Teleost fishes are the most diverse group of vertebrates on Earth. On tropical coral reefs,
their species richness exceeds 6000 species; one tenth of total vertebrate biodiversity. A …

The deep sea, the largest biome on Earth, has a series of characteristics that make this
environment both distinct from other marine and land ecosystems and unique for the entire …

Spatial patterns of biodiversity are inextricably linked to their collection methods, yet no
synthesis of bias patterns or their consequences exists. As such, views of organismal …

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time, 1, 2 and attempts to address it
require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental …

Far more species of organisms are found in the tropics than in temperate and polar regions,
but the evolutionary and ecological causes of this pattern remain controversial 1, 2. Tropical …

Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding has emerged as a potentially powerful tool to
assess aquatic community structures. However, the method has hitherto lacked field tests …

Global species richness, whether estimated by taxon, habitat, or ecosystem, is a key
biodiversity metric. Yet, despite the global importance of biodiversity and increasing threats …

The diversity of life is one of the most striking aspects of our planet; hence knowing how
many species inhabit Earth is among the most fundamental questions in science. Yet the …

Global patterns of species richness and their structuring forces have fascinated biologists
since Darwin, and provide critical context for contemporary studies in ecology, evolution and …

Ecological communities change in time and space, but long-term dynamics at the century-to-
millennia scale are poorly documented due to lack of relevant data sets. Nevertheless …