Editor’s Choice 57:05 – Long-lasting effects of land use on soil microbial restoration

How might previous land uses still affect restoration efforts today? Associate Editor, Gaowen Yang explores our latest Editor’s Choice research by Nash E. Turley and colleagues.   Agricultural abandonment can result in many environmental benefits, such as reduction in soil loss, increase in soil nutrient, biodiversity conservation. However, agricultural history has long-lasting effects (also called land-use legacies) on ecosystem recovery. For instance, when compared with … Continue reading Editor’s Choice 57:05 – Long-lasting effects of land use on soil microbial restoration

Southwood Prize 2019: early career researcher winner announced

We’re excited to announce Ségolène Humann‐Guilleminot as the winner of this year’s Southwood Prize, celebrating the best paper by an early career researcher in the 2019 (56th) volume of Journal of Applied Ecology. Ségolène’s winning paper is ‘A nation‐wide survey of neonicotinoid insecticides in agricultural land with implications for agri‐environment schemes’. About the research From ten years of being marketed in the mid-1990s, neonicotinoid insecticides … Continue reading Southwood Prize 2019: early career researcher winner announced

Conservando flores conservamos polinizadores?

An English version of this post is available here. La mayoría de los esfuerzos para promover la conservación de polinizadores están enfocados en mantener o incrementar el rango de plantas con flores disponibles para ellos. La razón es simple: las plantas con flores proveen néctar y polen, recursos esenciales para su subsistencia. Sin embargo, los polinizadores dependen de otros recursos que probablemente también determinan su … Continue reading Conservando flores conservamos polinizadores?

Are flowers enough for preserving pollinators?

Research from Buckles and Harmon-Threatt explores how prairie management strategies can affect pollinator communities both directly and indirectly, highlighting why we shouldn’t ignore what’s happening below ground. Associate Editor, Guadalupe Peralta elaborates. A Spanish version of this post is available here. Most efforts to preserve pollinators are focused on maintaining or increasing the range of flowering plants available. The reason behind this is clear: flowers … Continue reading Are flowers enough for preserving pollinators?

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

On the horizon: Options for cultivating rice as climate changes and salinity increases

For the latest post in our series looking at developing issues in the world of conservation, Erica Fleishman explores food security and the production of rice in a changing climate. Rising sea levels, drought, and agricultural irrigation have increased the salinity of soils in both coastal and inland areas. Mineral deficiencies and toxicity may accompany local increases in salinity. As a result, scientists aim to … Continue reading On the horizon: Options for cultivating rice as climate changes and salinity increases

Issue 55:5

Read the highlights from our September issue. Value of information: when to learn and when to manage in conservation This issue’s Editor’s Choice article Better many small than a few large: how landscape configuration affects arthropod communities in rice Can splitting agricultural ecosystems help reduce yield losses for rice farmers? Mejor muchos pequeños que pocos grandes: sobre como la configuración del paisaje afecta las comunidades … Continue reading Issue 55:5

Crop rotations called into question

Why it’s time to rethink the way we approach this agricultural practice: Mathias Cougnon & Associate Editor, Pieter De Frenne (Ghent University, Belgium) discuss the recent paper, Distantly related crops are not better rotation partners for tomato by by Ingerslew and Kaplan. Crop rotations are central to common agricultural practice and growing related crops year after year on the same patch of land is generally … Continue reading Crop rotations called into question

Crop functional traits can help to predict the effects of organic farming on soil carbon sequestration

Focusing on functional traits of crop residues and their connection to soil carbon storage, Pablo Garcia Palacios comments on recent article, Crop traits drive soil carbon sequestration under organic farming. Soil organic carbon is a major agricultural resource for two different reasons. First, it is a measurable component of soil organic matter, which has a key influence on the capacity of soils to retain moisture and … Continue reading Crop functional traits can help to predict the effects of organic farming on soil carbon sequestration

Putting belowground biota in the Spotlight

The latest issue of Journal of Applied Ecology features as Spotlight on Soil Biota. Here, Martín A. Nuñez (Senior Editor for the journal) and Nahuel Policelli discuss the merits of these papers, specially chosen and grouped together by our Editors. ‘Managing soil health’, ‘considering hidden herbivores’, ‘restoring mycorrhizal fungal diversity’, are just some of the examples that highlight an increase interest on recognizing belowground aspects … Continue reading Putting belowground biota in the Spotlight