Although humans' irresponsible and indiscriminate use of the natural environment could be one of the causes behind the recent coronavirus crisis, bats have been targeted for their role as natural reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens.
Studying evolution in the face of environmental uncertainty is crucial to understand biological diversity, because diversifying life strategies is key to survival and reproduction in uncertain environments.
More and more, ecologists are starting to recognise that preserving the maximum number of species is insufficient.
Natural enemies are a fundamental piece of food webs and can contribute to biodiversity preservation. However, they can often produce dramatic losses, especially when humans are involved.
In modern ecology, the traditional diversity indices (usually of richness, abundance, and species evenness) have been highly revealing and useful for monitoring community and ecosystem processes.