Despite widespread recognition of the dynamic nature of ecological interactions, the consequences for community persistence of the observed year-to-year changes in species interactions have remained overlooked. Our research bridges this gap, leveraging a uniquely high-quality dataset spanning 8 years and 12 independent sites-offering unparalleled resolution to examine plant-pollinator interactions. Here, we characterise year-to-year variation in plant-pollinator interactions and compare their structural stability (a robust theoretical measure describing species persistence) with that of null models simulating random rewiring. We discover that although most interaction changes (80%) are caused by species turnover, it is the temporal rewiring among permanent species that primarily enhances pollinator persistence. This interaction rewiring is not random and effectively boosts pollinator persistence despite being primarily determined by changes in the phenologies and abundances of the permanent pollinator species. While not fully optimised, these adaptive responses underscore the vital role of rewiring in fostering ecological stability amid a changing world.

ABSTRACTSpecific recognition of microbial virulence factors (effectors) by host defence proteins can generate negative frequency‐dependent selection (NFDS), enabling the maintenance of strain diversity. Our characterisation of 76 Midwestern US Pseudomonas syringae strains and 1104 global strains confirmed high strain diversity, but also revealed that strains are structured into similarity modules, consistent with core genome phylogeny but unexplained by host, location or genetic linkage. We developed a stochastic computational model that embraces the large variability now known to characterise effector repertoires. We show that NFDS can not only generate modular strain structure but is required to maintain modularity under genetic exchange, for which there is evidence in the data. These modules form through the emergence of groups of pathogens virulent to dominant hosts at a given time. Thus, eco‐evolutionary dynamics contribute to strain coexistence through flux in the modules that represent niches within the host population.

ABSTRACTViral transfer from managed pollinators potentially threatens wild pollinators and may be exacerbated by land‐use changes. Our causal models and plant‐pollinator network data from 48 European urban and agricultural landscapes revealed the ecological mechanisms underpinning viral transmission. Host identity, network architecture and land‐use modulated viral dynamics (black queen cell virus, BQCV; deformed wing virus, DWV‐A and DWV‐B). Viral prevalence in wild pollinators was driven by viral density in the reservoir host: honey bees, and secondarily by trophic niche overlap with these managed pollinators. Modular networks limited BQCV prevalence, which was driven by reduced honey bee niche overlap, suggesting minimal onward transmission among wild pollinators. Landscapes supporting greater wild pollinator abundance diluted DWV‐B transmission; in urban landscapes managed honey bees and wild pollinators experienced higher and lower BQCV prevalence, respectively. Disease in managed bee colonies and land‐use changes that concentrate pollinator foraging interactions present potential viral risks to wild pollinator health.

Trait-based approaches are key to understanding eco-evolutionary processes but rarely account for animal behaviour despite its central role in ecosystem dynamics. We propose integrating behaviour into trait-based ecology through movement traits-standardised and comparable measures of animal movement derived from biologging data, such as daily displacements or range sizes. Accounting for animal behaviour will advance trait-based research on species interactions, community structure and ecosystem functioning. Importantly, movement traits allow for quantification of behavioural reaction norms, offering insights into species' acclimation and adaptive capacity to environmental change. We outline a vision for a 'living' global movement trait database that enhances trait data curation by (1) continuously growing alongside shared biologging data, (2) calculating traits directly from individual-level data using standardised, consistent methodology and (3) providing information on multi-level (species, individual, within-individual) trait variation. We present a proof-of-concept 'MoveTraits' database with 52 mammal and 97 bird species, demonstrating calculation workflows for 5 traits across multiple timescales. Movement traits have significant potential to improve trait-based global change predictions and contribute to global biodiversity assessments as Essential Biodiversity Variables. By making animal movement data more accessible and interpretable, this database could bridge the gap between movement ecology and biodiversity policy, facilitating evidence-based conservation.

Plants can 'cry for help' in response to herbivory as well as anticipate herbivory by detecting specific environmental cues before damage occurs. But can plants 'anticipate help?' Building on the optimal defence and information transfer models of induced plant defence, we argue they can. We find literature support for key assumptions of the 'anticipating help' hypothesis, which proposes plants can (1) detect cues that signal reliable protection from enemies of herbivores (bodyguards), and (2) downregulate direct anti-herbivore resistance when bodyguards compensate. In an original a priori test of the assumptions of cue detection and downregulation of direct resistance, we use a meta-analysis of sequential herbivory experiments. We found that plants express induced susceptibility (dampened direct resistance) towards leaf-chewing herbivores only after induction by myrmecophilous sap-feeding herbivores, a putative cue for reliable ant-mediated protection against chewing herbivores. More generally, we expect 'anticipating help' behaviour in plants when local environmental cues predict reliable anti-herbivore protection from bodyguards that compensate for dampened direct resistance at a reduced fitness cost. The 'anticipating help' hypothesis can explain several enigmatic issues, such as induced susceptibility, associational resistance of plants, and how indirect resistance may benefit plant fitness under a wider range of conditions than previously recognised.

ABSTRACTIncreased frequency and severity of droughts threatens forest health worldwide. Tree species‐specific adaptations—for example, dry‐season deciduousness in tropical seasonal forests—and individual traits—for example, size, crown position—shape drought resistance, but such resistance may be variable across species, microenvironments and drought events. Here, we assess growth responses of 1820 trees across 30 species to three climatically distinct droughts in a seasonally dry tropical forest in Western Thailand. Species and individuals exhibited a wide range of growth responses within each drought, and differences in response intensity and affect among the drought events. Deciduous and evergreen species were more sensitive to wet‐ and dry‐season drought respectively. While individuals with more exposed crowns tended to grow less in all droughts, stem diameter and topographic wetness had variable effects. Heterogeneous drought responses of species and individuals indicate potential biological insurance effects in diverse forests in the face of increased drought.

ABSTRACTCommunities can buffer environmental change through diverse responses of their species, often leading to greater stability than expected from individual species. Metrics such as response dissimilarity (variation in magnitude) and divergence (variation in direction) capture this response diversity in fluctuating environments. We test whether response diversity also stabilises community properties under pulse disturbance. Combining model simulations of multi‐species communities with empirical data from a meta‐analysis, we find that community stability was consistently determined by the species mean response, regardless of interaction strength. Contrastingly, response dissimilarity and divergence were only related to stability in the absence of interspecific interactions. While response diversity increases stability under fluctuating conditions, pulse disturbances cause negative responses in most species and stability is highest when species uniformly exhibit strong resistance or fast recovery. These results highlight that the role of response diversity in promoting community stability depends on disturbance regimes and is shaped by species interactions.