Monte Neate-Clegg

1 Introduction Many of the trophic processes at the heart of ecosystem functions and services are regulated by animals (Malhi et al. 2022; Schleuning et al. 2023; Stanworth et al. 2024). A wide array of research questions from evolutionary biology to community ecology are centred on trophic interaction networks, including those connecting animals with their food plants, or predators with their prey.

Thomas W. Sherry1,2* 1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, United States 2Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, United States Ecological niches are pivotal in addressing questions of species richness gradients like the Latitudinal Diversity Gradient (LDG). The Hutchinsonian niche hypervolume model and derivatives are some of the most proven tools.

Newswise — The cloud forests of Honduras can seem like an otherworldly place, where the trees are thick with life that takes in water straight from the air around it, and the soundscape is littered with the calls of animals singing back and forth. Otherworldly, yes, but scientists have found that the cloud forests are not immune to very down-to-earth problems of climate change and deforestation.