Blog

On why and how to incorporate multiple interaction types into network analyses

editor
8 September 2017
In ecological communities, every species needs to interact with other species in order to survive and prosper. These ecological interactions are extremely varied in typology, magnitude, and mechanisms, as one would guess given the overwhelming diversity of life forms...

September cover

editor
5 September 2017
The cover for our September Issue relates to the paper "Plant–soil negative feedback explains vegetation dynamics and patterns at multiple scales" by Vincenot et al. Description: Simulated plant-soil negative feedback reproduces vegetation ring formation as visible in...

Editor's Choice September

editor
5 September 2017
The forum by Flombaum and colleagues puts the role of sampling effects for productivity maximisation central when invasions come into play. To date, most insights into the relevance and importance of biodiversity for ecosystem functioning point at the primary...

Welcome Jessica Forrest, new SE

editor
1 September 2017
We are very happy to welcome Jessica Forrest, University of Ottawa, Canada to our editorial board. Get to know her in my interview below and visit her website https://forrestlab.wordpress.com/ What's you main research focus at the moment? Population ecology and life...

Energetic implications of environmental warming

editor
15 August 2017
Food webs are complex arrangements of interconnected species, with the food web of a specific ecosystem containing hundreds of species and thousands of interactions between them. From an energetics perspective, food webs can be viewed as networks of energy pathways in...

Effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning depends on complex biotic and abiotic interactions

editor
15 August 2017
Plant diversity effects on ecosystem functioning usually have been studied from a plant perspective. However, the impacts of plant interactions with other organisms on biodiversity effects across different environmental conditions are frequently overlooked. Thus, we...

June cover

editor
27 June 2017
The cover photo on the June Issue shows a grey-breasted mountain toucan (Andigena hypoglauca), one of the most gorgeous frugivorous birds in the tropical Andes. This toucan species was one of 53 other frugivorous birds that we observed feeding on more than 21 plant...

Editor's Choice June

editor
1 June 2017
The forum paper of Lamy et al. "The contribution of species–genetic diversity correlations to the understanding of community assembly rules" synthesises the current insights and caveats on the importance of correlations between species diversity and neutral genetic...

OIKOS SEEKING A SENIOR STRATEGY EDITOR

editor
30 May 2017
Oikos is hiring a new senior Editor to develop strategic initiatives to maintain and improve the journal’s reputation as one of the leading ones in the field. The strategy editor will develop and coordinate initiatives to attract manuscripts that trigger progress in...

From molecules to ecosystems

editor
23 May 2017
Understanding only arises from organising knowledge to reveal relationships and patterns - what the Periodic Table did for chemistry. Biology is inherently difficult to organise and find general patterns. For example, different bits of biology have referred to the ‘...

Importance of food quality for extinction

editor
23 May 2017
In communities of competing prey species of different food quality, predators may supplement their diets of low-quality prey with high-quality prey, leading to indirect interactions between different prey species. We show that this interaction not only ensures the...

Cover May

editor
9 May 2017
The cover for the May Issue is drawn by Robert Fischer, one of the authors to the paper "Importance of mixotrophic bacterivory can be predicted by light and loss rates". Robert describes it like this: The watercolor painting represents a free interpretation of an...

Rotifers hedge their bets against environmental unpredictability

editor
9 May 2017
Humans are not the only species to hedge their bets against uncertainty. No habitat is completely predictable and organisms –from microorganisms to vertebrates– living in fluctuating environments may exhibit bet-hedging strategies, which are believed to have evolved to...

Fitness in invasive social wasps

editor
9 May 2017
Figure 1: Foraging common wasp worker carrying its prey. The beech forests in Nelson Lakes National Park, New Zealand, are filled with the buzzing sound of wasps. Nests are well hidden in the ground but in this forest, they can be easily spotted by observing foraging...

Welcome Julien Cote - new SE

editor
21 April 2017
We have the great pleasure to welcome Julien Cote, University of Tolouse, France, to our Editorial Board. Get to know him on his website http://www.juliencote.fr/ and in the interview below: What's you main research focus at the moment? I currently study the impacts of...

The who, when, where, how and why of partial migration

editor
21 April 2017
We were amazed when we first heard rumours that giant tortoises migrated up and down the volcanoes of the Galapagos Islands. Darwin had first mentioned the possibility after discussing with local farmers why tortoise trails went uphill! Later, several researchers found...

Complexity and structure of food webs in the Barents Sea

editor
19 April 2017
A food web describes the diversity of species and their feeding relationships, i.e. "who eats whom". Food webs are essential parts of ecology as they summarize who is present in an ecosystem and how species interact with one another, here as consumer and prey. It may...

More species, more genes?

editor
11 April 2017
More species, more genes? Why positive correlations between species and genetic diversity might not be the rule Diversity is an essential facet of natural ecosystems that cuts through many organizational scales. The diversity of species observed in a given area (...

Welome Morgan Kelly - new SE

editor
11 April 2017
We have the great pleasure to welcome Morgan Kelly, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, to our Editroial Board. Get to know her in the interview below: What's you main research focus at the moment? My research...

Cover April

editor
7 April 2017
The photo on our cover for our Per Brink Special Issue shows a juvenile moor frog (Rana arvalis) in the forest floor in Central Sweden, May 2016. This species is one of the most abundant and widespread amphibians in Scandinavia, even tolerating freezing during the...

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