Category: Behind the paper

Small is beautiful: grassroots projects feed global data synthesis

Posted on March 12, 2020March 12, 2020 by David Zeleny

Traits of Plants in Canada (TOPIC) workshop at Mont St-Hilaire, Québec, CANADA. Lead scientists centre front: Isabelle Aubin (right, in orange) and Alison Munson (left of Isabelle). Photo credit: Martin Duval.

This post refers to the perspective article Managing data locally to answer questions globally: the role of collaborative science in ecology by Aubin et al.…

Bogged down in the European marsh vegetation classification: a short story of a long project

Posted on February 22, 2020February 29, 2020 by David Zeleny

The post provided by Flavia Landucci

Drawing summarizing the ecology and relationship of some marsh communities. By Flavia Landucci.

This post refers to the article Classification of the European marsh vegetation (Phragmito‐Magnocaricetea) to the association level by Flavia Landucci et al.…

Delving into “The Corridors of Time”: ancient hedgerows connected to woodlands are living museums of forest biodiversity

Posted on February 4, 2020March 1, 2020 by David Zeleny

The post is provided by Jonathan Lenoir & Guillaume Decocq

Figure 1: A dense network of hedgerows in the so-called “bocage” landscape in the Thiérache region in northern France (Picardie, Hauts-de-France). Photo by Guillaume Decocq.

This post refers to the article “Historical continuity and spatial connectivity ensure hedgerows are effective corridors for forest plants: evidence from the species-time-area relationship” by Jonathan Lenoir et al.…

Dispersal traits may not tell us what we hope for: the case study from understory of oak-dominated forest

Posted on November 28, 2019March 3, 2020 by David Zeleny

The post provided by David Zelený & Markéta Chudomelová

Recording herbs in the understory of oak-dominated temperate broadleaf forest in Němčičky, Czech Republic. Photo by David Zelený

This post refers to the article Tracing the signs of local dispersal in the temperate forest understorey using spatially structured vegetation data by Markéta Chudomelová and David Zelený, published in the Journal of Vegetation Science (https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12835…

Cut cut cut

Posted on November 2, 2019March 3, 2020 by David Zeleny

The post provided by Mareike Roeder

The highest forest fragment of the study is on top of the cliff, Yinshan near Menglun town. The landscape is changing; the left photo is from 2014, when a rubber plantation was established, while the right photo is from 2017, when the cultivation changed to banana and was extended.

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.…