British Ecological Society Journals

For Black History Month 2023, the British Ecological Society is celebrating the work of Black ecologists around the world. In this episode, Gideon Deme joins Frank Harris to discuss his journey towards becoming an ecologist, highlight barriers to accessing ecology for black ecologists, and inspiring figures that helped him along the way. Gideon is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Biology at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, USA. Gideon is also an Associate Editor for Ecological Solutions & Evidence Check out all of the British Ecological Society's BHM 2023 blog posts and podcasts here: www.britishecologicalsociety.org/membersh…th-2023/

For Black History Month 2023, the British Ecological Society is celebrating the work of Black ecologists around the world. In this episode, Reuben Fakoya-Brooks joins Amelia Macho. Having studied Zoology, Reuben worked as researcher for the NHS before starting a PhD in Human Behavioural Ecology at University College London. He has worked closely with the BES, founding the Racial & Ethnic Equality & Diversity (REED) ecological network here, which he also chaired. Reuben talks about his journey navigating work and academia, as well as his passion for photography, and discusses the importance of representation and support for under-represented communities. Check out all of the British Ecological Society's BHM 2023 blog posts and podcasts here: www.britishecologicalsociety.org/membersh…th-2023/

For Black History Month 2023, the British Ecological Society is celebrating the work of Black ecologists around the world. In this episode, Dr Perpetra Akite speaks to Amelia Macho about her experiences in academia, as a researcher and lecturer at the University of Makerere, Kampala, Uganda. Perpetra discusses the importance of representation and role models for Black ecologists, as well as the need for more effective collaboration. You can read Perpetra's blog post, referenced in the podcast, here: https://relationalthinkingblog.com/2020/10/13/perpetra-akite-my-ugandan-ecological-journey-against-all-odds/ Check out all of the British Ecological Society's BHM 2023 blog posts and podcasts here: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/membership-community/black-history-month-2023/

An analysis of 75 years of Peregrine Falcon monitoring data shows that performance increased substantially following the reduction in the use of organochlorine pesticides. Gradual recovery of the population occurred over four decades. Our results suggest that the temporal pattern of organochlorine pesticide use strongly influenced Peregrine reproductive parameters but that the pattern of influence differed regionally. Image Copyright M. McGrady

For Black History Month 2023, the British Ecological Society is celebrating the work of Black ecologists around the world. In this first episode, Yoseph Araya joins Lydia Groves to discuss how we can encourage more people to experience nature, highlight role models and suggest what we can do to improve Black ecologists' experiences in academia. Yoseph is a Senior Lecturer at the Open University and Lydia is the Publishing Assistant for Journal of Applied Ecology. Check out all of the British Ecological Society's BHM 2023 blog posts and podcasts here: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/membership-community/black-history-month-2023/

Douglas Cirino, shortlisted for the Southwood Prize 2022, talks to Lydia Groves about his research article ‘Balanced spatial distribution of green areas creates healthier urban landscapes’ as well as what he's been up to since the prize nomination. Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14195

In this podcast, Amelia Macho chats with Ricardo Correia - Assistant Professor at the Biodiversity Unit of the University of Turku - about his paper 'The searchscape of fear: A global analysis of internet search trends for biophobias'. This research was published in People and Nature in July 2023. It investigated Google search trends for biophobias between 2004 and 2022. Its findings, that 17 out of the 25 biophobias investigated increased in search prevalence worldwide, particularly in urban populations, suggest an increasing disconnectedness from nature, which has implications for perceptions towards biodiversity conservation. Read the article here: https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10497 Read the Plain Language Summary here: https://relationalthinkingblog.com/2023/06/14/plain-language-summary-internet-searches-reveal-the-prevalence-of-multiple-biophobias-across-the-world/ Hissing Cockroach sound clip from Pixabay

Hillary Smith joins Lydia Groves, publishing assistant for Journal of Applied Ecology, to discuss the research article ‘Sea-weeding: Manual removal of macroalgae facilitates rapid coral recovery’. Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14502

In this podcast, Frank Harris sits down with Michael Belitz—a Post-Doc at Michigan State University, USA—to discuss his recently published paper: Phenological research based on natural history collections: Practical guidelines and a lepidopteran case study. This paper featured in a Special Feature on Natural History Collections was published jointly in Functional Ecology, Journal of Animal Ecology, Journal of Ecology and Methods in Ecology and Evolution. Belitz et al. provide a set of best practice recommendations to utilize NHC data for phenology and showcase these practical guidelines through a case study that utilizes natural history collection data to test hypotheses about trends in when North American adult butterflies and moths are in flight. * Special Feature: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/leveraging_natural_history?= * Article: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.14173 *PLS: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2022/09/06/guidelines-for-using-natural-hi

In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with Fernanda Santos, Joe Bailey, and Jen Schweitzer who guest edited the recently published Functional Ecology special feature titled "Fire as a dynamic ecological and evolutionary force." This collection of studies provide recommendations on how to: engage in developing ecological and evolutionary databases for fire ecology; integrate hierarchical genetic structure or phylogenetic structure; develop new experimental frameworks that limit context dependent outcomes,; increase sample size and availability of curated datasets; increase functional trait knowledge; and increase representation of ecological communities in the literature and context-dependency.

In this podcast, Frank Harris sits down with Nicki Mitchell—Associate Professor at the University of Western Australia, and Deputy Director at the UWA Oceans Institute—to discuss her recently published paper: Activity of a freshwater turtle varies across a latitudinal gradient: Implications for the success of assisted colonisation Nicki et al's results conclude that poor growth of turtles in the southern wetland was likely a result of lower body temperatures, stemming from a reduced ability to thermoregulate in water. Consequently, for assisted colonisation of juvenile P. umbrina to be successful, recipient wetlands must offer aquatic microclimates that are sufficiently warm to promote foraging activity that leads to growth, and ultimately to maturation. * Article: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.14338 * PLS: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2023/05/15/seeking-a-just-right-site-for-the-western-swamp-turtle/

In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with Philip Zylstra—Adjunct Associate Professor at the School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Australia—to discuss his recently published paper: Mechanisms by which growth and succession limit the impact of fire in a south-western Australian forested ecosystem Philip’s paper shows that, left alone, Red Tingle forests burn with much smaller flames, store far more carbon, and provide safe habitat for the many species now threatened by frequent fire. Once we know such natural controls on fire, it is possible to work with and reinforce them. * Article: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.14305 * Plain language summary: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2023/03/21/forests-that-keep-fires-small-and-how-they-do-it/

In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with Matthias Schleuning—one of the three guest editors (also Joseph Tobias & Dani Garcia)—to discuss the recently published Special Focus titled, "Animal Functional Traits." This collection of studies shows how precise measurements of morphological or physiological traits can increase mechanistic understanding of community assembly across trophic levels, particularly of the mechanisms underpinning large-scale biodiversity patterns. Special Focus: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2435.animalfunctionaltraits Blogpost: https://functionalecologists.com/2023/01/05/animal-functional-traits-a-functional-ecology-special-focus/

Mark Huxham joins Lydia Groves, publishing assistant for Journal of Applied Ecology, to discuss the research article 'Where to fish in the forest? Tree characteristics and contiguous seagrass features predict mangrove forest quality for fishes and crustaceans'. Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14421

In this episode, Assistant Editor for Functional Ecology, Frank Harris, sits down with Robin Heinen who has been nominated for the 2022 Haldane Prize. This prize is awarded to the best research from an early career researcher. Robin has been nominated for her paper: Foliar herbivory on plants creates soil legacy effects that impact future insect herbivore growth via changes in plant community biomass allocation Paper: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.14006 PLS: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2022/01/26/insect-feeding-leaves-a-detectable-footprint-in-the-soil-that-causes-plants-that-grow-in-it-to-hide-belowground/ Blogpost: https://functionalecologists.com/2022/03/01/robin-heinen-feeding-from-up-to-bottom-belowground-herbivory-impacts-on-plant-soil-feedbacks/

Sarah is the author of one of the shortlisted research articles for the Southwood Prize 2022, celebrating early career ecologists. Lydia Groves, publishing assistant for Journal of Applied Ecology, sits down with Sarah Schwieger to discuss the research article 'Rewetting prolongs root growing season in minerotrophic peatlands and mitigates negative drought effects'. Find the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14222

Paula is the author of one of the shortlisted research articles for the Southwood Prize 2022, celebrating early career ecologists. Lydia Groves, publishing assistant for Journal of Applied Ecology, sits down with Paula Prist to discuss the research article 'Roads and forest edges facilitate yellow fever virus dispersion'. Find the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14031

In this episode, Assistant Editor for Functional Ecology, Frank Harris, sits down with Hannah Meier who has been nominated for the 2022 Haldane Prize. This prize is awarded to the best research from an early career researcher. Hannah has been nominated for her paper: Temperature-mediated transgenerational plasticity influences movement behaviour in the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Paper: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.14214 Plain language Summary: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2022/11/07/the-effects-of-temperature-can-influence-the-movement-of-green-algae-individuals-across-multiple-generations/ English Blogpost: https://functionalecologists.com/2023/01/24/hannah-meier-transgenerational-behavioral-plasticity-in-chlamydomonas-reinhardtii/ German Blogpost: https://functionalecologists.com/2023/01/24/hannah-meier-transgenerational-behavioral-plasticity-in-chlamydomonas-reinhardtii-german-translation/

Liz is the author of one of the shortlisted research articles for the Southwood Prize 2022, celebrating early career ecologists. Lydia Groves, publishing assistant for Journal of Applied Ecology, sits down with Liz Koziol to discuss the research article 'Manipulating plant microbiomes in the field: Native mycorrhizae advance plant succession and improve native plant restoration'. Find the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14036

In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with Lauren Nadler and Sandra Binning—two of the four guest editors (also Shelley Adamo & Dana Hawley)—to discuss the recently published cross-journal (with Journal of Animal Ecology) Special Feature titled, The Mechanisms and Consequences of Infection-Induced Phenotypes. This special feature highlights recent insights into the ways parasites alter host phenotypes across a range of systems. Here, we contextualize how each contribution expands our knowledge of the role of parasites in driving individual variation in animal phenotypes. Special Feature: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2435.infection-induced-phenotypes Editorial: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.14309 Transcript: https://functionalecologists.com/2023/04/12/the-mechanisms-and-consequences-of-infection-induced-phenotypes-podcast-transcript/