Author: Journal of Applied Ecology

Research summaries, Translation

The spontaneous recovery of Neotropical savannas in abandoned pastures – A recuperação espontânea de savanas neotropicais em pastagens abandonadas

Mario Cava comments on the article, Abandoned pastures cannot spontaneously recover the attributes of old-growth savannas, published in Journal of Applied Ecology. The authors have also provided a Portuguese translation of this post. Old-growth savannas are ancient fire-prone systems, with high endemism and species diversity. The richness of these systems is mainly represented by the ground layer. In the Brazilian Cerrado, for example, for each tree … Continue reading The spontaneous recovery of Neotropical savannas in abandoned pastures – A recuperação espontânea de savanas neotropicais em pastagens abandonadas

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology1 Comment
Research summaries

Crop functional traits can help to predict the effects of organic farming on soil carbon sequestration

Focusing on functional traits of crop residues and their connection to soil carbon storage, Pablo Garcia Palacios comments on recent article, Crop traits drive soil carbon sequestration under organic farming. Soil organic carbon is a major agricultural resource for two different reasons. First, it is a measurable component of soil organic matter, which has a key influence on the capacity of soils to retain moisture and … Continue reading Crop functional traits can help to predict the effects of organic farming on soil carbon sequestration

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology2 Comments
Research summaries

Warming, insect pests and water stress combine to reduce tree growth in the city

Emily Meineke comments on new research, Water availability drives urban tree growth responses to herbivory and warming  published today in Journal of Applied Ecology. Cities are getting warmer. This is due in part to global climate change. The more important factor for now, though, is the urban heat island effect; local warming in cities caused by sidewalks, asphalt, and reduced tree cover. In short, areas with less … Continue reading Warming, insect pests and water stress combine to reduce tree growth in the city

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology5 Comments
Coastal and marine, Research summaries

Evaluating the temporal effectiveness of marine reserves

Assessing the effectiveness of marine reserves and evaluating species recovery after closure to towed mobile fishing gear; Associate Editor, Steph Januchowski-Hartley comments on the article, Recovery linked to life history of sessile epifauna following exclusion of towed mobile fishing gear by Kaiser et. al. Reserves, or protected areas, are frequently used to mitigate impacts from human uses. In marine waters these reserves are often established to afford … Continue reading Evaluating the temporal effectiveness of marine reserves

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology1 Comment
Research summaries

Process driving pattern: the long-term impact of a transmissible cancer on Tasmanian devils

Billie Lazenby (Save the Tasmanian Devil Program) discusses new research into devil facial tumour disease and the recent article, Density trends and demographic signals uncover the long-term impact of transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils. Tracking population trends, particularly in response to a threat, is an essential component of conservation management. Moreover understanding what is driving these trends gives insight into whether they are likely to be … Continue reading Process driving pattern: the long-term impact of a transmissible cancer on Tasmanian devils

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology4 Comments
Monitoring and methods, Research summaries

Focus on the predators: an in-depth look at songbird nest predation

Associate Editor, Marc-André Villard discusses the tricky business of managing nest predation and the recent article by Chiavacci et al. Linking landscape composition to predator-specific nest predation requires examining multiple landscape scales. Predation is, by far, the main cause of nest failure in songbirds.  Therefore, it is important to understand the factors putting certain species (or their nests) at risk.  For decades, researchers have tried to identify … Continue reading Focus on the predators: an in-depth look at songbird nest predation

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied EcologyLeave a comment
Careers, Journal news, The Applied Ecologist community

Associate Editor mentoring: welcome to our new mentees 2018

Journal of Applied Ecology is please to offer an Associate Editor mentoring opportunity, available to Early Career Researchers looking to gain more publications and editorial experience. Each mentee enters a two-year role in which they handle manuscripts as an Associate Editor with the support of their own Senior Editor mentor and the Editorial Office. Our new mentees for 2018-2019 are: Chi-Yeung (Jimmy) Choi Centre for … Continue reading Associate Editor mentoring: welcome to our new mentees 2018

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied EcologyLeave a comment
Journal news, Research summaries

Issue 55:2

Issue 55:2 includes a Spotlight on Decision making under uncertainty. Other topics include urban ecology, population monitoring, tropical forest restoration and more. Here we take a look at some of the articles published in this issue. Decision making under uncertainty Senior Editor, Michael Bode on this issue’s selection of Spotlight papers How does grazing by wild ungulates and livestock affect plant richness? This issue’s Editor’s Choice Jaguar … Continue reading Issue 55:2

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied EcologyLeave a comment
Research summaries

Ecological traps for large-scale invasive species control

Predicting recolonisation areas favoured by American mink is a step towards invasive species control, according to this new article by Melero et al. Ecological traps for large-scale invasive species control: Predicting settling rules by recolonising American mink post-culling is published today in Journal of Applied Ecology. Invasive species present daunting challenges to conservationists because of the scale over which their impact on native biodiversity plays out. … Continue reading Ecological traps for large-scale invasive species control

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology1 Comment
Coastal and marine, Research summaries

How important is seagrass for blue carbon?

Seagrass is key for carbon storage but shading from man-made structures is putting seagrass meadows at risk. Associate Editor Nathalie Butt discusses the recent article, Effects of small-scale, shading-induced seagrass loss on blue carbon storage: Implications for management of degraded seagrass ecosystems by Stacey Trevathan-Tackett et al. Carbon storage in the sea Given ever-increasing global emissions, natural systems and organisms that can absorb and store … Continue reading How important is seagrass for blue carbon?

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology1 Comment