Hang Wang, Southwest Forestry University, discusses his article: Leaf biomechanical traits predict litter decomposability As ecologists, we often focus on how plants grow, reproduce, and interact with their environment. However, what happens after a plant has lived its life? More specifically, how do leaves breakdown after they fall to the ground? This process, known as…
Camila Medeiros, University of California, Los Angeles, discusses her article: Simplification of woody plant trait networks among communities along a climatic aridity gradient Motivation Plants are enormously diverse across regions, even within specific ecosystems, and zooming in on individual plants, one finds great diversity among their traits. Variation of all kinds of traits can play…
Raissa Jardim, Federal University of Paraná, Brazil, describes her article: Unveiling above- and below-ground ecological strategies that underlie woody plant encroachment in grasslands, in both English and Portuguese. Woody plant encroachment in forest-grassland mosaics Forests and grasslands aren’t always neatly separated ecosystems. In many places they coexist side by side, creating beautiful but complex mosaics…
Ana Patricia Sandoval-Calderon and Yann Hautier, Utrecht University, discuss their article: Andean grassland stability across spatial scales increases with camelid grazing intensity despite biotic homogenization Nestled high in the Andes, a vibrant yet fragile ecosystem thrives under the watchful gaze of camelids. These ancient grasslands have been shaped over centuries by the grazing habits of…
Guangqi Zhang, UMR SILVA – INRAE, Grand-Est Nancy Research Center, discusses his article: Analyzing resilience of European beech tree to recurrent extreme drought events through ring growth, wood anatomy and stable isotopes As the climate warms, extreme weather events like droughts are expected to become more frequent and intense. A recent extreme and recurrent drought…
Donghao Wu, School of Ecology, Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-Sen University, discusses his article: Wood trait-decay relationships vary with topography and rainfall seasonality in a subtropical forest in China Wood trait-decay relationship Deadwood stores 8% of global forest carbon, and thus it is important to understand the dominant drivers of wood decomposition rates. Many physical…
Robert I. Colautti (@ColauttiLab), Queen’s University in Canada, discusses his article: Direct and indirect fitness effects of plant metabolites and genetic constraints limit evolution of allelopathy in an invading plant A storied history As a relatively young discipline, invasion ecology has developed through a proliferation of hypotheses that often fail to hold against careful experimentation.…
Anita Simha, Louisiana State University, USA, discusses their article: Short-term prescribed fire frequency manipulation alters community response to subsequent fires in a Southeastern pine savanna Fire regimes are shifting globally Fire is a key disturbance that affects plant communities, but one challenge of studying the effects of fire is that the impacts of any one…
Miaojun Ma, Gansu Gannan Grassland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, discusses his article: Multiple mechanisms associated with loss of seed bank diversity under nitrogen enrichment Background Anthropogenic activities have caused an increase in atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition, which threatens the…
Jana Martínková (ExFuMo1), Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences, discusses her article: The hidden half of ontogeny and seasonal dynamics in perennial herbs While flowers and leaves capture our attention, the unseen world beneath the soil is just as vital to plant survival and ecological balance. This truth applies not only to…
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