Latitudinal diversity gradient
Many groups contain more species near the equator than near the poles. Which ecological and evolutionary processes generate this large-scale pattern?
Ecology
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Species coexistence
Many species persist together despite competing for resources. Which mechanisms keep any one competitor from excluding the others in real, changing ecosystems?
Mast seeding
Some plants produce huge seed crops together, then little for years. How do weather cues and stored resources set that rhythm?
Bacterial speciation
Bacteria exchange DNA across lineages. How do distinct evolutionary populations form and remain separate?
Rangeomorph nutrition
Rangeomorphs were branching Ediacaran organisms. How did they obtain nutrients in the deep-sea settings where some lived?
Polyploid establishment
A plant with extra chromosome sets may have few compatible mates. Which conditions let a new polyploid population persist?
Arbuscule maintenance
Does nutrient delivery by a fungal branch inside a root influence how long the plant maintains it?
Coral bleaching
Heat stress can disrupt the partnership between corals and their photosynthetic symbionts. Which cellular pathways cause symbiont loss in different conditions?
Biological carbon-pump efficiency
Ocean plankton capture carbon, but much is recycled before it reaches depth. What determines how much carbon from different organisms survives that journey?
Bergmann’s rule
Many birds are larger in colder places, but the pattern varies. Which inherited and developmental mechanisms create these geographic size differences?
Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event
Marine diversity expanded dramatically around the Ordovician. How did ecological change, nutrient cycling and climate interact to produce that diversification?
Japanese eel migration
Japanese eel larvae travel from the West Mariana spawning region to East Asia. Which routes and changing depths lead to each coastal arrival?
Mycorrhizal defence signalling
Aphid attack on one bean plant can change a neighbour’s defences in fungal-network experiments. What carries the cue between them?
Saccharibacteria host recognition
A tiny Saccharibacterium survives by attaching to another bacterium. Which molecular handshake decides whether that bacterial partner is usable?
Lichen morphogenesis
A yellow lichen on bark has organized layers built by organisms with separate genomes. What makes its fungus and alga assemble that shared body?
Neocalanus diapause termination
A female Neocalanus copepod waits hundreds of metres below the surface, then restarts egg production. What ends its months of dormancy?
Bogong moth stellar navigation
Rotate a projected Australian night sky and a migrating Bogong moth turns with it. Which celestial pattern does its small brain read?
Coral larval settlement
A swimming coral larva touches a microbial film and may attach and become a polyp. Which signals in a natural mixed biofilm make both steps happen?
Daphnia life-history kairomones
Water from roach fed Daphnia makes Daphnia reproduce at a smaller size. Which dissolved chemical carries that warning?
Pyrocystis bioluminescence mechanosensing
A single Pyrocystis lunula cell can flash when pushed or deformed. Which molecular sensor turns that physical change into the first signal for light?
Cuttlefish camouflage feedback
A cuttlefish can adjust its skin pattern through a meandering series of changes. What tells it whether the current pattern is getting closer to the background?