Agriculture, Research summaries

Ecological requirements drive the variable responses of wheat pests and natural enemies to the landscape context

This blog post is also available in Spanish. Semi-natural habitats (SNH) are considered essential for pest-suppressive landscapes, but their influence on crop pests and natural enemies can be highly variable. In their latest research, González and colleagues assessed the responses of multiple insect pests and natural enemies in wheat fields to landscape context and flower availability. Natural enemies of crop pests, including predators such as … Continue reading Ecological requirements drive the variable responses of wheat pests and natural enemies to the landscape context

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Human-wildlife interactions, Research summaries, Urban ecosystems

Mountain lions in LA moved more efficiently during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent shutdowns in many regions around the world offered a new “human-less” environment for urban wildlife in 2020. In their latest research, Benson et al. share their findings from tracking mountain lion movements in greater Los Angeles, USA during spring 2020. Early on during the global pandemic, ecologists quickly realised that changes in human behaviour and activity brought on by … Continue reading Mountain lions in LA moved more efficiently during the COVID-19 pandemic

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Invasive species, Research summaries

A database of Indian alien vascular flora

Author Achyut Kumar Banerjee introduces his team’s latest Data Article describing ILORA: a database for alien vascular flora in India. India is a land of cultural, geological and biological diversity. Throughout its history, India has been invaded and occupied multiple times, and numerous plant species were introduced during this time. Botanical imperialism reached its zenith during British rule with the establishment of networks of botanical … Continue reading A database of Indian alien vascular flora

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Editor's Choice, Invasive species, Urban ecosystems

Editor’s Choice 58:11: Invasion theory as a management tool for increasing native biodiversity in urban ecosystems

Senior Editor, Martin A. Nuñez, introduces November’s Editor’s Choice article by Cadotte and colleagues, which proposes a novel application of invasion biology in an urban environment. Biological invasions are a big problem for the economy, environment, and human health. As a result, there exists a deep theoretical framework that has developed over the last four decades, fueled by data from numerous invasive species across the … Continue reading Editor’s Choice 58:11: Invasion theory as a management tool for increasing native biodiversity in urban ecosystems

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Agriculture, Grasslands, Research summaries, Restoration

Reintroducing Grazing in California’s Vernal Pools—Can we reverse the effects of past management?

In disturbance-adapted ecosystems, the removal of disturbance can lead to losses of diversity and sometimes irreversible changes in community composition. In their latest research, Michaels and colleagues identify the thresholds at which changes occur and explore the reversibility of these shifts in a vernal pool ecosystem in Northern California. If you head out in search of one of California’s famous vernal pools, you’ll have to … Continue reading Reintroducing Grazing in California’s Vernal Pools—Can we reverse the effects of past management?

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Agriculture, Grasslands, Research summaries, Themed collections

Diversifying plant communities in vineyards to increase natural pest control services

Léa Beaumelle and Adrien Rusch introduce their team’s latest research exploring different landscape contexts to identify ways to best foster natural pest control on agricultural lands. Insects and arthropods play key roles in agricultural systems. Arthropods comprise pests, such as aphids or caterpillars, but also beneficial organisms: predators such as spiders and ground beetles (natural enemies) prey upon insect pests and limit pest populations. As … Continue reading Diversifying plant communities in vineyards to increase natural pest control services

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Agriculture, Monitoring and methods, Pathogens and disease, Research summaries

One-size does not fit all: Insights from a novel outbreak of Mycobacterium bovis in Northern England

The control of tuberculosis is an ongoing issue worldwide. A new study by Rossi and colleagues shows how genomic surveillance and a deep knowledge of the micro-scale landscape can provide invaluable insights on the effective control policies to tackle this issue. How do novel pathogen problems emerge? Have local conditions changed, making an outbreak more likely? How did the outbreak originate, and what will the … Continue reading One-size does not fit all: Insights from a novel outbreak of Mycobacterium bovis in Northern England

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Grasslands, Monitoring and methods, Research summaries

A deep learning model for pollinator plant surveys

Buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) feeding on the nectar of Creeping thistle (Cirsium arvense) flowers © Damien Hicks Authors Damien Hicks and Christoph Kratz introduce their team’s latest research demonstrating the use of machine learning for quadrat surveys to improve accessibility and resource efficiency of current methods for floral vegetation monitoring. The nectar sugar contained in flowers is a key driver of pollinator abundance and diversity. … Continue reading A deep learning model for pollinator plant surveys

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Monitoring and methods, Research summaries, Restoration

Forest regeneration can help preserve the evolutionary history of tropical wildlife

In their latest research, Farneda and colleagues show how secondary forest regeneration affects the evolutionary dimension of bat diversity in the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (BDFFP) landscape, Central Amazon, Brazil. Land-use change across the tropics is pervasive, leading to widespread habitat loss and fragmentation. It is also a key driver of biodiversity loss. However, the agricultural abandonment in many tropical regions has led … Continue reading Forest regeneration can help preserve the evolutionary history of tropical wildlife

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Coastal and marine, Conferences and events, The Applied Ecologist community

Sundarbans in peril: interlinkages between science and society for addressing climate change

This year’s UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) will be held in Glasgow in November. In the lead up to the conference, we’re asking our editors and authors to share their research at the interface of climate and ecology. In this post, Associate Editor Punyasloke Bhadury explains why protecting ecosystems is a priority not just for nature, but for society. Sundarbans, the world’s largest continuous mangrove … Continue reading Sundarbans in peril: interlinkages between science and society for addressing climate change

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