GUANGZHOU, China — 29 September 2026 — The peer‑reviewed journal Biological Diversity (published by Wiley on behalf of South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences) has opened submissions for a new special issue entitled “Decoding Biodiversity through Evolution: Mechanisms of Biodiversity Formation, Evolution, and Maintenance”.
Biodiversity is not merely a static catalogue of species. It arises from long‑term interplay among genetic variation, lineage diversification, trait evolution, species interactions, community assembly and biogeographic processes. Explaining Earth’s extraordinary biological richness requires integrated research linking speciation‑extinction dynamics, adaptation, co‑evolution, species coexistence and long‑term diversity persistence.
Recent methodological advances — including phylogenomics, pangenomics, metagenomics, experimental evolution, ancient DNA, digitized natural‑history collections, long‑term ecological monitoring and artificial intelligence — now empower researchers to test general rules governing biodiversity generation and persistence across animals, plants, fungi, microbes and viruses. This special issue breaks free from limits of single regions, taxonomic groups or techniques, centering on the full mechanistic chain of biodiversity origin, change and persistence. It highlights cross‑comparisons across the tree of life, biological organizational levels and timescales, with special attention to macroevolution, community assembly, species coexistence and eco‑evolutionary feedbacks.
“The special issue aims to build a unified evolutionary framework for understanding biodiversity,” said Guest Editor Professor Pat Heslop‑Harrison (University of Leicester, United Kingdom). “We welcome all rigorous approaches: theoretical modelling, experimental work, field observation, comparative analysis, data synthesis and new methodological developments that unpack evolutionary foundations and inform conservation of adaptive potential.”
Relevant submission themes include speciation and lineage diversification; genomic variation and adaptive phenotypic change; hybridization, introgression and reticulate evolution; functional‑trait and niche evolution; biotic interactions and co‑evolution; community assembly and rare‑species persistence; eco‑evolutionary feedback; deep‑time biogeography; multi‑evidence cross‑taxon comparisons; and evolutionary responses under global change for conservation practice.
Authors should follow journal author guidelines. APCs are fully waived now. During online submission, select this special‑issue title from the dropdown menu responding to “Is this submission for a special issue?” The submission deadline is 31 August 2027.
Keywords
biodiversity formation; lineage diversification; adaptive evolution; reticulate evolution; functional traits; coevolution; community assembly; species coexistence; eco‑evolutionary feedback; biogeography
About the Journal
Biological Diversity (ISSN: 2994-4139) is a peer-reviewed, international, open-access journal sponsored by the South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences (SCBG, CAS), and published in partnership with John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd. It is dedicated to advancing biodiversity conservation, safeguarding ecosystem functions and services, and promoting the sustainable utilization of biological resources under global environmental change. The journal welcomes original research, reviews, commentaries, and short communications across a broad spectrum of disciplines, including botany, zoology, microbiology, taxonomy, phylogenetics, genomics, cytology, ecology, climatology, economics, sociology, and real-time policy theory. The journal is indexed in Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) and Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).
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