A study across Morocco found that differences in growth and reproduction along a climate gradient are driven largely by phenotypic plasticity rather than local adaptation. Photo by Laïla Rhazi.

A new study of nearly 70,000 sightings reveals that black rhinos, despite being considered solitary, form long-term associations with familiar individuals. These relationships may help reduce aggression, but social interactions can also carry survival costs—especially for calves.

On Hawaiian reefs, a field experiment shows that early-arriving competitors and predators can strongly shape who gets to live on coral colonies. Photo by Erik Brush.

A study of Corsican blue tits shows that adding aromatic plants to nests can reduce bacterial diversity supporting that birds use these plants to protect their offspring from harmful microbes. Illustration by Hélène Dion-Phénix.

Citing software packages is essential, but treating them as the origin rather than the implementation of ideas risks obscuring the intellectual history of methods. Read more from Oikos Editor-in-Chief Pedro Peres-Neto.

A study of Brazilian savannas shows that fuel traits—especially grass biomass—strongly shape fire behavior, helping predict where fires are most likely to occur. Photo by Vínicus de Lima Dantas.

Editor's choices are papers that engage ecologists across general ecology while advancing understanding of ecological mechanisms, processes, and patterns — precisely Oikos goals.

Double-blind review may no longer be a shield, but it can still be a compass, according to Oikos Editor-in-Chief Pedro Peres-Neto.

A study of fig wasps by shows that communities linked to Neotropical fig trees change dramatically across space, with high species turnover. Photo by Jean-Yves Rasplus.

A new study highlights polar bears as key providers of food in the Arctic, showing that the carrion from their seal kills fuels a network of scavengers. Photo by Wayne Lynch.

Sounds counterintuitive: if we want to mitigate global loss of biodiversity, we should take a hard look at research that seems to contradict biodiversity loss.

We at Oikos want to contribute to encourage debate, which is why we keep encouraging authors to contribute small texts for our sessions Speculations and Alternative Viewpoints, where researchers can share unresolved questions and bold perspectives.

A study of European beech forests reveals that trees can maintain water uptake during drought by drawing from deeper soil layers, but dry conditions reduce the diversity of their root-associated fungi.

A study of mouse lemurs in Madagascar shows that protected forests significantly boost survival compared to degraded habitats. Photo by Jacques S. Rakotondranary.

Dr. Zsófia Horváth studies how connectivity sustains aquatic biodiversity in ponds and how how networks of secondary habitats operate in urban environments.

Dr. Elisa Thébault aims to investigate the responses of communities and ecosystems to global changes and to better understand the links between diversity, structure of interaction networks between species and stability of ecosystem functioning.

Due by 13 JULY 2025: We invite you to contribute to a special issue of Oikos on “Biological invasions in the context of global environmental change.”

We are happy to welcome Dr. Jean-Philippe Gibert from Duke University, NC, USA, to the Oikos Editorial Board.

We are happy to welcome Dr. Susan Whitehead from Virginia Tech to the Oikos Editorial Board. To know more about her, read our interview.

We know that predators influence many other species, directly and indirectly. But we tend to think about their effects in terms of one starting point.

As climate change shifts the timing of the seasons, it messes with different organisms in different ways—which can disrupt the way they interact.

Disease and ecosystem ecology are treated as separate disciplines, but we know they're intertwined—so how can we study them together? Think in terms of carbon.

This Forum paper argues that the human-friendly qualities of our pets, livestock, and crops could have arisen without selective breeding or other human-centric mechanisms that are usually assumed. Instead, it explores an ecological mechanism: the island syndrome.

Why is it so hard to fix broken ecosystems? This Forum paper seeks to improve our idea of the “humpty-dumpty effect” that is often invoked to explain restoration failure.