Biodiversity articles from across Nature Portfolio

Termite gut bacteria remain stable after forest conversion, shaped primarily by host species, while fungal communities shift with both host identity and forest change. This reveals taxon-specific microbiome responses to land-use change.

Optimized sample collection and storage improve airborne eDNA detection of vertebrates across seasons and habitats, advancing noninvasive biodiversity monitoring.

Habitat transitions can rewire microbial genomes. This study shows how a bacterial lineage crosses ecosystems either by acquiring genes or via hypermutability, where mutation bias—not selection—drives genome reduction and GC decline.

Widespread declines in common species raise concerns, but links to extinction risk and climate change remain unclear. Here, the authors show that many small climate change effects can accumulate to drive rapid population extinction in a common iconic bird.

Climate and land-use change are transforming biodiversity, yet national futures remain uncertain. The study projects growing extinction debts, but suggests that sustainable low-emission pathways can limit the worst impacts on British biodiversity.

Biodiversity data sharing can be politically fraught in regions where trust is fragile, both between and within countries. Marine ecologist Reem AlMealla, founder of Nuwat for Environmental Research & Education in Bahrain, discusses how trust can be built into data-sharing governance in the Persian–Arabian Gulf and other low-trust regions.

Yajna Ramphal and Tulio de Oliveira are fascinated by the adaptive evolution of chikungunya virus.

Nature staff discuss some of the week’s top science news.

Global conservation may benefit from a mapping framework that identifies freshwater ecosystems most amenable to restoration and conservation.

The Japanese media sensation has inspired generations of researchers in fields as diverse as evolution, biodiversity and research integrity.