Cover stories: Volume 109 Issue 4

The cover image for our April issue shows a rodent herbivore alongside black mangrove seedlings, in a Florida salt marsh. Author and photographer, Rachel S. Smith, describes how she and her team tracked down this mystery mangrove muncher!This image relates to recently published research article: “Dead litter of resident species first facilitates and then inhibits sequential life…

Volume 109 Issue 4

Volume 109 Issue 4 of Journal of Ecology is now available online! Our April issue contains a fascinating range of articles, including research that quantifies nectar production by flowering plants in urban and rural landscapes, a study which found that warming effects on wood decomposition depend on fungal assembly history and an article that examined the dynamics of canopy‐forming seaweed…

Jane Catford – Senior Editor

Journal of Ecology is very excited to announce that Jane Catford will be joining our Senior Editor team! Jane has been an Associate Editor with our journal since 2016 and we’re thrilled to see her take on this new role. Jane is a plant community ecologist based at King’s College London, UK. Jane has an…

Citizen Science: Follow the steps of Charles Darwin and glimpse into cowslip flowers this Spring!

We’re spotlighting the Looking for Cowslips citizen science campaign! Organiser Tsipe Aavik shares more about this citizen science project, the findings so far and how you can take part in this campaign. If you’re interested in getting involved with a cowslip survey this Spring, you can find out more here! You can also read the…

Gulls can spread weeds over large distances and between habitats

Authors, Víctor Martín-Vélez and Andy J. Green, discuss their recent study which highlights the importance of non‐frugivorous waterbirds as vectors for long‐distance plant dispersal: Spatial patterns of weed dispersal by wintering gulls within and beyond an agricultural landscape. You can also read the Press Release for this article here. Weeds are plants that spontaneously grow…

Editor’s Choice: Volume 109 Issue 3

The Editor’s Choice for our March issue is “Simulated Indigenous fire stewardship increases the population growth rate of an understorey herb” by Hart‐Fredeluces, Ticktin & Lake. This article presents beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax) as a model system to explore the influence of Indigenous stewardship, or its absence, on population dynamics. Here the handling Editor, Crystal McMichael, discusses differing…

Cover stories: Volume 109 Issue 3

The cover image for our March issue shows Letharia vulpina, a lichen typical of high‐altitude forests in the Alps. Author and photographer, Juri Nascimbene, and lead author, Hugo Saiz, share the story behind this image and their related research article “Networks of epiphytic lichens and host trees along elevation gradients: Climate change implications in mountain…