Hannah Meier: Transgenerational behavioral plasticity in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

In this new post, Hannah Meier from Reed College (USA), presents her work ‘Temperature mediated transgenerational plasticity influences movement behavior in the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii’. She highlights the importance of historical effects on organisms, discusses the implications of climate change, and emphasizes the importance of good mentorship in STEM. Eine Deutsche übersetzung dieses artikels ist hier verfügbar! About the Paper In this paper we … Continue reading Hannah Meier: Transgenerational behavioral plasticity in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Hannah Meier: Transgenerational behavioral plasticity in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (German translation)

Hannah Meier, Reed College, Portland USA, erläutert in diesem Artikel ihre Arbeit zu “Temperature mediated transgenerational plasticity influences movement behavior in the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.” Dabei hebt sie die Bedeutung der Erfahrungen- am Beispiel der Algen – aus der Vergangenheit für unsere Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten in der Gegenwart hervor und zeigt die Auswirkungen des Klimawandels auf. An English version of this blogpost is available here! Über … Continue reading Hannah Meier: Transgenerational behavioral plasticity in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (German translation)

Kristiina Visakorpi: The future of Alpine meadows: Can we predict winners and losers in a warmer climate?

In this new post Kristiina Visakorpi—a postdoc at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology—discusses her last research ‘Eco-physiological and morphological traits explain alpine plant species’ response to warming’. She considers the connections between functional traits and climate change, highlights the importance of eco-physiological traits, and provides some thoughts to fight apathy towards our current environmental crises. About the paper In our paper we investigated … Continue reading Kristiina Visakorpi: The future of Alpine meadows: Can we predict winners and losers in a warmer climate?

Animal Functional Traits: A Functional Ecology Special Focus

In this post, Functional Ecology provides an introduction to each article that can be found in our Animal Functional Traits Special Focus. This collection of studies shows how precise measurements of morphological or physiological traits can increase mechanistic understanding of community assembly across trophic levels, particularly of the mechanisms underpinning large-scale biodiversity patterns. Further, a clearer picture is emerging of systematic animal responses to environmental … Continue reading Animal Functional Traits: A Functional Ecology Special Focus

Rebecca Hewitt: A focus on root-associated fungi informs predictions of plant-soil feedbacks in the boreal forest after fire

In our new post Rebecca Hewitt—Assistant Professor at Amherst College, MA, USA—presents her work ‘Wildfire impacts on root-associated fungi and predicted plant-soil feedbacks in the boreal forest: research progress and recommendations’. She discusses the importance of plant-fungal interactions to cope with fire disturbance and shares her fascination for environmental research. About the paper We wrote a review paper that synthesizes what is currently known about … Continue reading Rebecca Hewitt: A focus on root-associated fungi informs predictions of plant-soil feedbacks in the boreal forest after fire

Felipe de Vargas Ribeiro: Kelps As Gatekeepers Of Temperate Reefs

In our latest post, Felipe de Vargas Ribeiro presents his latest article “Shield wall: Kelps are the last stand against corals in tropicalized reefs.” He discusses his group’s results from studying Australian Kelp forests, the importance of biotic interactions in novel communities, and encourages his Brazilian fellows to endure in science. About the paper Coastal ecosystems provide food and shelter to many species, along with … Continue reading Felipe de Vargas Ribeiro: Kelps As Gatekeepers Of Temperate Reefs

Pieter Arnold: How an alpine plant species responds to temperature stress depends on the type of trait and life stage

In this new post, Pieter Arnold, Research Fellow at The Australian National University (ANU), presents his latest work ‘Patterns of phenotypic plasticity along a thermal gradient differ by trait type in an alpine plant’. Pieter discusses the challenges of his group’s experimental design, highlights the importance of looking at plants along their entire life cycle, and also advises everyone to expand their horizons when looking … Continue reading Pieter Arnold: How an alpine plant species responds to temperature stress depends on the type of trait and life stage

Simulated winter warming negatively impacts survival of Antarctica’s only endemic insect: Podcast Transcript

In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with Jack J. Devlin—an early career researcher from the University of Kentucky—to discuss his recently published paper ‘Simulated winter warming negatively impacts survival of Antarctica’s only endemic insect.’ With warmer winters expected to become more common with climate change, this study’s results indicate that winter warming could negatively impact cold-adapted insects like the … Continue reading Simulated winter warming negatively impacts survival of Antarctica’s only endemic insect: Podcast Transcript

Emerging relationships among microbes, soil carbon storage and climate change: Podcast transcript

In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with two Guest Editors—Pablo García-Palacios and Ji Chen— to discuss our recently published Special Feature on soil carbon storage. The Special Feature identifies emerging findings from soil microbial ecology and climate change research that can be used to reduce uncertainty if incorporated into theory and models. Frank: Today, I have Pablo García-Palacios and … Continue reading Emerging relationships among microbes, soil carbon storage and climate change: Podcast transcript

Pablo García-Palacios & Ji Chen: Emerging relationships among soil microbes, carbon dynamics and climate change

In this new post, Pablo García-Palacios, from the Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Spain, and Ji Chen from Aarhus University, Denmark, who both serve as Associate Editors for Functional Ecology, present the Special Feature ‘Emerging relationships among soil microbes, carbon dynamics and climate change’. They talk about how they conceived the Special Feature, how they selected authors and topics, and how they coordinated with the contributing … Continue reading Pablo García-Palacios & Ji Chen: Emerging relationships among soil microbes, carbon dynamics and climate change