Lijun Chen: Integrating variation in bacterial-fungal co-occurrence network with soil carbon dynamics

Shortlisted for the 2024 Southwood Prize Lijun Chen explores how bacterial-fungal interactions mediate soil organic carbon dynamics in the context of artificial forest ecosystems. About the research Overview Eucalyptus is one of the most widely planted tree species worldwide. It has been demostrated that long-term short-rotation practices of eucalyptus induced to declining of soil organic carbon content and ecosystem services capacity. Exploring the patterns of … Continue reading Lijun Chen: Integrating variation in bacterial-fungal co-occurrence network with soil carbon dynamics

Call for proposals! The influence of beneficial fungi on plant-enemy interactions & plant community structure

Ecologists have mused over the mechanisms that structure plant communities for centuries. One such mechanism is negative density dependence, which has been proposed as a an important promoter of tree species diversity across plant communities. However, most negative density-dependence studies to date have focused on the roles played by insects and fungal pathogens. Less attention has been put on the potential for mutualistic fungi to… Continue reading Call for proposals! The influence of beneficial fungi on plant-enemy interactions & plant community structure

How to keep the mycorrhizae? The more hosts you leave, the more symbionts you get

How can tree retention mediate the effects of human-introduced disturbance on ectomycorrhizal fungi? Nahuel Policelli  and Senior Editor, Martin Nuñez discuss the recent article, The significance of retention trees for survival of ectomycorrhizal fungi in clear‐cut Scots pine forests. One of the most important above-belowground interactions is that between plants and mycorrhizal fungi. Acting as symbionts, mycorrhizal fungi are involved in plants’ nutrient uptake and … Continue reading How to keep the mycorrhizae? The more hosts you leave, the more symbionts you get

Ecological intensification of agriculture: ideas that begin to take root – now with Spanish translation

In this post Nahuel Policelli discusses a recent paper by Timothy M. Bowles and colleagues ‘Ecological intensification and arbuscular mycorrhizas: a meta-analysis of tillage and cover crop effects‘ *Update: On 10 November, we added a Spanish translation of this post. Nahuel provided the translation to reach out to Spanish readers interested in this topic. Journal of Applied Ecology is dedicated to making papers more accessible … Continue reading Ecological intensification of agriculture: ideas that begin to take root – now with Spanish translation