Daniel G. Dick: Exploring the relationship between different measures of functional redundancy

In this blog post, Daniel G. Dick, a public education and geoscience communication postdoctoral fellow at McMaster University, Canada, discusses his study “Measuring functional redundancy using generalized Hill numbers”, which has been shortlisted for Functional Ecology’s 2023 Haldane Prize for Early Career Researchers. About the Paper Whether an ecological community can withstand an external perturbation (such as rapid global warming) is thought to be largely … Continue reading Daniel G. Dick: Exploring the relationship between different measures of functional redundancy

Lina Aoyama: Root diversity in grasslands buffers biomass production under drought

In this post, Lina Aoyama, a PhD student at the University of Oregon, discusses their research “Functional diversity buffers biomass production across variable rainfall conditions through different processes above- versus below-ground“, which has been shortlisted for Functional Ecology’s 2023 Haldane Prize for Early Career Researchers. About the paper Water is a strong driver of plant productivity, and which plant species are there and how many … Continue reading Lina Aoyama: Root diversity in grasslands buffers biomass production under drought

Tesa Madsen-Hepp: Plant functional traits lend predictability to idiosyncratic range shifts

In this new post, Tesa Madsen-Hepp—PhD candidate at the University of California Riverside, USA—presents her latest research ‘Plant functional traits predict heterogeneous distributional shifts in response to climate change’. She highlights the high value of the Deep Canyon Transect, discusses the response of diverse dryland plant communities to long-term climate change, and shares the challenges in intense field campaigns. About the paper Our paper investigates … Continue reading Tesa Madsen-Hepp: Plant functional traits lend predictability to idiosyncratic range shifts

Laura Ortiz Díaz: Biological soil crusts and neighbour plants strongly affects annual plants living in gypsum drylands

In our latest post, Laura Ortiz Díaz—A PhD student at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain—presents her new study ‘Functional diversity of experimental annual plant assemblages drives plant responses to biological soil crusts in gypsum systems’. Laura tells us where the idea of the study came from, the importance of biological soil crust for drylands ecology, and how she became hooked on ecology from an early … Continue reading Laura Ortiz Díaz: Biological soil crusts and neighbour plants strongly affects annual plants living in gypsum drylands

Laura Ortiz Díaz: La costra biológica del suelo y las plantas vecinas afectan al establecimiento y desarrollo de las plantas anuales que viven en ambientes yesíferos semiáridos.

En este post Laura Ortiz Díaz, estudiante de doctorado de la Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (España), nos presenta su trabajo ‘Functional diversity of experimental annual plant assemblages drives plant responses to biological soil crusts in gypsum systems’ Laura nos cuenta de dónde surgió la idea del trabajo, la importancia que la costra biológica puede tener en zonas áridas y cómo la ecología le atrapó desde … Continue reading Laura Ortiz Díaz: La costra biológica del suelo y las plantas vecinas afectan al establecimiento y desarrollo de las plantas anuales que viven en ambientes yesíferos semiáridos.