Tomonari Matsuo: Herbaceous species and dry forest species have more acquisitive leaf traits than woody species and wet forest species

2024 HALDANE PRIZE SHORTLIST: Tomonari Matsuo discusses his paper “Herbaceous species and dry forest species have more acquisitive leaf traits than woody species and wet forest species“, which has been shortlisted for Functional Ecology’s 2024 Haldane Prize for Early Career Researchers: About the author Having grown up in the mountainous region of Saitama, Japan, I developed a deep appreciation for nature from an early age. … Continue reading Tomonari Matsuo: Herbaceous species and dry forest species have more acquisitive leaf traits than woody species and wet forest species

Franziska Zahn: Beyond Photosynthesis: Do small trees in the understory of tropical forest gain additional carbon from fungi? 

Franziska Zahn, postdoc at University of Bayreuth (Germany), presents her work “Stable isotope analysis indicates partial mycoheterotrophy in arbuscular mycorrhizal woody seedlings in tropical forests”. She discusses the collaborative network established between plants and fungi, how little we know about C-transfer in plants, and advises everyone to focus on their research despite the fascinating questions ecology offers to us.  Thinking of plants, we often picture … Continue reading Franziska Zahn: Beyond Photosynthesis: Do small trees in the understory of tropical forest gain additional carbon from fungi? 

Ryan Stephens: Importance of tissue, trophic level, and diet source in shaping variation in isotopic trophic discrimination factors

In this post, Ryan Stephens, an ecologist at East Tennessee State University, discusses his review paper “Meta-analysis and critical review of trophic discrimination factors (Δ13C and Δ15N): Importance of tissue, trophic level and diet source“. This paper has been shortlisted for Functional Ecology’s 2023 Haldane Prize for Early Career Researchers. About the Paper Naturally occurring stable isotopes, especially carbon (13C/12C, expressed as δ13C) and nitrogen … Continue reading Ryan Stephens: Importance of tissue, trophic level, and diet source in shaping variation in isotopic trophic discrimination factors