BES Annual Meeting 2024: More than just a conference

Ardiantiono, Associate Editor mentee of Journal of Applied Ecology, writes about his experience attending the British Ecological Society’s 2024 Annual Meeting for the first time. Registration for the 2025 Annual Meeting in Edinburgh is now open. Liverpool has long been on my travel wish list. Especially as I initially wanted to visit for Eurovision 2023, but tickets were impossible to get! Fast forward to December … Continue reading BES Annual Meeting 2024: More than just a conference

Field Diaries: A regenerative agriculture model rooted in Goan tradition

In our ‘Field Diaries’ series, The Applied Ecologist is sharing stories from a range of different fieldwork experiences. In this first-person pictorial account, Apeksha Khedekar explores their time spent researching the sustainability of homestead farming among tribal populations in Goa. About the author I was a master’s student in environmental science with a specialisation in ecological sciences at the Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development … Continue reading Field Diaries: A regenerative agriculture model rooted in Goan tradition

LGBTQ+ inclusion in science and society: Resilience in uncertain times and the importance of community

To celebrate Pride Month 2025, we are excited to share a series of blogs and podcasts highlighting useful articles and resources for LGBTQIA+ ecologists and researchers. In each post, the authors behind these resources explain what they are, how they came to produce them, and why they are important. The authors Nathan Alexander (he/him)  ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nathan-Alexander   Bluesky: smammalbio@bsky.social  Jaime Coon (they/them, she/her)  ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jaime-Coon   Instagram: … Continue reading LGBTQ+ inclusion in science and society: Resilience in uncertain times and the importance of community

Fire season and drought influence fire effects on invasive grasses

In this Q&A, we discussed with author Charlotte Reemts the background behind her team’s recently published meta-analysis focused on invasive bluestems. Why study this group of grasses? Warm-season grasses from these two genera (Bothriochloa and Dichanthium) are interesting because they are important species in their native ranges but have also been introduced into other grasslands around the world. In many grasslands around the world, you … Continue reading Fire season and drought influence fire effects on invasive grasses

The potential of second-growth forests for bird diversity in a small holder landscape

Mareike Kortmann and co-authors share a summary about their latest study which focusses on the ability of sample coverage to impact diversity measures of bird communities in tropical lowland forests. Tropical old-growth forests are disappearing at an alarming rate, leading to concerning biodiversity loss. But amidst this global decline, some forest areas are also recovering. Second-growth forests—those that regenerate after agricultural use—may offer valuable contributions … Continue reading The potential of second-growth forests for bird diversity in a small holder landscape

Southwood Prize 2024: Winner announced for early career researcher award

Journal of Applied Ecology is happy to share that Agostina Torres is the winner of this year’s Southwood Prize! This annual award is given to the best article in the journal by an author at the start of their career. This year, Agostina was selected by the Senior Editors amid an impressive shortlist of 10 articles. Winner: Agostina Torres Research: Inverse priority effects: The order and timing of removal … Continue reading Southwood Prize 2024: Winner announced for early career researcher award

Maja Bradarić: Forecasting nocturnal bird migration for dynamic aeroconservation

Shortlisted for the 2024 Southwood Prize Maja Bradarić details how, alongside colleagues, utilising radar data, weather and phenological variables allowed for the development of seasonal near-term forecasts of low-altitude nocturnal bird migration over the southern North Sea. About the research Overview Our research explores environmental drivers and spatiotemporal patterns of nocturnal bird migration over the North Sea to predict migration intensity for conservation frameworks. The … Continue reading Maja Bradarić: Forecasting nocturnal bird migration for dynamic aeroconservation

Ying Ki Law: The role of forests in landslide occurrence, recurrence and recovery

Shortlisted for the 2024 Southwood Prize Ying Ki Law explains how her team investigated post-landslide vegetation recovery patterns and the role of forests in occurrence and recurrence probability. About the research Overview Our paper examines how landslides recover and what factors influence their regrowth and landslide risk. While landslide management often focuses on engineering solutions, we emphasize the role of vegetation recovery in long-term stability. … Continue reading Ying Ki Law: The role of forests in landslide occurrence, recurrence and recovery

Agostina Torres: The order and timing of removal of invasive species influence community reassembly

Shortlisted for the 2024 Southwood Prize Agostina Torres introduces us to her latest research which evaluated the dependence of community reassembly on inverse priority effects by experimentally removing the target invasives in field and mesocosm communities. About the research Overview The study emerged as part of my PhD doctorate. Along with my supervisors, Drs. Martin Nuñez and Mariano Rodriguez-Cabal, we were trying to understand why … Continue reading Agostina Torres: The order and timing of removal of invasive species influence community reassembly

Janina Heinen: Diversified cropping strengthens herbivore regulation

Shortlisted for the 2024 Southwood Prize Janina Heinen talks us through her and colleagues’ latest study which explores how agricultural practices impact predation pressure across prey taxa. About the research Overview We explored predator-prey dynamics in agroecosystems by examining how carabid predator diet preferences shift throughout the crop growing season, and are influenced by the availability of prey under different agricultural management practices. By combining … Continue reading Janina Heinen: Diversified cropping strengthens herbivore regulation