Why Yellow-cedar does not expand despite available habitat?

John Krapek (University of Alaska Fairbanks) and Brian Buma (University of Alaska Southeast) recently had a paper published in Journal of Ecology entitled ‘Limited stand expansion by a long-lived conifer at a leading northern range edge, despite available habitat‘. John tells us more about the paper below. Yellow-cedar (Callitropsis nootkatensis, Cupressaceae), a culturally and economically important…

EcoTAS 2017: Insights from Stephen Bonser

The joint conference of the Ecological Society of Australia and the New Zealand Ecological Society was held just three weeks ago in Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia, as advertised in our previous post (read here). Organized every four years, this joint conference aims at bringing together ecologists from throughout Australasia and beyond. The theme of…

The dynamics of kelp forests

Cathy Pfister (University of Chicago) has recently had a paper published on kelp forests in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. She tells us more about her paper below… In the decade or so before WWI, Germany had a near monopoly on an essential resource: potash mines that supplied fertilizer (as well as gunpowder) globally. The possibility…

Ecologists Brave Snowpocalypse #EAB2017

This past week the determination and tenacity of 1500 or so ecologists was tested as they travelled to Ghent, Belgium, to attend the Ecology Across Borders 2017 winter Annual Meeting, organized and hosted by the British Ecological Society, Ecological Society of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, the Netherland-Flanders Ecological Society, and the European Ecological Federation. I was…

Dali Guo obituary (1971–2017)

Dali Guo, who passed away aged 46 on the 19th November 2017, was known for his major contributions to plant ecology through advancing our understanding of root ecology and patterns of root traits in terrestrial ecosystems. His research has not only helped to establish the importance of root branching order on root and ecosystem function,…

EAB2017 – plant ecology in Germany, Austria and Switzerland

In the run up to Ecology Across Borders, we hear from Niek Scheepens, speaker of the GfÖ-Specialist Group Plant Population Biology, about some of the plant ecology projects happening in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The scientific community is a global community and the rise of internet has obviously advanced communication among researchers tremendously. Nevertheless, it…

Open Call for Special Features

The editors of Journal of Ecology would like to invite special feature proposals for publication in 2019. Journal of Ecology has been publishing special features since Bullock and Nathan’s 2008 collection of 12 papers on the topic “Plant Dispersal Across Multiple Scales: Linking Models and Reality.” Since that time, the Editors have commissioned special features…

EcoTAS 2017: Plant Ecology in AUS and NZ

This week has been EcoTAS 2017, the joint conference of the Ecological Society of Australia and the New Zealand Ecological Society. This year it was held in Hunter Valley in New South Wales, Australia, with a theme of ‘putting ecology to work’ in an effort to explore how ecological science can contribute to the economy,…

Press release: Higher plant species richness may not be enough to protect ecosystems from the worst impacts of climate extremes

University of Antwerp press release Studies on mild fluctuations in weather have provided support for the idea that higher biodiversity results in more stable functioning of ecosystems, but critical appraisal of the evidence from extreme event studies is lacking. Higher plant species richness is not always sufficient to reduce ecosystem vulnerability to climate extremes, as…