Dean Pearson discusses his recent article ‘Exotic success following disturbance explained by weak native resilience and ruderal exotic bias‘: Setting the scene It’s a common refrain across regions, ecosystems, and continents: disturbance is a major driver of exotic plant invasions. But why is this the case? Even after decades of research exploring this topic, the…
In this post Reviews Editor, Jason Fridley, highlights papers from the third Grime Reviews series that honors the intellectual contributions of ecologist J. Philip (Phil) Grime and how they continue to inform our understanding of ecosystems, from trait-based adaptive evolution to food web dynamics and beyond: In Differences in trait-environment relationships: implications for community weighted…
In this blog post, Corli Coetsee discusses her team’s research ‘Soil organic carbon is buffered by grass inputs regardless of woody cover or fire frequency in an African savanna‘: We are consistently being bombarded with messages on social media that planting trees is good, good because it can help save the Earth from climate change…
An introduction to peer review Peer review is the evaluation of a scientific article by other scientists who are experts in the field. The feedback is generally used to improve the article, and to help the editors of a journal decide whether it merits publication. The integrity of the scientific literature rests on a peer…
Edicson Parra-Sanchez discusses his recent article, ‘Neutral-based processes overrule niche-based processes in shaping tropical montane orchid communities across spatial scales‘: Orchid species are among the richest and most popular horticultural plants on the planet. They have been featured in films, used as symbols of biodiversity in governmental institutions, and utilized in traditional medicine for centuries.…
David Cracknell, George Peterken and John Healey discuss their recent article, ‘Neighbours matter and the weak succumb: ash dieback infection is more severe in ash trees with fewer conspecific neighbours and lower prior growth rate‘: Lady Park is an ancient, mixed deciduous woodland on the flanks of the Wye Gorge between Symonds Yat and Monmouth…
Yannek Käber discusses his recent article: Sheltered or suppressed? Tree regeneration in unmanaged European forests. Find out how the intricate relationships between tree species, competition, and stress responses are vital for devising effective conservation and management strategies in the face of climate change: Forest regeneration is a complex process influenced by a multitude of factors, making it challenging…
The editor’s choice for our September issue is ‘Short-term effects of moderate severity disturbances on forest canopy structure‘ by Dennis Choi et al. Here, Associate Editor Tommaso Jucker discusses the importance of this research: The launch of the Landsat satellite program in the 1970s forever changed our view of Earth’s biosphere – its oceans, its grasslands, its deserts,…
Niko Kulha discusses his recent article: Competition-induced tree mortality across Europe is driven by shade tolerance, proportion of conspecifics and drought. Climate change is altering the conditions and context for tree growth in myriad ways, including increasing forest stand density and tree biomass. These changes in tree neighborhoods suggest increased tree-tree competition, which may increase…
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