The Story Story: Using lake sediments from Story Lake to better understand the interacting effects of fire and climate change on oak and beech community shifts in the southern Great Lakes region

Nora Schlenker discusses her paper ‘Interacting effects of fire and hydroclimate on oak and beech community prevalence in the southern Great Lakes region.’ Background Every year pollen rains down from terrestrial plants and makes us sneeze. But as pollen lands on the surface of lakes and settles in lakebed sediments, it also provides a continuous…

Martin Girardin on Mapping trees’ climate sensitivity: Evolutionary dynamics explored using tree rings / Cartographie de la sensibilité climatique des arbres : Dynamiques évolutives explorées à l’aide des cernes de croissance des arbres

Background The way that tree species develop and change over time is affected by the climate they live in. In the vast expanse of Canada’s terrestrial ecosystems, nearly 180 tree species have undergone selective processes since the last glaciation, sculpting their evolution and establishment. Climate emerges as the linchpin, steering the destiny of tree populations…

Chenhui Chang: Reciprocal bark exchange helps to disentangle bark & wood trait effects on invertebrate diversity

2023 HARPER PRIZE SHORTLIST: Throughout March, we are featuring the articles shortlisted for the 2023 Harper Prize. The Harper Prize is an annual award for the best early career research paper published in Journal of Ecology. Chenhui Chang’s article ‘Reciprocal bark exchange helps to disentangle tree species-dependent bark and wood trait effects on invertebrate diversity‘ is one of those shortlisted…

Tara Miller: Warmer temperatures are linked to phenological mismatch among native & non-native forest plants

2023 HARPER PRIZE SHORTLIST: Throughout March, we are featuring the articles shortlisted for the 2023 Harper Prize. The Harper Prize is an annual award for the best early career research paper published in Journal of Ecology. Tara Miller’s article ‘Warmer temperatures are linked to widespread phenological mismatch among native and non-native forest plants‘ is one of those shortlisted for the…

Maria Jessen: Seedlings controlled by litter

2023 HARPER PRIZE SHORTLIST: Throughout March, we are featuring the articles shortlisted for the 2023 Harper Prize. The Harper Prize is an annual award for the best early career research paper published in Journal of Ecology. Maria Jessen’s article ‘Litter accumulation, not light limitation, drives early plant recruitment‘ is one of those shortlisted for the award: 👋 About me: from…

Jan Perret: Plants stand still but manage to hide

2023 HARPER PRIZE SHORTLIST: Throughout March, we are featuring the articles shortlisted for the 2023 Harper Prize. The Harper Prize is an annual award for the best early career research paper published in Journal of Ecology. Jan Perret’s article ‘Plants stand still but hide: Imperfect and heterogeneous detection is the rule when counting plants‘ is one of those shortlisted for…

Juliana Monteiro: Bryophyte assembly rules across scales

2023 HARPER PRIZE SHORTLIST: Throughout March, we are featuring the articles shortlisted for the 2023 Harper Prize. The Harper Prize is an annual award for the best early career research paper published in Journal of Ecology. Juliana Monteiro’s article ‘Bryophyte assembly rules across scales‘ is one of those shortlisted for the award: 👋 About me I grew up in northern…

Xian Yang: Assembly mechanisms of leaf epiphytic & endophytic bacterial communities

2023 HARPER PRIZE SHORTLIST: Throughout March, we are featuring the articles shortlisted for the 2023 Harper Prize. The Harper Prize is an annual award for the best early career research paper published in Journal of Ecology. Xian Yang’s article ‘Different assembly mechanisms of leaf epiphytic and endophytic bacterial communities underlie their higher diversity in more diverse forests‘ is one of…

Tyler Coverdale: Unravelling the relationship between plant diversity & vegetation structural complexity

2023 HARPER PRIZE SHORTLIST: Throughout March, we are featuring the articles shortlisted for the 2023 Harper Prize. The Harper Prize is an annual award for the best early career research paper published in Journal of Ecology. Tyler Coverdale’s article ‘Unravelling the relationship between plant diversity and vegetation structural complexity: A review and theoretical framework‘ is one of those shortlisted for…

Yikang Cheng: Divergent trait responses to nitrogen addition in tall & short species

2023 HARPER PRIZE SHORTLIST: Throughout March, we are featuring the articles shortlisted for the 2023 Harper Prize. The Harper Prize is an annual award for the best early career research paper published in Journal of Ecology. Yikang Cheng’s article ‘Divergent trait responses to nitrogen addition in tall and short species‘ is one of those shortlisted for the award: 👋 About…