Juliano Morimoto

Hutchinson's n-dimensional niche hypervolume underlies many ecological analyses, yet estimating hypervolumes from finite occurrence data remains challenging, particularly when niches contain non-convex structure such as separated regions or internal holes. Here, we introduce Q-niche, a quantum-mechanics-inspired algorithm for ecological hypervolume estimation. Using an inverse Schrödinger formulation, Q-niche transforms an occurrence-derived Gaussian field into a potential surface whose low-potential regions define a hypervolume represented by a stochastic point cloud. We evaluated Q-niche against Gaussian kernel density estimation and one-class support vector machine hypervolume estimators using synthetic niches, virtual species and empirical Acacia occurrence data. Across controlled synthetic benchmarks, Q-niche preserved imposed topological features more consistently than either alternative and showed closer overall topological agreement with occurrence clouds. This preservation remained robust across the tested parameter settings. Virtual-species analyses showed that stronger preservation of environmental topology did not necessarily produce greater overlap with the known geographical distribution, showing that topology and geographical range are not necessarily coupled. The empirical Acacia dataset revealed that the inferred size and topology of a niche hypervolume is estimator-dependent, favouring the use of Q-niche when hypervolume topology is the focus of research due to its topology preservation performance. Overall, Q-niche provides a practical tool for reconstructing complex niche hypervolumes and investigating how their geometry and topology relate to potential geographical distributions.

Aim: The niche is a fundamental concept in theoretical and experimental ecology and is used to describe a wide range of ecological processes from species' interactions with the environment to community assemblies. A common way to represent the niche is through a multidimensional geometry known as the Hutchinsonian niche hypervolume. Ecological theory predicts that niche hypervolumes have properties such as holes with broader eco‐evolutionary significance, but we lack a comprehensive empirical study of niche hypervolume properties and their evolutionary meaning. Location: Global. Time Period: Holocene. Major Taxa Studied: Gymnosperms. Methods: We conducted for the first time a systematic and comprehensive test of the evolution of Hutchinsonian climatic niche hypervolume properties (volume and holes) across 418 species, 65 genera, and 12 families of gymnosperms, which includes many species that are endangered or threatened. Using cutting‐edge computational algorithms, we measured the evolution of geometric (i. e., volume) and topological (i. e., holes) properties of gymnosperm hypervolumes across a comprehensive calibrated phylogeny. Results: Our comparative analysis revealed moderate evidence of the non‐independent evolution of niche hypervolume and no evidence of the non‐independent evolution of holey hypervolumes across gymnosperm species. We also found that species, genera and families with low hypervolume volume, such as monotypic groups like Gingko , likely experienced shifts in hypervolume evolutionary rates. However, our analysis of niche positioning showed that climatic distances between co‐occurring species did not significantly depart from null expectations, suggesting that their spatial distribution within the climatic space is independent of limiting similarity. Main Conclusions: Our results indicate that topological properties of gymnosperm climatic niche hypervolumes show little phylogenetic constraint and thus arise as emergent outcomes of species–environment interactions. In contrast, the breadth of environmental occupancy (hypervolume volume) retains a moderate evolutionary signal. These patterns suggest that while the capacity to occupy wider or narrower climatic conditions is moderately shared by evolutionary history, the actual realisation of these niches is not driven by significant climatic divergence.

Environmental enrichment is widely used in zoos to improve welfare and facilitate successful reintroductions, yet evidence for its effectiveness in callitrichids – particularly golden‐headed lion tamarins Leontopithecus chrysomelas – remains limited. As these primates spend up to half of their daily activity budget foraging in the wild, food‐based enrichment may significantly improve welfare in captivity. Here, we investigated the effects of food puzzles on six zoo‐housed golden‐headed lion tamarins (three pairs) over 17 days (5 control, 12 treatment). Food engagement time and behaviours that may reflect stress or arousal states (grooming and activity) were recorded during structured observation periods. We found that food puzzles significantly increased feeding engagement, from an average of 15 min with standard food bowls to 47 min with puzzles (~3‐fold increase). In contrast, no statistically significant changes were detected in grooming or activity levels. Although short‐term exposure did not reduce stress‐related behaviours, the more equitable distribution of allogrooming and the decrease in self‐grooming observed in most individuals suggest potential group‐level benefits. Our findings underscore the potential benefits of food puzzles which reliably extend foraging time in captive golden‐headed lion tamarins. Our work also highlights the need for longitudinal, multi‐zoo studies to evaluate effects on social dynamics and welfare.

Summary: Extreme climatic events impose considerable stress on organisms with consequences for key ecological interactions such as pollination. Because temperature directly affects metabolic processes, heat variations may also importantly influence the nutritional needs and feeding choices of animals. Here, we studied the effects of thermal stress on the nutritional choices and performances of bumblebees, using a 3D nutritional geometry design. At optimal temperature for colony development (30°C), bees successfully balanced carbohydrate, protein, and lipid collection, at levels beneficial for body weight and survival. Under cold stress (20°C), bees reduced their overall nutrient collection while selecting proportionally more carbohydrates, thereby prioritizing survival over weight gain. Under heat stress (35°C), nutrient balancing was disrupted and survival dropped. Notably however, across all temperatures, bees maintained stable lipid collection while flexibly adjusting the amount of carbohydrates and proteins, suggesting strong constraints on lipid regulation. Given the pivotal role of bees for pollination, identifying how their nutritional needs change in response to climatic conditions is of prior importance for food safety and the conservation of terrestrial ecosystems.

Trade-offs between lifespan and reproduction are a central theme in evolution and ecology, often attributed to physiological constraints on the allocation of limiting resources. However, recent work suggests such trade-offs may depend on macro- and micro-nutritional context. We examined how macronutrient balance and cholesterol availability shape lifespan and reproductive performance in male Drosophila melanogaster, explicitly testing both unmated males and those permitted to mate freely across their lives—a design rarely applied. We found that cholesterol deprivation induced a substantial reduction in lifespan, but only in frequently mating males, indicating that sterols are continuously invested in reproduction, consistent with their known role in sperm and seminal fluid. Conversely, dietary cholesterol reduced lifespan in unmated males maintained on low protein–to–carbohydrate diets, suggesting that male reproductive investment is sufficiently high to generate sterol-dependent costs to the soma. Lifespan was maximised at higher protein–to–carbohydrate ratios than previously estimated, while reproductive performance in aged males was favoured by carbohydrate-biased diets, demonstrating a nutritional trade-off. Males preferentially consumed macronutrient ratios that promoted reproductive success rather than longevity, and discriminated the presence of cholesterol in food. Together, these findings reveal sterols as a key mediator of male longevity, with effects that depend critically on both diet and reproductive context. More broadly, by integrating sterols, macronutrient balance, and sustained reproductive investment, our study challenges the long-standing assumption that male reproduction is “cheap,” and refines our understanding of the evolutionary basis of dietary trade-offs.

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins that perform essential physiological functions. Theory suggests that the proteome composition—the amino acid frequencies across all proteins in a genome—is associated with an organism's optimal growth temperature, offering insights into species' temperature limits. This hypothesis, however, is largely based on prokaryotic models and has not been thoroughly tested in complex multicellular eukaryotes, where many amino acids must be acquired through diet. Here, we integrated multiple databases and analysed amino acid frequencies in the proteomes of orthologous and non‐orthologous genes from 35 Lepidoptera species to test for correlations with maximum observed temperatures and diet breadth. Using a robust phylogenetic comparative approach, we found no evidence that proteome composition correlates with temperature or diet breadth, which are important ecological traits for Lepidopterans and affect their interactions with other species. These results suggest that, unlike in simpler organisms, animal proteome composition is shaped more strongly by intrinsic biophysical and energetic constraints than by ecological factors such as temperature exposure or dietary specialisation. Our study bridges evolutionary genetics with ecological physiology across a diverse group of insects and highlights the importance of publishing well‐designed null results. These findings also emphasise the limitations of using proteome composition as a proxy for ecological adaptation in multicellular species, while opening avenues of future research to further explore the complex interplay between genetics, physiology, and environment in shaping biodiversity.

Urban areas are growing, often at the expense of native ecosystems. As a result, indigenous lands (ILs) have become critical refuges for biodiversity, essential for sustainability and sit at the intersection of cultural, economic, and environmental interests. ILs play a double role in this context: they protect native biodiversity but are often framed as barriers to economic growth. In Brazil, nearly 14% of the territory is demarcated as ILs. This has led to conflicts with Brazil’s agricultural sector, particularly in the southernmost states, where agribusiness drives the economy. We hypothesize that this conflict leads to agricultural encroachment of ILs, which might become extension of farms, compromising their sustainability. We analyzed two decades of public data on soy coverage within ILs in Brazil’s southernmost states (Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul) and found that soy cultivation in ILs increased by over 116% in the last two decades, peaking in 2019 at 177% above the 2001 baseline. We argue that ILs urgently need a framework that enables the communities therein to benefit from income originating from land lease, while ensuring that encroachment is limited and does not pose threats to native biodiversity. This can be challenging due to growing political pressure to weaken socioenvironmental protection and ILs’ demarcation but is nevertheless essential for the sustainable coexistence of urban areas, farms, and ILs.

Early life conditions can have long‐lasting effects on fitness. In insects, larval crowding increases intraspecific competition, shaping adult phenotypes and influencing male reproductive success in pre‐ and post‐mating competition. Although some larval crowding effects on seminal fluid protein (Sfp) allocation are known, studies often focus on a small subset of Sfps and overlook male–female interactions. A comprehensive understanding of how male and female larval environments interact to influence seminal proteome composition and transfer is still lacking. Here, we manipulated Drosophila melanogaster larval crowding (low vs. high) to generate large and small adults and mated individuals in a fully factorial design. We then measured Sfp production, composition and transfer. Large males produced relatively higher quantities of Sfps. However, small males transferred greater quantities of a subset of Sfps. When examining proteins individually, 10 Sfps were transferred at significantly higher abundances by small males than large males. Our findings suggest that small males invest more per mating, potentially due to fewer mating opportunities or cues of high larval density influencing reproductive strategies. This study provides new insights into early life effects on ejaculate allocation in D. melanogaster, highlighting physiological and behavioural responses to developmental conditions. Understanding these mechanisms offers valuable perspectives on reproductive strategies and fitness trade‐offs in insects.