Meet the Editor: Andy Hector

We’re delighted to announce that Professor Andrew Hector has recently been appointed as a new Senior Editor for Journal of Ecology. Andy has been an Associate Editor with the journal since 2015 and we’re thrilled to welcome him to his new role. Andy is a community ecologist interested in biodiversity loss and its consequences for…

Editor’s Choice: Consistency of demographic trade-offs across 13 (sub)tropical forests

The editor’s choice for our July issue is “Consistency of demographic trade-offs across 13 (sub)tropical forests” by Kambach et al. Here, Associate Editor Pieter Zuidema explains the importance of this research: There is no such thing as ‘the tropical forest’. Tropical forests differ in their structure, diversity and species composition. These differences are caused by variation in…

A milestone for the Biological Flora: 300 accounts and counting

To mark the publication of our 300th Biological Flora of Britain and Ireland, the Editor, Tony Davy, reflects on the project’s progress and achievements over the past 81 years: Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis) is one of our most attractive and widespread European grassland flowers. Its floral biology and importance for our beleaguered pollinators, among many…

Kelsey Byers: Life & Healing

To celebrate UK Pride Month, the British Ecological Society journal blogs are hosting a ‘Rainbow Research’ series, which aims to promote visibility of STEM researchers from the LGBTQ+ community. Each post will be connected to a theme represented by one of the colours shown in the Progress Pride flag. In this post, Kelsey Byers discusses life and…

Bradley Neal: Trans Pride & Healing

To celebrate UK Pride Month, the British Ecological Society journal blogs are hosting a ‘Rainbow Research’ series, which aims to promote visibility of STEM researchers from the LGBTQ+ community. Each post will be connected to a theme represented by one of the colours shown in the Progress Pride flag. In this post, Bradley Neal discusses gender identity,…

Editor’s Choice: Phylogenetic dependence of plant–soil feedback promotes rare species in a subtropical forest

The editor’s choice for our June issue is “Phylogenetic dependence of plant–soil feedback promotes rare species in a subtropical forest” by Jiang et al. Here, Associate Editor Pierre Mariotte explains the importance of this research.  Plant-soil feedback (PSF) is the process by which plants influence biotic and abiotic soil properties, which in turn, differentially affect the success…

Cover stories: Impacts of snowmelt & species interactions on plant population dynamics

The cover image for our May issue features a female Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus) visiting flowers of the plant Ipomopsis aggregata in Gothic, CO, USA. This image relates to the research article: Comparative impacts of long-term trends in snowmelt and species interactions on plant population dynamics, by Diane Campbell, Mary Price, Nickolas Waser, Rebecca Irwin,…

📚Journal Club round-up

For anyone who missed it, here’s a summary of our latest Journal Club discussion, held earlier this week on Twitter! The featured paper was a big picture, thought-provoking mini-review: Extinction, climate change and the ecology of Homo sapiens, by Prof. David Tilman. To start the ball rolling, Senior Editor Jane Catford interviewed Dave in a podcast. Dave…

Editor’s Choice: CO2-stimulation of savanna tree seedling growth depends on interactions with local drivers

The editor’s choice for our May issue is “CO2-stimulation of savanna tree seedling growth depends on interactions with local drivers” by Raubenheimer & Ripley. Here, Associate Editor Jim Dalling explains the importance of this research.  Encroachment of grass savannas by woody savanna trees has been widespread over the last century across Africa, Australia, and South America. Some…

Cover stories: Ginkgo biloba

The cover image for our April issue shows the diversity of leaf morphology from the fallen leaves of a single Ginkgo biloba tree, located in monitored plots at the Zijingang Campus, Zhejiang University, China. The image relates to the International Biological Flora: Ginkgo biloba, by Han-Yang Lin et al. ✏️A note from the Editor, Anthony Davy: The April cover…