Editor’s Choice: CO2-stimulation of savanna tree seedling growth depends on interactions with local drivers

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…

Editor’s Choice: Pre-dispersal seed predation could help explain premature fruit drop in a tropical forest

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…

Editor’s Choice: Volume 110 Issue 3

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…

Editor’s Choice: Volume 110 Issue 2

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…

Editor’s Choice: Volume 110 Issue 1

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…

Editor’s Choice: Volume 109 Issue 12

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,…

Volume 109 Issue 9

Volume 109 Issue 9 of Journal of Ecology is now available online! Our September issue contains a new Special Feature: Reconciling resilience across ecological systems, species and subdisciplines. This cross-journal special feature presents 30 fascinating articles published in Journal of Ecology, Journal of Animal Ecology and Functional Ecology, including the accompanying Editorial article. This Special Feature was overseen by Editors Pol…

Editor’s Choice: Volume 109 Issue 8

The Editor’s Choice for our August issue is “The fate and transit time of carbon in a tropical forest” by Carlos A. Sierra, Lina M. Estupinan-Suarez, & Ingrid Chanca. This research article provides an estimate of the transit time distribution of carbon in a Colombian tropical forest ecosystem using a data assimilation technique to parameterise a dynamic…

Volume 109 Issue 8

Volume 109 Issue 8 of Journal of Ecology is now available online! Our August issue contains an essay review considering the past, present, and future of herbivore impacts on savanna vegetation, a paper that explores habitat fragmentation and food security in crop pollination systems & long-term study of primary succession in an Atlantic salt marsh. The Editor’s…

Editor’s Choice: Volume 109 Issue 7

The Editor’s Choice for our July issue is “Plant diversity effects on plant longevity and their relationships to population stability in experimental grasslands” by Roeder et al. The findings of this article show that the diversity of a grassland community can directly affect the longevity of the forbs, and thereby the temporal stability of populations…