The editor’s choice for our August issue is “Citizen science across two centuries reveals phenological change among plant species and functional groups in the Northeastern US” by Kerissa Fuccillo Battle et al. Here, Associate Editor Charles Kwit explains the importance of this research:  While often equated with Henry David Thoreau, phenology and its documentation across space (e.g.…

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…

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…

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…

The editor’s choice for our April issue is “Pre-dispersal seed predation could help explain premature fruit drop in a tropical forest” by Jackson et al. Here, Associate Editor Ayub Oduor explains the importance of this research.  Premature fruit drop is an important phenomenon that determines fitness of individual plants and plant population and community dynamics. Several causes…

The editor’s choice for our March issue is “The strength and direction of local (mal)adaptation depends on neighbor density and the environment” by Germain et al. Here, Associate Editor Chengjin Chu explains the importance of this research.  Explicitly linking ecology and evolution to comprehensively reveal the interdependence structure of the entangled bank has been a long-standing…

The editor’s choice for our February issue is “Not all trees can make a forest: Tree species composition and competition control forest encroachment in a tropical savanna” by Flake et al. Here, Associate Editor María Natalia Umaña explains the importance of this research.  As a tropical forest ecologist, I’ve been concerned about the increasing deforestation rates…

The editor’s choice for our January issue is “Biodiversity–productivity relationships in a natural grassland community vary under diversity loss scenarios” by Pan et al. Here, Associate Editor Eric Lamb explains the importance of this research.  This paper is a fascinating exploration of the complexity of diversity – productivity relationships. With the recent loss of Philip…

The editor’s choice for our December issue is “The dynamics of vegetation grazed by a food-limited population of Soay sheep on St Kilda” by Crawley et al. This research article provides an unprecedented record of vegetation change in response to and impacts on an unmanaged ungulate population on a temperate island over 35 years. Here,…