Football, plant demography & team science

This week lots of members of the Journal of Ecology Editorial Board are at ESA in Sacramento. See Executive Editor, David Gibson’s, earlier blog post about what he will be getting up to here. Don’t forget to visit the British Ecological Society’s stand either! A few members of the Editorial Board have written about their schedules…

Journal of Ecology representation at the ESA Annual Smorgasbord

It’s that time of the year again when ecologists from around the globe descend upon a convention center in North America for a week-long frenzy of eco-geeking.  I missed last year’s bash in Minneapolis because I chose to wait a couple of weeks and attend the British Ecological Society’s Centenary celebration in London (see why here).  But,…

Editor’s Choice 102:4

The Editor’s Choice for the next issue of Journal of Ecology is “An ideal free distribution explains the root production of plants that do not engage in a tragedy of the commons game” by McNickle and Brown. Read the below commentary on the paper written by Journal of Ecology Editor Mark Rees. Author Gordon McNickle…

How much of the world is woody?

What proportion of the species in the world are woody? There are many ways to characterize a plant, but perhaps everyone (including the first known botanist Theophrastus of Eresus, one of Plato’s students) starts with a simple distinction between woody and herbaceous plants. For a recent research project on the evolution of this simplest plant…

Editor’s Choice 102:3

We anticipate that issue 102:3 will be online this week. Consider it an Easter treat without the calories! The Editor’s Choice paper from this issue is “Restoration of a megaherbivore: landscape-level impacts of white rhinoceros in Kruger National Park, South Africa” by Cromsigt & te Beest. The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences published a press release on…

Riparian willow dynamics in Yellowstone – Associate Editor commentary

Large carnivores have succumbed to human pressure worldwide.  They have been hunted to near or complete local extinction or their food sources have been reduced drastically.  A recent review1 shows their continuing decline throughout the world.  The review also highlighted the direct and indirect roles that large carnivores play in structuring trophic cascades, and the…

Ants plant tomorrow’s rainforest – Gallegos, Hensen & Schleuning

The Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre  (BiK-F) have published a press release on  a paper published in Journal of Ecology,“Secondary dispersal by ants promotes forest regeneration after deforestation” by Gallegos, Hensen & Schleuning The press release can be accessed via this link and the authors have provided a summary of their paper below. Secondary dispersal promotes reforestation Most of the…