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Upping your theory game by Samuel M. Scheiner

drupaladmin
12 November 2013
Recently I published an analysis of the extent to which the ecological literature engages with theory ( http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ele.12196/abstract ). One part of that analysis was a comparison of current journals. Among the ecology journals, Oikos...

Editor's choice November 3.0

drupaladmin
12 November 2013
Last week, EiC Chris Lortie presented the editor's choice papers for the November issue. Below you find the nice figure and table from one of them, "Dispersal and species’ responses to climate change" , by Travis et al. And remember, Editor's choice papers are freely...

Reminder: Photo competition- Oikos cover 2014

drupaladmin
8 November 2013
A few days left to submit your ecology-photo! Will your photo be on the Oikos cover 2014? We seek photos illustrating the Oikos’ goal of Synthesising Ecology or demonstrating ecology in action (e.g. processes or interactions), not only a single organism or a landscape...

Diversity, diggers, and disease: nutrient balance and ecosystem function in grasslands

drupaladmin
4 November 2013
How herbivores and nutrient interact in grassland communities is studied in the early View paper "Multiple nutrients and herbivores interact to govern diversity, productivity, composition, and infection in a successional grassland" by Elizabeth T. Borer and co-workers...

Editor's Choice November: Indirect interactions

drupaladmin
29 October 2013
Indirect interactions are one of my current favorite topics. So fascinating, so elusive, simple in theory, but easily construed. This was the second editor's choice for November: Alexander, M. E., Dick, J. T. A. and O’Connor, N. E. 2013. Trait-mediated indirect...

Editor's choice November: Dispersal and climate change.

drupaladmin
29 October 2013
Will climate change ever have positive impacts :) In many respects, climate change and invasive species both challenge our notions of community assembly and the relative importance of various drivers in structuring both populations and communities. For the first editor...

Measuring the strength of trade-offs

drupaladmin
28 October 2013
A new method to measure the strength of trade-offs is presented and tested in the Early View paper "A standardized approach to estimate life history tradeoffs in evolutionary ecology" by Sandra Hamel and co-workers. Here's Sandra's summary of the paper: A major goal of...

Can plants make a decision?

drupaladmin
25 October 2013
Plants that make active decisions? Read more in the Early View paper "Informed dispersal in plants: Heterosperma pinnatum (Asteraceae) adjusts its dispersal mode to escape from competition and water stress" by Carlos Martorell and Marcella Martinez-Lopez. Here's their...

Safer with close neighbors

drupaladmin
22 October 2013
Does new-density increase or decrease predation rate? Find out in the new Early View paper "Adaptive nest clustering and density-dependent nest survival in dabbling ducks" by Kevin M. Ringelman and co-workers. Here's Kevin's summary of the paper: Many wildlife...

Crowding effects on indfidelity

drupaladmin
18 October 2013
How density effects reproductive success and extra pair-paternity is studied in the new Early View paper "Form, function and consequences of density dependence in a long-distance migratory bird" by Ann E. McKellar and co-workers. Below is Ann's summary of the study:...

Like a missile attack on the ecosystem

drupaladmin
15 October 2013
The resilience of eco systems is studied in the new Early View paper "A new approach for rapid detection of nearby thresholds in ecosystem time series" by Stephen R. Carpenter and co-workers, in Oikos. Below is Stephen's summary of the study: When is the disappearance...

Where am I and Why?

drupaladmin
11 October 2013
In the Early view Oikos paper "Where am I and Why? Synthesizing range biology and the eco-evolutionary dynamics of dispersal", Alexander Kubisch, Robert D. Holt, Hans Joachim Poethke and Emanuel A. Fronhofer investigate the emergence of species' geographic ranges and...

Multi-scale co-ocurrence patterns in India

drupaladmin
8 October 2013
How species associate with each other and other co-ocurrence patterns have been studied by Mahi Puri and colleagues along the west coast of India. Read the new Early View paper here: " Multi-scale patterns in co-occurrence of rocky inter-tidal gastropods along the west...

Does the moon cause "10-year" cycles in animal populations?

drupaladmin
4 October 2013
What effect does the moon actually have on us? And on animal populations? Find out more in the new Early View paper "Linking ‘10-year’ herbivore cycles to the lunisolar oscillation: the cosmic ray hypothesis" by Vidar Selås. Below, is Vidar's summary of the study: The...

Temperature variability and population dynamics

drupaladmin
1 October 2013
A new theoretical model to better study of the role temperature variability plays on individual performance and population dynamics, is presented in the new Early View paper "The role of temperature variability on insect performance and population dynamics in a warming...

Ecological periodic tables

drupaladmin
24 September 2013
Can ecological patterns be organized in a "Periodic table"? Find out in the Early View paper "Ecological periodic tables: in principle and practice" by Steven P. Ferraro. Watch Steven's talk about it here: http://my.brainshark.com/Periodic-Tables-PeerOvation-486260509...

Mind your "girth"!

drupaladmin
20 September 2013
What body condition index is best? Studied for mice in the new Early View paper by Marta K Labocha and co-workers. Below is a summary by Marta: In humans, BMI (or the body mass index) is a widely used indicator of a person’s body fat. In animals other than humans, body...

Dispersal at the heart of our thinking

drupaladmin
13 September 2013
Read Justin Travis' and co-workers' Forum paper "Dispersal and species’ responses to climate change" in Oikos Early View. Below is Justin's background story to the paper: Over the last decade or so there have been a series of meetings and workshops involving...

The higher up, the smaller the seeds

drupaladmin
10 September 2013
How the mass of plant seeds change with altitude is studied in the new Oikos Early View paper "Disentangling ecological, allometric and evolutionary determinants of the relationship between seed mass and elevation: insights from multiple analyses of 1355 angiosperm...

Editor's choice September

drupaladmin
6 September 2013
For the September issues, we chose the forum paper of Caplat et al. as editor’s choice. The paper arose from a special symposium at the 2011 ESA meeting in Austin, and synthesizes how insights from invasion ecology can help us understanding species responses to climate...

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