Author: Functional Ecology

Behind the paper

Ximena Cibils-Stewart: Silicon and endophyte defences in tall fescue reduce feeding and weaken immunity of an insect herbivore.

Ximena Cibils-Stewart completed her doctoral dissertation at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, and works as an adjunct scientist at the Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria in Uruguay. During her doctoral research, her primary focus revolved around assessing the impact of silicon supplementation coupled with beneficial symbionts, such as endophytes, on bolstering grass resistance against insect pests. In this blog post, she … Continue reading Ximena Cibils-Stewart: Silicon and endophyte defences in tall fescue reduce feeding and weaken immunity of an insect herbivore.

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Behind the paper

Myrsky Eero: The warming arctic, herbivore outbreaks and the importance of long-term field studies

In our latest post, Myrsky Eero, a PhD student at the University of Helsinki, presents his work ‘Higher vascular plant abundance associated with decreased ecosystem respiration after 20 years of warming in the forest-tundra -ecotone’. He discusses the importance of long term research, presents the complex trade-offs happening in ecology and shares his passion for cold places. About the Paper The Arctic is warming as … Continue reading Myrsky Eero: The warming arctic, herbivore outbreaks and the importance of long-term field studies

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special feature

Call for Proposals: Cross Journal Special Feature on “Large Scale, Open Data, and a Big Tent: Leveraging collaboration, transparency, and inclusion to advance macrosystems biology”

Functional Ecology, Journal of Animal Ecology, Journal of Ecology, Methods in Ecology and Evolution and People and Nature are seeking proposals for a cross-journal Special Feature on “Large Scale, Open Data, and a Big Tent: Leveraging collaboration, transparency, and inclusion to advance macrosystems biology”  Edited by: Daniel C Allen, Alejandro Cueva, Xiaonan Tai, Matt Heard, Kai Zhu and Brenden McNeil.  The field of macrosystems biology … Continue reading Call for Proposals: Cross Journal Special Feature on “Large Scale, Open Data, and a Big Tent: Leveraging collaboration, transparency, and inclusion to advance macrosystems biology”

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Postcards From The Field

Clara Castellano—Understanding the Impact of Rural Abandonment on Ecological Processes in Mediterranean Ecosystems

In this blog post, Clara Castellano—from the Department of Agrarian and Environmental Science at the University of Zaragoza, Huesca, Spain—discusses working on the ARBIO Project in the Middle Ebro River Valley, the joys of fieldwork, and what the future holds. Profile I’m interested in ecology in general, and specifically in nature conservation and ecological restoration. Throughout my scientific career, I have studied ecosystem services (i.e., … Continue reading Clara Castellano—Understanding the Impact of Rural Abandonment on Ecological Processes in Mediterranean Ecosystems

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Behind the paper

Explore the root advantages of invasive plants under nutrient enrichment

In this new post, Hao Liu—a postdoc from Fudan University, China—presents his work ‘Root plasticity benefits a global invasive species in eutrophic coastal wetlands’. Here he discusses the importance in plasticity for invasive species success, highlights the cohesion required to work in the mud, and shares his journey in ecology. About the paperInvasive species usually benefit more than native species from increases in nutrient availability. … Continue reading Explore the root advantages of invasive plants under nutrient enrichment

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Behind the paper

Jakub Štenc: Matching plants and pollinators in Czech grasslands: Czech Version

O článku Příběh tohoto článku se začal psát někdy před dvanácti lety, když Zdeněk viděl plakát Českého svazu včelařského, že 95 % rostlin opyluje včela medonosná a pouze zbylých 5 % opylují divocí opylovači. Toto tvrzení odporovalo jeho zkušenostem z terénu, ale uvědomoval si, že k vyvrácení tvrzení včelařské lobby bude potřeba komplexního datového souboru a ne jen terénní zkušenosti. Začal dohledávat články s publikovanými … Continue reading Jakub Štenc: Matching plants and pollinators in Czech grasslands: Czech Version

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Behind the paper

Jakub Štenc: Matching plants and pollinators in Czech grasslands

In this post, Zdeněk Janovský and Jakub “Kuba” Štenc —from Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic—share their work ‘Pollinator community and generalisation of pollinator spectra changes with plant niche width and local dominance’. They discuss how they gathered hundreds of thousands of plant-pollinator visits, showed beekeepers the magic of the scientific method, and share their passion in politics and reggaeton.  Read the Czech version of this … Continue reading Jakub Štenc: Matching plants and pollinators in Czech grasslands

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Behind the paper

Julia Cooke & Joanna Carey: What are the relationships between water and silicon uptake in plants, and what factors change cause shifts in these?

In this new post, Julia Cooke and Joanna Carey—ecologists and friends from the UK and USA—present their work ‘Stress alters the role of silicon in controlling plant water movement’. They show how to deal with contradictory experimental results, celebrate the importance of discussion to reach scientific answers and how results materialise. About the paper It is not uncommon to read conflicting experimental results among papers. … Continue reading Julia Cooke & Joanna Carey: What are the relationships between water and silicon uptake in plants, and what factors change cause shifts in these?

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Key Concepts in Ecology

Key Concepts in Ecology: Physiological ecology 

This blog post on ‘Physiological ecology’ is part of the BES ‘Key Concepts in Ecology’ series, designed to help ecologists in learning the key topics in ecology! Take a look at the full series for a list of key topics you might typically find in an ecology textbook, each providing a quick introduction to the topic, and a list of suggested papers for students to … Continue reading Key Concepts in Ecology: Physiological ecology 

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Postcards From The Field

Pablo Castro Sánchez-Bermejo, Henriette Christel, Michael Köhler, Julia Imola Piko, Lena Sachsenmaier: TreeDì—Understanding tree diversity effects on Chinese subtropical forests

In this new post, the group – PhD students at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Germany – discuss their experiences working on the BEF-China experiment, the joys of fieldwork, and what the future holds for them. Profile We are a group of PhD students—at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Germany—interested in diverse facets of Biodiversity-Ecosystem-Functioning (BEF) research … Continue reading Pablo Castro Sánchez-Bermejo, Henriette Christel, Michael Köhler, Julia Imola Piko, Lena Sachsenmaier: TreeDì—Understanding tree diversity effects on Chinese subtropical forests

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