Evolutionary pressures from a harsh environment maintains similarities between closely related species of seagrasses.

Fernando Tuya Cortés, from ECOAQUA’s Biodiversity and Conservation Group, discusses his article: ‘Strong phylogenetic signal and models of trait evolution evidence phylogenetic niche conservatism for seagrasses.’ Aquatic flowering plants Seagrasses are a group of marine angiosperms (i.e., flowering plants) fully adapted to a submerged life. They are found thoughout the world’s oceans, distributed from tropical…

Neighbouring tree effects on leaf herbivory: why should we care about insect specialization?

Shihong Jia and Bastien Castagneyrol discuss their article: ‘Neighbouring tree effects on leaf herbivory: insect specialization matters more than host plant leaf traits.’ Background Insect herbivores feed on plants and play a crucial role in determining plant performance, population, and community dynamics. This role is particularly significant in forests where insect herbivores can change the…

Succession: a key to understanding biodiversity loss and restoration

Lucy Ridding discusses the background, work and findings on her recent research for Do plant traits influence primary succession patterns for bryophytes and vascular plants? Evidence from a 33-year chronosequence on bare chalk with fellow ecologists Peter Hawes, Robin Walls, Sharon L. Pilkington, Richard F. Pywell and Oliver L. Pescott. Background We’ve been researching succession…

The (malic) acid test in the Biological Flora of Geranium pratense: a cautionary tale

While producing the recent Biological Flora account for Meadow Crane’s-bill, Geranium pratense L., its authors stumbled on an extraordinary error that had been perpetuated and elaborated in the literature for 140 years. It is a cautionary tale that should be of interest to prospective Biological Flora authors, or indeed for anyone engaged in reviewing the…

🏆Eminent Ecologist 2023: Katharine Suding

The Journal of Ecology Editors are delighted to announce that Katharine Suding is our Eminent Ecologist award recipient for 2023! In recognition of her work, we asked Katharine to put together a virtual issue of some of her key contributions to the journal. Katharine was interviewed by Executive Editor Richard Bardgett, about her career to date, her motivation for focusing on ‘usable science’, and…

Editor’s Choice (111:11): Tackling unintended consequences of invasive species removal – timing may be everything

The editor’s choice for our November issue is ‘Timing of invasive species removal influences nonnative biotic resistance and trajectories of community reassembly‘ by Agostina Torres et al. Here, Associate Editor Maud Bernard-Verdier discusses the importance of this research: Invasive species control often targets single species, but as species introductions continue to increase globally (Seebens et al., 2017), multiple…

Virtual Issue: Invasive Biological Flora

September 2023 marked the release of the thematic assessment of invasive alien species by the Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). This landmark assessment, conducted by over 80 experts representing more than 40 countries, comprehensively and critically evaluates evidence for biological invasions and impacts of invasive alien species. Biological invasions refer to species…