Ecology

AbstractCoral reefs provide essential ecosystem services and livelihoods, particularly for small island nations like the Maldives. However, they are increasingly threatened by climate change and coastal modification. In 2022, the Greater Malé Connectivity Project (GMCP) commenced in North Malé Atoll, involving large-scale land reclamation and marine construction that affected adjacent coral reefs. As a mitigation measure, coral colonies were relocated to the reef surrounding Villimalé Island. Over two years of monitoring, relocated corals showed encouraging performance despite challenging environmental conditions. Overall survival reached 66%, with larger colonies outperforming smaller fragments and Pocillopora generally exhibiting higher growth and thermal resistance than Acropora. Growth rates declined with rising sea surface temperature, and mortality was primarily associated with tissue-loss responses rather than predation or ectosymbiotic colonisation. Health trajectories differed among coral types: Acropora fragments were more prone to bleaching, whereas Pocillopora colonies maintained tissue integrity but experienced chronic degradation. Despite these biological interactions and health challenges, many corals acclimatised to the urban reef environment, underscoring that coral relocation, when combined with species selection and size consideration, can serve as a viable short-term conservation tool in highly impacted systems.

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Data availability

Data are available on request to the corresponding author due to restrictions and ownership of the NGO Save the Beach Maldives.
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Irene Pancrazi.Ethics declarations

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Reprints and permissionsAbout this articleCite this articlePancrazi, I., Tritini, D., Ahmed, H. et al. Coral relocation supports survival and growth in an urban reef of the Maldives.
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KeywordsCoral relocation and restorationBiodiversity conservationRestoration performanceAnthropogenic pressureMaldives More

AbstractUnderstanding microbial dispersion in the atmosphere is essential for studying microbial biogeography and ecosystem dynamics under global change. Airborne bacterial communities, shaped by exchanges between atmosphere and Earth’s surface, can originate from diverse sources and vary with meteorological conditions and air mass trajectories. In this study, we assessed airborne microbial communities in Antarctica at regional and local scales. Air samples were collected during the austral summer at two Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs): Byers Peninsula (Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands) and Avian Island (Marguerite Bay). Bacterial composition was analysed through 16S rRNA gene sequencing using amplicon sequence variants (ASVs). Additionally, back-trajectories of the sampled air parcels were simulated with HYSPLIT. A core community was identified in 80% of Byers Peninsula samples, representing 57.91% of total ASVs. Notably, 79.4% of ASVs matched soil bacteria from the same location, suggesting a strong influence of local sources. Communities from Byers Peninsula and Avian Island showed low overall similarity. However, one sample from Byers resembled the Avian sample, likely due to similar air mass back-trajectories. These findings suggest that airborne bacterial communities are shaped by both local ecosystems, and broader regional or continental processes, such as long-range trajectories carrying microorganisms from distant locations.

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Data availability

The air sequences generated in this study are available in GenBank under BioProject accession number PRJNA1165500.
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Download referencesAcknowledgementsThe authors are grateful to the members of field teams from MICROAIRPOLAR projects Sergi González and David Velázquez, Unidad de Tecnología Marina (UTM-CSIC), and crews of BIO Hespérides (Spanish Navy) and B/O Sarmiento de Gamboa (CSIC) for the logistic support in Antarctic campaigns. The authors acknowledge the computer resources, technical expertise and assistance provided by the Centro de Computación Científica at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (CCC-UAM), the NOAA Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) for the provision of the HYSPLIT transport and dispersion model, the Norwegian Polar Institute for the Quantarctica package, and Agencia Estatal de Meteorología (AEMET) for providing meteorological data from Juan Carlos I station. Special thanks to Pablo Sanz and Sergi González for their support in obtaining back-trajectories of air masses.FundingThis work was supported by the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), Grants PID2020-116520RB-I00 and CTM2016-79741-R. SG was supported by a PIPF-contract fellowship (PIPF-2022/ECO-25833) from Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid government’s (Spain).Author informationAuthor notesThese authors contributed equally: Antonio Quesada and Ana Justel.Authors and AffiliationsDepartment of Biology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, SpainSofía Galbán & Antonio QuesadaDepartment of Plant and Microbial Ecology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 55455, USAPablo AlmelaDepartment of Mathematics, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, SpainAna JustelAuthorsSofía GalbánView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarPablo AlmelaView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarAntonio QuesadaView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarAna JustelView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarContributionsS.G.: Conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, software, visualization, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing. P.A.: Conceptualization, methodology, writing—review and editing. A.Q.: Conceptualization, investigation, methodology, funding acquisition, project administration, resources, supervision, validation, writing—review and editing. A.J.: Conceptualization, investigation, methodology, funding acquisition, project administration, resources, supervision, validation, writing—review and editing.Corresponding authorCorrespondence to
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Reprints and permissionsAbout this articleCite this articleGalbán, S., Almela, P., Quesada, A. et al. Exploring local and regional contribution to airborne bacterial communities in the Antarctic Peninsula.
Sci Rep (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-32162-zDownload citationReceived: 30 April 2025Accepted: 08 December 2025Published: 22 December 2025DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-32162-zShare this articleAnyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:Get shareable linkSorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.Copy shareable link to clipboard
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KeywordsAerobiologyAntarcticaBacteriaCore communityBiogeographyAir mass back-trajectories More

AbstractCapitatae Fructus (CF), an ethnomedicinal resource with both edible and medicinal values in Southwest China, has an incomplete quality evaluation system, and the regulatory mechanisms of environmental factors on its bioactive component accumulation remain unclear. In this study, 37 CF batches from 6 producing areas in Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces were analyzed. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to establish a fingerprint with good precision and reproducibility and conduct multi-component quantitative analysis, combined with hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), Correlation analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), and hierarchical partitioning (HP) to investigate CF’s chemical characteristics and environmental regulation patterns. Results showed an HPLC fingerprint of CF was successfully constructed, with 15 common peaks matched and 5 key bioactive compounds (gallic acid, hyperoside, isoquercitrin, quercitrin, quercetin) identified. HCA classified the samples into two distinct clusters: the first cluster covers low-, medium-, and high-altitude regions, among which the gallic acid contents (L26, L27) and quercetin content (L28) from Miyi County (low-altitude area) are higher than those of other sample batches. In contrast, the second cluster, concentrated in medium-altitude regions, generally exhibits lower contents of key components. Results from PCA show that sample L28 (Miyi County, low-altitude area) has the highest comprehensive score, which further confirms this altitude-related distribution characteristic of the compounds in CF. Correlation analysis was conducted to examine relationships between the 5 key compounds, showing that gallic acid was significantly positively correlated with hyperoside (r = 0.46, P < 0.01), and hyperoside was extremely significantly positively correlated with isoquercitrin (r = 0.91, P < 0.001). HP analysis was used to eliminate multicollinearity among environmental factors, confirming annual total solar radiation and annual cumulative ultraviolet radiation as core regulatory factors for CF component accumulation. Among the 5 compounds, gallic acid and hyperoside exhibited the highest sensitivity to environmental changes (R² = 0.76 and 0.71, respectively). Based on the above findings, Miyi County was identified as a high-quality producing area for CF, with gallic acid and hyperoside confirmed as the core quality indicators of CF. East longitude was determined to be the main environmental factor affecting CF component accumulation, while Annual Total Solar Radiation, Annual Cumulative Ultraviolet Radiation, and Annual Total Solar Radiation Difference were the synergistic driving factors. This study initially established a quality evaluation system for CF, providing support for its standardized development and sustainable utilization.

Data availability

The data presented in this study are available upon request from the corresponding author.
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Jinsong Ren or Xiaoli Eqi.Ethics declarations

Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.

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All experimental research and field studies on plants (both cultivated and wild), including the collection of plant materials, were performed in accordance with relevant institutional, national, and international guidelines and legislation. Specifically, the plant materials used in this study are wild plants, and their collection strictly adhered to the provisions of protected wild plant management regulations and ethical norms.

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Reprints and permissionsAbout this articleCite this articleZhong, H., Xia, Q., Li, Y. et al. Quality evaluation of Capitatae Fructus from different geographical regions in China.
Sci Rep (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-32517-6Download citationReceived: 15 July 2025Accepted: 10 December 2025Published: 21 December 2025DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-32517-6Share this articleAnyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:Get shareable linkSorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.Copy shareable link to clipboard
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Capitatae Fructus
HPLC fingerprintQuantitative analysisQuality evaluationEnvironmental regulation More

Abstract

Passive acoustic monitoring has become a widely used method to study cetaceans, especially for populations facing escalating threats from noisy human activities, including shipping traffic, fishing industry and marine constructions. Here, we conducted a study using an autonomous surface vehicle to explore the distribution and acoustic behavior of cetaceans and to characterize anthropogenic sound sources in the central Mediterranean Sea. A wave glider equipped with a single-towed acoustic recorder was deployed from 13th September 2022 to 3rd March 2023. The recording yielded 19,115 files of 460s each (approximately 2 TB), a third of which was kept for a preliminary analysis based on spectrogram visualization and audio listening. The results showed that nearly half of the dataset contained delphinid signals (Delphinidae), followed by sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) and fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus), with notable hotspots in the southern Tyrrhenian and the Ionian Sea. Moreover, the almost continuous detection of anthropogenic sources highlighted the widespread acoustic impact of human activities in the area. These findings demonstrate the value of passive acoustics in the use of autonomous vehicles as a versatile tool for large-scale and long-term monitoring, offering a promising approach to support conservation efforts for vulnerable species while advancing strategies to mitigate human impacts on marine ecosystems.

Data availability

Acoustic data is available on request to the corresponding author.
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Download referencesAcknowledgementsThis research would not have been possible without the work of many colleagues at the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn. In particular, the authors would like to thank Robin Caron, Florence Rappin and Gerardo Sorrentino. During the writing of this manuscript, S.F. was supported by the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn and the University of Turin through a SUSTNET PhD scholarship (n°39-033-31-DOT21BX3F7-8932). The PhD funder had no role in study design, data collection, or data analysis. Part of the work conducted for this study by F.C., S. F. and A. E. was carried out within the framework of the projects PRIN DIVES (CUP: C53D23003430006, Grant Assignment Decree n°1015-07/07/2023) and PRIN PNRR KNOWhale (CUP: C53D23007160001, Grant Assignment Decree n°1370-01/09/2023), funded by the European Union – Next GenerationEU – under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4, Component 2, Investment 1.1, Calls for tender No. 104 and 1409 published on 2022 by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR). This work was also supported by NRRP, Mission 4, Component 2, Investment 1.4, Call for tender N. 3138 of 16/12/2021, rectified by Decree n.3175 of18/12/2021 of MUR, funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU (Project code: CN_00000033, Concession Decree No. 1034 of 17/06/2022adopted by the MUR, CUP: C63C22000520001, project National Biodiversity Future Center – NBFC).Author informationAuthor notesSara Ferri and Anaëlle Evrard contributed equally to this work.Authors and AffiliationsDepartment of Marine Animal Conservation and Public Engagement, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121, Naples, ItalySara Ferri, Anaëlle Evrard, Livio Favaro & Francesco CarusoDepartment of Life Sciences and System Biology, University of Torino, Via Accademia Albertina, 13, 10123, Torino, ItalySara Ferri & Livio FavaroDepartment of Research Infrastructures for Marine Biological Resources, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Via Po’ 25c, 00189, Rome, ItalySimonepietro Canese & Augusto PassarelliDepartment of Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms, Sicily Marine Centre, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Pace – Contrada Porticatello 29, 98167, Messina, ItalyTeresa RomeoNational Biodiversity Future Center, Piazza Marina 61, 90133, Palermo, ItalySimonepietro Canese, Teresa Romeo & Francesco CarusoNational Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, Via dei Mille 46, 98057, Milazzo, ItalyTeresa RomeoUniversity of Gastronomic Sciences, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele 9, 12060, Pollenzo, ItalySilvestro GrecoAuthorsSara FerriView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarAnaëlle EvrardView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSimonepietro CaneseView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarTeresa RomeoView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSilvestro GrecoView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarAugusto PassarelliView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarLivio FavaroView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarFrancesco CarusoView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarContributionsConceptualization, F.C, S.F. A.E.; methodology, F.C, S.C., A.P, S.F., A.E.; data analysis, F.C., S.F., A.E.; writing—original draft preparation, S.F., A.E.; writing—review and editing, F.C., L.F; supervision, F.C.; project administration, S.C., A.P., T.R; funding acquisition, T.R, S.G. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.Corresponding authorCorrespondence to
Francesco Caruso.Ethics declarations

Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.

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Reprints and permissionsAbout this articleCite this articleFerri, S., Evrard, A., Canese, S. et al. A wave glider for passive acoustic monitoring of cetaceans and anthropogenic sources in the central Mediterranean Sea.
Sci Rep (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-32142-3Download citationReceived: 13 March 2025Accepted: 08 December 2025Published: 21 December 2025DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-32142-3Share this articleAnyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:Get shareable linkSorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.Copy shareable link to clipboard
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KeywordsAutonomous vehiclesMediterranean basinUnderwater acousticsMarine mammalsCetaceans’ distributionMarine conservation More

AbstractIn recent world-wide studies on the autosomal genetic diversity of goats, Asian goats were represented only by Southwest Asian, Pakistani and Chinese breeds. We have collected 55 K genome-wide SNP genotypes for 12 South/Southeast Asian and 2 central Asian goat populations, and inferred the origin and evolutionary history of Asian goats based on the population genomic analyses. Breed relationships, diversity clines, and coancestry patterns revealed two distinct migration routes separated by the Himalayan mountains: a northern route (Kazakhstan–Mongolia–Xinjiang) and a southern route (Bangladesh–Indochina). These routes tentatively parallel major human migration events across Eurasia. The migrations of goats converge into the Indochina goat populations, which then became the ancestors of the Philippine and Indonesian goats. Previous data on Y-chromosomal haplogroups indicate within the first group a separate migration of cashmere goats in eastern and northern China. Similarly, the southern route has been followed by two subsequent waves of goats, the first carrying the mitochondrial B haplogroup and in eastern Indochina associated with that Katjang type, and a later wave carrying exclusively the mitochondrial A haplogroup and associated in western Indochina with the Indian lop-eared trait with a roman convex facial profile. Haplogroup B in Indochina and Indonesia seems to be associated with tropical adaptation, whereas the Y1AB haplotype in northern China occurs at high frequency in cashmere goats, suggesting potential adaptation to arid environments. Together, these patterns point to a complex demographic history and diverse adaptive trajectories in Asian goats.

Data availability

The datasets generated and analysed during the current study are available in the Figshare repository, (https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.29035598). The code developed for the Reduced Representation Admixture Analysis (RRAA) and the datasets used in this study are available at the following repository: https://github.com/wujiaqi06/RRAA.
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Download referencesAcknowledgementsThis work was supported in part by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers 25304038 and 17H04643, 19K22367 and 21KK0122. I wish to thank The Society for Researches on Native Livestock for helping field research work. The authors would like to explain special thanks the late Dr. K. Nozawa for providing long-standing observations of goat morphological distribution in East Asia, related to Fig. S1.Author informationAuthor notesTakahiro Yonezawa and Jiaqi Wu contributed equally to this study.Authors and AffiliationsGraduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, JapanTakahiro Yonezawa & Jiaqi WuDepartment of Molecular Life Science, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, JapanJiaqi WuGraduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Kobe, 657-8501, JapanRyo Masuko, Kenta Iso, Yuto Nomura, Risa Tabata, Maho Masaoka,  Ayin, Fuki Kawaguchi, Shinji Sasazaki & Hideyuki MannenInstitute of Livestock and Grassland Science, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, JapanAisaku Arakawa & Eiji KobayashiFaculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Atsugi, JapanKoh Nomura & Yukimizu TakahashiNational Swine Research Program, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Dhankuta, NepalManoj Kumar ShahAnimal Breeding and Genetics, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, BangladeshMuhammad Omar FaruqueUniversity of the Philippines, Los Banos, PhilippinesJoseph S. MasangkayInstitute of Radiobiology and Radiation Protection, Astana Medical University, Astana, KazakhstanMeirat Bakhtin & Polat KazymbetInternational Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu, NepalTashi DorjiFaculty of Animal Science, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, South Sulawesi, IndonesiaMuhammad Ihsan Andi Dagong & Sri Rachma Aprilita BugiwatiFaculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The NetherlandsJohannes A. LenstraAuthorsTakahiro YonezawaView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarJiaqi WuView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarRyo MasukoView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarKenta IsoView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarYuto NomuraView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarRisa TabataView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarMaho MasaokaView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google Scholar AyinView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarFuki KawaguchiView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarShinji SasazakiView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarAisaku ArakawaView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarKoh NomuraView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarYukimizu TakahashiView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarEiji KobayashiView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarManoj Kumar ShahView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarMuhammad Omar FaruqueView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarJoseph S. MasangkayView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarMeirat BakhtinView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarPolat KazymbetView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarTashi DorjiView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarMuhammad Ihsan Andi DagongView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSri Rachma Aprilita BugiwatiView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarJohannes A. LenstraView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarHideyuki MannenView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarContributionsH.M., T.Y. and J.A.L conceived and designed the experiments and supervised the project. R.M., K.I., Y.N., R.T., M.M., A., E.K., F.K. and S.S. performed the genetic analyses. J.W., R.M., T.Y., A.A. and H.M. performed the phylogenetic analyses. K.N., Y.T., M.K.S., M.O.F., J.S.M., M.B., P.K., T.D., M.I.A.D. and S.R.A.B. conducted the field investigation and collected the samples. T.Y., J.A.L. and H.M. wrote the manuscript. All of the authors discussed the results and contributed to the final manuscript. Lenstra, JA played a fundamental role in this paper, including defining the research direction, structuring the paper, and developing the RRAA method.Corresponding authorCorrespondence to
Hideyuki Mannen.Ethics declarations

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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This study is reported in accordance with ARRIVE guidelines (https:// arriv eguid elines. org). All experiments were carried out according to the Kobe University Animal Experimentation Regulations, and all protocols were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Kobe University and by Association for the Promotion of Research Integrity (Tokyo, Japan) (Approval Number: AP0000436777). All blood samples collections were approved by animal owners with signed informed consent.

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Reprints and permissionsAbout this articleCite this articleYonezawa, T., Wu, J., Masuko, R. et al. Genome-wide variation reveal that goats were introduced into Asia via multiple migrations.
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AbstractAccurate species identification is crucial for managing ex-situ populations, especially in cryptic species complexes where taxonomic uncertainty may compromise conservation. The sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps s.l.) is a small nocturnal marsupial commonly bred in zoos and is popular in the exotic pet trade. Recent taxonomic revisions revealed substantial cryptic diversity within the complex, raising concerns about species identity and geographic origin of captive individuals. We used an integrative approach combining genetic and acoustic analyses to assess the taxonomic status of captive P. breviceps s.l. populations. Phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial ND2 and ND4 genes showed a strong genetic affinity between European and United States captive populations, suggesting a shared origin within the New Guinean lineage. These findings support their reclassification as Petaurus papuanus. Despite their captive origin, these populations showed unexpectedly high haplotype diversity, likely due to repeated introductions from genetically distinct but geographically close wild populations. However, within-group homogeneity indicates limited genetic exchange among breeding lines. Acoustic analyses of the barking call revealed intraspecific variability but little species-specificity, indicating a minor role in reproductive isolation. Our findings underscore the importance of taxonomic clarity and structured genetic management for conserving captive population integrity.

Data availability

Data is provided within the manuscript or supplementary material files. Sequenced fragments of the mitochondrial ND2, ND4, and nuclear ω-globin are available on GenBank (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/) under accession numbers: PV701819-PV701993. Recordings of wild individuals are available on iNaturalist (https://www.inaturalist.org/). Additional acoustic data recorded during this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.
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Download referencesAcknowledgementsWe thank all the ex-situ institutions that have contributed to our study, namely the Berlin Zoological Garden, Riga National Zoological Garden, Zoological and Botanical Garden Plzen, Prague Zoological Garden, and the Zoological Garden Brno. We also thank the private breeders for their contributions. The following thanks go to the iNaturalist website and mostly to all the authors of recordings from Australia. We also thank Denisa Stejskalová for her amazing drawing of Petaurus papuanus.FundingThe research was supported by the Internal Grant Agency of FTZ CZU (IGA20253125).Author informationAuthors and AffiliationsFaculty of Tropical AgriSciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech RepublicMiroslav Mulko & Barbora Černá BolfíkováResearch Institute for Gene Pool Conservation, Safari Park Dvůr Králové, Dvůr Králové nad Labem, Czech RepublicMiroslav MulkoFaculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech RepublicIrena SchneiderováAuthorsMiroslav MulkoView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarIrena SchneiderováView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarBarbora Černá BolfíkováView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarContributionsAll authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by M. M., I. S., and B. Č. B. The first draft of the manuscript was written by M. M., and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.Corresponding authorCorrespondence to
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Reprints and permissionsAbout this articleCite this articleMulko, M., Schneiderová, I. & Černá Bolfíková, B. Taxonomic reassessment of captive sugar gliders using genetic analyses and complementary acoustic data.
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AbstractFrost events can cause severe and often irreversible damage to leaves and canopies. The negative impacts of isolated frost events, defined as discontinuous days of extreme cold, on forests are well documented. However, a critical aspect of frost damage—its prolonged duration—is largely overlooked, even though freezing temperatures often persist for multiple consecutive days in natural environments. The impact of continuous frost events, characterized by consecutive days of extreme cold, on forest growth remains poorly understood. Using multiple remote-sensing data sources, herein we demonstrate that continuous frost events result in significantly greater declines in forest growth compared to isolated frost events across the Northern Hemisphere. Our frost-controlled experiments using seven tree species further confirm that continuous frost causes more severe damage to cell integrity and photosynthetic rate. Using GPP and climate data simulated by CMIP6 models, we find that continuous frost events significantly reduce forest growth by the end of this century, with the largest reductions observed under high-emission scenarios. Our findings underscore the importance of accounting for the prolonged duration of frost events to fully capture their impacts on forest ecosystems, as failing to consider this factor may lead to underestimation of frost-induced effects on forest growth and carbon cycling under climate change.

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Data availability

The MODIS gross primary productivity and net primary production data sourced from https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/products/mod17a2hv006/, and the global all-sky daily average solar-induced fluorescence dataset was obtained from https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.6387494. MODIS enhanced vegetation index and evapotranspiration were obtained from https://www.glass.hku.hk/index.html. The palmer drought severity index was sourced from https://crudata.uea.ac.uk/cru/, and the global aridity index was sourced from https://cgiarcsi.community/data/global-aridity-and-pet-database/. Future gross primary productivity projections were sourced from https://esgf-node.llnl.gov/projects/esgf-llnl/. Daily minimum temperature data were acquired from the climatic research unit and Japanese reanalysis climate dataset (CRU JRA v2.4) (https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/), with future temperature projections obtained from the NorESM2-MM and CMCC-ESM2 model (https://esgf-node.llnl.gov/projects/esgf-llnl/). The frost-damage experimental data generated in this study have been deposited in the Source data (Fig. 4). Source data are provided with this paper.
Code availability

The primary codes used in this study are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30069994.v1.
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Download referencesAcknowledgementsThis research was funded and supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2023YFF0806600) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32271833, 32401380).Author informationAuthor notesThese authors contributed equally: Hongjun Yang, Wenjing Tao, Juan Chen.Authors and AffiliationsKey Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu, ChinaHongjun Yang, Qin Yan, Yuchuan Yang, Haoyu Qiu, Junkai Ma & Lei ChenKey Laboratory of Eco-environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region of Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, ChinaWenjing Tao & Juan ChenCSIC, Global Ecology Unit CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Barcelona, SpainJosep PeñuelasCREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Catalonia, SpainJosep PeñuelasAuthorsHongjun YangView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarWenjing TaoView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarJuan ChenView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarQin YanView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarYuchuan YangView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarHaoyu QiuView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarJunkai MaView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarJosep PeñuelasView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarLei ChenView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarContributionsL.C. conceived and designed the research. H.Y., W.T., J.C., and L.C. performed the data analysis. H.Y. wrote the paper with the inputs of W.T., J.C., Q.Y., Y.Y., H.Q., J.M., J.P., and L.C. All authors contributed to the interpretation of the results and approved the final manuscript.Corresponding authorCorrespondence to
Lei Chen.Ethics declarations

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Nature Communications thanks Seyed Alavi, Juan Alvarez-Yepiz and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. A peer review file is available.

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Reprints and permissionsAbout this articleCite this articleYang, H., Tao, W., Chen, J. et al. Continuous frost causes a greater reduction in forest growth than isolated frost in the Northern Hemisphere.
Nat Commun (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-67861-8Download citationReceived: 08 January 2025Accepted: 10 December 2025Published: 21 December 2025DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-67861-8Share this articleAnyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:Get shareable linkSorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.Copy shareable link to clipboard
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AbstractWheat growth monitoring plays a vital role in agricultural decision-making and food security. This study aims to develop an accurate and efficient monitoring method for wheat growth by integrating satellite remote sensing and machine learning techniques. Based on preprocessed Sentinel-2 satellite images and measured wheat leaf area index (LAI) data, a set of 11 vegetation indices—such as NDVI, NDRE, and RVI—were selected and ranked through Pearson correlation analysis. A comprehensive index system was then constructed by selecting the top eight indices using a stepwise optimization approach. Three machine learning models—Linear Regression (LR), Backpropagation Neural Network (BPNN), and XGBoost—were applied to evaluate the performance of the index system, with the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm employed to optimize each model. The results demonstrate that the PSO-optimized XGBoost model achieved the highest accuracy (R² = 0.94, MSE = 0.075), exhibiting strong stability and robustness to data fluctuations. These findings suggest that the proposed approach provides a reliable solution for wheat growth monitoring.

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Data availability

This Sentinel-2 remote sensing image data are available at the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem, https://dataspace.copernicus.eu/. The wheat Leaf Area Index (LAI) dataset originates from the canopy chlorophyll and ground validation dataset of winter wheat in Yucheng, Shandong, https://www.geodoi.ac.cn/edoi.aspx? DOI=10.3974/geodb.2020.08.01.V1.
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Download referencesFundingThis work was funded by the Visualization and Algorithm Integration Research of High-Asia and Arctic Snow Cover, Glaciers, and Geological Hazard Data under the Sub-theme of National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFE0116807).Author informationAuthor notesThese authors contributed equally to this work: Shuning Liang and Yong Liu.Authors and AffiliationsSchool of Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing, 100083, ChinaMingguang Diao, Shuning Liang, Jianing Chen, Chuyan Zhang & Yong LiuAuthorsMingguang DiaoView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarShuning LiangView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarJianing ChenView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarChuyan ZhangView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarYong LiuView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarContributionsAuthors: Mingguang Diao (M.D.), Shuning Liang (S.L.), Jianing Chen(J.C.), Chuyan Zhang (C.Z.), Yong Liu (Y.L.)M.D.: Conceptualization, methodology, writing—original draft preparation, project administration, funding acquisition; S.L.: Software, formal analysis, writing—original draft preparation; J.C.: Software, writing—original draft preparation; C.Z.: Writing—review and editing, supervision. Y.L.: Investigation, Data curation.Corresponding authorsCorrespondence to
Mingguang Diao or Chuyan Zhang.Ethics declarations

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The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional informationPublisher’s noteSpringer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
Reprints and permissionsAbout this articleCite this articleDiao, M., Liang, S., Chen, J. et al. Optimization of comprehensive wheat growth index system and monitoring model based on LAI.
Sci Rep (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-25313-9Download citationReceived: 20 December 2024Accepted: 20 October 2025Published: 21 December 2025DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-25313-9Share this articleAnyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:Get shareable linkSorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.Copy shareable link to clipboard
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KeywordsWheat growthRemote sensingVegetation indexMachine learningExtreme gradient boosting More