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
Careers, Journal news, The Applied Ecologist community

Welcome to our new Associate Editors 2018

This year we are pleased to welcome seven new Associate Editors to the Journal of Applied Ecology Editorial Board, following our recent cross-journal Associate Editor open call. Our new editors are: Lars Brudvig Michigan State University, USA Lars’ research investigates how human activities impact the biodiversity and functioning of ecosystems and approaches to their restoration. He approaches these topics through the application of theory to environmental … Continue reading Welcome to our new Associate Editors 2018

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied EcologyLeave a comment
Research summaries

New radar satellite imagery tracks agricultural land use intensity at landscape scales

Ruth Howison comments on recent article, Quantifying landscape-level land-use intensity patterns through radar-based remote sensing. Sentinel 1 radar imagery strongly predicts agricultural land use intensity across whole landscapes at the resolution of individual fields. In combination with extensive ground surveys, we developed a new analytical technique to summarize temporal variation in radar satellite data (i.e. variation in surface roughness) in north-western Europe. Higher variation corresponded strongly … Continue reading New radar satellite imagery tracks agricultural land use intensity at landscape scales

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology1 Comment
Agriculture, Forests, Research summaries

Ensuring sustainable açaí fruit production in the Amazon river delta

With açaí fruit becoming increasingly popular, it is important to understand how farming management practices are affecting vital pollination services. Associate Editor, Ainhoa Magrach comments on the recent article, Anthropogenic disturbance of tropical forests threatens pollination services to açaí palm in the Amazon river delta by Campbell et al. Worldwide the demand for the berries of the açaí palm is increasing. These anti-oxidant rich foods have … Continue reading Ensuring sustainable açaí fruit production in the Amazon river delta

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied EcologyLeave a comment
Monitoring and methods, Research summaries

One step back, two steps forward: impacts of disturbance on the population dynamics of an endangered species

Associate Editor, Bret Elderd discusses the ‘double-edged sword’ fire presents to endangered species, based around the recent article by Warchola et al, Balancing ecological costs and benefits of fire for population viability of disturbance-dependent butterflies. The article features in issue 55:2 of Journal of Applied Ecology. In their recently published paper in Journal of Applied Ecology, Warchola et al. tackle a problem of conservation concern … Continue reading One step back, two steps forward: impacts of disturbance on the population dynamics of an endangered species

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology1 Comment