Already sideways highlighted by Jennifer last week, Nature Ecology and Evolution have published a list of the 100 articles every ecologist should read. Many critical notes have followed (have a look for yourself); for example on how the list has been compiled, the average age of the listed paper (c. 38 years old), its gender bias, etc. I am excited to read these critiques and look forward to an alternative list that also reflects recent advances in ecology; one that I am almost certain will be a lot more inclusive.

Hot off the press, this paper by Ramirez and her colleagues  (which provides a roadmap on how to answer important ecological questions with highly variable microbial sequence data) might make it on such list!

And another candidate paper  for the list: Wubs and Bezemer use an elegant but simple experimental design to show that soil conditioned by multiple plant species results in a more balanced (i.e. more even) plant community, as compared to soil condition by single plants.

And now for something completely different: Do you have a hilarious ecological story to tell? Sign up for the Science Slam at the Ecology Across Borders conference in Ghent.

Enjoy your week,

Bjorn

Bjorn Robroek is the blog editor for Functional Ecologists.