Ecology

An ecological network approach for detecting and validating influential organisms for rice growth

1. Masayuki Ushio
2. Hiroki Saito
3. Motoaki Tojo
4. Atsushi J Nagano

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  There is a tremendous need to increase agricultural productivity with means that are both practical and efficient. Drawing on data from variable field environments, this important study provides a theoretical framework for the identification of new factors with presumed relevance for crop growth. This framework can be applied in the context of both agricultural and ecological studies. There is solid evidence for several of the authors' claims, but the impact of the study is limited due to missing functional validation of candidate species in the field. Plant biologists and ecologists working in agricultural and natural environments will find the work interesting.

Reviewed by eLife

Unprecedented yet gradual nature of first millennium CE intercontinental crop plant dispersal revealed in ancient Negev desert refuse

1. Daniel Fuks
2. Yoel Melamed
3. Dafna Langgut
4. Tali Erickson-Gini
5. Yotam Tepper
6. Guy Bar-Oz
7. Ehud Weiss

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The study presents important findings on the timing and movement of crops in the Near East. The authors provide convincing data supporting a predominant contribution of Roman Agricultural Diffusion to the spread of a number of cultigens in the region. The work will be of interest to those thinking about the timing and movement of the diffusion of agricultural crops post-domestication.

Reviewed by eLife

Resource-combining costs of being a diet generalist in the super-generalist protist predator Dictyostelium discoideum

1. P. M. Shreenidhi
2. Debra A. Brock
3. Rachel I. McCabe
4. Joan E. Strassmann
5. David C. Queller

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Five years later, with double the demographic data, naked mole-rat mortality rates continue to defy Gompertzian laws by not increasing with age

1. J. Graham Ruby
2. Megan Smith
3. Rochelle Buffenstein

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This useful study aims to characterize patterns of demographic aging in naked mole rats by quantifying mortality rates in a captive colony, up to approximately the median age of death. The study system is a fascinating case of unusual longevity and physiology in mammals, but because of limited sampling at older ages and missing analyses, the evidence for the main conclusion – that naked mole rats do not experience actuarial senescence – is incomplete for younger animals and inadequate for older animals. The work nevertheless provides data of interest to biodemographers and biomedical researchers interested in naked mole rats as a model for aging.

Reviewed by eLife

Coexistence of many species under a random competition–colonization trade-off

1. Zachary R. Miller
2. Maxime Clenet
3. Katja Della Libera
4. François Massol
5. Stefano Allesina

Reviewed by Peer Community in Ecology

Being a tree crop increases the odds of experiencing yield declines irrespective of pollinator dependence

1. Marcelo A. Aizen
2. Gabriela Gleiser
3. Thomas A. Kitzberger
4. Ruben Milla

Reviewed by Peer Community in Ecology

Overconfidence undermines global wildlife abundance trends

1. Thomas Frederick Johnson
2. Andrew P Beckerman
3. Dylan Z Childs
4. Christopher A Griffiths
5. Pol Capdevila
6. Christopher F Clements
7. Marc Besson
8. Richard D. Gregory
9. Eva Delmas
10. Gavin Thomas
11. Karl Evans
12. Tom Webb
13. Rob Freckleton

Reviewed by PREreview

Emergent coexistence in multispecies microbial communities

1. Chang-Yu Chang
2. Djordje Bajić
3. Jean C. C. Vila
4. Sylvie Estrela
5. Alvaro Sanchez

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Algae drive convergent bacterial community assembly at low dilution frequency

1. Kaumudi H. Prabhakara
2. Seppe Kuehn

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Mosquito community composition shapes virus prevalence patterns along anthropogenic disturbance gradients

1. Kyra Hermanns
2. Marco Marklewitz
3. Florian Zirkel
4. Anne Kopp
5. Stephanie Kramer-Schadt
6. Sandra Junglen

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This paper will be of interest to scientists in the fields of virology, entomology, ecology and epidemiology as the paper explores the drivers of viral and host composition in natural and disturbed ecosystems. The data are of high quality and have been rigorously assessed.However, important additional information on the transmission ecology of these viruses and their relationship with the environment is lacking, making it difficult to interpret the results from a disease ecology perspective.

Reviewed by eLife