Andrew Cortese, from Michigan State University, discusses his article: Ectomycorrhizal tree islands in arbuscular mycorrhizal forests: hotspots of fungal inoculum important for seedling establishment of historically dominant trees Present-day forests echo past disturbance history Northeastern North American forests are comprised of a mixture of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and ectomycorrhizal (EM) trees. However, by the turn ..read more

Are you an early career researcher from the Global South, looking to gain editorial experience? We’re welcoming applications for our newly launched Associate Editor mentoring program! ? What the role involves Successful applicants will be given the opportunity to join the Journal of Ecology Editorial Board for 2 years. This voluntary position aims to develop ..read more

Vít Latzel (@LatzelV; @IBOTCZ; @popecolIBOT), Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences, discusses his article: Transgenerational effects of mycorrhiza are stronger in sexual than in clonal offspring of Fragaria vesca and are partly adaptive BackgroundPlants have a great capacity to adjust their phenotypes to the environment—not just during their own lifetimes, but also ..read more

Sean J Sharp (@seancologie, Linkedin), from University of Maryland, discusses his article: Large grazers suppress a foundational plant and reduce soil carbon concentration in eastern US saltmarshes Grazing has been a common practice in temperate salt marshes for millennia. In European saltmarshes, the grazing activity of large animals like sheep and cows can boost plant ..read more

We’re delighted to announce that Sarah Dalrymple has been appointed as a new Senior Editor for the Biological Flora at Journal of Ecology, to work alongside Anthony Davy. Sarah has worked on Biological Flora accounts for a number of years as an Associate Editor, and we’re excited to welcome her to the new role! Sarah ..read more

Erica Rievrs Borges, Institut de recherche pour le développement in France, discusses her article: Evolutionary diversity impacts tropical forest biomass and productivity through disturbance-mediated ecological pathways in both English and French. Understanding Biodiversity and Biomass We know that tropical forests are incredibly important, partly because they account for around half of global forest aboveground carbon ..read more

The editor’s choice for our September issue is ‘Scatterhoarder abundance and advantages of seed burial drive dynamics of a tree–rodent interaction‘, by Rafał Zwolak et al.:  This study examines how density-dependent foraging decisions and abiotic conditions jointly influence mutualistic benefits. The results show that mutualistic interactions between yellow-necked mice and common oaks are highly influenced by mouse abundance ..read more

Federico Riva, Environmental Geography Dept. of the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM),Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, discusses his review article: Incorporating effects of habitat patches into species distribution models Habitat patches are everywhere – forests surrounded by agriculture, pastures within Alpine forests, or green areas in a city. This patchiness of many ecosystem types is key to ..read more

Andrew Eagar and Sara Moledor, from Michigan State University’s Department of Plant Biology, discuss their research group’s new review paper: Setting the Stage for Plant-Soil Feedback: Mycorrhizal Influences over Conspecific Recruitment, Plant and Fungal Communities, and Coevolution A holistic view of plant-soil feedback Research over the last 20 years on plant-soil interactions has greatly advanced ..read more

Karl Andraczek (@KarlAndraczek), from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, discusses his article: Weak reciprocal relationships between productivity and plant biodiversity in managed grasslands Setting The Scene Global change impacts both plant diversity and ecosystem functioning with detrimental consequences for nature’s contributions to people. Predicting these consequences has emerged as a focal ..read more