Dr Richard Jefferson is the author of our latest Biological Flora of the British Isles article. Below he tells us more about his paper on saw-wort which was published in volume 105, issue 5 of Journal of Ecology… Saw-wort (Serratula tinctoria) is a herbaceous perennial of the daisy family (Asteraceae) that occurs across much of…
It is our pleasure to announce that Journal of Ecology author Severin Irl (University of Bayreuth) has been awarded the Eduard Strasburger Award for his 2015 paper; Climate vs. topography – spatial patterns of plant species diversity and endemism on a high-elevation island. The prize is awarded every 2 years by the German Botanical Society…
How do mixing effects change depending on the species composition of a forest stand? And is it true that trees are more likely to positively complement each other when environmental conditions are harsher? In a new Journal of Ecology study, scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) used data from…
Jasmine Packer (University of Adelaide) has written a blog post about the keystone coloniser of land and water Phragmites australis (common reed), which is the subject of the issue 105.4 Biological Flora of the British Isles article. Reed beds throughout the world have been supporting animal and human populations since the last ice age. These reed communities…
European forests have been long regarded as invasion-resistant; however, recent findings suggest that invasive alien plant species increasingly colonise this ecosystem. In a new study published by Journal of Ecology, researchers from the Polish Academy of Sciences, Nebraska-Lincoln University and Jagiellonian University have analysed the mechanisms of invasion of alien walnut Juglans regia in over hundred forests…
Julienne Schiebold (University of Bayreuth) has written an article about her recently published paper; Exploiting mycorrhizas in broad daylight: Partial mycoheterotrophy is a common nutritional strategy in meadow orchids. With approximately 28,000 species, the Orchidaceae is often referred to as the largest plant family. Regardless of their geographical occurrence or life form, all orchid species are…
Public University of Navarre press release: Mixed Scots pine and beech forests can grow more as they complement each other in the use of resources, unless rainfall is low In an article published in Journal of Ecology, researchers from the NUP/UPNA-Public University of Navarre and the CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) have analysed the two…
Adam Clark (University of Minnesota) has just had his paper accepted in Journal of Ecology. Below, Adam tells us more about his study… Plant communities in the tropical forests of Central and South America are famously diverse, and by some estimates are home to more than a third of all tree species on earth. Two processes…
Kathy Gerst (Univeristy of Arizona) has written a background to her recently published study, and tells us of the importance of citizen science projects… The field of phenology investigates the timing of seasonal patterns of plants and animals and how seasonal activity relates to climate and weather. Phenology is considered a robust indicator of climate change…
Timm Döbert, from CSIRO in Australia, recently had a paper published in Journal of Ecology entitled “Logging increases the functional and phylogenetic dispersion of understorey plant communities in tropical lowland rainforest”. Below, his co-author Bruce Webber describes the context of the research and highlight the main findings of their study. How does logging affect the diversity of rainforest understorey plant…
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