Xiaogai Ge, from the Research Institute of Subtropical Forestry of the Chinese Academy of Forestry, and Mai-He Li, from the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow, and Landscape Research in Switzerland, discuss their article: Drought Decreases Carbon Flux but Not Transport Speed of Newly Fixed Carbon from Leaves to Sinks in a Giant Bamboo Forest…
Anaïs Gorel, University of Liège, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech in Belgium, discusses their article: Leaf habit, maximum height, and wood density of tropical woody flora in Africa: phylogenetic constraints, covariation, and responses to seasonal drought How do African trees cope with drought? Tropical Africa is home to a remarkable diversity of trees, ranging from towering giants in…
Guilin Wu, Hainan Jianfengling Forest Ecosystem National Field Science Observation and Research Station, Research Institute of Tropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, discusses his article: Shaded habitats drive higher rates of fern diversification Ferns represent one of the three major lineages of vascular plants, having originated approximately 411–385 million years ago. In prehistoric times, they…
Raissa Jardim, Federal University of Paraná, Brazil, describes her article: Unveiling above- and below-ground ecological strategies that underlie woody plant encroachment in grasslands, in both English and Portuguese. Woody plant encroachment in forest-grassland mosaics Forests and grasslands aren’t always neatly separated ecosystems. In many places they coexist side by side, creating beautiful but complex mosaics…
Donghao Wu, School of Ecology, Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-Sen University, discusses his article: Wood trait-decay relationships vary with topography and rainfall seasonality in a subtropical forest in China Wood trait-decay relationship Deadwood stores 8% of global forest carbon, and thus it is important to understand the dominant drivers of wood decomposition rates. Many physical…
Bérangère Leys, UMR AMAP (Montpellier, France), discusses her article: Functional responses of Mediterranean flora to fire: A community-scale perspective As climate change increases the frequency and intensity of fires, especially in Mediterranean regions, understanding plant adaptations to fire has become crucial. Fires are a natural component of Mediterranean ecosystems; however, hotter, drier conditions and human activities are making fires more intense, underscoring the…
Wim De Schuyter, Pieter De Frenne, Emiel De Lombaerde, Leen Depauw, Pallieter De Smedt, Lander Baeten, Kris Verheyen explore declining potential nectar production in this post and also at: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1365-2745.14274 Springtime is upon us and soon new generations of insects will emerge and buzz around in our landscapes. In search for food, and later on…
This work came up on a solid and long-lasting collaboration between four institutions (from Spain, Mexico, Netherlands and Switzerland). This collaboration focussed, to a large extent, on investigating the ecological drivers and consequences of species interactions in natural or agro-forestry systems. Our research has focused on understanding the role of “bottom-up” factors (e.g., variation in…
Welcome to the January Art Gallery. This month we are excited to feature found objects, video art, AI, linocuts, watercolours, immersive installation, collage and photography. Our artists are Jitka Klimešová, Jenny Jih, Sanji Yang, Pocoyo, Neal Haddaway, Annette Raffan, Iris Hill and Shengdi Cui. Shengdi Cui This art project focuses on exploring the small and…
The Journal of Ecology has recently published new research by Villar et al. “The cryptic regulation of diversity by functionally complementary large tropical forest herbivores.” Read more about their work in this post & Part 1, written by authors Nacho Villar & Mauro Galetti. To Janzen or not to Janzen? The standard Janzen-Connell hypothesis (JCH)…
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