How does plant diversity recover after invasive species removal?

Shao-peng Li and Bingwei Lv, East China Normal University, discuss their article: Multidimensional diversity recovery following invasive species removal: Roles of colonization, extinction, and abundance shifts. Background Plant invasion is a global ecological challenge, and invasive species often outcompete native plants, leading to a loss of biodiversity and disruption of ecosystem functions. Removing these unwelcome…

The humble broom

Peter Thomas, Keele University, UK and Marion Giertych, University of Zielona Góra and Institute of Dendrology PAS, Poland, discuss their article: Biological Flora of Britain and Ireland: Cytisus scoparius, in English and Polish Broom (Cytisus scoparius), a non-spiny relative of gorse (Ulex species), is a delightful shrub native across Europe in open areas. What makes…

Local native species with global naturalization success can be strong competitors for alien species

Guan-Wen Wei and Mark van Kleunen, from the Ecology Lab at the University of Konstanz in Germany, discuss their article: Responses of naturalized alien plants to soil heterogeneity and competition vary with the global naturalization success of the native competitors Biological invasions are happening With the development of transportation and globalization, species have been introduced…

Glucosinolates are probably not novel weapons that promote invasion by Alliaria petiolata

Robert I. Colautti (@ColauttiLab), Queen’s University in Canada, discusses his article: Direct and indirect fitness effects of plant metabolites and genetic constraints limit evolution of allelopathy in an invading plant A storied history As a relatively young discipline, invasion ecology has developed through a proliferation of hypotheses that often fail to hold against careful experimentation.…

Protecting forests reinforces biotic resistance to invasive species

Ninad Avinash Mungi presents inferences from his recent article: Role of species richness and human-impacts in resisting invasive species in tropical forests. Find out how tropical forest manifest resistance towards invasive plants, when protected from anthropogenic impacts. As the decade of ecological restoration unfolds, we invest in strategies to restore ecosystems, uncertain about how our…

How is litter decomposition affected by climate change in Mediterranean forests? Soil fauna has the key

Lead author Pablo Homet discusses recently published article: Soil fauna modulates the effect of experimental drought on litter decomposition in forests invaded by an exotic pathogen. Find out more about how litter mesofauna plays an important role in litter decomposition in a Mediterranean forest. Decomposition processes of dead organic matter are fundamental for life cycling.…

Blanca Arroyo-Correa – Harper Prize Winner

Throughout the last month, we have been featuring all the articles that were shortlisted for the Harper Prize 2020. The Harper Prize is an annual award for the best early career research paper published in Journal of Ecology. Here we hear more from Blanca Arroyo-Correa, who was jointly awarded this year’s prize alongside Atul Joshi! About me My academic…