Category: Research summaries

Research summaries

Energy production and wildlife: using syntheses for evidence-based decisions

In today’s post Chris Elphick (@ssts) discusses the recent review paper by Torre Hovick et al. and the importance of evidence-based syntheses for making informed decisions. This autumn, I saw my first Cape May warbler in the state where I live. Unfortunately, the sighting occurred when a colleague walked into my lab and handed me the corpse. Every year during migration, the ground around our … Continue reading Energy production and wildlife: using syntheses for evidence-based decisions

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied EcologyLeave a comment
Research summaries

Virtual Issue: Conservation evidence, decision-making and the role of scientific publications

At Journal of Applied Ecology, we’ve put together this Virtual Issue on Conservation evidence, decision making and the role of scientific publications to complement a one-day symposium on Conservation Evidence: informing decision making being held today by the British Ecological Society’s Conservation Special Interest Group and the Field Studies Council. All 16 papers are free to access and are brought together in an Editorial introduction by … Continue reading Virtual Issue: Conservation evidence, decision-making and the role of scientific publications

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied EcologyLeave a comment
Research summaries

Bringing land sparing and land sharing to the city

This post was written by Jonathan Rhodes, @j_r_rhodes, on the recent paper by Masa Soga et al. on land sharing and land sparing in urban systems. In agricultural landscapes the idea of choosing between strategies that intersperse intensive land-uses with areas set aside for biodiversity (land sparing) versus less intensive agriculture without set-asides (land sharing) to maximise biodiversity is relatively well developed (Green et al. … Continue reading Bringing land sparing and land sharing to the city

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied EcologyLeave a comment
Research summaries

Forest certification can benefit cork oak woodlands

In this guest post, Filipe S. Dias provides a summary of his recent paper “Effects of forest certification on the ecological condition of Mediterranean streams“. In Mediterranean regions, streams and riparian habitats support dense and productive forest ecosystems that contrast strongly with the adjacent semi-arid habitats. During the hot and dry Mediterranean summer these habitats provide food and water to several animal species and harbour … Continue reading Forest certification can benefit cork oak woodlands

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied EcologyLeave a comment
Research summaries

From economy to ecological management: Portfolio theory enlightens the performance of social-ecological systems

This guest post from David Angeler (@DGAngeler), Associate Editor for Journal of Applied Ecology on the paper “Performance of salmon fishery portfolios across western North America” by Jennifer Griffiths et al. (@JenAquatic @mark_scheuerell @SteveLindley831) Ecologists and managers are well aware of the reciprocal dependence of systems between people and nature. However, the linkages between social-ecological systems are complex and therefore difficult to measure. This limits … Continue reading From economy to ecological management: Portfolio theory enlightens the performance of social-ecological systems

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology2 Comments
Research summaries

Eyes in the sky see the secrets of the sea

This guest post is by Kylie L. Scales (@KylieScales) on her recent review paper “On the Front Line: frontal zones as priority at-sea conservation areas for mobile marine vertebrates.” The oceans may seem like Earth’s last remaining wilderness, but are in fact teeming with human activity as a result of intense and growing demand for marine resources. Consequently, large marine vertebrates such as seabirds, turtles, … Continue reading Eyes in the sky see the secrets of the sea

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied EcologyLeave a comment
Research summaries

Managing native fish with environmental flows

Flow alteration is one of the most common threats to rivers and streams around the world. Alterations such as weirs, dams and water withdrawal for human uses tend to suppress natural flow variation causing a disconnection between rivers and floodplain wetlands. These changes to the natural hydrology of rivers can have detrimental effects for fish communities because many species of fish rely on periodic access to … Continue reading Managing native fish with environmental flows

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied EcologyLeave a comment
Research summaries

When it comes to reforestation, impacts on seedling growth from competition, herbivory and land-use legacy may be as predictable as a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors

Species interactions are the foundations of ecological science. As early as pre-school, we begin building food webs and discussing the basic principles of species survival and interactions between living and non-living parts of an ecosystem. We know herbivores eat plants and prefer ‘tasty’ ones; plants compete for light, nutrients, water and space; and historical land management impacts on future actions. What we still don’t know … Continue reading When it comes to reforestation, impacts on seedling growth from competition, herbivory and land-use legacy may be as predictable as a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology3 Comments
Conferences and events, Journal news, Perspectives, Practitioners, Research summaries, Themed collections

Special Profile: Putting applied ecology into practice

The latest issue of Journal of Applied Ecology was published this week and, along with the usual line-up of interesting research papers, reviews, and the Editor’s Choice, the issue also includes the Special Profile: Putting applied ecology into practice. This Special Profile is the output from a Journal-sponsored symposium held at INTECOL last year: Putting applied ecology into practice: knowledge and needs for the 21st … Continue reading Special Profile: Putting applied ecology into practice

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology1 Comment
Research summaries

Video: Plant diversity responses to organic farming and heterogeneity

Here’s a fantastic video from Romina Rader about her recently published paper “Organic farming and heterogeneous landscapes positively affect different measures of plant diversity“. Enjoy! You can also read more about the paper in this blog post from Journal Associate Editor Ailsa McKenzie. Continue reading Video: Plant diversity responses to organic farming and heterogeneity

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied EcologyLeave a comment