The editor’s choice for our May issue is ‘Simulating past and future fire impacts on Mediterranean ecosystems‘, by Christoph Schwörer et al. Here, Associate Editor Anping Chen discusses the importance of this research: Characterized by a distinct climate with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters, the Mediterranean region is also often associated with frequent and…
Plant enemies like insect herbivores and fungal pathogens eat or degrade plant tissue. How does this affect performance? Photo: Josh Brian We are invasion biologists, studying how and why species become invasive. One of the biggest hypotheses in our field is the ‘enemy release hypothesis’, which says that species become invasive because they escape from…
The interest on the microbial ecosystems that inhabit leaves is rapidly increasing due to their participation in basic ecosystem functions. One of the aspects of plant dynamics which leaf fungi can most clearly affect is recruitment, since the success of newly germinated plants can be seriously compromised by pathogenic activity or by the absence of…
Richard P. Shefferson, University of Tokyo, discusses his article: ‘Life history costs drive the evolution of mycoheterotrophs: increased sprouting and flowering in a strongly mycoheterotrophic Pyrola species’ Background When we think of plants, we think of trees and grasses, flowers, and ferns. The single most obvious and important characteristic of plants is that they are…
Urmi Poddar discusses her paper ‘Similar trait-based successional assembly in native and introduced plants despite species pool differences.’ Background Invasive species are one of the major threats to biodiversity. These species tend to take over natural communities, leading to the displacement of native species, loss of biodiversity, and disruption of ecosystem functions. But not all…
We’re pleased to introduce our new Blog Editor! Curtis Lubbe joins the team to help manage the Journal of Ecology blog and publish author’s stories behind their research. Find out a bit about Curtis below: Name: F. Curtis LubbeLocation: Třeboň, Czech RepublicKeywords: belowground storage organs, drought, functional ecology, nonstructural carbohydrates, overwintering, storage Tell us a bit…
Manuele Bazzichetto discusses his article: ‘Biodiversity promotes resistance but dominant species shape recovery of grasslands under extreme drought.’ Background A hot idea in ecology is that biodiversity helps ecosystems do better. For instance, high biodiversity should help ecosystems to maintain their functions (e.g., biomass production) over time. In other words, biodiversity should stabilise ecosystem functions.…
We’re delighted to announce that the winner of the 2023 Harper Prize is Tyler Coverdale! The Harper Prize is awarded annually for the best paper published in the journal by an early career researcher. Winner: Tyler Coverdale Paper: Unravelling the relationship between plant diversity and vegetation structural complexity: A review and theoretical framework “As Tyler´s succinct review points out, we…
Nicola Kokkonen, Anna Laine-Petäjäkangas, and Eeva-Stiina Tuittila discuss their article: ‘A deepened water table increases the vulnerability of peat mosses to periodic drought.’ Background Around the world, we are witnessing warmer temperatures and extreme weather caused by climate change. However, these changes are not affecting all regions equally; northern regions are being hit hardest. While…
This month we are featuring Chethana V. Casiker, Luiz F. C. Serigheli, Marta Barberis, Stephanie Glendinning and Bethany Bridge. Mediums include tapestry, pen, coloured pencils, drag, tattoo, make up, look and performance, paint, sound, graffiti and watercolours. Artist: Chethana V. Casiker I am a researcher who studies bees in urban landscapes. I wanted to paint…
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