Mycorrhizal symbiosis and environmental conditions shape understory herb diversity in a large temperate forest region Jie Li, Rihan Da, Zheng Yin, Fushan Cheng, Chunyu Fan, Klaus von Gadow, Chunyu Zhang, Xiuhai Zhao This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can be found here. …

📰Published📰Mycorrhizal symbiosis and environmental conditions shape understory herb diversity in a large temperate forest region🌳

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Root exudates mediate microorganisms to improve rhizosphere nutrient availability and crop productivity under straw mulching and slow-release nitrogen fertilizer Jiajie Song, Shahzad Haider, Jianheng Song, Dingding Zhang, Gaihe Yang, Guangxin Ren, Xing Wang, Yongzhong Feng This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can b…

📰Published📰Root exudates mediate microorganisms to improve rhizosphere nutrient availability and crop productivity under straw mulching and slow-release nitrogen fertilizer🌽

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💡We're still looking for proposals for our special feature with @jappliedecology.bsky.social
and @funecology.bsky.social!

🪲This special feature will focus on how climate change affects plant–antagonist interactions.

Find out more 👉️ buff.ly/RtmeWgE

Forest type and leaf habit mediate thermal and drought tolerance across a tropical elevational gradient Caitlin N. Terry, Perla Ortiz-Colín, Jennifer S. Powers, German Vargas G., Adrián Guadamúz, Catherine M. Hulshof This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can …

📰Published📰Forest type and leaf habit mediate thermal and drought tolerance across a tropical elevational gradient🌳

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🗻 we're accepting proposals for a new Special Feature, "Mountain Biodiversity in the Anthropocene", which will also be included in @funecology.bsky.social and @journalofecology.bsky.social
📩 submit your proposal before 17 May here: buff.ly/vBbRmgH

Gradual pollen release in a buzz‐pollinated plant: Investigating pollen presentation theory under bee visitation Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

MS student Kaitlyn Pankratz & I got the chance 2 write a @funecology.bsky.social Spotlight besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... highlighting cool results of a test of Pollen Presentation Theory in besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... by Lundgren & @nicrodemo.bsky.social

How Two Wasps Peacefully Share a Single Host—Even When Food Runs Out Minghui Fei, Jeffrey A. Harvey, Haowu Hu, Haitian Song, Baoping Li, Rieta Gols This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can be found here. When two animals ne…

📰Published📰How two wasps peacefully share a single host—even when food runs out🐛

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Manuel López-Aliste | Differential effects of agricultural expansion on wild bee taxonomic and functional diversity In this ‘Behind the Paper’ blog post, author Manuel López-Aliste discusses the paper “Differential effects of agricultural expansion on wild bee taxonomic and functional diversity…

👀Find out more about the research behind this cover in our 'Behind the Paper' blog post from author Manuel López-Aliste!

Manuel discusses how agricultural expansion affects bee traits, using an entomological collection to measure functional traits, and trusting the process.

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🐣Our April issue is out now!🐣

📙On the cover: A frontal picture of the native bumblebee Bombus dahlbomii (the largest bumblebee in the world) obtained through stack-photography (Credit: Manuel López-Aliste)

📖Read it here: buff.ly/4mVqDga

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Not by chance: how lightning might shape forest structure and species composition Bianca Zoletto, Masha T. van der Sande, Peter van der Sleen, Evan M. Gora, Daniel Mitchard, Aventino Nkwasibwe, Marijn Bauters, Aida Cuni-Sanchez, Martin J.P. Sullivan, Dennis Babaasa, Meirion Hill…

📰Published📰Not by chance: how lightning might shape forest structure and species composition⚡️

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How some oaks handle cold and drought better than others Barbara M. Neto-Bradley, Jeannine Cavender-Bares, David A. Coomes This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can be found here. Oaks (Quercus) are a geographica…

📰Published📰How some oaks handle cold and drought better than others🌳

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🔍️We're looking for proposals to our special feature with @jappliedecology.bsky.social and @journalofecology.bsky.social!

🦗The focus of this feature is how climate change affects plant–antagonist interactions

💡Find out more here
👉️ buff.ly/tu1imM1

Haldane Prize 2025 | Xiaojing Zhang: Mycelium biomass and community composition impact nutrient concentration in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi at fine spatial scale 2025 HALDANE PRIZE SHORTLIST: Xiaojing Zhang discusses her paper “Mycelium biomass and community composition impact nutrient concentration in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi at fine spatial scal…

⭐️Shortlisted for the 2025 Haldane Prize!⭐️

Xiaojing Zhang conducted an experiment to quantify the spatial heterogeneity of plant–soil–mycelia nutrients 🌱

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Haldane Prize 2025 | Alon Rapaport: Rapid and chemically diverse C transfer from trees to mycorrhizal fruit bodies in the forest 2025 HALDANE PRIZE SHORTLIST: Alon Rapaport discusses his paper “Rapid and chemically diverse C transfer from trees to mycorrhizal fruit bodies in the forest”, which has been shortliste…

⭐️Shortlisted for the 2025 Haldane Prize!⭐️

Alon Rapaport aimed to unravel the fate of tree-derived C in ectomycorrhizal fungi🍄‍🟫

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Haldane Prize 2025 | James Mouton: Behavioural co-option of plant secondary compounds by a cavity-nesting bird is an adaptation against competition and predation 2025 HALDANE PRIZE SHORTLIST: James Mouton discusses the paper “Behavioural co-option of plant secondary compounds by a cavity-nesting bird is an adaptation against competition and predation&…

⭐️Shortlisted for the 2025 Haldane Prize!⭐️

James Mouton investigate if the novel behavioural co-option of conifer resin in a cavity-nesting bird can ameliorate interactions with nest predators and nest site competitors🐦️

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nicolewalasek.bsky.social

Haldane Prize 2025 | Nicole Walasek: The evolution of sensitive periods beyond early ontogeny: Bridging theory and data 2025 HALDANE PRIZE SHORTLIST: Nicole Walasek discusses her paper “The evolution of sensitive periods beyond early ontogeny: Bridging theory and data”, which has been shortlisted for Fun…

⭐️Shortlisted for the 2025 Haldane Prize!⭐️

Nicole Walasek synthesised recent mathematical models and empirical studies exploring sensitive periods beyond early ontogeny📈

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@mishastemkovski.bsky.social

There's still time to sign up to our free webinar!

Dr. Hugo Magaldi and Prof. Sabrina Krief will be discussing camera‑trapping in Uganda and their development of DeepForestVision for AI species labelling and quality control 📸

Register here! 👇
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Haldane Prize 2025 | Michael Stemkovski: Ecological acclimation: A framework to integrate fast and slow responses to climate change 2025 HALDANE PRIZE SHORTLIST: Michael Stemkovski discusses his paper “Ecological acclimation: A framework to integrate fast and slow responses to climate change”, which has been shortli…

⭐️Shortlisted for the 2025 Haldane Prize!⭐️

Michael Stemkovski developed ‘ecological acclimation’ as a unifying framework to emphasize the similarity of dynamics driven by processes operating on dramatically different time-scales and levels of biological organization⏳️

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Haldane Prize 2025 | João Vitor Messeder: Rethinking the role of colour in avian fruit choices and foraging mechanisms 2025 HALDANE PRIZE SHORTLIST: João Vitor Messeder discusses the paper “Rethinking the role of colour in avian fruit choices and foraging mechanisms”, which has been shortlisted for Func…

⭐️Shortlisted for the 2025 Haldane Prize!⭐️

João Vitor Messeder analysed avian fruit preferences across tropical and temperate ecosystems using observational data and field experiments with artificial fruits🐦️

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Congratulations, Kentaro on this great achievement and on earning your PhD!

Reproduction in urban wildlife: the interconnection between body weight, animal personality, and urbanization Maria Vittoria Mazzamuto, Claudia Tranquillo, Sandro Bertolino, Francesco Bisi, Francesca Santicchia, Damiano Preatoni, Adriano Martinoli, Lucas Armand Wauters This is a plain language summary of a…

📰Published📰Reproduction in urban wildlife: the interconnection between body weight, animal personality, and urbanization🐿️

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Shrubs inhibit plant diseases by intercepting light in alpine meadows Yimin Zhao, Xiaodan Tan, Peng Zhang, Yao Xiao, Xiang Liu, Mu Liu This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can be found here. Climate change is driving shrubs …

📰Published📰Shrubs inhibit plant diseases by intercepting light in alpine meadows🌄

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Biodiversity shapes resource use efficiency to drive trophic asynchrony and determine ecosystem stability under multi-stressors Chaoyue Cheng, Haojie Su, Yafang Qin, Yongchao Peng, Qingyang Rao, Shangsheng Sun, Ruyi Li, Zengliang Jian, Misha Zhong, Yihan Wang, Yuwei Wang, Jianfeng Chen, Jun Chen, Ping Xie This is a plain la…

📰Published📰Biodiversity shapes resource use efficiency to drive trophic asynchrony and determine ecosystem stability under multi-stressors💧

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How low can they go? Hummingbirds can eat dilute nectars, but it may require more time on the wing Rosalee L. Elting, Anusha Shankar, Catherine H. Graham, Holger Beck, Alejandro Rico-Guevara, Donald R. Powers This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can be …

📰Published📰How low can they go? Hummingbirds can eat dilute nectars, but it may require more time on the wing🐦️

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Defense traits vary across leaf ages in thistles Miranda A. Sinnott-Armstrong, Jaein Choi, Nathanael I. Lichti, Bruce R. Cooper, Miranda C. Desmangles, Nicholas A. Steeves, Chingyan Huang, Albert M. Quigley, Yingying Xie, Daniel S. Park This is a…

📰Published📰Defense traits vary across leaf ages in thistles🍃

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Haldane Prize 2025 | Kentaro Takagi: Realized flower constancy in bumble bees: Optimal foraging strategy balancing cognitive and travel costs and its possible consequences for floral diversity 2025 HALDANE PRIZE SHORTLIST: Kentaro Takagi discusses the paper “Realized flower constancy in bumble bees: Optimal foraging strategy balancing cognitive and travel costs and its possible con…

⭐️Shortlisted for the 2025 Haldane Prize!⭐️

Kentaro Takagi investigated realised flower constancy as an adaptive strategy where pollinators balance the effort of recalling information with travel costs in various environments🐝

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How Jellyfish Blooms Reshape Ocean Ecosystems: Findings from Jiaozhou Bay, China Pengpeng Wang, Fang Zhang, Xiaoke Xin, Shuo Wang, Song Sun This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can be found here. You may have heard news about beaches b…

📰Published📰How jellyfish blooms reshape ocean ecosystems: findings from Jiaozhou Bay, China🪼

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Haldane Prize 2025 | Marion Boisseaux: Shifting trait coordination along a soil-moisture-nutrient gradient in tropical forests 2025 HALDANE PRIZE SHORTLIST: Marion Boisseaux, discusses her paper ‘Shifting trait coordination along a soil-moisture-nutrient gradient in tropical forests’, which has been shortlisted for Functio…

⭐️Shortlisted for the 2025 Haldane Prize!⭐️

Marion Boisseaux used a multivariate approaches to capture how physiological traits in tropical tree species combine to build strategies across environmental gradients🌳

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@marionboisseaux.bsky.social