Douglas Sheil, Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands, discusses his article: Stability of monodominant and mixed tropical forests: Implications from a biomass-based competition model I first encountered monodominant tropical forests, where one tree species makes up over half the canopy, during my doctorate research in Uganda, where I used long-term plot data to explore…
Melisa A. Giorgis, Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal, discusses her article: Post-fire trajectories reveal a legacy effect and decoupled structural and floristic responses in a seasonally dry subtropical mountain region, in both English and Spanish. A complex debate Many areas of the world with open vegetation are at the center of extensive debates in scientific,…
Elinor Fajer, Harvard University, and Peter Pellitier, University of Utah, discuss their article: Ectomycorrhizal communities underlie trade-offs between greater long-term tree growth and reduced soil carbon concentrations in boreal forests Boreal forests are one of the most carbon-rich ecosystems on Earth. Belowground, the soils store massive amounts of carbon-rich organic matter, and aboveground, long-living trees…
Sarah Le Berre, Institute of Silviculture and Forest Protection (Technical University of Dresden), discusses her article: Identifying future climate refugia in central European mountain forests Mountain forests can seem timeless. Yet their tree communities are continuously changing in response to human pressures, natural disturbances, and shifts in climate. As temperatures rise and disturbance patterns become…
Pilar Hurtado Aragüés, Global Change Research Institute and Department of Biology (Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid, Spain), discusses her article: Network modularity analysis reveals strategies for strengthening forest resistance, recovery, and resilience to disturbances Looking beneath the surface Before working on this project, I would probably have answered the question “Can we really make forests…
Lauren Jenkins, Duke University, discusses her article: Fecundity and terrain-climate interactions that shape tree niche differences across North America and Europe Terrain shapes tree reproduction When you think about climate change threatening forests, you may picture species migrating miles northward or upslope. But what if refuge is just around the hillside? In forests of the…
Benjamin Roux, University of Bordeaux in France, discusses his article: Tree canopy shapes the survival of oak and beech saplings during the regeneration stage along an elevation-driven temperature gradient The challenges of heatwaves for forest ecosystems As western Europe experiences yet another heatwave, most of the public discussion focuses on how human societies can adapt…
Cristina Herrero-Jáuregui (Complutense University of Madrid), Merryn Hunt and Simon Smart (UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology), and Lenore Fahrig (Carleton University) discuss their article: Richness of forest specialist plant species increases with forest fragmentation per se but decreases with proximity to forest edge and reduced forest patch size Walk into a large, ancient British…
Jan Vigués Jorba, from the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, discusses his article: Same damage, different story: Vertical decoupling of herbivore abundance and beech herbivory across forest layers Invertebrate herbivory is a key ecological process that shapes ecosystem functions, especially in forest habitats. Since forests have a complex three-dimensional structure,…
Xiaoran Wang, East China Normal University, and Jian Zhang, Sun Yat-Sen University, discuss their article: Elevation and environmental factors shape variability rather than the mean of seedling herbivory across subtropical forests In mountain forests, not all seedlings experience insect herbivory in the same way. While some individuals suffer substantial leaf damage, others are barely affected.…
