Analyses of species traits have increased our understanding of how environmental drivers such as disturbances affect the composition of arthropod communities and related processes. There are, however, few studies on which traits in the arthropod community are affected by environmental changes and which traits affect ecosystem functioning. The assembly of arthropod traits of several taxa is diff...

The 5000 arthropod genomes initiative (i5k) has tasked itself with coordinating the sequencing of 5000 insect or related arthropod genomes. The resulting influx of data, mostly from small research groups or communities with little bioinformatics experience, will require visualization, dissemination and curation, preferably from a centralized platform. The National Agricultural Library (NAL) has...

The loss of apex predators is known to have reverberating consequences for ecosystems, but how changes in broader predator assemblages affect vital ecosystem functions and services is largely unknown. Predators and their prey form complex interaction networks, in which predators consume not only herbivores but also other predators. Resolving these interactions will be essential for predicting c...

BACKGROUND The global emergence of West Nile virus (WNV) has highlighted the importance of mosquito-borne viruses. These are inoculated in vector saliva into the vertebrate skin and circulatory system. Arthropod-borne (arbo)viruses such as WNV are transmitted to vertebrates as an infectious mosquito probes the skin for blood, depositing the virus and saliva into the skin and circulation. Growin...

Arthropods are the most diverse group of animals and have been so since the Cambrian radiation. They belong to the protostome clade Ecdysozoa, with Onychophora (velvet worms) as their most likely sister group and tardigrades (water bears) the next closest relative. The arthropod tree of life can be interpreted as a five-taxon network, containing Pycnogonida, Euchelicerata, Myriapoda, Crustacea,...

The Arizona Sky Island Arthropod Project (ASAP) is a new multi-disciplinary research program at the University of Arizona that combines systematics, biogeography, ecology, and population genetics to study origins and patterns of arthropod diversity along elevation gradients and among mountain ranges in the Madrean Sky Island Region. Arthropods represent taxonomically and ecologically diverse or...

Many studies have supported the enemies hypothesis, which suggests that natural enemies are more efficient at controlling arthropod pests in polyculture than in monoculture agro-ecosystems. However, we do not yet have evidence as to whether this hypothesis holds true in peach orchards over several geographic locations. In the two different geographic areas in eastern China (Xinchang a town in t...

Alpine ecosystems are important globally with high levels of endemic and rare species. Given that they will be highly impacted by climate change, understanding biotic factors that maintain diversity is critical. Silene acaulis is a common alpine nurse plant shown to positively influence the diversity and abundance of organisms--predominantly other plant species. The hypothesis that cushion or n...

The morphological gap between Euarthropoda (the crown group that contains all extant arthropods) and living arthropod-like animals such as onychophorans, tardigrades and pentastomids is bridged by a number of fossils known primarily from rocks some  to  million years old (e.g. Fuxianhuia, Chengjiangocaris, Shankouia, see Figure .; cf. Waloszek et al. ). These centimetre-scale fossi...

Widespread declines of foundation species, such as many corals, kelps, and overstory trees, are of grave concern because, by definition, these species create and maintain habitat that supports other species. Nevertheless, past responses to their declines, many ofwhichwere caused by invasive species, have been late and ineffective, underscoring the need to predict changes in biodiversity and eco...