Last week, I was at a conference (Trait covariation: structural and functional relationships in plant ecology) organised by the New Phytologist Trust. I liked it very much; I especially liked the versatility of the ecological community in approaching big open ecological questions. I will soon give a more elaborate update about the symposium, but if you cannot wait click here to see the abstract book. … Continue reading Tuesday taster: 04/07/2017
In Insights we discover the story behind a recent publication in Functional Ecology. This week, Ji Suonan of Peking University and the University of Copenhagen sheds light on the differences of symmetric and asymmetric winter warming on alpine plant phenology
The longest day is always something to relish, and this year, coincided with sampling in the Cairngorms mountains, Scotland. Continue reading “Ecologist’s Diary: Sampling for the Extreme Events in Mountain Soils project: 1”
Today’s post is largely focused on sustainability and conservation, but first two papers that caught my eye last week: Functional Ecology published a very interesting paper describing the use of drones to record turtle demography and breeding behaviour. In Nature Ecology & Evolution, Lars Gamfeld and Fabian Roger (University of Göteborg), published a perspective paper that counters current consensus on biodiversity-multifunctionality relationships. A very interesting … Continue reading Tuesday taster: 27/06/2017
I have to confess – I don’t like tea.
Well, maybe herbal tea every once in a while. You know, the ginger and lemongrass type.
However, when out in the field, at 30°C and in knee-deep in mangrove hydrogensulphidemudstink, one begins to appreciate the refreshing aroma of green and rooibos tea. Continue reading “Ecologist’s Diary: In the field for the TeaComposition H2O Initiative 1”
Going to a symposium usually means days of talks in meeting rooms or conference centres, but Alexandra Townsend, an Early Career Researcher from Queen Mary University of London, recently attended a symposium that was a little more unusual: the Early Career Scientist Symposium run by the Plant Environmental Physiology Group (PEPG).
Continue reading “Plant Physiology with a view: A different kind of gathering”
It is almost midnight and I am still enjoying the sunlight that enters the windows of my hotel room. I am in Eastern Finland, trying hard to get some sleep (not easy if your body tells you it is not dark enough yet). On my flight in from London, an opinion piece in the New York Times caught my attention and changed my views on … Continue reading Tuesday taster: 20/06/2017
Our latest issue out now, with a cover from Sonia Bejarano et al’s paper The shape of success in a turbulent world: wave exposure filtering of coral reef herbivory. Continue reading “31.06 – Behind the cover”
In our first Hindsight, Dr. Ken Thompson takes us back to his PhD research and points out one –perhaps forgotten– follow up study from Van Assche & Van Nerum that may have you asking if there is such thing as plant intelligence.
In Insights we discover the story behind and beyond a recent publication in Functional Ecology: What inspired the authors to do the research, how the project developed, leading to the final publication and what implications their results might have on the scientific community and on society.
This week, Ellie Goud of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University, Ithaca, USA, discusses her recent paper on the use of non-destructive plant traits as a proxy for carbon fluxes from peatland ecosystems.
Functional Ecologists 