World Soil Day 2016

For World Soil Day 2016, secretary of the BES Plants, Soils, Ecosystems Special Interest Group, Ellen Fry, has written about the work of the SIG and the importance of World Soil Day… This year on World Soil Day I intend to use my social media platforms to raise awareness of the main issues surrounding soil…

A natural forest study

For our second contribution for National Tree Week, we hear from authors Zilong Ma and Han Chen, whose recently published paper was included in the special National Tree Week Virtual Issue. Zilong Ma is a PhD student at Lakehead University in Canada, supervised by Han Y.H. Chen who is also an Associate Editor for Journal of Ecology. Research…

National Tree Week 2016 – Virtual Issue

This week is National Tree Week! First celebrated in 1975, National Tree Week is the UK’s largest tree celebration. Each year, The Tree Council’s member organisations including voluntary bodies and local authorities, up to 200 schools and community groups, 8000 Tree Wardens and many others, support the initiative by setting up fun, worthwhile and accessible events,…

Ecology and Evolution in Ireland

The first ever meeting of the Irish Ecological Association kicks off today in Sligo and in order to celebrate the meeting and showcase the strength of research being done in Ireland, the IEA has joined forces with the BES journals team to put together an exciting Virtual Issue. The Virtual Issue is free to access and…

From teaching, to research, to Journal of Ecology

In this blog post, Associate Editor Hans Cornelissen writes about the impact his teaching has had on the development of his research and publications over the years… Autumn is always a very busy teaching season for me – my poor excuse for being slow with my editorial activities for this journal (including writing this blog)… yes,…

Ecto-Mycorrhizal Fungi: A Stronger Role In Pathogen Defense than In Nutrient Uptake

In this new video, Felipe Albornoz presents the findings of his recent study, accepted for publication in Journal of Ecology, and titled ‘Native soilborne pathogens equalize differences in competitive ability between plants of contrasting nutrient-acquisition strategies‘. This study was part of Felipe’s PhD project on the role of mycorrhizal fungi on plant-plant interactions and in maintaining plant diversity, that he…

Short-Term Snow Cover Reduction effects Do Not Scale Up to Long-Term Legacies

In this new video, Gesche Blume-Werry presents the very interesting findings of her study, published in the last issue (November) of Journal of Ecology, and titled ‘Short-term climate change manipulation effects do not scale up to long-term legacies: effects of an absent snow cover on boreal forest plants‘. This study was part of Gesche’s PhD project in which she explored…

Effects of nitrogen deposition on masting tree reproduction

Michał Bogdziewicz is a PhD student at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, supervised by Rafał Zwolak (AMU, as well) and Elizabeth Crone (Tufts University, USA). Michal’s work involves the study of different aspects of mast seeding consequences on ecosystems: the connection between masting and Lyme disease and the effects of masting on animal populations. The main goal…