Nature Ecology & Evolution · 9 October 2026 · From issue 49
Dispersal diversity buffers species vulnerability to local extinction
Spreading offspring in more varied ways helps protect a species from dying out locally.
Davide Bernardi, Giorgio Nicoletti et al.
A new tool can predict which plants or animals in a community are at risk of dying out locally, using only data about where they live. It looks at how common a species is, how much its members vary in how they spread their offspring, and how it competes with its neighbors. Species with more varied spreading habits are safer from being pushed out, even if they are just as common as a less varied species. The tool was tested using real data from tropical and temperate forests.
Tested using real tropical and temperate forest data, not yet other ecosystems.
Forest data only, so other ecosystems remain untested.
Integrity screen: passed (3 checks) Checked 30 October 2026. Retraction record: none. DOI resolves at doi.org. Metadata record found (Nature Ecology & Evolution). Read the source
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