Natalie Rideout: The floodplain wetland puzzle

In this new post, Natalie Rideout, a new ecological researcher working at the University of New Brunswick, Canada, discusses her paper: Environmental filtering of macroinvertebrate traits influences ecosystem functioning in a large river floodplain—recently shortlisted for the 2022 Haldane Prize for Early Career Researchers. Natalie has already provided a blogpost which discusses the particulars of her paper and research experience. Check it out HERE! About … Continue reading Natalie Rideout: The floodplain wetland puzzle

Manjunatha H. Chandregowda: Grasses adjust their root traits during drought to reduce the negative impacts on aboveground productivity

In this new post, Manjunatha H. Chandregowda—a new ecological researcher working at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Australia—discusses his paper: Root trait shifts towards an avoidance strategy promote productivity and recovery in C3 and C4 pasture grasses under drought—recently shortlisted for the 2022 Haldane Prize for Early Career Researchers. About the research Human disruption of global carbon and nitrogen cycles has … Continue reading Manjunatha H. Chandregowda: Grasses adjust their root traits during drought to reduce the negative impacts on aboveground productivity

Yankun Zhu: A long-term precipitation manipulation field experiment in a shrub-encroached grassland in Inner Mongolia, China

In this new post, Yankun Zhu—Associate Professor at Sanming University, China—discusses his paper: Increased precipitation attenuates shrub encroachment by facilitating herbaceous growth in a Mongolian grassland—recently shortlisted for the 2022 Haldane Prize for Early Career Researchers. About the paper Widespread shrub encroachment is profoundly impacting the structures and functions of global drylands, and precipitation change is assumed to be one of the most critical factors … Continue reading Yankun Zhu: A long-term precipitation manipulation field experiment in a shrub-encroached grassland in Inner Mongolia, China

Laura Bellec: Inside the feeding behavior of a pollinivore

In this new post, Laura Bellec—a new ecological researcher working at the Univ Rennes 1, Rennes, France—discusses her paper: Factors driving the within-plant patterns of resource exploitation in a herbivore—recently shortlisted for the 2022 Haldane Prize for Early Career Researchers. About the paper Animals need to find food to survive and grow; however, searching for food is energetically expensive. Thus, animals have evolved strategies that … Continue reading Laura Bellec: Inside the feeding behavior of a pollinivore

Hugo Sentenac: Biofilms, an underrated yet important way of life

In this new post, Hugo Sentenac, a PhD student at Labaoratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (LEFE), Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse, France, discusses his review paper: The significance of biofilms to human, animal, plant and ecosystem health—recently shortlisted for the 2022 Haldane Prize for Early Career Researchers. About the paper Microbes are everywhere: in soil, on rocks, in—and on—us, animals, plants, etc. All this is … Continue reading Hugo Sentenac: Biofilms, an underrated yet important way of life

David Villalobos Chaves: Foraging for efficiency—morphological traits provide support for variations in performance of the feeding apparatus in coexisting Neotropical bats

In this new post, David Villalobos Chaves, a PhD student at Department of Biology and Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA, discusses his paper: Craniodental traits predict feeding performance and dietary hardness in a community of Neotropical free-tailed bats (Chiroptera: Molossidae)—recently shortlisted for the 2022 Haldane Prize for Early Career Researchers. About the paper Our research adds support … Continue reading David Villalobos Chaves: Foraging for efficiency—morphological traits provide support for variations in performance of the feeding apparatus in coexisting Neotropical bats

Kimberley Lemmen: Surprise! Rapid heritable adaptation can occur without initial standing genetic variation

In this new post, Kimberley Lemmen—a post-doc working at the University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland—discusses her paper: Experimental evidence of rapid heritable adaptation in the absence of initial standing genetic variation—recently shortlisted for the 2022 Haldane Prize for Early Career Researchers. About the paper Environmental change presents a fundamental challenge to populations because the traits that previously allowed individuals to grow, survive, and reproduce may … Continue reading Kimberley Lemmen: Surprise! Rapid heritable adaptation can occur without initial standing genetic variation

Joshua Brian: Parasites flex their mussels to influence ecosystem function

In this new post, Joshua Brian, a new ecological researcher working at King’s College London,  UK, discusses his paper: Parasitism dramatically alters the ecosystem services provided by freshwater mussels—recently shortlisted for the 2022 Haldane Prize for Early Career Researchers. About the paper There is increasing awareness of the importance of parasites in ecosystem structure and function. However, there has been very little work done actually … Continue reading Joshua Brian: Parasites flex their mussels to influence ecosystem function

Aya Permin: Bryophyte-associated nitrogen fixation in a tropical mountain cloud forest—rates and responses to climate change

In this new post, Aya Permin, a new ecological researcher at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, discusses her paper—High nitrogen-fixing rates associated with ground-covering mosses in a tropical mountain cloud forest will decrease drastically in a future climate—which has won the 2022 Haldane Prize for Early Career Researchers! About the paper Bryophytes (mosses, hornworts, and liverworts) are known to host nitrogen (N2)-fixing bacteria. These bacteria … Continue reading Aya Permin: Bryophyte-associated nitrogen fixation in a tropical mountain cloud forest—rates and responses to climate change

2022 Haldane Prize Shortlist: Functional Ecology’s Award for Early Career Researchers

The Haldane Prize is awarded by the British Ecological Society each year for the best paper in Functional Ecology written by an early career author. Last year’s winner was Max Mallen-Cooper for their paper: Tissue chemistry of biocrust species along an aridity gradient and comparison to vascular plant leaves Here is the shortlist for the 2022 Haldane Prize. Alice Walker Indirect control of decomposition by an invertebrate … Continue reading 2022 Haldane Prize Shortlist: Functional Ecology’s Award for Early Career Researchers