most other organism groups, plant species can possess dormant life‐history stages such as soil seed banks, which may help plant communities to resist or at least postpone the detrimental impact of global changes. This study investigates the potential for soil seed banks to achieve thi...

Climatic impacts are especially pronounced in the Arctic, which as a region is warming twice as fast as the rest of the globe. Here, we investigate how mean climatic conditions and rates of climatic change impact parasitoid insect communities in 16 localities across the Arctic. We focus on parasitoids in a widespread habitat, Dryas heathlands, and describe parasitoid community composition in terms of larval host use (i.e., par...

Recent studies have shown that invasive earthworms can dramatically reduce native biodiversity, both above and below the ground. However, we still lack a synthetic understanding of the underlying mechanisms behind these changes, such as whether earthworm effects on soil chemical properties drive such relationships. Here, we investigated the effects of invasive earthworms on soil chemical properties (pH, water content, and the...

Many of the skills and resources associated with botanic gardens and arboreta, including plant taxonomy, horticulture, and seed bank management, are fundamental to ecological restoration efforts, yet few of the world's botanic gardens are involved in the science or practice of restoration. Thus, we examined the potential role of botanic gardens in these emerging fields. We believe a reorientation of certain existing institutio...