Author: Functional Ecology

Molly Roberts, pictured at a mussel farm, estimated the cost of byssus from the experimental data using a Scope For Growth framework. (Photo credit: Hilary Hayford)
Behind the paper

Molly Roberts: A network of threads and perspectives, energetic cost of mussel attachment

Emily “Molly” Roberts, postdoctoral fellow at Claremont McKenna College, presents her recent work ‘Resource allocation to a structural biomaterial: induced production of byssal threads decreases growth of a marine mussel, Mytilus trossulus’ where she and her colleagues tested the trade-off between survival and growth of mussels. About the paper This paper is about the energetic ‘investment’ that mussels make to stay anchored to their habitat. … Continue reading Molly Roberts: A network of threads and perspectives, energetic cost of mussel attachment

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Study co-authors conducting fieldwork in The Bahamas. Counterclockwise from left is Allison Stringer with a live lionfish (Pterois volitans), Robert Lamb conducting a transect survey, and Lillian Tuttle observing cleaning stations at a coral patch reef. Photo credits: Lillian Tuttle, Tim Pusack, and Severin Vaillancourt, respectively.
Behind the paper

Lillian Tuttle: Coral-reef predators must learn that the cleaner goby is a friend, not food

Lillian Tuttle of NOAA’s Pacific Island Regional Office in Honolulu, Hawai‘i talks about the inspiration behind her new research “Differential learning by native versus invasive predators to avoid distasteful cleaning mutualists” and the privilege we have to be able to observe the natural world. About the paper What’s your paper about?My co-authors and I studied the behaviours of invasive lionfish and cleaning mutualists on coral … Continue reading Lillian Tuttle: Coral-reef predators must learn that the cleaner goby is a friend, not food

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Bawan Amin in the field with a telescope tracked on fallow deer
Behind the paper, Community+Ecology

Bawan Amin: individual personality is evident from just a few weeks old

Bawan Amin, son of Kurdish freedom fighters talks about his latest publication in Functional Ecology “In utero accumulated steroids predict neonate anti-predator response in a wild mammal” as well the importance of asylum, family, and being able to pursue your passions. At the time of writing, I am about to start the final year of his PhD-research at University College Dublin, Ireland. Supervised by Dr. … Continue reading Bawan Amin: individual personality is evident from just a few weeks old

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Journal content

World bee day 2021: bee research collection

The 20th May marks world bee day, an opportunity for all of us to appreciate these little creatures that make our modern food economy possible. Bees are extremely valuable as pollinators and ecosystem services, but they are also fascinating creatures in their own right with complex social structures and communication methods. Here, we’ve curated our favourite bee-based research from Functional Ecology, as well as some … Continue reading World bee day 2021: bee research collection

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Audrey Le Pogam with a snow bunting in front of the aviary at the Université du Québec à Rimouski (Québec)
Behind the paper

Audrey LePogam: everyday is winter for snow bunting

In this post Audrey Le Pogam, a phd student from Université du Québec à Rimouski, present her research ‘Coping with the worst of both worlds: phenotypic adjustments for cold acclimatization benefit northward migration and arrival in the cold in an Arctic breeding songbird’. She discusses the importance of species adaptations to environment, her future research questions and her newly discovered passion for sumo. About the … Continue reading Audrey LePogam: everyday is winter for snow bunting

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Community+Ecology

Rainbow Research: Contribute to our Pride Month Blog Series!

Originally posted on Methods Blog:
We are inviting contributions from LGBTQ+ ecologists and evolutionary biologists for a series of blog posts across the British Ecological Society journals for UK Pride Month, which takes place in June. The series, called Rainbow Research, aims to promote visibility and inclusion of researchers from the LGBTQ+ community with posts promoting them and their research. Each post will be connected to… Continue reading Rainbow Research: Contribute to our Pride Month Blog Series!

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Sarah Konaré at the Lamto savanna. Photo: T. Srikanthasamy
Behind the paper

Sarah Konare: soil exploration by trees in humid savannas

In this new post, Sarah Konaré, a junior scientist at the University of Korhogo, presents her latest work ‘Spatial heterogeneity in nitrification and soil exploration by trees favour source-sink dynamics in a humid savanna: a modeling approach’, discusses the importance of N cycle on savannas and talks about her future steps in ecology. 1) About the paper Our paper highlights the importance of the soil … Continue reading Sarah Konare: soil exploration by trees in humid savannas

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Lead author - Po Peng
Behind the paper

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
Behind the paper

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.
Behind the paper

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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