The African savannas are vast expanses of terrestrial ecosystems that host an array of plants and animals and their interactions that have continued to fascinate ecologists and the public alike. Many important conceptual advances regarding plant-herbivore interactions, and particularly the role of grazing animals, have come from studies in these ecosystems including: accelerating turnover of…
The Editor’s Choice article for Volume 107 Issue 2 is a study by Leunda et al. about long-term treeline dynamics. Associate Editor Bérangère Leys has taken a closer look at the paper in the blog post below… Ecosystem responses to climate change is a great concern and a lot of effort has been made to…
The Editor’s Choice article for issue for Volume 106 Issue 6 is a study by Wooliver et al. about the role fungi plays in the variation of plant responses to nitrogen enrichment. Senior Editor Amy Austin has taken a closer look at the paper in the blog post below… Nitrogen deposition generated by human activities (industry,…
The Editor’s Choice paper for issue 5 is a study on the variation in senescence across different strains of duckweed by Patrick Barks and colleagues. Rob Salguero-Gómez, who handled the paper as an Associate Editor, has given some thoughts on the significance of the work. One could say that modern human societies are slaves to the clock.…
The Editor’s Choice paper for volume 106 issue 3 is a paper on niche occupancy and community assembly by Yuanzhi Li and colleagues. Journal of Ecology Associate Editor Peter Vesk has given his thoughts on the paper below. In the latest issue of Journal of Ecology, Li et al. present an exciting new investigation of…
The Editor’s Choice paper for this issue is Woodland resilience to regional drought: Dominant controls on tree regeneration following overstorey mortality by Miranda Redmond and colleagues. Associate Editor Peter Bellingham has taken a closer look at the paper and shares his thoughts below… All but one of the warmest years since 1880, based on global combined land and…
The Editor’s Choice paper for the final issue of 2018 is titled Manipulating two olfactory cues causes a biological control beetle to shift to non-target plant species by Li et al. Professor Stephen Bonser, who handled the paper as an Associate Editor, gives some thoughts on the paper… Phytophagous insects are potentially useful biocontrol agents. Insect…
The Editor’s Choice paper for issue 105.5 is a study that looks into rapid plant evolution in response to changes in land use. Author Eva Völler tells us more about the paper below… Land-use changes are a significant threat to biodiversity and are known to have tremendous effects on the taxonomic diversity and species composition…
Nutrient-poor grasslands cover a substantial portion of the terrestrial surface and provide important ecosystem services ranging from forage and livestock production to stabilization of erosion-prone soils. The future of these grasslands under increased drought frequency and severity is difficult to predict, especially given the complex ecological interactions and feedbacks among plants, other organisms, and physical…
The Editor’s Choice paper for Issue 105.3 is titled; A global test for phylogenetic signal in shifts in flowering time under climate change. Authors Nicole Rafferty and Paul Nabity have written a blog post about their paper… Biological signals of climate change abound. One of the most conspicuous is changes in the timing of life history events,…
