Francisco E. Fontúrbel: Cryptic interactions between trees, mosses, and hummingbirds.

Dr. Francisco Fontúrbel, an Associate Professor in the Biology Department at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso in Chile, discusses with us his recent publication in Functional Ecology, titled “Cryptic interactions revisited from ecological networks: mosses as a key link between trees and hummingbirds”, as well as the background of the research, and how the study raises new questions to be answered.

Francisco in the field, contemplating an endemic moss in the temperate rainforests of Southern Chile (credit Johana Villagra).

British Ecological Society21 Oct 202016 Oct 2020Leave a comment

Behind the paper

Henry Pollock: Can tropical and temperate birds take the heat of climate change?

Dr. Henry Pollock, a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne, discusses with us his recently accepted article in Functional Ecology: “Heat tolerances of temperate and tropical birds and their implications for susceptibility to climate change”, his journey into ecology, as well as his favorite (and least favorite) parts about being an ecologist.

Henry holding a Keel-billed Toucan (Ramphastos sulfuratus) captured during his dissertation fieldwork in central Panama. Photo credit: Zach Welty, 2012.

British Ecological Society20 Oct 202020 Oct 2020Leave a comment

Behind the paper

Andrew Eagar: mycorrhizal types influence local spatial structure in temperate forest tree communities

Andrew Eagar, a phd candidate at the Kent State University, presents his article “Dominant community mycorrhizal types influence local spatial structure between adult and juvenile temperate forest tree communities” where he studied plant-soil feedbacks at community level, and talks about his passion for research.

British Ecological Society15 Oct 202016 Oct 2020Leave a comment

Behind the paper

Bingwei Zhang: Trait plasticity determines species performance

In our latest Insight, Bingwei Zhang of Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai talks about the importance of trait plasticity in regulating species performance under environmental change, for his latest paper ‘Species responses to changing precipitation depends on trait plasticity rather than trait means and intraspecific variation’.

British Ecological Society15 Oct 2020Leave a comment

Emily Waddell in Danum Valley Conservation Area in Sabah (Photo credit - Charlotte Gallagher).

Behind the paper

Emily Waddell: tropical forests, functional traits and community tolerance

In this post Emily Waddell, a Phd candidate at the UK Centre of Ecology and Hydrology in Edinburgh, talks about her experience working in Tropical forest in South-East Asia, the importance of functional traits for community tolerance to invasive species and her future plants on ecological research in oil palm plantations.

British Ecological Society8 Oct 2020Leave a comment

Behind the paper

Jiri Dolezal: surving drought, cold and time

Jiri Dolezal, researcher at the Institute of Botany of Czech Academy of Sciences, presents his latest manuscript ‘Contrasting biomass allocation responses across ontogeny and stress gradients reveal plant adaptations to drought and cold’, discusses how plants manage to survive 80 years and highlights the importance of moving beyond scientific dogmas.

British Ecological Society8 Oct 20208 Oct 2020Leave a comment

Behind the paper

André Franco: root herbivory, water availability and above and belowground biomass

In our this new Insight, André Franco, a research scientist at Colorado State University presents his last work “‘Root herbivory controls the effects of water availability on the partitioning between above and belowground grass biomass”, shows the strong connection between above- and belowground processes and tells us how a soil scientist arrived to ecology.

British Ecological Society22 Sep 202024 Sep 20201 Comment

Behind the paper

Melanie Pollierer: Saprotrophic and ectomycorrhizal fungi and their consumers can be separated using amino acid fingerprints

Dr. Melanie Pollierer, Researcher at University of Göttingen, summarizes her latest publication “Isotope analyses of amino acids in fungi and fungal feeding Diptera larvae allow differentiating ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi-based food chains”, where she and her colleagues show a novel methodology to identify different fungal guilds along food chains. She highlights the relevance of their findings and shares her experience as a young researcher in Germany.

British Ecological Society21 Sep 202017 Sep 2020Leave a comment

I'm inserting an elastomer tag in a juvenile damselfish, so they can be identified in the field once released. Photo courtesy of Doug Chivers.

Behind the paper

Maud Ferrari: Sharing predation cues in degraded coral reefs

Dr. Maud Ferrari, Professor in the Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan, discusses with us her paper titled, “The fading of fear effects due to coral degradation is modulated by community composition”, the broader impact of her research, and her interest in ecology.

Me posing for an NSERC picture. I'm pretending to be looking at a fish tank in my lab in Canada. Photo courtesy of NSERC. — Me posing for an NSERC picture. I’m pretending to be looking at a fish tank in my lab in Canada. Photo courtesy of NSERC.

British Ecological Society18 Sep 202017 Sep 2020Leave a comment

Wetland team collecting data in the filed with Jana in the middle

Behind the paper

Jana Doudová: Under the dominants

Jana Doudová, research at the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, explains his work ‘Along with intraspecific functional trait variation, individual performance is key to resolving community assembly processes’, highlights how plant facilitation can be present in productive ecosystems and tells her history about how she got fascinated by plants.

British Ecological Society18 Sep 202017 Sep 2020Leave a comment

Functional Ecologists

Official blog of Functional Ecology, a British Ecological Society journal

Category: Behind the paper

Francisco E. Fontúrbel: Cryptic interactions between trees, mosses, and hummingbirds.

Henry Pollock: Can tropical and temperate birds take the heat of climate change?

Andrew Eagar: mycorrhizal types influence local spatial structure in temperate forest tree communities

Bingwei Zhang: Trait plasticity determines species performance

Emily Waddell: tropical forests, functional traits and community tolerance

Jiri Dolezal: surving drought, cold and time

André Franco: root herbivory, water availability and above and belowground biomass

Melanie Pollierer: Saprotrophic and ectomycorrhizal fungi and their consumers can be separated using amino acid fingerprints

Maud Ferrari: Sharing predation cues in degraded coral reefs

Jana Doudová: Under the dominants