British Ecological Society Journals: Recent Episodes
British Ecological Society Journals
Podcasts for the journals of the British Ecological Society
Ecological Solutions and Evidence Functional Ecology Journal of Ecology Journal of Animal Ecology Journal of Applied Ecology Methods in Ecology and Evolution People and Nature
Covering new developments in ecology around the world.
, co-edited by Natalie Pilakouta.The Special Feature aimed to explore how organisms plasticly alter their social behaviour in response to environmental variation, how these changes affect fitness, and whether plasticity in social behaviour allows populations to cope with current human-induced rapid environmental change.Read the full Special Feature here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2656.flexible-friends
. We discussed the story behind the paper and his experience as an ecologist.Read the full paper here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.70293Read Shahar's blog post here: https://animalecologyinfocus.com/2026/07/06/who-is-next-in-line-predicting-which-red-sea-fish-will-invade-the-mediterranean-sea/Watch the video teaser here: https://youtu.be/_OI8w4ZsDDs
In this episode, we speak to András Zábó and Aamir Ahmad, about their paper 'RAPID: Real-time animal pattern re-identification on edge devices, an open-source tool for field deployment'. We discuss the development of the tool, some of the challenges faced during development, and the intersection of ecology and technology.Read the full paper here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/2041-210X.70332Blog post: https://methodsblog.com/2026/06/22/rapid-re-identification-of-patterned-animals/
.Douglas and Emmanuel discuss their route into ecology, the reasons for their research, their findings, and how their discoveries can support and inform the research area moving forward.Read their full paper here: https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.70314
In this episode we talk to Matia Muller about his recently published paper 'Assessment of large-scale spatial variation in age-specific survival and age at first breeding in a long-lived species', which was published in Journal of Animal Eology.We discuss the main findings of the paper, the importance of the results, and life as an ecologist.Read the full paper here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2656.70291?campaign=wolearlyview
. We discussed the story behind the paper and her experience as an ecologist.Read the full paper here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2656.70287Read Martyna's blog post here: https://animalecologyinfocus.com/2026/06/19/arm-deep-in-arctic-rocks-what-a-changing-arctic-means-for-little-auks/
.Katie and Mariana discuss their route into ecology, the reasons for their research, their findings, and how their discoveries can support and inform the research area moving forward. Read their full paper here: https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.70254
, published in the Journal of Animal Ecology.You can read the full paper here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.70259
In this podcast episode, we talk to Jenna Kline, an early career researcher who won the Robert May Prize with Methods in Ecology and Evolution for her paper focusing on the use of drones in ecology, especially in monitoring.
.Francis and Clint reflect on their own paths into animal ecology, the context behind conducting their research, their main questions and findings, and how their discoveries can support and inform the research area moving forward. They also share some funny stories and tips on working with bees.Read their full paper here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.70267
In this podcast, People and Nature author Dr Jessica van der Wal talks to Publishing Assistant Anna Nisbett about her article “Cooperative human signals to honeyguides form local dialects”.Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.70234African honeyguides research site: https://africanhoneyguides.com/
Settle in and hear how two very different ecologists navigated their careers to become BES Fellows, and who both share a passion for turning science into action and conservation. In this episode, we sit with Dr Caroline Howe, an Associate Professor in Environmental Social Science at Imperial College and Vice President of the BES, and Niru Dorrian, a Ambassador to the UN Ocean Decade at The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology and Senior Marine Ecology Consultant supporting EirGrid.
In this special International Women’s day edition of the BES podcast, Senior Assistant Editor Ivy talks with Michaela Guo Ying Lo, Chair of the Equity and Diversity for all Genders in Ecology (EDGE) network at the BES, which looks at addressing challenges relating to gender inequity and more within the field of ecology. They discuss what the EDGE network has been working on and its future plans, as well as the various challenges gender minorities may face as ecologists.You can learn more about the EDGE network here: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/content/join-the-edge-network/ And read the resource page for women in ecology here: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/content/resources-for-women-in-ecology/
In this podcast, People and Nature author Marilisa Herchet talks to Publishing Assistant Anna Nisbett about her article “Mental health benefits of urban green—A systematic review and meta-analysis of 56 pre-post control experiments”.Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.70250
In this podcast, People and Nature author Fritha West talks to Publishing Assistant Anna Nisbett about her article “Social and cultural considerations for the restoration of ‘lost’ tree species: The fall and rise of elm”.Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.70206 Read the Winter 2023 Niche piece here: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/the-swing-tree-on-childhood-memory-and-tree-species-loss/
In this episode, Methods in Ecology and Evolution author Margot Belot talks to publishing assistant Hannah about her article 'High-throughput information extraction of printed specimen labels from large-scale digitization of entomological collections using a semi-automated pipeline'Margot's article introduces a tool that can be used to automatically real the labels of museum specimens, helping to catalogue and digitise their vast collections Read the full article here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/2041-210x.70235And a blog post about the work: https://methodsblog.com/2026/02/10/from-trowels-to-tensorflow-bridging-the-gap-between-ancient-past-and-digital-future/
In this podcast, Ecologist Sebastian Hoefer talks to Methods in Ecology and Evolution assistant editor Harriet Rhodes about his article ‘Sensors versus surveyors: Comparing passive acoustic monitoring, camera trapping and observer-based monitoring for terrestrial mammals’.The paper compared different methods of monitoring, focusing on passive acoustic monitoring and observer based monitoring like camera trapping over several years in Eastern Australia, and they discuss some of the challenges involved in remote ecology.Read the full article here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/2041-210X.70169
, por presentar este podcast.Puedes leer el artículo completo de Ignacio a continuación:https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.70201
. Ignacio reflects on his journey into the world of penguins, what he learnt from conducting his study, and reflects on the future of the research field.You can read Ignacio's full paper below:https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.70201
. Valentin reflects on his journey into the world of bats and beavers, what he learnt from conducting his study, and reflects on the future of the research field.You can find some helpful links below:Paper: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2656.70136Research Highlight: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.70144Blog: https://animalecologyinfocus.com/2025/12/16/beavers-boost-bat-biodiversity/
Richard Bardgett, Executive Editor of Journal of Ecolgoy interviews Professor Angela Moles - this year's Eminent Ecologist honouree. From pioneering research on plant ecology and introduced species to mentoring the next generation of ecologists, Angela reflects on her career, the importance of teaching, and the lessons she wishes she’d known starting out. Tune in to hear Angela's candid and inspiring journey through science and academia.
. Fernando's article discusses how pollen protein and amino acid composition influence year-round and seasonal bat–flower interaction networks. Its results underscore the essential role of pollen, not just nectar, as a key reward for attracting flower-visiting bats, and therefore highlights pollen content as an important driver structuring pollination networks.Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.70161Check out a video of the bat species in this study!https://youtu.be/7FX2x4T45i8?si=be7V7t3gAwBR4yiw
As part of our 'Community' series, we’re launching the Emerging Leadership Management (ELM) Network, hosted by Rob Brooker, Thorunn Helgason, and Pen Holland.This is the podcast for people who love to lead or one day might emerge as a leader.This episode features Professor Sallie Bailey, Chief Scientist at Natural England and inaugural BES Fellow. Sallie shares insights from her leadership journey, from shaping strategy and managing expectations to driving cultural change across organisations.We discuss what makes communication effective, how leaders can bring clarity and energy to their teams, and why strong leadership is vital for lasting impact.
. Professor Tso reflects on his journey into the world of spiders and what he learnt from conducting his study, as well as providing some valuable insights for those who are interested in pursuing a career in the area.You can find some helpful links below:Paper: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.70102Website: https://www.spiderandsilksupply.com/
This series will be discussing four evidence reports commissioned by Natural England which were deposited on Applied Ecology Resources and explored the importance of nature inclusion across various communities; people with disabilities, older people, ethnic minorities, and those in low-income areas. This series will be deep diving into the importance of nature connection, the potential barriers to inclusion for four specific groups of individuals, and strategies to overcome them. Our guest is Clare Rishbeth, who is a professor in Landscape Architecture from the University of Sheffield and co-authored the reports. Clare explains the reason for the reports and for the focus on four specific groups of people.The reports are linked below: People with Disabilities https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/applied-ecology-resources/document/20220436861/Low Income Areas https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/applied-ecology-resources/document/20220436862/Older People https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/applied-ecology-resources/document/20220436863/Ethnic Minorities https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/applied-ecology-resources/document/20220436860/
This series will be discussing four evidence reports commissioned by Natural England which were deposited on Applied Ecology Resources and explored the importance of nature inclusion across various communities. In this episode, Clare will be discussing the barriers to inclusion for those with disabilities, and how we might be able to overcome them. PEDALL Inclusive Cycling | New Forest National Park - https://www.pedall.org.uk/Sensing Nature - https://sensing-nature.com/Applied Ecology Resources Report: People with Disabilities - https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/applied-ecology-resources/document/20220436861/
This series will be discussing four evidence reports commissioned by Natural England which were deposited on Applied Ecology Resources and explored the importance of nature inclusion across various communities. In this episode, Clare will be discussing the barriers to inclusion for those in low-income areas, and how we might be able to overcome them. Applied Ecology Resources Report: Low Income Areas - https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/applied-ecology-resources/document/20220436862/
This series will be discussing four evidence reports commissioned by Natural England which were deposited on Applied Ecology Resources and explored the importance of nature inclusion across various communities. In this episode, Clare will be discussing the barriers to inclusion for older people, and how we might be able to overcome them. Wild at Heart, Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust - https://www.wildsheffield.com/discover/your-community/wild-at-heart/?srsltid=AfmBOooBDMSVIiz51JkVIAN2lotY4qAD5uogVfGTUXRPAOWbK6BOnBs8Welcome to DalesBus - https://www.dalesbus.org/Applied Ecology Resources Report: Older People - https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/applied-ecology-resources/document/20220436863/
This series will be discussing four evidence reports commissioned by Natural England which were deposited on Applied Ecology Resources and explored the importance of nature inclusion across various communities. In this episode, Clare will be discussing the barriers to inclusion for ethnic minorities, and how we might be able to overcome them. The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park: Whose Values, Whose Benefits? by Dr. Bridget Snaith - https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/19291/9 Rules for the Black Birdwatcher by J. Drew Lanham - https://orionmagazine.org/article/9-rules-for-the-black-birdwatcher/Applied Ecology Resources Report: Ethnic Minorities - https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/applied-ecology-resources/document/20220436860/
This series discussed four evidence reports commissioned by Natural England which were deposited on Applied Ecology Resources and explored the importance of nature inclusion across various communities. Clare ends the series by discussing her current and future research focus, as well as future reports for Natural England. Young People Act - https://treescapes-voices.mmu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/454/2024/11/Young-People-Act-Nature-Climate.pdfInformal Sport and Social Inclusion - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/02614367.2022.2162109?needAccess=trueClare’s Sheffield Links - https://sheffield.ac.uk/architecture-landscape/people/academic/clare-rishbeth
In this podcast, Functional Ecology author Jennifer Apland chats to Assistant Editor Amelia Macho about her research article, "Jennifer experimentally manipulated the temperature of model flowers to evaluate how flower temperature impacts visitation and behavior of wild bee and fly pollinators. Her research highlights that wild insect pollinator responses to floral temperature depend on ambient temperature. It also suggests that flowers with traits facilitating warming in cool conditions and cooling in warm conditions may experience higher rates of pollinator visitation and resultant reproductive success.You can read Jennifer's full research article here:https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.70037You can also check out Jennifer's blog post about this work (as mentioned in the podcast!) here:https://functionalecologists.com/2025/06/04/jennifer-apland-does-flower-temperature-affect-pollinator-behaviour/
For our ‘Editor Expertise’ series, we will be meeting with each of our Senior Editors, who will share the reason they went into animal ecology, their current and future research focus, and their experience working as an editor for the Journal of Animal Ecology. Our aim is to spread awareness of their research area and give you a chance to get to know the editors behind the journal. This month's guest is Dr. Mariano Rodríguez-Cabal, Research Highlights Editor for the Journal of Animal Ecology.
En nuestra serie 'Experiencia editorial', nos reuniremos con cada uno de nuestros editores principales, quienes compartirán los motivos por los que se dedicaron a la ecología animal, sus áreas de investigación actuales y futuras, y su experiencia como editores de la revista Journal of Animal Ecology. Nuestro objetivo es dar a conocer su área de investigación y ofrecerle la oportunidad de conocer a los editores que hay detrás de la revista. El invitado de este mes es el Dr. Mariano Rodríguez-Cabal, editor de Research Highlights para la revista Journal of Animal Ecology. Gracias a nuestro editor del blog, Rowan Kuminski, por presentar este episodio.
In this podcast episode, we spoke with Dr Daniel Gomez-Gras, Guest Editor for our latest cross-journal Special Feature on "Marine Heatwaves". The Special Feature ran across the Journal of Animal Ecology, Journal of Ecology, and Functional Ecology, and provides an interdisciplinary and cross-taxonomic view of one of the most pressing topics in marine animal science, rendering a general overview of the vulnerability of animal life to current and future marine heatwave conditions. You can explore a curated list of all the articles published at the link below:https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1002/(ISSN)9999-0033.marine-heatwavesThank you to Daniel, Pol, and Cristina, the Guest Editors of this incredible Special Feature.
Methods in Ecology and Evolution author René Steinmann chats to Harriet about his research article 'Decoding the footsteps of the African savanna: Classifying wildlife using seismic signals and machine learning'. The study investigates the seismic signal properties of African savanna species during locomotion and employs machine learning techniques to classify wildlife based on these footfall signals. Read René's full research article here: https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.70021Read René's post on the Methods Blog here: https://methodsblog.com/2025/05/19/the-ground-beneath-their-feetlistening-in-on-africas-wildlife-using-seismic-sensors/
As part of our 'Community' series, we’re launching the Emerging Leadership Management (ELM) Network, hosted by Rob Brooker, Thorunn Helgason, and Pen Holland.This is the podcast for people who love to lead or one day might emerge as a leader. In this episode, they interview Professor Malcolm Press, Vice-Chancellor at the Manchester Metropolitan University and former BES President. Listen in to hear Malcolm share his experience with leadership and discuss how vision and wisdom are essential for effective leadership. #leadership #management #ecology #science #emergingleader #leader #manager
For our ‘Editor Expertise’ series, we will be meeting with each of our Lead Editors, who will share the reason they went into animal ecology, their current and future research focus, and their experience working as an editor for the Journal of Animal Ecology. Our aim is to spread awareness of their research area and give you a chance to get to know the editors behind the journal. This month’s guest is Dr Roberto Salguero-Gómez, Commissioning Editor for the Journal of Animal Ecology.(0:00) – British Ecological Society intro(0:35) – Podcast introduction(1:29) – Rob's journey into animal ecology(6:30) – Rob's current and future research focus(11:30) – Shoutouts to past supervisors and colleagues(13:56) – Ad break(14:36) – Rob's experience as Commissioning Editor for the Journal of Animal Ecology(22:05) – Advice for people who want to become journal editors / are thinking of a career in ecology(24:53) – British Ecological Society outroLinks referred to in the podcast:Rob's Elton Prize paper - https://animalecologyinfocus.com/2017/03/28/2016-elton-prize-winner-rob-salguero-gomez/An editorial on writing a good review / long term study paper - https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.13821An editorial on writing a good concept paper -https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2656.14206
Welcome to the first episode of Journal Club, a new series that explores research papers to empower early-career researchers to read, utilise, and critically assess academic literature with confidence.In this episode, our host, Matt Town, Professional Development Manager, discusses the Journal of Applied Ecology paper titled 'Climbing Route Development Affects Cliff Vascular Plants More Than Subsequent Climbing: A Guide to Evidence-Based Conservation Management to Regulate Climbing.'Tune in to hear key insights from BES Assistant Editor Lydia, Associate Editor Phil Martin and Ardian Ardiantiono, and PhD student Lira Lewis.https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14785
For our ‘Editor Expertise’ series, we will be meeting with each of our Senior Editors, who will share the reason they went into animal ecology, their current and future research focus, and their experience working as an editor for the Journal of Animal Ecology. Our aim is to spread awareness of their research area and give you a chance to get to know the editors behind the journal. This month’s guest is Dr Darren Evans, Senior Editor for the Journal of Animal Ecology.(0:00) – British Ecological Society intro(0:58) – Podcast introduction(1:30) – Darren's journey into animal ecology(15:30) – Darren’s current and future research focus(34:30) – Shoutouts to past supervisors and colleagues(38:30) – Darren’s experience as Senior Editor for the Journal of Animal Ecology(47:00) – Advice for people who want to become journal editors / are thinking of a career in ecology(52:50) – British Ecological Society outro
Functional Ecology author Dr Abbey Yatsko chats to Amelia Macho about her research article, 'Why are trees hollow? Termites, microbes, and tree internal stem damage in a tropical savanna'Abbey's study sought to understand how two important biotic decomposers, termites and microbes, decompose wood on the inside of living tree stems, shedding a light on previously concealed wood decomposition dynamics occurring inside trees. Abbey's research has implications for for accurate carbon estimation across savanna ecosystems, and suggests that tree carbon models should make efforts to incorporate the effects of internal stem damage.Read Abbey's full research article here:https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14727Abbey's second research article, 'Rotten to the core? Drivers of the vertical profile and accumulation of internal tree stem damage' has also been published in Functional Ecology! Check it out here:https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.70061
Functional Ecology author Adam Devenish chats to Amelia Macho about his research article, 'Mutualistic interactions facilitate invasive species spread'Adam's study explored the impact of invasive Argentine ants on seed dispersal involving both native and invasive plants. Through field experiments comparing invaded and non-invaded areas, he observed shifts in seed dispersal patterns and examined how traits like seed size and chemical composition affected ant-seed preferences. Adam's findings, that in areas invaded by Argentine ants, seeds from invasive plants were three times more likely to be dispersed than native seeds, highlight that impact of invaders may be greater than initially perceived, driving losses in both biological and functional plant diversity.Read the full research article here:https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14688You can view images of Adam's research, mentioned in this podcast, in the article's plain language summary:https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2024/10/15/how-invasive-argentine-ants-disrupt-native-seed-dispersal-and-promote-plant-invasions/
For our ‘Editor Expertise’ series, we will be meeting with each of our Senior Editors, who will share the reason they went into animal ecology, their current and future research focus, and their experience working as an editor for the Journal of Animal Ecology. Our aim is to spread awareness of their research area and give you a chance to get to know the editors behind the journal. This month’s guest is Professor Jean-Michel Gaillard, Senior Editor for the Journal of Animal Ecology. (0:00) – British Ecological Society intro(0:33) – Podcast introduction(01:15) – Jean-Michel's journey into animal ecology(02:58) – Jean-Michel's current and future research focus(07:20) – Shoutouts to past supervisors and colleagues(08:50) – Jean-Michel's experience as Senior Editor for the Journal of Animal Ecology(12:40) – Jean-Michel's editorial highlights and challenges during his time with the journal(15:40) – Advice for people who want to become editors / are thinking of a career in ecology(17:32) – British Ecological Society outro
As part of our 'Community' series, we’re launching the Emerging Leadership Management (ELM) Network, hosted by Rob Brooker, Thorunn Helgason, and Pen Holland.This is the podcast for people who love to lead or one day might emerge as a leader.In this episode, they interview Jane K Hill, Professor of Ecology at the University of York, former BES Trustee and chair of the publications committee.Tune in to hear Jane discuss her thoughts on leadership, including different leadership styles and exploring what motivations to lead can look like.#leadership #management #ecology #science #emergingleader #leader #manager
We spoke with Dr Alex Maisey, author of "Foraging activity by an ecosystem engineer, the superb lyrebird, ‘farms’ its invertebrate prey", to hear the story behind the paper. Alex also shared his personal journey into animal ecology and some unexpected sounds from a local lyrebird.You can read Alex's full paper, co-authored by Angie Haslem and Andrew F. Bennett, here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2656.70009
Functional Ecology author Ella Plumanns Pouton chats to Amelia Macho about her research article, 'How do intervals between fires influence canopy seed production and viability?'Ella's study sought to understand how the frequency of fire shaped the quantity of available cones and the seeds within those cones. Her findings, in the context of expected increases in wildfire frequency and droughts in Mediterranean ecosystems, suggest that serotinous species' reproduction and recruitment will be differentially impacted depending on a suite of functional traits.Read the full research article here:https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14619
As part of our 'Community' series, we’re launching a new series called the Emerging Leadership Management (ELM) Network, hosted by Professor Rob Brooker, Professor Thorunn Helgason, and Professor Pen Holland. The new BES ELM network is born out of a shared vision to help and celebrate researchers' transitions into management and leadership roles.In this episode, they interview Yadvinder Malhi, a former BES president and Professor of Ecosystem Science at the Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, and Senior Research Fellow at Oriel College.Tune in to hear Yadvinder discuss transitioning into a leadership role and the key aspects of managing and leading a team.ELM Network | What leadership looks like with Professor Yadvinder Malhi By British Ecological Society is licensed under a Creative Commons License.Host Rob Brooker, Head of Ecological Sciences at The James Hutton Institute and Honorary Secretary at the British Ecological Society. Host Thorunn Helgason, Chair in Ecology, School of Biological Sciences at the University of Edinburgh and Board of Trustee at the British Ecological Society. Host Pen Holland, Deputy Head of Department (Education) at the University of York.
For our ‘Editor Expertise’ series, we will be meeting with each of our Senior Editors, who will share the reason they went into animal ecology, their current and future research focus, and their experience working as an editor for the Journal of Animal Ecology. Our aim is to spread awareness of their research area and give you a chance to get to know the editors behind the journal. This month’s guest is Dr Lesley Lancaster, Senior Editor for the Journal of Animal Ecology. (0:00) – British Ecological Society intro(0:25) – Podcast introduction(1:03) – Lesley’s journey into animal ecology(04:00) – Lesley’s current and future research focus(16:50) – Shoutouts to past supervisors and colleagues (19:40) – Lesley’s experience as Senior Editor for the Journal of Animal Ecology(23:00) – Advice for people who want to become journal editors / are thinking of a career in ecology(27:59) – British Ecological Society outro
For Black History Month UK 2024, the British Ecological Society is celebrating the work of Black ecologists around the world. In this episode, Mthokozisi Moyo shares his experience in ecology and academia. Mthokozisi previously shared a blog post on The Applied Ecologist in 2022 detailing his background in African Ecosystems, Seasonality, and Functional Traits, and his thoughts on Black History Month (see link below). We are pleased to have the opportunity to catch up with him! Blog post: https://appliedecologistsblog.com/2022/10/19/mthokozisi-moyo-accidental-ecologist-to-seasonality-expert/Mthokozisi's contact details: Twitter: https://x.com/mtho_moyoEmail: mottomoyoza@gmail.com
For Black History Month 2024, the British Ecological Society is celebrating the work of Black ecologists around the world. In this episode, Dr Damilola Grace Olanipon speaks to Amelia Macho about her experiences in the field, working on plant-mycorrhizal relationships in forest ecosystems. Damilola discusses the importance of reclaiming narratives for Black ecologists in Africa, as well as the importance of equal opportunities.You can find Damilola on LinkedIn here:https://www.linkedin.com/in/damilola-olanipon-86b9ab76/Check out all of the British Ecological Society's BHM 2024 blog posts and podcasts here: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/membership-community/black-history-month/
Amelia Macho chats to Functional Ecology author Patrick Finnerty about his recently published research article "Odour information enables patch choice by mammalian herbivores from afar, leading to predictable plant associational effects". The team demonstrated that elephants can make patch choice decisions from afar using plant odour cues alone, and that these decisions lead to predictable associational effects on the susceptibility of high-quality focal plants to be being eaten. They also used a new method to reduce an entire complex odour profile of a low-quality plant species and reproduce this odour information artificially. This simplified odour set was as effective as real low-quality neighbours in shaping elephant patch choice and subsequently providing associational refuge to the focal plant.This research could offer a new tool to influence herbivore foraging decisions, with implications for wildlife management and conservation, including plant protection.Read the full research article here:https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14665Check out our YouTube channel for a video of an elephant walking through the giant Y-maze Patt and his team built:https://youtu.be/OBY_xsbU-0k
As part of our 'Community' series, we’re bringing together a global community of ecologists to discuss their experience and relation to ecology.In this episode, we chatted with Nina Bosch, a PhD student from the University of York and a valuable member of the BES. Nina’s research focuses on the recovery of landscapes after fire disturbance in alpine heathlands with an emphasis on the partnership between plants and fungi. Tune in to understand how attending the BES Annual Meeting has helped Nina to network and build friendships as a young ecologist.
As part of our 'Community' series, we’re bringing together a global community of ecologists to discuss their experience and relation to ecology.In this episode, Lydia Groves is joined by eight committee members of the newly-launched Rewilding Special Interest Group. A range of topics are discussed, including what rewilding is, how it can be used effectively, and what the committee hopes to achieve through the SIG. You can find out more about the BES Rewilding SIG here: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/membership-community/special-interest-groups/rewilding-group/ And join their mailing list here: https://britishecologicalsociety.us17.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=b3fd69e742034d545c02c0932&id=e4ee09c0cb
As part of our 'Community' series, we’re bringing together a global community of ecologists to discuss their experience and relation to ecology. In this episode, we are focusing on the most exciting event on the BES’s calendar – our Annual Meeting with renowned ecologist and a longstanding BES member Dr. Rob Brooker. Tune in to understand what makes this event such a special one for the ecological community.
For our ‘Editor Expertise’ series, we will be meeting with each of our Senior Editors, who will share the reason they went into animal ecology, their current and future research focus, and experience of working as an editor for the Journal of Animal Ecology. Our aim is to spread awareness of their research area and give you a chance to get to know the editors behind the journal. Our first guest is Dr Nathan J Sanders, Executive Editor.(0:38) – Introduction(1:03) – Nate’s journey into animal ecology(10:15) – Nate’s current and future research focus(20:00) – Nate’s experience as Executive Editor for the Journal of Animal Ecology
Amelia Macho speaks with André Luza, whose review article "Going across taxa in functional ecology: Review and perspectives of an emerging field" has been shortlisted for Functional Ecology's 2023 Haldane Prize for Early Career Researchers.André’s review mapped the limitations of current research in functional ecology involving multiple taxa, presented ecological questions to a functional cross-taxa research and showed directions to pushing the limits of this research field. It aimed to encourage researchers in the field of functional ecology to move beyond single taxa and traits, and to integrate more branches and dimensions of the Tree of Life in their research.
Lydia Groves, publishing assistant for Journal of Applied Ecology, sits down with Dominic McAfee to discuss the research article 'Soundscape enrichment enhances recruitment and habitat building on new oyster reef restorations'. Dominic is the author of one of the shortlisted research articles for the Southwood Prize 2023, celebrating early career ecologists.You can read Dominic's research article here: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14307You can find out more about the Southwood Prize here: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/publications/best-paper-by-an-early-career-researcher/southwood-prize/
In this podcast, Amelia Macho sits down with Ximena Cibils to discuss her research "Silicon and Epichloë-endophyte defences in a model temperate grass reduce feeding efficiency and immunity of an insect folivore”. Ximena's research has been shortlisted for Functional Ecology's 2023 Haldane Prize for early career researchers.Ximena presented the first report of silicon defences and Epichloë-endophyte derived alkaloids compromising insect immunity via reduced melanisation response. Deploying both physical and chemical defences against multiple insect herbivore traits, including feeding efficiency, growth and immunity, may be a successful defence strategy in temperate grasses.
For Black History Month 2023, the British Ecological Society is celebrating the work of Black ecologists around the world. In this episode, Jeanelle Brisbane joins Amelia Macho. Jeanelle is an Assistant Forest Officer at Dominica’s Forestry, Wildlife & Parks Division, and the founder of WildDominique, a conservation organization. Here, she speaks about her early experiences of nature growing up in Dominica, her international studies, and the impact of Hurricane Maria on both Dominica's ecology and her career. You can read Jeanelle's 2022 blog post here:https://functionalecologists.com/2022/10/28/jeanelle-brisbane-building-on-island-capacity-as-the-foundation-for-conservation-success/Check out all of the British Ecological Society's BHM 2023 blog posts and podcasts here: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/membership-community/black-history-month-2023/
In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Frank Harris sits down with Samuel Ross and Darren O’Connell to discuss their recently published review article in Functional Ecology—Passive acoustic monitoring provides a fresh perspective on fundamental ecological questions.Sam and Darren hope their review paper motivates the use of passive acoustic monitoring approaches to think about blue-skies research and the grand challenges affecting our planet, because much of what we can learn by recording and experiencing natural soundscapes is fundamental to our knowledge of life on earth.- Paper: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.14275- PLS: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2023/01/23/passive-acoustic-monitoring-provides-a-fresh-perspective-on-fundamental-ecological-questions/- Sam's website: https://samuelrpjross.com/- Darren's website: https://people.ucd.ie/darren.oconnell
For Black History Month 2023, the British Ecological Society is celebrating the work of Black ecologists around the world. In this episode, Jhan Salazar joins Frank Harris to discuss his early fascination with nature and the importance of representation in academia. Jhan is fifth-year graduate working on understanding patterns of evolution and adaptation of species to mountain environments in the Neotropics. Jhan is doing this research in Dr. Jonathan Losos' Lab in the Department of Biology and Biomedical Sciences at Washington University, St. Louis, USA.Check out all of the British Ecological Society's BHM 2023 blog posts and podcasts here: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/membership-community/black-history-month-2023/
For Black History Month 2023, the British Ecological Society is celebrating the work of Black ecologists around the world. In this episode, Gideon Deme joins Frank Harris to discuss his journey towards becoming an ecologist, highlight barriers to accessing ecology for black ecologists, and inspiring figures that helped him along the way. Gideon is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Biology at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, USA. Gideon is also an Associate Editor for Ecological Solutions & EvidenceCheck out all of the British Ecological Society's BHM 2023 blog posts and podcasts here: www.britishecologicalsociety.org/membersh…th-2023/
For Black History Month 2023, the British Ecological Society is celebrating the work of Black ecologists around the world.In this episode, Reuben Fakoya-Brooks joins Amelia Macho. Having studied Zoology, Reuben worked as researcher for the NHS before starting a PhD in Human Behavioural Ecology at University College London. He has worked closely with the BES, founding the Racial & Ethnic Equality & Diversity (REED) ecological network here, which he also chaired. Reuben talks about his journey navigating work and academia, as well as his passion for photography, and discusses the importance of representation and support for under-represented communities.Check out all of the British Ecological Society's BHM 2023 blog posts and podcasts here: www.britishecologicalsociety.org/membersh…th-2023/
For Black History Month 2023, the British Ecological Society is celebrating the work of Black ecologists around the world. In this episode, Dr Perpetra Akite speaks to Amelia Macho about her experiences in academia, as a researcher and lecturer at the University of Makerere, Kampala, Uganda. Perpetra discusses the importance of representation and role models for Black ecologists, as well as the need for more effective collaboration.You can read Perpetra's blog post, referenced in the podcast, here: https://relationalthinkingblog.com/2020/10/13/perpetra-akite-my-ugandan-ecological-journey-against-all-odds/Check out all of the British Ecological Society's BHM 2023 blog posts and podcasts here: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/membership-community/black-history-month-2023/
An analysis of 75 years of Peregrine Falcon monitoring data shows that performance increased substantially following the reduction in the use of organochlorine pesticides. Gradual recovery of the population occurred over four decades. Our results suggest that the temporal pattern of organochlorine pesticide use strongly influenced Peregrine reproductive parameters but that the pattern of influence differed regionally.Image Copyright M. McGrady
For Black History Month 2023, the British Ecological Society is celebrating the work of Black ecologists around the world. In this first episode, Yoseph Araya joins Lydia Groves to discuss how we can encourage more people to experience nature, highlight role models and suggest what we can do to improve Black ecologists' experiences in academia.Yoseph is a Senior Lecturer at the Open University and Lydia is the Publishing Assistant for Journal of Applied Ecology.Check out all of the British Ecological Society's BHM 2023 blog posts and podcasts here: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/membership-community/black-history-month-2023/
Douglas Cirino, shortlisted for the Southwood Prize 2022, talks to Lydia Groves about his research article ‘Balanced spatial distribution of green areas creates healthier urban landscapes’ as well as what he's been up to since the prize nomination.Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14195
In this podcast, Amelia Macho chats with Ricardo Correia - Assistant Professor at the Biodiversity Unit of the University of Turku - about his paper 'The searchscape of fear: A global analysis of internet search trends for biophobias'.This research was published in People and Nature in July 2023. It investigated Google search trends for biophobias between 2004 and 2022. Its findings, that 17 out of the 25 biophobias investigated increased in search prevalence worldwide, particularly in urban populations, suggest an increasing disconnectedness from nature, which has implications for perceptions towards biodiversity conservation.Read the article here: https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10497Read the Plain Language Summary here: https://relationalthinkingblog.com/2023/06/14/plain-language-summary-internet-searches-reveal-the-prevalence-of-multiple-biophobias-across-the-world/Hissing Cockroach sound clip from Pixabay
Hillary Smith joins Lydia Groves, publishing assistant for Journal of Applied Ecology, to discuss the research article ‘Sea-weeding: Manual removal of macroalgae facilitates rapid coral recovery’.Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14502
In this podcast, Frank Harris sits down with Michael Belitz—a Post-Doc at Michigan State University, USA—to discuss his recently published paper: Phenological research based on natural history collections: Practical guidelines and a lepidopteran case study.
This paper featured in a Special Feature on Natural History Collections was published jointly in Functional Ecology, Journal of Animal Ecology, Journal of Ecology and Methods in Ecology and Evolution.
Belitz et al. provide a set of best practice recommendations to utilize NHC data for phenology and showcase these practical guidelines through a case study that utilizes natural history collection data to test hypotheses about trends in when North American adult butterflies and moths are in flight.
- Special Feature: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/leveraging_natural_history?=
- Article: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.14173 *PLS: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2022/09/06/guidelines-for-using-natural-history-collections-to-better-understand-how-seasonal-biological-events-are-responding-to-global-change/
In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with Fernanda Santos, Joe Bailey, and Jen Schweitzer who guest edited the recently published Functional Ecology special feature titled "Fire as a dynamic ecological and evolutionary force."This collection of studies provide recommendations on how to: engage in developing ecological and evolutionary databases for fire ecology; integrate hierarchical genetic structure or phylogenetic structure; develop new experimental frameworks that limit context dependent outcomes,; increase sample size and availability of curated datasets; increase functional trait knowledge; and increase representation of ecological communities in the literature and context-dependency.
In this podcast, Frank Harris sits down with Nicki Mitchell—Associate Professor at the University of Western Australia, and Deputy Director at the UWA Oceans Institute—to discuss her recently published paper: Activity of a freshwater turtle varies across a latitudinal gradient: Implications for the success of assisted colonisation
Nicki et al's results conclude that poor growth of turtles in the southern wetland was likely a result of lower body temperatures, stemming from a reduced ability to thermoregulate in water. Consequently, for assisted colonisation of juvenile P. umbrina to be successful, recipient wetlands must offer aquatic microclimates that are sufficiently warm to promote foraging activity that leads to growth, and ultimately to maturation.
- Article: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.14338
- PLS: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2023/05/15/seeking-a-just-right-site-for-the-western-swamp-turtle/
In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with Philip Zylstra—Adjunct Associate Professor at the School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Australia—to discuss his recently published paper: Mechanisms by which growth and succession limit the impact of fire in a south-western Australian forested ecosystem
Philip’s paper shows that, left alone, Red Tingle forests burn with much smaller flames, store far more carbon, and provide safe habitat for the many species now threatened by frequent fire. Once we know such natural controls on fire, it is possible to work with and reinforce them.
- Article: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.14305
- Plain language summary: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2023/03/21/forests-that-keep-fires-small-and-how-they-do-it/
In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with Matthias Schleuning—one of the three guest editors (also Joseph Tobias & Dani Garcia)—to discuss the recently published Special Focus titled, "Animal Functional Traits." This collection of studies shows how precise measurements of morphological or physiological traits can increase mechanistic understanding of community assembly across trophic levels, particularly of the mechanisms underpinning large-scale biodiversity patterns. Special Focus: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2435.animalfunctionaltraitsBlogpost: https://functionalecologists.com/2023/01/05/animal-functional-traits-a-functional-ecology-special-focus/
Mark Huxham joins Lydia Groves, publishing assistant for Journal of Applied Ecology, to discuss the research article 'Where to fish in the forest? Tree characteristics and contiguous seagrass features predict mangrove forest quality for fishes and crustaceans'.Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14421
In this episode, Assistant Editor for Functional Ecology, Frank Harris, sits down with Robin Heinen who has been nominated for the 2022 Haldane Prize. This prize is awarded to the best research from an early career researcher.Robin has been nominated for her paper: Foliar herbivory on plants creates soil legacy effects that impact future insect herbivore growth via changes in plant community biomass allocationPaper: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.14006PLS: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2022/01/26/insect-feeding-leaves-a-detectable-footprint-in-the-soil-that-causes-plants-that-grow-in-it-to-hide-belowground/Blogpost: https://functionalecologists.com/2022/03/01/robin-heinen-feeding-from-up-to-bottom-belowground-herbivory-impacts-on-plant-soil-feedbacks/
Sarah is the author of one of the shortlisted research articles for the Southwood Prize 2022, celebrating early career ecologists.Lydia Groves, publishing assistant for Journal of Applied Ecology, sits down with Sarah Schwieger to discuss the research article 'Rewetting prolongs root growing season in minerotrophic peatlands and mitigates negative drought effects'.Find the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14222
Paula is the author of one of the shortlisted research articles for the Southwood Prize 2022, celebrating early career ecologists.Lydia Groves, publishing assistant for Journal of Applied Ecology, sits down with Paula Prist to discuss the research article 'Roads and forest edges facilitate yellow fever virus dispersion'. Find the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14031
In this episode, Assistant Editor for Functional Ecology, Frank Harris, sits down with Hannah Meier who has been nominated for the 2022 Haldane Prize. This prize is awarded to the best research from an early career researcher. Hannah has been nominated for her paper: Temperature-mediated transgenerational plasticity influences movement behaviour in the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtiiPaper: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.14214Plain language Summary: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2022/11/07/the-effects-of-temperature-can-influence-the-movement-of-green-algae-individuals-across-multiple-generations/English Blogpost: https://functionalecologists.com/2023/01/24/hannah-meier-transgenerational-behavioral-plasticity-in-chlamydomonas-reinhardtii/German Blogpost: https://functionalecologists.com/2023/01/24/hannah-meier-transgenerational-behavioral-plasticity-in-chlamydomonas-reinhardtii-german-translation/
Liz is the author of one of the shortlisted research articles for the Southwood Prize 2022, celebrating early career ecologists.Lydia Groves, publishing assistant for Journal of Applied Ecology, sits down with Liz Koziol to discuss the research article 'Manipulating plant microbiomes in the field: Native mycorrhizae advance plant succession and improve native plant restoration'. Find the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14036
In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with Lauren Nadler and Sandra Binning—two of the four guest editors (also Shelley Adamo & Dana Hawley)—to discuss the recently published cross-journal (with Journal of Animal Ecology) Special Feature titled, The Mechanisms and Consequences of Infection-Induced Phenotypes. This special feature highlights recent insights into the ways parasites alter host phenotypes across a range of systems. Here, we contextualize how each contribution expands our knowledge of the role of parasites in driving individual variation in animal phenotypes.Special Feature: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2435.infection-induced-phenotypesEditorial: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.14309Transcript: https://functionalecologists.com/2023/04/12/the-mechanisms-and-consequences-of-infection-induced-phenotypes-podcast-transcript/
In conversation with Paulina Arancibia, one of our shortlisted candidates for the 2023 Elton Prize with Journal of Animal Ecology.
Audio Abstract for recently published research paper: Disgust in animals and the application of disease avoidance to wildlife management and conservation. Article: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13903
Audio Abstract - French Translation for recently published research paper Disgust in animals and the application of disease avoidance to wildlife management and conservation. Article: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13903
In this podcast episode for Journal of Applied Ecology, Publishing Assistant Lydia Groves, is joined by Tercia Strydom, Izak Smit and Brian van Wilgen to discuss their newly published research article entitled 'High-intensity fires may have limited medium-term effectiveness for reversing woody plant encroachment in an African savanna'. Article: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14362
In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with Anna Stöckl—a Group Leader at Konstanz University, Germany—to discuss her recently published paper: Flower patterns improve foraging efficiency in bumblebees by guiding approach flight and landingAnna’s paper shows that flower patterns reduced flower handling time by up to 30%, without a reduction in nectar discovery time. Instead, the patterns were involved in guiding approach flight, landing and departure decisions. Anna et al. revealed these effects on flower-experienced foragers. Since these represent the majority of active pollinators, the nectary-independent impact of flower patterns must be considered fundamental to plant–pollinator interactions under natural conditions. Article: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.14262 Plain language summary: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2023/01/10/flower-patterns-improve-foraging-efficiency-in-bumblebees-by-guiding-approach-flight-and-landing/* Transcript: https://functionalecologists.com/2023/03/30/flower-patterns-improve-foraging-efficiency-in-bumblebees-by-guiding-approach-flight-and-landing-podcast-transcript/
In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with William K. Oestreich—a postdoctoral fellow at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, USA—to discuss his recently published paper ‘Acoustic signature reveals blue whales tune life history transitions to oceanographic conditions’.Will’s paper suggests that blue whales use flexible cues, perhaps including individual sensing of food availability and social information from other individuals (blue whale songs are audible over hundreds of kilometres) to match timing of feeding and migration with ecosystem processes. This flexibility could be key to survival of this endangered population in an era of rapid global changeArticle: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.14013Plain language summary: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2022/02/02/blue-whales-flexibly-time-feeding-and-migration-to-match-ocean-conditions/Transcript: https://functionalecologists.com/2023/03/15/acoustic-signature-reveals-blue-whales-tune-life-history-transitions-to-oceanographic-conditions-podcast-transcript/
In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with Thomas Chouvenc—Assistant Editor at the University of Florida—to discuss his recently published paper ‘Eusociality and the transition from biparental to alloparental care in termites.'Thomas’ paper shows that, in eusocial insects, colony foundation is a critical bottleneck, where the founding individuals must engage in a temporary (but obligatory) parental care phase that may ultimately reflect on the family unit conditions of their sub-social ancestors.Article: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.14183Podcast Transcript: https://functionalecologists.com/2023/03/01/eusociality-and-the-transition-from-biparental-to-alloparental-care-in-termites-podcast-transcript/PLS: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2022/09/20/parental-care-behaviors-shifted-from-parents-to-offspring-in-social-insects/
For Black History Month, the British Ecological Society (BES) journals are celebrating the work of Black ecologists from around the world and sharing their stories. The theme for UK Black History Month this year is Time for Change: Action Not Words. In this very special podcast episode, British Ecological Society Journals podcast is collaborating with Anne Chisa, host of The Root Of The Science Podcast, to produce a panel discussion for Black History Month 2022! Do follow their Twitter account and support Anne however you can! In this podcast, we discuss the journeys of our guests, talk through the challenges that black ecologists (and scientists) face, and look at actions that can be taken to foster a more diverse and inclusive academic landscape.
A transcript of this podcast is available here: https://functionalecologists.com/2022/11/07/bes-collaborates-with-the-root-of-the-science-podcast-for-a-special-panel-discussion-with-daniel-pauly-nasiphi-bitani-and-mthokosizi-moyo-for-bhm-2022
Check out all of the British Ecological Society's BHM 2022 blogposts here: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/black-history-month-2022/
For Black History Month, the British Ecological Society (BES) journals are celebrating the work of Black ecologists from around the world and sharing their stories. The theme for UK Black History Month this year is Time for Change: Action Not Words. Sandra is a PhD candidate in the Xenopoulos Aquatic Ecology Lab, Canada. In this podcast, we sit down to discuss being an 'aFISHionado', growing up as a global citizen of the world, the need to explore and consider the great ecological research coming out of the African continent, and how to go about creating a fairer and more diverse ecosystem in ecology and academia.
A transcript of this recording is available here: https://functionalecologists.com/2022/10/24/sandra-klemet-nguessan-discusses-how-to-cultivate-a-more-equitable-and-diverse-landscape-in-ecology-and-academia-with-frank-harris-podcast-transcript
Check out Sandra's website to stay up-to-date with her journey and research: https://sandraklemetnguessan.wordpress.com/
Check out all of the British Ecological Society's BHM 2022 blogposts here: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/black-history-month-2022/
The latest Methods in Ecology and Evolution brought to you in 3 minutes… more or less!
In this episode we interview Roland Kays about his recent publication 'The Movebank system for studying global animal movement and demography'. Read the full article here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/2041-210X.13767
You can also check out Roland's podcast 'Wild Animals' for crazy stories about animals by the people who study them. For more exclusive content check out the MEE blog and social media.
Music: “You’re no help” by Silent Partner (CC BY-SA 3.0).
The latest Methods in Ecology and Evolution brought to you in 3 minutes… more or less!
In this episode we interview Dr Josh Cullen about their recent publication titled "Identifying latent behavioral states in animal movement with M4, a non-parametric Bayesian method". Read the full article here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/2041-210X.13745
For more exclusive content check out the MEE blog and social media.
Music: “You’re no help” by Silent Partner (CC BY-SA 3.0).
The latest Methods in Ecology and Evolution brought to you in 3 minutes… more or less!
In this episode we interview Cassandra Konecny and Graham Brownlee about their recent publication titled “Adapting a propane turkey fryer to manipulate temperature in aquatic environments”. Read the full article here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/2041-210X.13662
For more exclusive content check out the MEE blog and social media.
Music: “You’re no help” by Silent Partner (CC BY-SA 3.0).
The latest Methods in Ecology and Evolution brought to you in 3 minutes… more or less!
In this episode we interview Dr Ana Sequeira about their recent publication titled “A standardisation framework for bio-logging data to advance ecological research and conservation”. You can read the full article here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/2041-210X.13593
For more exclusive content check out the MEE blog and social media.
Music: “You’re no help” by Silent Partner (CC BY-SA 3.0).
In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with Phoebe Griffith—a researcher from the Institute of Zoology, London, and the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Oxford University—to discuss her recently published paper ‘Using functional traits to identify conservation priorities for the world's crocodylians.’ To understand better the functional diversity of crocodylians, Griffiths et al. collected a database of functional traits of all species of crocodylians. These traits are measurable qualities – such as skull shape or saltwater tolerance – that allow us to understand the different ecological role of species, and how similar and different species are from one another.
Read the paper here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.14140
For those that are hard of hearing, a transcript of the interview is available here: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2022/08/05/conserving-the-ecological-diversity-of-crocodylians/
Check out Phoebe's Edge of Existence blogpost for some great pictures and content: https://www.edgeofexistence.org/blog/crying-crocodile-tears-the-disappearing-diversity-of-crocodilians-and-their-ecological-roles/
To find out about and support ongoing croc conservation efforts, please do check out the following links:
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https://www.edgeofexistence.org/fellow/jailabdeen-a/
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https://www.edgeofexistence.org/fellow/emmanuel-amoah/
Crocodylians have surprisingly diverse ecological roles, from the huge, highly aquatic and mostly fish-eating gharial to the tiny African dwarf crocodiles which can catch prey on land below the rainforest canopy. Sadly, over half of all crocodylians are threatened with extinction. If these threatened species go extinct, we will lose the diversity of ecological roles that they represent. Functional diversity is an important aspect of biodiversity to understand and conserve.
Listen to MEEin3 to hear the latest methods in ecology and evolution in just three minutes...more or less!
In this episode, find out about Dr Chloe Robinson's method 'Propylene glycol-based antifreeze is an effective preservative for DNA metabarcoding of benthic arthropods' https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/712232
Associate Editor Sharif Mukul and Stuart W. Smith discuss this month's Editor’s Choice paper.
In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with Jack J. Devlin—an early career researcher from the University of Kentucky—to discuss his recently published paper ‘Simulated winter warming negatively impacts survival of Antarctica's only endemic insect.’
Read the paper here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.14089
Read a transcript of this interview here: https://functionalecologists.com/2022/07/12/simulated-winter-warming-negatively-impacts-survival-of-antarcticas-only-endemic-insect-podcast-transcript/
A plain language summary of this study is available here: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2022/05/20/simulated-winter-warming-negatively-impacts-survival-of-antarcticas-only-endemic-insect/
Antarctic winters are challenging for terrestrial invertebrates, and species that live there have specialised adaptations to conserve energy and protect against cold injury in the winter. However, rapidly occurring climate change in these regions will increase the unpredictability of winter conditions, and there is currently a dearth of knowledge on how the highly adapted invertebrates of Antarctica will respond to changes in winter temperatures.
With warmer winters expected to become more common with climate change, this study’s results indicate that winter warming could negatively impact cold-adapted insects like the Antarctic midge (Belgica antarctica).
At the time of writing, this research is “in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric”.
In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with two Guest Editors—Pablo García-Palacios and Ji Chen— to discuss our recently published Special Feature on soil carbon storage.
Read the Special Feature for free here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/13652435/2022/36/6
A transcript of this podcast is available to read here: https://functionalecologists.com/2022/06/30/emerging-relationships-among-microbes-soil-carbon-storage-and-climate-change-podcast-transcript/
The Guest Editors' Functional Ecology blogpost can be read here: https://functionalecologists.com/2022/06/07/pablo-garcia-palacios-ji-chen-emerging-relationships-among-soil-microbes-carbon-dynamics-and-climate-change/
The Special Feature identifies emerging findings from soil microbial ecology and climate change research that can reduce uncertainty if incorporated into theory and models. The contributions span from novel perspectives on the priming effect and soil microbial enzymes, to understudied key biomes for global soil C such as tropical forests, to plant inputs–microbial necromass–mineral interactions, to soil C and microbial responses to changing precipitation patterns and recent advances in trait-based and soil C modelling.
Together, this collection of papers draws attention to novel frameworks and ideas that can pave the road for future research on microbial contribution to soil C turnover and storage under climate change.
Blog Associate Editor, Julie Koch Sheard, sits down with the Guest Editors of Journal of Animal Ecology's Special Feature, Understanding climate change response in the age of genomics.
As global temperatures continue to rise, there is a major threat to species and ecosystems worldwide. In order to develop conservation and mitigation strategies, and understanding of how animal populations respond to changing environments is crucial.
Recent genomics-based studies have begun to shed light on the mechanisms by which animal populations respond to climate change and offer methods to predict how they will respond in the future. This Special Feature highlights emerging genomics approaches and their applications across a diverse range of animal species; exploring range shifts, phenotypic plasticity and local adaptation of animal populations. By connecting these topics and their ecological implications, this feature aids researchers in using genomics to understanding climate change response.
JOURNAL CLUB: Jane Catford interviews Prof. David Tilman about his mini-review: Extinction, climate change and the ecology of Homo sapiens. Listen to the podcast, and then join Dave online for a live Twitter discussion! (full details below)
• 00:00 Introductions and a summary of the paper. • 03:12 What’s led you from the start of your career, to asking these big questions around the impacts of agriculture, fossil fuels, and the intersection of human health and the environment? • 06:25 You say in your abstract that ‘ecology needs to become a more mechanistic and predictive science’ - how can we achieve that, and what do you think has been holding us back? • 08:42 If we had more mechanistic predictive models, do you think we could have better anticipated those unintended consequences that came out from mandating that we use maize for fuel? • 12:13 You make a strong argument that we need to be doing more multi-disciplinary thinking and working - in practice, how do we do that? • 19:10 Which strategies should be used to best communicate our science to policy makers and decision makers? • 21:24 The messages from your paper are very sobering, how do you deal with this and stay optimistic as you look to the future? • 24:40 Live Twitter discussion details
Read the full paper here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1365-2745.13847
If you’d like to chat to Dave about his research, join us for a JOURNAL CLUB discussion, LIVE on Twitter, and tag us in your questions and comments: 🗓️DATE: Tuesday 24th May 2022, 3pm (UK time) 📌TWITTER TAGS: #JEcolJournalClub @GDavidTilman Or, leave your questions in the comments below, by the above date.
Lara Ferry talks to Lillian Tuttle, an early career researcher shortlisted for the 2021 Haldane Prize, about how a small-yet-mighty fish, the cleaner goby, may be relatively immune to lionfish predation for an unexpected reason.
Read the research here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13806
Emma Sayer talks to Kelsey Shaw, an early career researcher shortlisted for the 2021 Haldane Prize, about how parasites thrive or suffer when embedded in different ecological communities.
Read the review here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13892
Enrico Rezende talks to Ummat Somjee, an early career researcher shortlisted for the 2021 Haldane Prize, about New Zealand giraffe weevils and the wonder of exhibiting an extreme 30-fold range in male body mass.
Read the research here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13888
This is an audioblog provided by Christyn Bailey, telling the #StoryBehindThePaper: ‘It’s a hard knock life for some: heterogeneity in infection life-history of salmonids influences parasite disease outcomes‘, which was recently published in the Journal of Animal Ecology.
JAE Blog editor Julie Sheard interviews Mark Ditmer from Colorado State University. They discuss citizen science and Mark’s paper published in Journal of Animal Ecology for the special issue on citizen science by the British Ecological Society Journals.
JAE Blog editor Julie Sheard interviews Heather Williams, from the State University of New York at Buffalo. They discuss citizen science and Heather’s paper published in Journal of Animal Ecology for the special issue on citizen science by the British Ecological Society Journals.
JAE Blog editor Julie Sheard interviews Chris Latimer, a research associate ecologist at the Nature Conservancy. They discuss citizen science and Chris’ paper published in Journal of Animal Ecology for the special issue on citizen science by the British Ecological Society Journals.
JAE Blog editor Julie Sheard interviews Frank La Sorte, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at Cornell University. They discuss citizen science and Frank’s paper published in Journal of Animal Ecology for the special issue on citizen science by the British Ecological Society Journals.
This podcast is part of the British Ecological Society cross journal Special Feature on citizen science
Terries Williams talks to Emma Sayer about Hunters vs Hunted, Narwhales vs iPhones, the difficulties of bribing grizzly bears and her new paper on new perspectives on the energetic costs of survival at the top of the food chain - the first ever Calow-Grace review. Read the paper here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13649
Journal of Ecology is delighted to honour Bernhard Schmid in our continuing Eminent Ecologist series.
Here our Executive Editor, David Gibson, interviews Bernhard about his ecological career and his groundbreaking research across several areas of plant ecology. This includes the population ecology of clonal plants, mechanisms of competition, community assembly, and more recently on biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships.
In honour of this award, Bernhard has curated a collection of published papers - which are freely available to read in this Eminent Ecologist Virtual Issue: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2745.Bernhard-Schmid-2020
Senior Editor, Romina Rader, chats to Ségolène Humann‐Guilleminot, winner of the Southwood Prize for the best paper by an early career researcher published in the 56th (2019) volume of Journal of Applied Ecology.
This year's prize was awarded in spring 2020.
Aaron Ellison, Romina Rader, Andrew Beckerman and Sara Cousins give their advice to new Associate Editors on how to confidently handling manuscripts. They discuss how to assess a manuscript on initial submission, how to assess reviewer comments, handling revisions, and writing good recommendation letters to authors. This podcast was recorded at the BES 2019 Annual Meeting in Belfast.
For more advice check out the BES journals Associate Editor training centre: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/publications/associate-editor-support-centre/associate-editor-training/
In this podcast Ken Thompson (of Functional Ecology) interviews Marc Cadotte as they discuss the British Ecological Society’s bold and innovative project, Applied Ecology Resources, and its open access journal Ecological Solutions and Evidence.
This podcast was recorded at the BES Annual Meeting 2019 in Belfast.
"It seems that both groups are picking the flowers when they're feeding - they're walking about and you can see them pick flower after flower after flower after flower."
In this podcast, Jurene Kemp talks about her paper, Cryptic petal coloration decreases floral apparency and herbivory in nocturnally closing daisies - recently shortlisted for Functional Ecology's Haldane Prize. (Find this and the other shortlisted papers at j.mp/2019HaldaneShortlist).
"Breaking down leaves is basically hard work, so if the fungi have the option of an easier life, they take it?"
Why - and how - do algae slow the rate of leaf decomposition in aquatic ecosystems? In this podcast, Ken Thompson interviews Hal Halvorson about his paper "Periphytic algae decouple fungal activity from leaf litter decomposition via negative priming", recently shortlisted for Functional Ecology's Haldane prize. (Find this and the other shortlisted papers at http://j.mp/2019HaldaneShortlist).
GPS tracking helps uncover bull elephant reproductive tactics during Musth Paper–Movement reveals reproductive tactics in male elephants https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2656.13035
With some exceptions, universities rarely teach STEM undergrads how to communicate science to a general audience. This is our initial step towards undergrad science education and teaching them how to communicate science to a wider audience. Find out more on the JAE blog: https://animalecologyinfocus.com/2019/12/19/audio-abstracts-podcasts-on-the-journal-papers-scripted-and-recorded-by-undergrads/
The buzz about urban bee adaptations Paper–Urban bumblebees are smaller and more phenotypically diverse than their rural counterparts https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.13051
With some exceptions, universities rarely teach STEM undergrads how to communicate science to a general audience. This is our initial step towards undergrad science education and teaching them how to communicate science to a wider audience. Find out more on the JAE blog: https://animalecologyinfocus.com/2019/12/19/audio-abstracts-podcasts-on-the-journal-papers-scripted-and-recorded-by-undergrads/
Inbreeding badgers prone to age and sex-dependent diseases Paper– Inbreeding intensifies sex-and age-dependent disease in a wild mammal https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.12878
With some exceptions, universities rarely teach STEM undergrads how to communicate science to a general audience. This is our initial step towards undergrad science education and teaching them how to communicate science to a wider audience. Find out more on the JAE blog: https://animalecologyinfocus.com/2019/12/19/audio-abstracts-podcasts-on-the-journal-papers-scripted-and-recorded-by-undergrads/
Diversity of skin microbiome on salamanders depends on the environment they live in Paper– Effects of host species and environment on the skin microbiome of Plethodontid salamanders https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.12726
With some exceptions, universities rarely teach STEM undergrads how to communicate science to a general audience. This is our initial step towards undergrad science education and teaching them how to communicate science to a wider audience. Find out more on the JAE blog: https://animalecologyinfocus.com/2019/12/19/audio-abstracts-podcasts-on-the-journal-papers-scripted-and-recorded-by-undergrads/
Restoration of Florida’s cat from an imminent danger Paper– A cat’s tale: the impact of genetic restoration on Florida panther population dynamics and persistence https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2656.12033
With some exceptions, universities rarely teach STEM undergrads how to communicate science to a general audience. This is our initial step towards undergrad science education and teaching them how to communicate science to a wider audience. Find out more on the JAE blog: https://animalecologyinfocus.com/2019/12/19/audio-abstracts-podcasts-on-the-journal-papers-scripted-and-recorded-by-undergrads/
Metabolic rate in ants is adapted to the elevation they live at Paper–Evidence for locally adaptive metabolic rates among ant populations along an elevational gradient https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.13007
With some exceptions, universities rarely teach STEM undergrads how to communicate science to a general audience. This is our initial step towards undergrad science education and teaching them how to communicate science to a wider audience. Find out more on the JAE blog: https://animalecologyinfocus.com/2019/12/19/audio-abstracts-podcasts-on-the-journal-papers-scripted-and-recorded-by-undergrads/
Size of the fish we catch affects the species’ sexual behavior Paper–Size‐selective harvesting fosters adaptations in mating behavior and reproductive allocation, affecting sexual selection in fish https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2656.13032
With some exceptions, universities rarely teach STEM undergrads how to communicate science to a general audience. This is our initial step towards undergrad science education and teaching them how to communicate science to a wider audience. Find out more on the JAE blog: https://animalecologyinfocus.com/2019/12/19/audio-abstracts-podcasts-on-the-journal-papers-scripted-and-recorded-by-undergrads/
Can bacteria help manage environmental stress in aphids? Paper-The influence of symbiotic bacteria on reproductive strategies and wing polyphenism in pea aphids responding to stress https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.12942
With some exceptions, universities rarely teach STEM undergrads how to communicate science to a general audience. This is our initial step towards undergrad science education and teaching them how to communicate science to a wider audience. Find out more on the JAE blog: https://animalecologyinfocus.com/2019/12/19/audio-abstracts-podcasts-on-the-journal-papers-scripted-and-recorded-by-undergrads/
Diet-dependent gut microbe diversity in pikas Paper–Gut microbial communities of American pikas (Ochotona princeps): Evidence for phylosymbiosis and adaptations to novel diets https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.12692
With some exceptions, universities rarely teach STEM undergrads how to communicate science to a general audience. This is our initial step towards undergrad science education and teaching them how to communicate science to a wider audience. Find out more on the JAE blog: https://animalecologyinfocus.com/2019/12/19/audio-abstracts-podcasts-on-the-journal-papers-scripted-and-recorded-by-undergrads/
The effect of fishing and climate change on marine fish Paper–Fishing constrains phenotypic responses of marine fish to climate variability https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2656.12999
With some exceptions, universities rarely teach STEM undergrads how to communicate science to a general audience. This is our initial step towards undergrad science education and teaching them how to communicate science to a wider audience. Find out more on the JAE blog: https://animalecologyinfocus.com/2019/12/19/audio-abstracts-podcasts-on-the-journal-papers-scripted-and-recorded-by-undergrads/
The effect of plant diversity on the genetic structure of aphids Paper–Effect of plant chemical variation and mutualistic ants on the local population genetic structure of an aphid herbivore https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.12995
With some exceptions, universities rarely teach STEM undergrads how to communicate science to a general audience. This is our initial step towards undergrad science education and teaching them how to communicate science to a wider audience. Find out more on the JAE blog: https://animalecologyinfocus.com/2019/12/19/audio-abstracts-podcasts-on-the-journal-papers-scripted-and-recorded-by-undergrads/
Early-life environments in bank voles affect their next generation! Paper–Intergenerational fitness effects of the early life environment in a wild rodent https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2656.13039
With some exceptions, universities rarely teach STEM undergrads how to communicate science to a general audience. This is our initial step towards undergrad science education and teaching them how to communicate science to a wider audience. Find out more on the JAE blog: https://animalecologyinfocus.com/2019/12/19/audio-abstracts-podcasts-on-the-journal-papers-scripted-and-recorded-by-undergrads/
Journal of Ecology's Executive Editor, David Gibson, interviews Helen Alexander - the 2019 winner of our annual Eminent Ecologist award.
Large, wild herbivores are declining worldwide, losses that have a number of knock-on effects, including changing the resilience of ecosystems to change, plant regeneration, and how much plant growth an area is capable of.
Even though ecologists have long studied these effects using experimental fencing, there is little consensus about how these herbivores impact important ecosystem functions and impacts of large herbivore removal are highly variable, as Elizabeth Forbes discusses in this podcast and in her recent paper: Synthesizing the effects of large, wild herbivore exclusion on ecosystem function https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13376
Chuck Fox and Jane Hill chat about Functional Ecology's new experiment looking at single vs double-blind review. You can find out more about this experiment here: http://j.mp/BES_DoubleBlind
David Gibson (Executive Editor) interviews Iain Stott(Associate Editor) at this year's Ecological Society of America annual meeting #ESA2019
~ Journal of Ecology
David Gibson (Executive Editor) interviews Nicole Rafferty (Associate Editor) at this year's Ecological Society of America annual meeting #ESA2019
~ Journal of Ecology
On this episode, JAE Multimedia Editor Ravi interviews Liam Bailey of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) in Berlin. They discuss climate change, R software, fieldwork stories and much more.
In this episode, Ken Thompson talks to Rannveig Jacobsen, recently shortlisted for the Haldane Prize for Early Career researchers for her paper, "Exclusion of invertebrates influences saprotrophic fungal community and wood decay rate in an experimental field study". You can find this paper, along with the other shortlisted papers, here: http://bit.ly/Haldane2018
Ken Thompson, Editor of BES sister journal Functional Ecology catches up with Kevin at the annual meeting to ask him: Why now? Why this journal? And what is reason for the well-evidenced positive relationship between human happiness and nature/biodiversity?
Ken Thompson talks to Emma Sayer, Reviews editor for Functional Ecology, about what makes a good review paper, where they come from and how she identifies them (see her recent paper: The anatomy of an excellent review paper https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13207 (free access)
The reproducibility and transparency of research in science and social science is increasingly questioned, both within the academic community and across society in general. In "The prevention and detection of human error in ecological stable isotope analysis", David J. Hawke, Julie C. S. Brown and Sarah J. Bury pick up an issue that applies to complex, hi-tech measurements made in specialist science laboratories that are often remote from the researcher: the potential for inadvertent errors to occur in reported results. We argue that the researcher and the specialist laboratory both need to take a no-blame, quality management-based approach to preventing and detecting error. Although we have focused on one particular technique widely used in ecology (stable isotope analysis), the principles apply to any complex laboratory measurement.
Read the full Methods in Ecology and Evolution article here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/2041-210X.13077
People and Nature managing Editor speaking about the strengths and difficulties of peer review for an interdisciplinary journal.
Ken Thompson, Senior Editor of Functional Ecology talks to Sylvain Coq of CEFE about two recent papers on leaf litter decomposition and the role of macroinvertebrates
David Gibson, Executive Editor of Journal of Ecology, interviews Carla Staver at ESA2018, New Orleans.
David Gibson, Executive Editor of Journal of Ecology, interviews Cristina Garcia at ESA2018, New Orleans.
Journal of Ecology Executive Editor David Gibson interviews Managing Editor Emilie Aimé at ESA2018, New Orleans.
On this episode, JAE Multimedia Editor Ravi interviews Elton Prize, Natalie Clay. They talk about ants, art, girls in STEM, nutritional ecology, and her award-winning paper.
In this podcast, Gesche Blume-Werry and Ken talk about snowmelt, root-growth and phenology - and the importance of looking underground. Gesche's paper "Root phenology unresponsive to earlier snowmelt despite advanced above‐ground phenology in two subarctic plant communities" was a Highly Commended paper by an early career author - read this paper, along with other prizewinning and highly commended papers here: http://bit.ly/BESECR2017 For more on Gesche's research, read her posts from the field on the functionalecologists.com blog: https://functionalecologists.com/tag/gescheblume-werry/
Lara Ferry talks to Daniel Fitzgerald about his Haldane prize-winning paper, "Using trophic structure to reveal patterns of trait‐based community assembly across niche dimensions".
On this episode, JAE Multimedia Editor Ravi interviews Ben Weinstein the winner of the inaugural Sidnie Manton Award and Andrew Robertson co-author of the highly commended paper.
At the BES Annual Meeting, Ken Thompson caught up with Jitka Klimešová and discussed her work on a recent Functional Ecology paper, Herben et al's Effects of disturbance frequency and severity on plant traits: An assessment across a temperate flora http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13011/full
On this episode, JAE Multimedia Editor Ravi interviewed Chandra Salgado Kent about her work on marine animals and the noise underwater as well as marine bio-acoustics, conservation, behaviour, whales, dolphins and more.
On this episode, JAE Multimedia Editor Ravi interviewed Drew Kramer about the Special Feature that he organized on on Allee effects.
On this episode, JAE Multimedia Editor Ravi interviewed Marie Auger-Méthé about polar bears, narwhal farts, movement ecology, the publish or perish attitude, and Ph.D. life
On this episode, JAE Multimedia Editor Ravi interviewed Julie Morand-Ferron about bird and insect cognition, science communication and the need to design skinner bird boxes.
or this episode, JAE Multimedia Editor Ravi interviewed Ben Dantzer about his integrative approach to research, fieldwork stories, Squirrels, Meerkats, and Bear encounters.
Journal of Ecology Executive Editor David Gibson interviews Associate Editor Frida Piper at ESA 2017, Portland, Oregon, USA
Journal of Ecology Executive Editor David Gibson interviews Catherine Brophy at ESA 2017, Portland, Oregon, USA.
or the third episode, JAE Multimedia Editor Ravi interviewed Tim Coulson. Tim discusses his fieldwork adventures of taking the wrong boat to the wrong island, and about integrating modelling and empirical field studies.
This is the fourth of four podcasts from the 2017 Symposium on Insect-Plant Interactions. In this podcast, Functional Ecology Associate Editor Alison Bennett from the James Hutton Institute talks to Lucille Chretien, Arjen Biere, Michael Thomas-Poulsen and Einat Zchori-fein about their research, current challenges and the future of plant-microbe-insect interactions.
This is the third of four podcasts from the 2017 Symposium on Insect-Plant Interactions. In this podcast, Functional Ecology Associate Editors Sergio Rasmann and Alison Bennett, along with NIOO researcher, Ana Pineda talk about their research, current challenges and the future of plant-microbe-insect interactions.
This is the second of four podcasts from the 2017 Symposium on Insect-Plant Interactions. In this podcast, Functional Ecology Associate Editor Alison Bennett from the James Hutton Institute talks to Kay Moisan, David Giron, Enric Frago and Nicole Van Dam about their research, current challenges and the future of plant-microbe-insect interactions.
This is the first of four podcasts from the 2017 Symposium on Insect-Plant Interactions. In this podcast, Functional Ecology Associate Editor Alison Bennett from the James Hutton Institute talks to Noah Whiteman, Jean Christophe Simon and Ainhoa Martinez Medina about their research, current challenges and the future of plant-microbe-insect interactions.
Harper Prize 2016 winner Martina Treurnicht interviewed by Rob Salguero-Gómez by British Ecological Society Journals
For the second episode, JAE Multimedia Editor Ravi interviewed Executive Editor Ken Wilson about his work on armyworms, their devastating effects on the crops in Africa, and his fieldwork research about biological control of the pests.
For the first episode, JAE Multimedia Editor Ravi interviewed Nathan Sanders, a former 'professional wrestler’ and an ecologist at the University of Vermont. They talk about his first fieldwork experience, ants, plants, a skunk, why study biodiversity, WARM and SALT projects that he is involved in, advice for students, and many personal stories.
Credits: Photographs taken from NateSanders.org, or provided by Nate, Music: Nihilore_Artifice (Freemusicarchive), Sound effects: Zedge.net, Additional footage: Videvo.org
Plant genotypic variation and intraspecific diversity trump soil nutrient availability to shape old‐field structure and function
Authors Lara Souza, Katharine L. Stuble, Mark A. Genung, Aimee T. Classen Read the paper in full here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12792/abstract
In this podcast Simon Kärvemo discusses his paper ‘Forest restoration as a double-edged sword: the conflict between biodiversity conservation and pest control’ published in the Journal of Applied Ecology - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.12905/full.
Sound effects: Recorded by JaBa - http://soundbible.com/1902-Fire-Burning.html Recorded by Daniel Simion - http://soundbible.com/2039-Tree-Fall-Small.html
Georgina Brennan interviews Simon Creer about his Open Access Review paper 'The ecologist's field guide to sequence-based identification of biodiversity'. They discuss the idea that led to the paper, who could benefit from reading it and much more.
You can read the full article on the Wiley Online Library here: http://bit.ly/2n9u2VB (No Subscription Required).
An interview with the Senior Editors of the British Ecological Society journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution - Rob Freckleton, Bob O'Hara and Jana Vamosi. They talk about what sets it apart from other journals, their favourite articles, and the kinds of papers that they would like to see more of. If you're thinking about submitting to Methods in Ecology and Evolution, they have some advice as well.
Articles Mentioned by the Editors: - Applications articles (http://www.methodsinecologyandevolution.org/view/0/applicationpapers.html) - Tea Bag Index: a novel approach to collect uniform decomposition data across ecosystems (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/2041-210X.12097/full) - A protocol for data exploration to avoid common statistical problems (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2041-210X.2009.00001.x/full) - How safe is mist netting? evaluating the risk of injury and mortality to birds (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2041-210X.2011.00123.x/full) - Personal messages reduce vandalism and theft of unattended scientific equipment (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/2041-210X.12132/full) - A simple approach for maximizing the overlap of phylogenetic and comparative data (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/2041-210X.12517/full)
Duncan irschick Talks to Tiphaine Jeanniard-du-Dot about accelerometers, energy expenditure and Antarctic fur seals
Jeanniard-du-Dot, T., Guinet, C., Arnould, J. P.Y., Speakman, J. R. and Trites, A. W. (2016), Accelerometers can measure total and activity-specific energy expenditures in free-ranging marine mammals only if linked to time-activity budgets. Funct Ecol. doi:10.1111/1365-2435.1272
Do more diverse mixtures of plants function more efficiently and take up more carbon? Previous studies have suggested this occurs frequently in grasslands when species are mixed. Other studies have now suggested that the same can be true of genetic mixtures within a species. In this podcast, Dylan G. Fischer talks about the results of the first forest ecosystem-scale experiment designed to test if more diverse mixtures of genetic stock result in more productive forests
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12733/full
Pierre Mariotte interviews Associate Editor Marcel Van der Heijden at EcoSummit2016, Montpellier
Journal of Ecology Blog Editor Pierre Mariotte interviews Senior Editor Richard Bardgett at EcoSummit2016, Montpellier
Journal of Ecology Executive Editor David Gibson meets with Associate Editor Charlie Canham at ESA 2016 to discuss the theme of the meeting (Novel Ecosystems in the Anthropocene), as well as Charlie's research.
Journal of Ecology Executive Editor David Gibson meets with Associate Editor Emily Farrer at ESA 2016 to discuss the theme of this year's meeting (Novel Ecosystems in the Anthropocene), as well as Emily's research.
Journal of Ecology Executive Editor meets Associate Editor Jacquelyn Gill at ESA 2016 to discuss the theme of the meeting (Novel Ecosystems in the Anthropocene) and Jacquelyn's research.
Joe Bailey talks to Alan Knapp about his special feature (guest-edited with Jen Schweizer)on Ecosystems, Evolution and Plant–Soil Feedbacks, out in the July Issue of Functional Ecology: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/fec.2016.30.issue-7/issuetoc
Julia Cooke talks to FE editor Ken Thompson about our latest Special Feature: The Functional Role of Silicon In Plant Biology. Browse the lay summaries here (http://www.functionalecology.org/view/0/summaries/LaySummariesVol30Iss08.html) or read the articles in the August Issue of Functional Ecology: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2435/currentissue
Alan Knapp talks to Brian Steidinger, the winner of the 2015 Haldane Prize for Early Career Research, about his paper "Variability in potential to exploit different soil organic phosphorus compounds among tropical montane tree species" (Functional Ecology, 29:1, pp 121–130)
Soil phosphorus is as essential as water for plant growth, but its low availability in some areas forces plants to develop different strategies to acquire it. Mycorrhizal associations, symbiotic associations between a fungus and a vascular plant, represent the most common strategy for access to the different pools of soil P by plants and it therefore seems reasonable to assume that different symbiotic fungal species will be differently able to exploit this non-renewable resource and that non-mycorrhizal species could have a competitive disadvantage. Brian Steidinger and his co-authors tested this hypothesis by comparing phosphatase enzyme activity and performance of five tropical tree species belonging to different functional groups: arbuscular mycorrhizal angiosperms, arbuscular mycorrhizal conifers, ectomycorrhizal angiosperms and non-mycorrhizal proteoid plants. - See more at: http://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/grants-awards/honours_awards_prizes/prize-for-the-best-paper-by-a-young-author/haldane-prize
Jason Kolbe discusses his paper (Kolbe, J. J., Battles, A. C. and Avilés-Rodríguez, K. J. (2015), City slickers: poor performance does not deter Anolis lizards from using artificial substrates in human-modified habitats. Funct Ecol. doi:10.1111/1365-2435.12607) with Functional Ecology editor, Duncan Irschick How do lizards adjust to life in the city? Urbanization transforms natural environments into a mix of buildings, roads, parks and natural habitats. Lizards may use fences, posts and walls as they do trees in natural forests, but they may not find walls as easy to walk up as trees. How does this effect where these urbanized lizards choose to go and how might natural selection shape these "city slickers" in the future.
Journal of Ecology blog editor Pierre Mariotte interviews the 2014 Harper Prize winner Michiel Veldhuis.
In this podcast Andrew Suggitt interviews Owen Greenwood about their paper ‘Using in situ management to conserve biodiversity under climate change’ published in the Journal of Applied Ecology - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.12602/full.
Emma Sayer and Ken Thompson talk about Emma's virtual issue: Making the Most of Microbes: http://www.functionalecology.org/view/0/virtualIssues/VI_mostofmicrobes.html
Microorganisms carry out a large number of fundamental processes that underpin ecosystem function. The enormous diversity and high functional overlap of soil microbes in particular makes this an exciting but challenging area of research in functional ecology. This virtual issue takes a look at some of the advances in ecosystem research made possible by considering microbial processes and populations within the bigger picture of ecosystem function.
Thomas Hasper and Johan Uddling talk to FE Editor Alan Knapp about their recent paper "Water use by Swedish boreal forests in a changing climate."
The ongoing increases in atmospheric CO2 and temperature have the potential to alter the flux of water vapor through plant leaf ‘stomata’, tiny and actively regulated pores in the leaf surface, but relatively little is known about the water-use responses of boreal forests. In their study, the authors examined the water-use responses of Swedish boreal forests to climate change by using long-term monitoring as well as experimental data. They used climate and runoff data of large-scale boreal landscapes from the past 50 years to explore historical trends and patterns, as well as we examining explicit tree water-use responses to elevated [CO2] and/or air temperature in a whole-tree chamber experiment using mature Norway spruce trees. Their findings have important implications for projections of the future hydrology of European boreal coniferous forests, indicating that changes in precipitation and standing biomass are more important than effects of elevated [CO2] or temperature on tree transpiration rates.
Hasper, T. B., Wallin, G., Lamba, S., Hall, M., Jaramillo, F., Laudon, H., Linder, S., Medhurst, J. L., Räntfors, M., Sigurdsson, B. D. and Uddling, J. (2015), Water use by Swedish boreal forests in a changing climate. Funct Ecol. doi:10.1111/1365-2435.12546 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12546/abstract
Executive Editor, David Gibson, interviewed Carol Thornber at ESA 2015 about all things aquatic ecology.
Robbie Wilson talks to Amy Hahs about using urban ecosystems to expand fundamental ecological knowledge. Amy Hahs guest-edited our latest Special Feature: Ecology of Organisms in Urban Environments with Karl Evans. You can read the Special Feature here: http://www.functionalecology.org/view/0/specialfeatures.html#urbaneco
Droughts are predicted to become increasingly frequent and intense in Amazonia, and empirical evidence for the vulnerability of Amazonian trees to drought has grown over the past decade. Little is known, however, about the mechanisms or the diversity of drought tolerance in tropical trees and, it has been difficult to quantify drought tolerance in tropical trees, due to a lack of consensus on a relevant tree functional trait, practical to measure for the hundreds of tree species occurring in tropical forests.
In this study, Isabelle Marechaux and her co-authors looked at leaf water potential at wilting or turgor loss point (πtlp), which determines tolerance of leaves to drought stress. By using a new method based on a demonstrated association between πtlp and another trait, the leaf osmotic water potential at full hydration, they were able to estimate πtlp for 165 trees of 71 species, at three sites within forests in French Guiana. This dataset represents a significant increase in information for tropical tree species, revealing a wider range of drought tolerance than previously found in the literature and indicating a potential for highly diverse species responses to drought within forest communities. Given the weak correlations between πtlp and traditionally measured plant functional traits, vegetation models seeking to predict forest response to drought should integrate improved quantification of comparative drought tolerance among tree species.
Alan Knapp talks to Anita Narwani and Patrick Venail about their new Extended Spotlight: Community Phylogenetics and Ecosystem Functioning: http://j.mp/FE29I5
Duncan Irschick talks to Coleman M. Sheehy III about how arboreality and the associated gravitational stress on blood circulation have influenced the evolution of tail length in snakes. Since their evolutionary origins about 100 million years ago, snakes have diversified into a wide variety of aquatic, burrowing, terrestrial, and arboreal habitats where they experience various levels of gravitational stress on blood circulation. At the extremes, these stresses range from low to none in fully aquatic species living in essentially “weightless” environments, to relatively high in climbing species, especially arboreal forms specialized for climbing trees. As a result, arboreal snakes exhibit many adaptations for countering the effects of gravity on blood circulation, including relatively tight tissue compartments in the tail. However, patterns of tail length in relation to arboreal habitats and gravity have not been previously studied.
You can read the paper, "The evolution of tail length in snakes associated with different gravitational environments" here:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12472/abstract
In celebration of Fascination of Plants Day on 18 May 2015: Journal of Ecology's Executive Editor, David Gibson, has interviewed Anthony Davy about the Journal's Biological Flora of the British Isles series.
Alan Knapp talks to the 2014 Haldane Prizewinner Scott Ferrenberg about his paper, "Smooth bark surfaces can defend trees against insect attack: resurrecting a ‘slippery’ hypothesis". The concept of smooth bark on trees and shrubs acting as an anatomical defence against epiphytic vegetation and phytophagous insects has, for some time, fallen out of favour. Ferrenberg and Mitton, in a study of bark beetle attack on Pinus flexilis – a pine species that exhibits both smooth and rough bark surfaces – set out to test the role of bark defence against insects. http://www.functionalecology.org/view/0/fecBESYoungInvestigator2014.html
The Editors of the Journal of Ecology are pleased to honour Professor Deborah Goldberg in our continuing Eminent Ecologist series. Deborah is the Elzada U. Clover Collegiate Professor and Chair of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan, USA. More than that, Deborah is a hugely influential community ecologist having published a large body of highly cited work investigating the processes underlying patterns in plant community dynamics. In recognition of her work we have selected 10 of her most influential papers published in the Journal of Ecology.
To provide some context, Deborah has written a fascinating post for the Journal of Ecology blog (https://jecologyblog.wordpress.com/2015/03/30/eminent-ecolog…borah-goldberg/). In addition, I was fortunate enough to interview Deborah in August 2014 during which we reflected over the insights, and controversies, arising from her work, as well as some of the non-ecological work that she has been involved with. This interview is available here as a podcast.
We trust that you will enjoy reading, or perhaps even rereading in some cases, the selection of Deborah’s papers in the Virtual Issue (http://www.journalofecology.org/view/0/VIdeborahgoldberg.html) that have been published within the Journal of Ecology.
David Gibson Executive Editor, Journal of Ecology
Hal and Rob are two of the co-authors on "The COMPADRE Plant Matrix Database: an open online repository for plant demography" http://bit.ly/10M3OZG
Stephanie Green explains why generalist lionfish are really 'picky eaters' and how their feeding habits will affect invaded Caribbean fish communities. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.12250/abstract
Katie Field, Associate Editor for Functional Ecology, talks to Ken Thompson about her new Virtual Issue: Mycorrhizal networks in ecosystem structure and functioning. The vast majority of land plants form mutualistic symbioses with soil-dwelling fungi known as mycorrhizas, which can link many plants in a common mycelial network. These networks can be enormous, with around 200m of mycorrhizal fungal hyphae present in a single gram of typical forest soil. The flow of nutrients between plants and mycorrhiza and the resulting redistribution of nutrients throughout a community is an area of much recent research with important contributions having been made by publications in Functional Ecology.
Survival of the weakest seems an unlikely title for paper in ecology, but that is exactly what they found in their Haldane prizewinning paper, as Kyle Demes explains in this podcast.
Demes, K. W., Pruitt, J. N., Harley, C. D.G., Carrington, E. (2013), Survival of the weakest: increased frond mechanical strength in a wave-swept kelp inhibits self-pruning and increases whole-plant mortality. Functional Ecology, 27: 439–445. doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.12067 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12067/abstract
Reichmann, L. G., Sala, O. E. (2014), Differential sensitivities of grassland structural components to changes in precipitation mediate productivity response in a desert ecosystem. Functional Ecology, 28: 1292–1298. doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.12265 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12265/abstract
In this podcast, Robbie Wilson discusses a recent paper showing that long term exposure to a neonicotinoid pesticide ca damage bees’ ability to forage for pollen – and may be changing their choices of which flowers to visit – with co-author Nigel Raine. This study, conducted at Royal Holloway University of London by Nigel Raine and Richard Gill, monitored bee activity using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags (similar to those used by courier firms to track parcels), and demonstrated how long-term pesticide exposure can affect individual bees’ day-to-day behaviour. Nigel Raine also discusses the implications for this, including whether risk assessment guidelines for pesticide use should be reformed to give bees more protection and include more tests that are done over extended periods to detect the effects of long-term, chronic exposure. Gill, R. J., Raine, N. E. (2014), Chronic impairment of bumblebee natural foraging behaviour induced by sublethal pesticide exposure. Functional Ecology. doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.12292 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12292/abstract
Cynthia Chang talks with Alan Knapp on her paper: Chang, C. C., Smith, M. D. (2014), Resource availability modulates above- and below-ground competitive interactions between genotypes of a dominant C4 grass. Functional Ecology. doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.12227
Plants compete for essential resources like light, water, and nitrogen, and understanding how plants coexist when these resources are limiting helps explain how they persist in a changing environment. Dominant species (the most abundant species in a community) are ecologically important because they contribute a disproportionate amount to ecosystem functions like productivity, invasion resistance, and resilience to climate change, so it is particularly important to understand how individuals within a dominant species coexist when resources are limiting. In this podcast Cynthia Chang and Alan Knapp look at why naturally co-occurring genotypes coexist, providing insight into how genetic diversity within dominant plant species is maintained and how this can affect important ecosystem processes http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12227/abstract
At INTECOL 2013, Methods’ Associate Editor, Barb Anderson, interviewed a number of delegates and asked them: What method has transformed your field the most, during your career? Visit the Methods blog to find out who gave the answers: http://bit.ly/1gULB02
At INTECOL 2013, Methods’ Associate Editor, Barb Anderson, asked a number of delegates what method they would like to be invented. Visit the Methods blog to find out who gave the answers: http://bit.ly/1jGiUEO
Music credit:
- Artist: Josh Woodward http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Josh_Woodward/
- Song: Once Tomorrow (Instrumental Version) http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Josh_Woodward/Breadcrumbs/JoshWoodward-Breadcrumbs-NoVox-09-OnceTomorrow
Professor J. Philip Grime is one of the UK’s most influential, and controversial, plant ecologists. Phil is a Fellow of The Royal Society, and also a member of the Dutch Royal Society, and has received numerous awards including The Marsh Award, Honorary membership of the BES and ESA, and the Alexander von Humboldt Award. In recognition of his many achievements we have collected together 15 of his most influential papers in the Journal of Ecology as a Virtual Issue: all the papers have been made free to access. To give some background to the papers Phil has very kindly written a post for the Journal of Ecology blog, which briefly introduces Phil’s research approach and puts the papers in context. There are some great photographs of the people, places and various experiments at the end of the post. In addition to this there is also a podcast where Phil reflects on his career and the changes in ecology over the last 50 years - he also answers several questions sent in via Twitter.
We hope that readers will enjoy this Virtual Issue, which highlights the breadth of Phil’s scientific contributions within the Journal of Ecology.
Mark Rees Editor, Journal of Ecology
Music credit:
-Artist: Josh Woodward http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Josh_Woodward/ -Song: Once Tomorrow (Instrumental Version) http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Josh_Woodward/Breadcrumbs/JoshWoodward-Breadcrumbs-NoVox-09-OnceTomorrow
At INTECOL 2013, Methods’ Associate Editor, Barb Anderson, asked a number of delegates what the newest methods are that they currently use. Visit the Methods blog to find out who gave the answers: http://bit.ly/JlMGm2
Methods' Senior Editor, Bob O'Hara, gives a quick overview of the Methods blog: http://methodsblog.wordpress.com/
Methods' Senior Editor, Bob O'Hara, gives a quick overview of the journal. www.methodsinecologyandevolution.org/
At INTECOL 2013, Methods’ Associate Editor, Barb Anderson, asked a number of delegates what the oldest method is that they still use today. Visit the Methods blog to find out who gave the answers: http://methodsblog.wordpress.com/2013/10/25/podcast-what-are-the-oldest-methods-still-being-used/
Read "Linking abundances of the dung fungus Sporormiella to the density of bison: implications for assessing grazing by megaherbivores in palaeorecords" by Gill et al. via http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2745.12130/abstract
Music credit:
Artist: Monk Turner and Fascinoma http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Monk_Turner__Fascinoma/
Song: "Instrumental Version" http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Monk_Turner__Fascinoma/The_New_Birthday_Song_Contest/Its_Your_Birthday_Instrumental
Music credit:
Artist: Monk Turner and Fascinoma http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Monk_Turner__Fascinoma/
Song: "Instrumental Version" http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Monk_Turner__Fascinoma/The_New_Birthday_Song_Contest/Its_Your_Birthday_Instrumental
JAE symposium - Patterns of disease invasion in reintroduced species (Pete Hudson) by British Ecological Society Journals
Journal of Ecology INTECOL Symposium - Lisa Donovan by British Ecological Society Journals
Liesje Mommer talks about using molecular techniques to look at below-ground plant competition and facilitation as the keynote speech for our Mechanisms of Plant Competition symposia.
At the INTECOL congress held in London in August 2013, Journal of Applied Ecology sponsored a symposium "Putting applied ecology into practice: knowledge and needs for the 21st century" organised by Phil Hulme and E.J. Milner-Gulland. The keynote talk was given by Peter Kareiva, Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy
How best can international journals support applied ecologists in emerging economies Workshop held at INTECOL congress in London, 20th August 2013 organised by E.J. Milner-Gulland and Jos Barlow, sponsored by Journal of Applied Ecology As the world’s emerging economies (including Brazil, China, India and Russia) continue to develop, there is increasing concern about the likely ecological cost, both at home and internationally. There is an acute and urgent need for influential and effective applied ecologists in these countries, but international ecological discourse is still dominated by science from Europe and the rich, English-speaking world. As a global community of ecologists, we need to be proactive to ensure that we are engaging with the myriad challenges of this new world order. In this workshop we aim to explore the ways in which international journals, their publishers, and ecologists worldwide can support applied ecology in countries with emerging economies. The speakers and organisers bring a diverse range of expertise and perspectives to the workshop, ensuring a lively debate and innovative ideas.
Music credit:
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Artist: Twenty-One: Twenty-Four http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Twenty-One_Twenty-Four/
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Song: Five Cinco (Instrumental) http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Twenty-One_Twenty-Four/Spanglish_XE/06_-_Five_Cinco_Instrumental
Read "Climatic stress mediates the impacts of herbivory on plant population structure and components of individual fitness" by Louthan et al. via http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2745.12090/abstract.
Music credit: "Silence in Sunshine (Feel The Heat Remix)" http://freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Scallions/Wrecked_by_mGee/06_-_Silence_in_Sunshine_Feel_The_Heat_Remix_Instrumental by The Scallions http://freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Scallions/
As part of our new Mechanisms of Plant Competition Special Feature, Susan Schwinning talks to Alan Knapp about plant competition in water-limited environments.
Water is the primary factor limiting the growth and productivity of land plants, and fluctuations in plant-available water are ubiquitous in most terrestrial environments, due to variable and unpredictable rainfall. Evolution has produced numerous strategies of compromise between the conflicting goals of maximizing growth and reproduction when water is available and minimizing the risk of mortality when it is not. Because no species is able to pre-empt all opportunities for water and nutrient uptake, many plant species can coexist. However, the mechanisms responsible for making this stable, competitive coexistence possible are often hidden and difficult to study experimentally.
Understanding and predicting how plant communities will respond to contemporary climate change remains a challenge to science, but one that can be guided by addressing the fundamental ways in which fluctuations in plant-available water interact with competition, between either adults or seedlings.
Schwinning, S., Kelly, C. K. (2013), Plant competition, temporal niches and implications for productivity and adaptability to climate change in water-limited environments. Functional Ecology, 27: 886–897. doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.12115
For more on this, check out our Special Feature page: http://www.functionalecology.org/view/0/specialfeatures.html
Ken Thompson, senior editor for Functional Ecology, discusses Simon Pierce's new paper, "Implications for biodiversity conservation of the lack of consensus regarding the humped-back model of species richness and biomass production" http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12147/abstract
Music credit:
-Song "Silence in Sunshine (Feel The Heat Remix)" http://freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Scallions/Wrecked_by_mGee/06_-_Silence_in_Sunshine_Feel_The_Heat_Remix_Instrumental
-Artist The Scallions http://freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Scallions/
Music credit:
-Artist: Gillicudy (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/gillicuddy/) -Song: Jupiter the Blue (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/gillicuddy/Plays_Guitar/01-jupiter-the-blue)
In this podcast, David Hawke from the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology, discusses his recently published paper "Closing the circle: how ecologists can prepare their own quality control material to increase confidence in stable isotope data".
Read the article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/2041-210X.12087/abstract
Music credit: "The Old Country" by Plusplus (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Plusplus/Game_Over/07_Plusplus_-_The_Old_Country)
Robbie Wilson interviews David Jachowski on his work "Unravelling complex associations between physiological state and movement in African elephants." Understanding animal movements involves a complex association of factors. In addition to anatomical constraints and factors like the surrounding environment, more cryptic factors can play a role-- such as an animal's internal, physiological state, or navigational capacity. Complex movement models have been constructed in an attempt to infer an animal's internal state based on movement behaviours, but direct studies of the effect of an individual’s internal state on movement behaviour have been lacking. African elephants are known to alter their behaviour in response to their physiological state, with elevated stress hormone concentrations being associated with reclusive behaviour and aggression towards humans. A better understanding of the link between internal, physiological state and the use of space in relation to the proximity of environmental features and refugia is important in mitigating human-elephant conflict. Read the lay summary here: http://bit.ly/11KoGeb Read the paper here: http://bit.ly/126B33e
Journal Editor Marc Cadotte interviews Jeremy James from University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources on his paper "A systems approach to resoring degraded drylands". Selected as Editor's Choice for issue 50:3.
Read the paper here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.12090/abstract The Editor's Choice article here: http://www.journalofappliedecology.org/view/0/editorschoice503.html
Music credit:
"The Old Country" by Plusplus (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Plusplus/Game_Over/07_Plusplus_-_The_Old_Country)
JEC: Interview with Harper Prize 2012 winner Simon Doxford by British Ecological Society Journals
Visit Ross Mounce's homepage via http://rossmounce.co.uk/
Music credit:
Song "One Small Morning" http://freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Scallions/Agony_Through_Ceremony XE/05_-_One_Small_Mourning_Instrumental
Band: "The Scallions" http://freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Scallions/
Recent analysis of global datasets has shown that plants are constrained in how they allocate resources to their leaves, with trade-offs between building sturdy leaves with a long lifespan that are inefficient in capturing light or building flimsy leaves with a short lifespan and high efficiency. However, it is unknown whether similar patterns occur at more local scales, particularly when you consider the same plant species growing under different conditions. In this study, Justin P. Wright talks with Alan Knapp about the surprising results of examining the effects of varying nitrogen availability and water table depth on the form and function of leaves of over 20 species of wetland plants and what that means for ecologists looking to predict how the addition or subtraction of species will affect the way that ecosystems function.
Read the paper here: http://bit.ly/XTUD5H or the lay summary here: http://bit.ly/142W5Gh
Franciska De Vries (http://www.manchester.ac.uk/research/franciska.devries/) is a Journal of Ecology Associate Editor.
Music credit:
- Song:
- [Carolinian](http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Chatham_County_Line/Liv
- e_at_WFMU_on_Joe_Belocks_Show_on_7172008/Carolinian)
- Artist: Chatham County Line
Kyle Dexter's website is http://phylodiversity.net/kdexter/HOME.html
Music credit:
- Song: “Week Fifteen”
- Artist: Ben von Wildenhaus
- link:
- http://freemusicarchive.org/music/BenWildenhaus/Instrumental_Quaalude_
- vol_2/06_Week_Fifteen
Visit Catherine Preece's website http://osbornelab.group.shef.ac.uk/people/catherine-preece/.
Music credit:
- Song: “Instrumental - The Golden Age”
- Artist: Dan Warren
- link:
- http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dan_Warren/Son_of_Strelka_Son_of_God
- /12_Instrumental_-_The_Golden_Age
Read 'Plant functional group identity and diversity determine biotic resistance to invasion by an exotic grass' by Byun, de Blois & Brisson online via http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2745.12016/abstract. The paper is free to access.
Visit Eleanor Slade's website via http://www.helsinki.fi/foodwebs/Eleanor.htm.
Music credit: -the song Neuroleptic trio instrumental 6, and link http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Neuroleptic_Trio/Summer_Variations/Neuroleptic_trio_instrumental_6
-the artist: Neuroleptic Trio: http://www.myspace.com/neuroleptictrio
To access Wim's Special Feature on plant-soil feedbacks in a changing world follow this link http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jec.2013.101.issue-2/issuetoc.
Sandra Lavorel's Special Feature on ecosystem services is available to access, for free, online via http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jec.2012.101.issue-1/issuetoc.
Music credit:
Cirus Marcus - (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/CIRCUSMARCUS/Aux_puces/Circus_Marcus_-_Aux_puces_n5)
The paper by Šímová, Li & Storch can be accessed for free at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2745.12011/abstract.
Music credit:
- artist: James Beaudreau
- song: Parlor City
- link: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/James_Beaudreau/Fresh_Twigs_WBR_02/9_Parlor_City
Coping with stress: some species survive by breaking the rules, as Lanna Desantis explains to Robbie Wilson as part of the Special Feature: The Ecology of Stress
For more information, read the lay summary (http://bit.ly/VQU0Xx) and article (http://bit.ly/14qsdBq)
In the latest Journal of Ecology podcast, Scott Chamberlain interviews Peter Jørgensen of INNGE (http://www.innge.net/).
Music credit: Artist: Pajaro (https://soundcloud.com/budabeats/pajaro-santa-leone) Song: "Santa Leone" (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Pajaro/Best_Of_Breitband_Vol4/06_pajaro_-_santa_leone_1357)
Music credit:
"Instrumental" (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Howie_Mitchell__Charlotte_Williams_1108/Howie__Charlotte_Williams_11-14-58/Track_5-InstrGuitarAndDulcDuet)
by
"Howie Mitchell and Charlotte Williams" (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Howie_Mitchell__Charlotte_Williams_1108/)
The long necked sauropod dinosaurs were the largest land animals ever to walk the Earth – but why were they so large? One possibility is that it somehow involved the nature of the plant food they eat, as David Wilkinson (co-author of the paper "High C:N ratio (not low-energy content) of vegetation may have driven gigantism in sauropod dinosaurs and perhaps omnivory and/or endothermy in their juveniles." David M Wilkinson & Graeme D Ruxton 2012) explains in this interview with Robbie Wilson. Wilkinson, D. M., Ruxton, G. D. (2012), High C/N ratio (not low-energy content) of vegetation may have driven gigantism in sauropod dinosaurs and perhaps omnivory and/or endothermy in their juveniles. Functional Ecology. doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.12033 http://www.functionalecology.org/view/0/summaries.html#wilkinson http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12033/abstract
Alan Knapp interviews Brad Butterfield about his paper "A functional-comparative approach to facilitation between and its context-dependence", part of an upcoming Special Feature on Mechanisms of Plant Competition, and the importance of taking a trait-based approach to plant facilitation. A great deal of research has been conducted on the mechanisms and outcomes of plant competition, what traits help plants compete, but less well understood is how such traits affect the outcome of positive interactions among plants.
Butterfield, B. J., Callaway, R. M. (2012), A functional comparative approach to facilitation and its context dependence. Functional Ecology. doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.12019 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12019/abstract
Read the article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2041-210X.2010.00077.x/abstract
Read the article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2041-210X.2010.00087.x/abstract
Jason Knouft, from Saint Louis University, Missouri, talks to Elizabeth Horne about his recently published paper, "Using fine-scale GIS data to assess the relationship between intra-annual environmental niche variability and population density in a local stream fish assemblage". Jason establishes the need for broad-scale geographic considerations of ecological issues, and explains how the application of these methods on a finer scale can yield new and valuable insights into the exploitation of ecological niches by local populations, and such populations’ likely reactions to new seasonal and environmental stresses.
Read the article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2041-210X.2010.00076.x/full
Freya Harrison, University of Oxford, UK talks with Graziella Iossa about her review on getting started with meta-analysis. Freya explains that meta-analysis is a statistically robust way of putting together results from different studies that test the same hypothesis. She provides in this review a 'road map' to the topic so that beginners can get a head start on meta-analysis. Meta-analysis hopefully will be more used as a result in the fields of ecology and evolution.
Read the article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2041-210X.2010.00056.x/full
Jane Elith and Michael Kearney, University of Melbourne, Australia and Steven Phillips, AT&T, USA talk with Graziella Iossa about their work: 'The art of modelling range-shifting species'. Jane explains that this is a method to predict species distributions, whose range are shifting, like invasive species or species responding to climate change. Mike Kearney then specifies why they used cane toads as a case study for their work. By taking characteristics of the animal and putting this information together they could ask from a physiological point of view, where cane toads could not live. They also asked how to bring together this mechanistic approach with more traditional approaches. This work advances methodology by combining information from physiological models to data in the correlation-based ones; by looking at details of how you can do the modelling; and by looking at tools for understanding models and data, something that a lot of people will find interesting. Then Steven explains about MaxEnt, a programme that models species distributions based on a machine-learning approach, developed with other colleagues and freely available on the web. For example a common use of the programme is predicting how climate change will affect species distributions. Finally, Mike reports that this method should be useful to anybody trying to predict species with unequal distributions. Jane also precises that students, managers, researchers could be potentially interested, especially given that MaxEnt is freely available.
Read the article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2041-210X.2010.00036.x/full
Art Munson, Cornell University, USA, talks with Graziella Iossa about his work with colleagues in developing a method for measuring the relative information content of data from different monitoring protocols. Art presents a method to compare the information from two data sources. As often in ecology data are difficult to compare because they have been collected at different points in space and time, Art and colleagues propose using a model that summarises each of these data sources and allowing a direct comparison of the data. Their work advances methodology in ecology and evolution in two ways. At first they were analysing a citizen science project, the eBird dataset, which collects bird observations throughout the western hemisphere and there was a question of how much the biological information was being collected by this citizen science project. One outcome of their work found that eBird is collecting a lot of useful information. More generally, this method can be applied to verify data sources for lots of different purposes.
Read the article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2041-210X.2010.00035.x/full
Karen Strier, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, and Susan Alberts, Duke University, USA and Institute of Primate Research, Kenya, talk with Graziella Iossa, MEE Journal Co-ordinator, about their work with co-authors: The Primate Life History Database. This online database is based on long-term datasets that researchers at several institutions in North America have created to make data comparable across studies. It will aid future comparative analyses of primate data and the creation of easily archivable output. The most important features of this database, as Susan points out, are its structure and the use of a common vocabulary. Karen and Susan hope that it will be applicable to studies of most vertabrates and certainly of mammals.
Read the article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2041-210X.2010.00023.x/full
Graziella Iossa interviews Jean-Pierre Moussus, MNHN - EGB about his work with co-authors Romain Julliard and Frederic Jiguet on phenological estimators using simulated data.
Read the article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2041-210X.2010.00020.x/full
Doug Barron answers what is the main idea behind his work with co-authors, "Meta-analysis of transmitter effects on avian behaviour and ecology". Further, he explains how their meta-analysis advances methodology in ecology and evolution and finally shows how the findings of their study could be applied by anyone using transmitters on birds.
Read the article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2041-210X.2010.00013.x/full
Matt Baker talks to Graziella about TITAN, their method for measuring ecological community thresholds that should be able to inform about conservation of rare and threatened species.
Read the article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2041-210X.2009.00007.x/full
In this latest podcast, Alan Knapp, Editor of Functional Ecology, interviews Ryan Sponseller and his co-authors on their paper 'Variation in monsoon precipitation drives spatial and temporal patterns of Larrea tridentata growth in the Sonoran Desert'.
Read the paper: Ryan A. Sponseller et al. (2012), Variation in monsoon precipitation drives spatial and temporal patterns of Larrea tridentata growth in the Sonoran Desert.: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2012.01979.x/full
Alan Knapp interviews Amy Austin about her paper co-authored with Victoria Marchesini where they examined how a massive bamboo flowering event, which occurred in 2001 over 200,000 hectares in Patagonia, Argentina , impacted carbon and nutrient cycling in a native old-growth forest.
Read the paper on Functional Ecology: Austin, A. T. and Marchesini, V. A. (2011), Gregarious flowering and death of understorey bamboo slow litter decomposition and nitrogen turnover in a southern temperate forest in Patagonia, Argentina. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2011.01910.x/abstract
In Functional Ecology's first podcast, Phil Hulme talks to Alan Knapp, about his study which is the first comparison testing for consistency in flowering phenology of species established in the wild in both their native Europe and as introduced aliens in North America.
Read the paper here: Hulme, P. E. (2011), Consistent flowering response to global warming by European plants introduced into North America. Functional Ecology, 25: 1189–1196. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2011.01899.x/abstract