Tag: Forests

Research summaries

Restoration methods of conifer plantations on ancient forest sites

In this post Associate Editor mentee Lander Baeten discusses a paper he handled by Beth Atkinson and colleagues ‘A comparison of clearfelling and gradual thinning of plantations for the restoration of insect herbivores and woodland plants’ Since the pioneering work of George Peterken in the 1970s, numerous studies have shown that many forest plant species are extremely slow to re-establish once lost from the ecosystem. … Continue reading Restoration methods of conifer plantations on ancient forest sites

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Research summaries

Bird communities in a land of droughts and flooding rains: riparian tree cover as climate refugia

In this post Dale Nimmo, Angie Haslem and Andrew Bennett discuss their recent paper ‘Riparian tree cover enhances the resistance and stability of woodland bird communities during an extreme climatic event’ You can also watch a slide cast about this research and related papers, in the form of an Australian bush poem. Something alarming happened in the woodlands of southern Australia last decade. The birds … Continue reading Bird communities in a land of droughts and flooding rains: riparian tree cover as climate refugia

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Research summaries

The role of subordinate plant species in supporting soil food web stability

In this post Associate Editor Paul Kardol discusses a paper he recently handled by Yuanhu Shao and colleagues ‘Subordinate plants sustain the complexity and stability of soil micro-food webs in natural bamboo forest ecosystems’ Is it the dominant plant species that rule the system? Some theories suggest so. But, the idea that only the dominants are important is too simplistic and there is increasing evidence … Continue reading The role of subordinate plant species in supporting soil food web stability

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Research summaries

Ancient woodland restoration

In this post Beth Atkinson discusses her recent paper ‘A comparison of clearfelling and gradual thinning of plantations for the restoration of insect herbivores and woodland plants’ Forests are valued across the globe for their history and heritage, as well as their importance for biodiversity. They display their historical use, for example through coppice stools, and are evocative like perhaps no other habitat, conjuring images … Continue reading Ancient woodland restoration

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Research summaries

Forest management adaptation to climate change alters soil macro-detritivore functional diversity and soil functioning

In this post Ludovic Henneron discusses his recent paper ‘Forest management adaptation to climate change: a Cornelian dilemma between drought resistance and soil macro-detritivore functional diversity‘ Climate change is a major threat for world’s forests. Hence, an increasing number of climate-induced forest die-offs are expected to occur in the future as a result of more frequent and intense droughts. This could greatly alter ecosystem services … Continue reading Forest management adaptation to climate change alters soil macro-detritivore functional diversity and soil functioning

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Careers, The Applied Ecologist community

Harnessing the power of Google Earth

Minerva Singh is a PhD Candidate at the University of Cambridge and she is involved with the BES Conservation Ecology Special Interest Group. Her research focusses on using high resolution airborne data for mapping forest biophysical parameters and evaluating the impact of anthropogenic disturbances on them in the tropical ecosystems of the Greater Mekong region. In this post Minerva looks at harnessing the power of … Continue reading Harnessing the power of Google Earth

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Research summaries

VIDEO – Doing more with less: ecosystem services in Massachusetts

For this post Meghan Blumstein has created a video about her recent paper with Jonathan Thompson “Land-use impacts on the quantity and configuration of ecosystem service provisioning in Massachusetts, USA” Ecosystem services are the benefits that we receive from nature every day, both tangible, such as clean drinking water and recreational opportunities, and some less visible, such as climactic regulation through the uptake of carbon by … Continue reading VIDEO – Doing more with less: ecosystem services in Massachusetts

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Research summaries

‘Fruiting dead’ – or the still unpaid extinction debt of a common shrub

In this post Juan P. González-Varo, Rafael G. Albaladejo, Marcelo A. Aizen, Juan Arroyo and Abelardo Aparicio discuss their recent paper ‘Extinction debt of a common shrub in a fragmented landscape’. A key question with direct implications for biodiversity conservation and restoration in fragmented areas is whether the persistence of those species we currently observe in habitat remnants is ensured in the long-term. Habitat-specialist species, … Continue reading ‘Fruiting dead’ – or the still unpaid extinction debt of a common shrub

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Research summaries

From seedling to adult assemblages: chronic disturbance drives the biological impoverishment of Brazilian Caatinga flora

In this post, Elâine Ribeiro writes about her recent paper with Víctor Arroyo-Rodríguez, Bráulio Santos, Marcelo Tabarelli and Inara Leal “Chronic anthropogenic disturbance drives the biological impoverishment of the Brazilian Caatinga vegetation”. Many studies worldwide are devoted to understand the reorganization of biological communities after human disturbances. However, a large proportion of these studies deal with acute (as opposed to chronic) forms of disturbance (Martorell … Continue reading From seedling to adult assemblages: chronic disturbance drives the biological impoverishment of Brazilian Caatinga flora

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Research summaries

How common birds and rainforests help cacao farmers in Indonesia

In this post, Bea Maas writes about her recent paper with Teja Tscharntke, Shahabuddin Saleh, Dadang Dwi Putra & Yann Clough “Avian species identity drives predation success in tropical cacao agroforestry“. Birds can make farmers happy. Due to their contribution to the suppression of pest insects in agriculture, their presence can increase the quality and quantity of crop yields. Especially in the tropics, insect eating birds … Continue reading How common birds and rainforests help cacao farmers in Indonesia

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