Higher and more stable biological control of multiple herbivore species in diversified strip cropping systems 

Bolletta et al., 2026

1. Context: Agricultural intensification has simplified agroecosystems, reduced biodiversity and weakened natural pest control. Effective biological control requires reliable, long-term control of multiple herbivores. While studies investigated biological control in diversified cropping systems, there is little information as to what extent pest suppression is sustained throughout the growing season and whether it provides satisfactory control of several herbivores.
2. Objectives: Here we assessed how increasing crop diversity and an ‘attract-and-reward’ (A&R) strategy influence the effectiveness and temporal stability of biological control.
3. Methods: We compared predation, parasitism of eggs and caterpillars in a cabbage system with four levels of crop diversity: cabbage monoculture, cabbage-oat strip cropping, strip cropping with six crops and an A&R system in which a strip cropping system was enhanced by inclusion of a parasitoid-attractive cabbage cultivar and nectar-providing buckwheat. Experiments were conducted at two organically-managed farms in the Netherlands in 2023 and 2024. Additionally, a full-factorial experiment was conducted in 2023 at one location to assess the effects of the A&R components. Temporal stability was quantified as the coefficient of variation and the proportion of sampling weeks in which each treatment exceeded the mean biological control level.
4. Results: Across locations and years, strip cropping enhanced parasitism rates of Pieris brassicae and Plutella xylostella compared with monocultures. Pieris brassicae parasitism increased from 28% in monocultures to 58% in strip cropping systems, while P. xylostella parasitism rose from 10% to 25%–30%. Parasitism of Mamestra brassicae eggs by Trichogramma spp. reached up to 30% in the strip cropping system with six crops, compared with 1% in monocultures. A&R provided no improvement beyond standard strip cropping. Monocultures showed the highest coefficient of variation and exceeded the site-year mean in only 13% of weeks, compared to more than 60% in strip crop systems.
5. Synthesis and application: Our results highlight that strip cropping can enhance and stabilize biological control. Even simple two-crop designs provide clear benefits over monocultures, while increasing crop diversity to six crops offers additional advantages. Because the temporal stability of biological control increases with crop diversity, designing strip cropping systems with more crops can help maintain consistent and resilient pest regulation throughout the growing season.

https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.70381

Predator decision-making shapes the dynamics and stability of mimicry systems 

Sun and Ke, 2026

1. Mimicry is an anti-predator strategy in which prey species (the mimic) resemble an unprofitable species (the model) to deceive predators. Despite theoretical expectations for perfect mimicry, imperfect mimicry, where the mimic resembles its model imperfectly, is widespread in nature.
2. To understand how imperfect mimicry can persist ecologically, we studied the effect of different predator recognition processes on the dynamics and stability of various mimicry systems. Specifically, we extended a dynamical model that integrates optimal foraging and signal detection theories by introducing a novel abundance-dependent recognition mechanism, where predators' perception of the similarity between mimic and model is influenced by the relative abundance of prey types.
3. We demonstrate that intermediate similarity promotes stable community dynamics and increases mimic abundance in single Batesian mimicry systems. Moreover, abundance-dependent recognition leads predators to reduce attack on mimics with low morphological similarity, further contributing to system stability.
4. Extending the framework to a multi-mimicry system, we find that Batesian and Müllerian mimics have contrasting effects: Intermediate Batesian similarity continues to stabilize the system, while high Müllerian similarity provides additional protection and can offset destabilization caused by highly similar Batesian mimics.
5. Our study offers a novel explanation for the prevalence of imperfect mimicry in nature and highlights how recognition processes shape the ecological stability of mimicry systems.

https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1365-2656.70319

Interannual rainfall variability promotes species coexistence primarily through relative nonlinearity in interaction strength

Lin et al.,  2026

1. Combating the effects of global change and biodiversity loss requires a deeper understanding of species coexistence across variable environments. Little is known, however, about how drivers of coexistence respond to environmental change.
2. Using a greenhouse competition experiment, we examine how interannual rainfall variation influences competitive dynamics in an old-field annual plant community in southern China. We parameterize a competition model for eight species to assess coexistence outcomes under constant and variable rainfall conditions, partitioning variation-independent and variation-dependent mechanisms of coexistence.
3. We show that species are more likely to coexist under variable rainfall conditions. Of the coexistence mechanisms examined, relative nonlinearity of the interaction strength most strongly promotes coexistence, followed by a lesser positive contribution from relative nonlinearity of the vital rates, while the interaction effect between these nonlinearities tends to destabilize coexistence.
4. Synthesis. Our study provides novel evidence that rainfall variability promotes pairwise species coexistence in a multispecies plant community, driven primarily by the relative nonlinearity in interaction strength. These findings highlight the necessity of incorporating environmental variability into coexistence studies to better predict and manage biodiversity in a changing world.

https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2745.70419

Trophic rewilding restructure the insect communities according to their functional traits: Insights from a multitaxa study 

Walte et al., 2026

1. Trophic rewilding, or returning vertebrate megaherbivores to defaunated ecosystems, is advocated for restoring ecosystems and biodiversity conservation. As many groups of modern insects radiated during the Neogene era into landscapes inhabited by abundant megafauna, they should be adapted to disturbances provided by megaherbivores' presence.
2. In the Czech Republic, 11 fenced localities have been trophically rewilded by horse, the reconstructed ‘aurochs’, wisent and water buffalo, in various combinations, since 2016 onwards. At these localities, we established 1-ha plots in a rewilded/control design, characterised their vegetation and surveyed butterflies (passive monitoring since the rewilding onset), macro-moths, bees and wasps, ants and orthopterans (single-season rewilded/control surveys). We analysed the data using mixed linear models to compare insect species' richness and abundances and constrained ordinations with interpretation of ordination scores by the life history traits to investigate effects on species' composition.
3. Trophically rewilded plots hosted more species and individuals of bees+wasps and orthopterans. They did not differ from controls in the other groups. Rewilding affected species' composition in all targeted groups, supporting smaller-sized, specialised and less mobile species; butterflies and moths developing on small forbs; and ant trait composition did not respond to rewilding.
4. Synthesis and applications. Presence of large ungulates increased richness and abundance of some insect taxa. Across taxa, it supported life history traits declining in modern industrialised landscapes. Trophic rewilding thus represents a way to remedy undesirable effects of land use intensification, and to mimic conditions in which a substantial proportion of temperate insect biodiversity has evolved.

https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.70399

Succession as a unifying model of ecosystem ecology and conservation 

Allgeier  and Zak, 2026

Restoring ecosystem function and services requires a refined understanding of ecological succession because of the increased frequency and magnitude of disturbances in the Anthropocene. Ecosystem ecology has gained increasing attention for its utility in conservation over the past decade because it relies on fundamental principles to generate models from which basic processes, such as primary, secondary, or ecosystem production, can be predicted—all of which form the basis for ecological services. Despite this, ecosystem ecology lacks a unifying framework that can provide universal predictions about the trajectory of ecosystem production and, thus, can be effectively applied to restore ecosystem function and services in the Anthropocene.

Succession is a fundamental concept in ecology because it provides perspectives on how ecosystems change over time and respond following disturbance. It is also a useful concept for conservation and restoration because human activity has increased the frequency and magnitude of disturbances globally. Ecosystem ecology offers a unique perspective on succession because it views dynamics through the lens of process-based currencies—such as net ecosystem production—that subsume multiple simultaneous properties of energy and nutrient flow, thereby providing a useful measure with which to monitor and anticipate net change. Studying succession through these perspectives reveals fundamental patterns that unify central principles of ecosystem ecology and provide a predictive model on which to base conservation and restoration efforts.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169534726001503

Mathematics in the Age of AI

Terence Tao 

True solitude is found in the wild places, where one is without human obligation. One’s inner voices become audible. One feels the attraction of one’s most intimate sources. In consequence, one responds more clearly to other lives.

Wendell Berry

Mutually beneficial interactions between bacteria and Arabidopsis promote phosphorus nutrition and growth 

Wang et al., 2026

It remains unknown whether plants establish mutualistic relationships with any bacteria to cope with phosphorus (P) limitation. We characterized root-bacterial microbiome members to show that many of them may cooperate with Arabidopsis to promote seedling P nutrition and growth. In-depth analyses uncovered an intricate interaction between Arabidopsis and Acinetobacter bacteria during P deficiency. Instead of a direct role in P-mining, malate secreted by P-deprived roots acts as a call-for-help signal that recruits bacteria to the rhizoplane, where Acinetobacter adopt a mutualistic lifestyle and utilize host-derived nutrients to robustly mobilize P normally inaccessible to plants. The rhizoplane, but not the surrounding space, served as a hotspot for P acquisition by both plants and bacteria. The interaction occurred in the context of a bacterial community and in P-impoverished soil. Our work reveals a mutualistic strategy between bacteria and a non-mycorrhizal plant that promotes P nutrition.

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(26)00917-7

The hidden dimensions of consciousness? are plants intelligent? 

Peter Singer and Michael Pollan

Resistant and Susceptible Lima Bean Genotypes Differentially Recruit Rhizosphere and Phyllosphere Bacteria in Response to the Fungal Pathogen Colletotrichum truncatum  

Novaes de Aquino et al., 2026

Los microbiomas asociados a las plantas desempeñan un papel fundamental en la salud del hospedero y en su resistencia a las enfermedades. En este estudio se evaluaron las comunidades bacterianas de la rizósfera y la filosfera de dos genotipos de frijol lima (Phaseolus lunatus) con diferente nivel de resistencia a la antracnosis, tanto en plantas inoculadas como no inoculadas con Colletotrichum truncatum. Para ello, se secuenció el gen 16S rRNA de las bacterias presentes en ambos compartimentos.

Los resultados mostraron que tanto el genotipo de la planta como la inoculación con el patógeno modificaron significativamente la estructura de las comunidades bacterianas. En el genotipo resistente se observaron cambios más marcados en la composición del microbioma después de la inoculación, tanto en la rizósfera como en la filosfera. En la rizósfera, las plantas susceptibles inoculadas presentaron una mayor diversidad bacteriana que las resistentes. Además, los genotipos resistentes exhibieron conjuntos bacterianos más diferenciados entre plantas inoculadas y no inoculadas, lo que sugiere una reorganización específica del microbioma en respuesta al patógeno.

El análisis de redes ecológicas reveló respuestas diferentes según el compartimento vegetal. En la filosfera de las plantas resistentes inoculadas se detectó una red bacteriana con mayor conectividad y predominio de interacciones positivas, indicando una comunidad más cooperativa y organizada durante la infección. En conjunto, los resultados demuestran que los genotipos resistentes remodelan activamente su microbioma frente al ataque de C. truncatum, favoreciendo el enriquecimiento de bacterias potencialmente beneficiosas y el establecimiento de redes microbianas más interconectadas y cooperativas, lo que probablemente contribuye a una mayor resistencia a la enfermedad.

https://bsppjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ppa.70234