Effects of nitrogen deposition on masting tree reproduction

Michał Bogdziewicz is a PhD student at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, supervised by Rafał Zwolak (AMU, as well) and Elizabeth Crone (Tufts University, USA). Michal’s work involves the study of different aspects of mast seeding consequences on ecosystems: the connection between masting and Lyme disease and the effects of masting on animal populations. The main goal…

Discovering something previously overlooked in annual grasslands

Today Journal of Ecology published a paper titled ‘Lagging behind: have we overlooked previous-year rainfall effects in annual grasslands?‘ written by Dudney et al. Below, lead author Joan Dudney of University of California Berkeley, provides a background to the study. Return to the same place in an annual grassland and you will invariably notice that no two…

Editor’s Choice 104:5

The Editor’s Choice paper for Issue 104:5 is titled ‘On the link between functional traits and growth rate: meta-analysis shows effects change with plant size, as predicted’ and was written by a team from the Department of Biological Sciences of Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Many thanks to authors Anaïs Gibert, Daniel Falster and Mark Westoby for providing some…

Welcome to our new Associate Editors

Journal of Ecology is thrilled to welcome four new Associate Editors. Jane Catford (University of Southampton, UK), Han Chen (Lakehead University, Canada), Emily Farrer (Tulane University, USA) and Julieta Rosell (UNAM, Mexico) all join the Editorial Board and you can find out more about them below. Jane Catford Jane is based at the University of…

What do reviewers want?

Originally posted on Animal Ecology in Focus:
Last year’s Peer Review Week proved to be a great success in raising awareness and starting discussions about peer review. This year, it’s back and the focus is on recognition for review. There have been lots of surveys looking at perceptions of peer review. These surveys agree that…

The Quest for Predicting Plant-Soil Feedback

A new study from the Department of Soil Quality at Wageningen University and the Department of Terrestrial Ecology at Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) gives evidence that plants grow better in soil from other species. Published today in Journal of Ecology, the paper is written by Cortois et al. and is titled ‘Plant-soil feedbacks: role of plant functional group and plant traits‘. …