Throughout April, we are featuring the articles shortlisted for the 2022 Harper Prize. The Harper Prize is an annual award for the best early career research paper published in Journal of Ecology. Miriam Gerhard’s article ‘Environmental stoichiometry mediates phytoplankton diversity effects on communities’ resource use efficiency and biomass’ is one of those shortlisted for the award. ⭐️About me: between South…
Ecologists have mused over the mechanisms that structure plant communities for centuries. One such mechanism is negative density dependence, which has been proposed as a an important promoter of tree species diversity across plant communities. However, most negative density-dependence studies to date have focused on the roles played by insects and fungal pathogens. Less attention…
The cover image for our March issue shows twin seedlings of mistletoe (Viscum album) established on a branch of apple (Malus domestica), the parasite’s most frequent British host. This image relates to the Biological Flora of Britain and Ireland: Viscum album, by Peter Thomas et al. Here, co-author Jonathan Briggs tells us the story behind the image: The germination…
The Harper Prize is awarded annually by the British Ecological Society for the best paper in Journal of Ecology by an early career author. We are pleased to present the shortlisted papers for the 2022 award (published in Volume 110): ⭐️Heath Beckett: Pathways of savannization in a mesic African savanna–forest mosaic following an extreme fire⭐️Kerissa Fuccillo Battle: Citizen science across two centuries…
The fourth series of Grime Reviews will address conceptual issues in species distribution modeling. SDMs are a critical tool for understanding the impacts of environmental change on plant communities, and recent statistical and computational advancements facilitate modeling of potential range shifts of many interacting species across large spatial extents. Moreover, researchers are transcending the limitations…
For anyone who missed it, here’s a summary of our latest Journal Club discussion, held earlier this week on Twitter! The featured paper was ‘The shape of trees: Reimagining forest ecology in three dimensions with remote sensing‘ by Emily Lines and Tommaso Jucker et al., which is part of the Grime Reviews series ‘What can…
The editor’s choice for our March issue is “Sandy seeds: Armour or invisibility cloak? Mucilage-bound sand physically protects seeds from rodents and invertebrates“ by Eric LoPresti et al. Here, Associate Editor Michał Bogdziewicz discusses the importance of this research: Seeds are the fundamental units of plant reproduction, critical to the persistence and distribution of plant populations.…
The cover image for our February issue shows a digitized herbarium specimen of flowering yellow trout lily plants (Erythronium americanum). This image relates to the article, Warmer temperatures are linked to widespread phenological mismatch among native and non-native forest plants, by Tara Miller et al., which is part of a special feature on Leveraging natural history collections to understand…
Welcome to JOURNAL CLUB! An initiative from Journal of Ecology, in which we present a discussion with the authors of a paper, allowing viewers to gain further insight into their research, and aiming to facilitate engagement between authors and readers. Watch the video below, and then join the authors online for a live Twitter discussion! In our…
Emma Ladouceur & Jonathan M. Chase discuss their recent article: The recovery of plant community composition following passive restoration across spatial scales. Find out more about what it takes for ecosystems to recover from disturbances and whether passive restoration is enough. Human disturbances can negatively impact species, biodiversity and ecosystems. Given enough time, will ecosystems…
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