Understanding how microbial communities develop is essential for predicting and directing
their future states. Ecological theory suggests that community development is often …

The order and timing of species immigration during community assembly can affect species
abundances at multiple spatial scales. Known as priority effects, these effects cause …

Shifts in the phenologies of coexistence species are altering the temporal structure of natural
communities worldwide. However, predicting how these changes affect the structure and …

Projections around the globe suggest an increase in tick-vectored disease incidence and
distribution, and the potential for emergence of novel tick-borne pathogens. Lyme disease is …

Supplemental feeding can increase the overall health of animals but also can have varying
consequences for animals dealing with parasites. Furthermore, the mechanism mediating …

Most insects harbour influential, yet non‐essential heritable microbes in their hemocoel.
Communities of these symbionts exhibit low diversity. But their frequent multi‐species nature …

Priority effects play a key role in structuring natural communities, but considerable confusion
remains about how they affect different ecological systems. Synthesizing previous studies …

Parasites, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, protists, helminths, and arthropods, are
ubiquitous in the animal kingdom. Consequently, hosts are frequently infected with more …

The order of species arrival can influence how species interact with one another and,
consequently, which species may coexist in local communities. This phenomenon, called …

Persistent genetic variation within populations presents an evolutionary problem, as natural
selection and genetic drift tend to erode genetic diversity. Models of balancing selection …