Field work at home - in the tropics

editor

18 October 2016

Most biologists in temperate countries wonder how it is to study ecological systems in megadiverse tropical countries. Yes, it is thrilling, a true privilege. By walking in pristine tropical forests, savannas, and grasslands sometimes you have a sensation similar to a...

Species richness and biomass-how are they related?

editor

13 September 2016

Figure 1: More diverse assemblages of herbivores, like these algal grazers living on seagrass, produce more grazer biomass. Hundreds of experiments have shown that changes in species richness affect the biomass of a species assemblage. Have they converged on a single...

INTEGRATING TOOLS OF ECOLOGICAL STOICHIOMETRY AND NUTRITIONAL GEOMETRY

editor

6 September 2016

Background: ES/NG working group at Woodstoich III Upon meeting at the Woodstoich III workshop in Sydney, Australia in the summer of 2014, we and four other working groups sought to explore connections between ecological stoichiometry (ES), nutritional geometry (NG),...

Of birthday cakes and interactions of density-dependence

editor

30 August 2016

There are few things that we perceive as exclusively good or bad. Whether something is good or bad often depends on conditions and circumstances. Take, for example, a birthday party. Most of us like to be surrounded by many dear friends to celebrate. It’s just more fun...

How do herbivores find the plants?

editor

23 August 2016

Can herbivores use sight and smell to detect preferred plants from afar? Our study shows that these senses are used by a model browser, the swamp wallaby, to find and consume eucalypt seedlings. However, the use of odour and visual cues is dependent on the context -...

Lichen it up in the trees

editor

16 August 2016

Stress hormones provide a cloudy picture of environmental quality and fitness

editor

5 July 2016

Wildlife are facing many stressors spanning climate change, loss and alteration of habitats, and pollutants. In an effort to determine whether organisms can cope with an altered environment, many ecologists and conservation biologists have begun to turn to measures of...

How does temperature influence the winter moth’s phenology?

editor

28 June 2016

In most species phenology, or the timing of biological events such as flowering, migration, or reproduction, is crucial for survival and fitness. Several external and internal factors such as light, temperature, endogenous clocks, food-availability and density are...

Sometimes “less is more”… ecological networks also prove us right

editor

17 June 2016

The networks of plant-animal interactions represent a perfect tool to capture the complexity of ecological communities, and, simultaneously, to relate the effect of this complexity on ecosystem functioning. For example, seed dispersal, an important ecological process...