Lead author - Po Peng
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Po Peng: How spiders use colour and contrast to attract prey

Po Peng of The University of Melbourne discussed his 2020 Haldane Shortlisted paper “High contrast yellow mosaic patterns are prey attractants for orb‐weaving spiders”, here he talks about his inspiration behind the paper and the importance of adapting to what fieldwork throws at you. In this research article, I address a surprisingly neglected topic in visual communication. Typically, studies of visual communication focus on how … Continue reading Po Peng: How spiders use colour and contrast to attract prey

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Ching-Wen Tan. Photo credit: Ju-Che Lo
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Ching-Wen Tan: The Enemy of my enemy is my friend: beneficial natural enemies indirectly increase plant productivity in surprising new ways

Ching-Wen Tan of Penn State discusses their 2020 Haldane Prize Shortlisted work “Top‐down effects from parasitoids may mediate plant defence and plant fitness” and how patience is the best attitude to have for creativity How did you get into ecology? I developed my interest in herbivore-plant interactions from an ecology course as a freshman. After B.S. and M.S. in Entomology, I gained an opportunity to … Continue reading Ching-Wen Tan: The Enemy of my enemy is my friend: beneficial natural enemies indirectly increase plant productivity in surprising new ways

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The studied reef has lost most of its coral cover due to two cyclones and two coral bleaching events. Despite some hard and soft coral colonies, most of the reef surface is covered in algal turfs, the favourite food of herbivorous reef fishes. Photo by Renato Morais.
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Renato Morais: An unexpected (PhD project) journey

Renato Morais of James Cook University presents his 2020 Haldane Prize shortlisted research ‘Severe coral loss shifts energetic dynamics on a coral reef‘ and talks about his PhD experience where he learned that catastrophe doesn’t mean that all is lost. If I was asked to provide advice for someone starting a (PhD) project in Ecology, it would be don’t get emotionally attached to your project. … Continue reading Renato Morais: An unexpected (PhD project) journey

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Jessica Moore is a microbial and ecosystem ecologist currently working in the Biosciences Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
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Jessica Moore: Root-microbe-ecologist Interactions

Jessica Moore’s research “Plant roots stimulate the decomposition of complex, but not simple, soil carbon” is shortlisted for the 2020 Haldane Prize prize for early career researchers. Here, she talks about her inspiration for the project as well as her experience as a first-generation college student and the importance of a support network. Recently, there has been a lot of discussion around how roots and … Continue reading Jessica Moore: Root-microbe-ecologist Interactions

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Nina diving to collect fishes in French Polynesia. Copyright: Jennifer Adler
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Nina Schiettekatte: Quantifying elemental fluxes in fishes

Nina Schiettekatte of PSL Research University takes us on a journey to French Polynesia to discuss her 2020 Haldane Prize shortlisted work “Nutrient limitation, bioenergetics and stoichiometry: A new model to predict elemental fluxes mediated by fishes” – and the joy of R! The ocean has always piqued my curiosity, and I am drawn to any large body of water.  Following my undergraduate studies in … Continue reading Nina Schiettekatte: Quantifying elemental fluxes in fishes

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Setting trees into pots in the greenhouse was fun, especially when their root system was as long as the legs of the researcher.
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Benjamin Hafner: Split it – disentangling functional mechanisms in forest ecology research

Benjamin Hafner of Technische Universität München & Cornell University, discusses his work “Water potential gradient, root conduit size and root xylem hydraulic conductivity determine the extent of hydraulic redistribution in temperate trees” shortlisted for the 2020 Haldane Prize for Early Career Researchers and draws on how a lifelong love of nature led to a career in forestry research. I have always been fascinated by nature … Continue reading Benjamin Hafner: Split it – disentangling functional mechanisms in forest ecology research

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Seraina Cappelli et Noémie Pichon sur l’expérience de PaNDiv, mai 2017. Crédit : Hugo Vincent
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Noémie Pichon: La décomposition démêlée

Read this blog in English here Noémie A. Pichon, alors étudiante en doctorat dans le groupe d’Eric Allan, parle de son récent article « La décomposition démêlée : un test des multiples mécanismes par lesquels l’enrichissement en azote modifie la décomposition de la litière », le contexte de cet article et les futures directions de ce champ de recherche. Quel est le contexte de votre étude ? Les expériences … Continue reading Noémie Pichon: La décomposition démêlée

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Author Dianye Zhang, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
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Dianye Zhang: Nitrogen-induced changes in biodiversity and plant community composition affect soil respiration

Dr. Dianye Zhang, a postdoc from Prof. Yuanhe Yang’s Lab in the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, discusses his recent paper “Changes in above-/below-ground biodiversity and plant functional composition mediate soil respiration response to nitrogen input” published in Functional Ecology. What is the background behind your paper? Intensified human activities accelerate the deposition of reactive nitrogen (N) into terrestrial ecosystems. Reactive N enrichment … Continue reading Dianye Zhang: Nitrogen-induced changes in biodiversity and plant community composition affect soil respiration

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Journal content

2020 Haldane Prize Shortlist: Functional Ecology’s Award for Early Career Researchers

The Haldane Prize is awarded by the British Ecological Society each year for the best paper in Functional Ecology written by an early career author. Today, we are pleased to present the shortlisted papers for this year’s award (from the 2020 volume of Functional Ecology). This year’s shortlisted candidates are (in alphabetical order): Divergent adaptations in resource‐use traits explain how pikas thrive on the roof of the … Continue reading 2020 Haldane Prize Shortlist: Functional Ecology’s Award for Early Career Researchers

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Author Alihan Katlav, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment Western Sydney University, NSW, Australia
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Alihan Katlav: Egg size matters for sex allocation in thrips

Alihan Katlav is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University. Alihan is studying the evolution of sex allocation in haplodiploid thrips. Under supervision of Assoc. Prof. Markus Riegler and Prof. James Cook, Alihan’s Ph.D. research focuses on the mechanisms and constraints of sex allocation adjustment in Kelly’s citrus thrips – an important Australian-native pest of citrus which is … Continue reading Alihan Katlav: Egg size matters for sex allocation in thrips

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