Rare species are increasingly recognized as crucial, yet vulnerable components of Earth's
ecosystems. This is also true for microbial communities, which are typically composed of a …

The rhizosphere microbiome is a central determinant of plant performance. Microbiome
assembly has traditionally been investigated from a bottom-up perspective, assessing how …

The origin of biological diversity, via the formation of new species, can be inextricably linked
to adaptation to the ecological environment. Specifically, ecological processes are central to …

Nematode predation has important roles in determining bacterial community composition
and dynamics, but the extent of the effects remains largely rudimentary, particularly in …

Ecological opportunity–through entry into a new environment, the origin of a key innovation
or extinction of antagonists–is widely thought to link ecological population dynamics to …

Adaptive radiation refers to diversification from an ancestral species that produces
descendants adapted to use a great variety of distinct ecological niches. In this review, I …

Biologists have long been fascinated by the exceptionally high diversity displayed by some
evolutionary groups. Adaptive radiation in such clades is not only spectacular, but is also an …

The analysis of the phylogenetic structure of communities can help reveal contemporary
ecological interactions, as well as link community ecology with biogeography and the study …

Evolution is an on-going process, and it can be studied experimentally in organisms with
rapid generations. My team has maintained 12 populations of Escherichia coli in a simple …

Background Snake venoms are trophic adaptations that represent an ideal model to
examine the evolutionary factors that shape polymorphic traits under strong natural …