News, links and suggested reads.
At my dinner table, we often talk about the environmental issues around eating beef. The information is often ambiguous and the whole issue seems to be a minefield, but cattle farming is evidently contributing to emissions, and eating grass-fed beef is not going to change that, as stated in a blog on the Food Climate Research Network. If you are interested in regime changes in … Continue reading Tuesday taster: 03/10/2017
This week’s favourite in Functional Ecology is a newly accepted paper by Martijn Vandegehuchte and colleagues who studied how mammals –large and small – affected grazing by insects. In their study they also tested if these interactions were moderated by plant functional type identity. An interesting paper in Nature Ecology & Evolution shows how Cuckoo females produce ‘hawk-like’ calls to mislead host parents and increase … Continue reading Tuesday taster: 26/09/2017
With the new academic year starting, an interesting study shows that small group seminars are most effective in preventing students to drop out of university. A runner myself, I liked this BBC coverage on running in the wilds of the Scottish Highlands, where (perhaps this week) the oldest snow patch may disappear. Following up on my blog for Peer Review Week 2017, researchers from Imperial … Continue reading Tuesday taster: 19/09/2017
Featured in Functional Ecology this week is a paper by Yunhai Zhang and his colleagues, which describes how mowing reduces the stability of temperate grassland primary production under nitrogen addition. Very interesting read! If you are following the debate on gender equality and woman in STEM, here are some good recent reads: Why Men Don’t Believe the Data on Gender Bias in Science If there … Continue reading Tuesday taster: 05/09/2017
Writing in Functional Ecology, Wang and his colleagues describe the results of a decomposition experiment focussed on standing litter. Great stuff, and I’m sure their results hold in many more ecosystems. My long-term collaborator, Vincent Jassey, has written an interesting blog post on protists and their likely importance in the ecology of tank-bromeliads in the tropics. I could not refrain in sharing this with you. … Continue reading Tuesday taster: 29/08/2017
Hi all, During my holidays, I have been reading The Angry Chef: bad science and the truth about healthy eating. It’s an absolutely great book if you want to read about food related pseudoscience and a chef’s views on it. Yesterday, I learned about a New Phytologist Tansley review that dives into the role of a healthy diet for our health– a really interesting read! … Continue reading Tuesday taster: 22/08/2017
Help for ECRs! The BES is running a Grant Writing Workshop for early career ecologists (26th-27th October) The workshop will include best practice and tailored support focused on converting a project idea into a grant or fellowship application For those that like their science illustrated: http://scientificillustration.tumblr.com/ Anyone that missed the recent Symposium on Insect-Plant Interactions, FE Associate Editor Alison Bennett interviewed a number of researchers … Continue reading Tuesday taster: 15/08/2017
Bjorn’s in the field this week, so here are a few things for anyone stuck in an office, on plane, train or automobile or trying to make the most of conference wifi: This Virtual Issue: Future challenges in plant-microbe-insect interactions, edited by Alison Bennett to complement the International Symposium on Insect-Plant Interactions, for everyone that couldn’t make it to the conference. This Special Feature on … Continue reading Tuesday taster: 01/08/2017
Last week I was in Sweden for my field work. One of the rangers, Hans Fransson, in the Nature Reserve where I work is a guide in the cave systems under Tåbergs Iron mountain in his free time. The 343 meter high mountain is rich in iron (titanomagnetite olevinite) which has led to a large system of tunnels. In winter, six species of bats hibernate … Continue reading Tuesday taster: 25/07/2017
Hi all, Some practical advice on how to effectively reduce your personal carbon emissions (hint: it’s not just replacing your light bulbs) can be found in a new paper by Wynes and Nicholas. Another good read, but on the effects of extreme climate events on shift in breeding time of wild passerine. When you submit your paper to Functional Ecology, you may want to think … Continue reading Tuesday taster: 18/07/2017
Functional Ecologists 