M. Dornelas

Disentangling non-random structure from random placement when estimating β-diversity through space or time

This paper introduces a framework to quantify non-random contributions to beta-diversity using rarefaction curves and a coverage-standardized metric, applied to avian species composition in engineered and natural riparian areas.

Coral settlement and recruitment are negatively related to reef fish trait diversity

The paper examines how reef fish foraging trait diversity affects coral settlement and recruitment success across multiple sites.

Widespread reductions in body size are paired with stable assemblage biomass.

The paper assesses body size changes across six taxon groups and finds that decreases in body size are paired with stable assemblage biomass due to compensatory abundance increases.

A millennium of increasing ecosystem diversity until the mid-20th century

The paper analyzes global land-use changes from the 10th to 20th centuries and finds increasing ecosystem diversity until the mid-20th century, driven by human land-use changes.

Local changes dominate variation in biotic homogenization and differentiation

The paper analyzes long-term biodiversity data to show that local diversity changes drive biotic homogenization and differentiation, with homogenization more common at larger spatial and temporal scales.

Coral niche construction: coral recruitment increases along a coral-built structural complexity gradient

The paper shows that coral-built structural complexity increases larval recruitment, supporting niche construction theory in corals.

Local biodiversity change reflects interactions among changing abundance, evenness and richness

The paper examines how changes in species abundance, evenness, and richness interact in local biodiversity, finding that richness changes are influenced by coordinated shifts in abundance and evenness, with stronger temporal correlations than spatial ones.

Shaping coral traits: plasticity more than filtering

This study shows that coral morphological traits are more influenced by phenotypic plasticity than environmental filtering, affecting habitat structure in reef ecosystems.

Large vs small genomes in Passiflora: the influence of the mobilome and the satellitome

The paper compares genome size variation in Passiflora species, finding that large genomes accumulate retrotransposons while small genomes diversify satellite DNAs.

Disturbance-induced changes in size-structure promote coral biodiversity

The paper shows that intermediate disturbance levels promote coral species coexistence, while extreme disturbances lead to monocultures.

Temperature-related biodiversity change across temperate marine and terrestrial systems

This study examines temperature-related biodiversity changes in temperate marine and terrestrial systems, finding stronger marine biodiversity responses to warming than terrestrial systems.

Landscape-scale forest loss as a catalyst of population and biodiversity change

The paper quantifies how 150 years of forest cover change impacted population abundance, species richness, and temporal species turnover globally, finding forest loss intensified these changes by up to 48%.

The geography of the Anthropocene differs between the land and the sea

The paper examines geographic differences in anthropogenic drivers of biodiversity change between land and sea, identifying distinct threat complexes with varying driver intensities.

Quantifying coral morphology

This study quantifies coral morphology using geometric variables derived from 3D laser scans, revealing that two axes capture 88% of shape variation and can predict traditional growth form categories with 70-95% accuracy.