Category: Behind the paper

From natural forests to urban weeds

Posted on April 14, 2019March 3, 2020 by David Zeleny

Post provided by Kun Song, Ying-Ji Pan & Yi-Chong Cui

Weed communities in urban area, Shanghai. An invasive species, *Solidago canadensis* (the individuals with yellow flowers in the photo), was the dominant species with few other species living together. Photo credit: Yi-Chong Cui.

This is not a pine: a fieldwork story

Posted on October 12, 2018January 30, 2020 by David Zeleny

The post provided by Emilie Champagne

One of my field assistant (Lorraine Lessard) carefully recording browsing in a 4 m2 plot, in Outaouais (Québec, Canada). Photo credit: Emilie Champagne.

This post refers to the article Forage diversity, type and abundance influence winter resource selection by white‐tailed deer by Emilie Champagne, André Dumont, Jean‐Pierre Tremblay and Steeve D.…

In the quest of designing grassland communities resistant to invasions during ecological restoration

Posted on October 12, 2018January 30, 2020 by David Zeleny

The post provided by Florencia A. Yannelli

Controlled conditions in greenhouse experiments enable us to test a plethora of hypotheses in community or invasion ecology by reducing the effect confounding factors. Photo credit: Florencia Yannelli.

This post refers to the article Seed density is more effective than multi‐trait limiting similarity in controlling grassland resistance against plant invasions in mesocosms by Yannelli et al.…

The symmetry of competition: a battle crown-to-crown or roots-to-roots?

Posted on September 15, 2018March 3, 2020 by David Zeleny

The post provided by Marco Mina

Stems, leaves and crowns is only half of the picture. A darker battle for resources happens below the surface where roots work hard to extract water and nutrients from the soil, and compete for space.

A virtual tour from the Carpathian Basin to the Far East – an overview and synthesis of Eurasian forest-steppes

Posted on August 24, 2018January 30, 2020 by David Zeleny

The post provided by László Erdős

Forest steppe in Northern Hungary. Photo credit: Péter Török.

According to the biophilia hypothesis of Edward O. Wilson, certain biological patterns evoke positive feelings in humans. As a considerable part of our evolution took part in savannas, so the argument runs, we are genetically determined to enjoy ecosystems with a savanna-like mosaic pattern of trees and grasslands.…