Ecology

Strip cropping shows promising increases in ground beetle community diversity compared to monocultures

1. Luuk Croijmans
2. Fogelina Cuperus
3. Dirk F van Apeldoorn
4. Felix JJA Bianchi
5. Walter AH Rossing
6. Erik H Poelman

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study presents important findings on increased ground beetle diversity in strip cropping compared with crop monocultures. Solid methods are used to analyze data from multiple sites with heterogeneous systems of mixed crops, allowing broad conclusions, albeit at the expense of lacking taxonomic specificity. The work will be of interest to all those applying plant diversity treatments to improve the diversity of associated animals in agricultural fields.

Reviewed by eLife

Desmodium volatiles in ‘push-pull’ cropping systems and protection against the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda

1. Daria M Odermatt
2. Frank Chidawanyika
3. Daniel M Mutyambai
4. Bernhard Schmid
5. Luiz A Domeignoz Horta
6. Collins O Onjura
7. Amanuel Tamiru
8. Meredith C Schuman

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Research on push-pull systems has often focused on controlled environments, leaving significant gaps in our understanding of how these systems function under real-world conditions. This important and solid study makes a substantial contribution by investigating the volatile emissions and behavioral effects of Desmodium in natural and semi-field contexts which offer insights of broad interest for sustainable agriculture and pest management. While the authors rightly acknowledge some remaining limitations, the revised manuscript now provides a well-supported and transparent assessment of the ecological role of Desmodium volatiles in push-pull systems.

Reviewed by eLife

Developmental constraints mediate the summer solstice reversal of climate effects on European beech bud set

1. Dominic Rebindaine
2. Thomas W Crowther
3. Susanne S Renner
4. Zhaofei Wu
5. Yibiao Zou
6. Lidong Mo
7. Haozhi Ma
8. Raymo Bucher
9. Constantin M Zohner

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This article presents valuable findings on how the timing of cooling affects the timing of autumn bud set in European beech saplings. The study leverages extensive experimental data and provides an interesting conceptual framework of the various ways in which warming can affect bud set timing. The support for the findings is incomplete, though extra justifications of the experimental settings, clarifications of the interpretation of the results, and alternative statistical analyses can make the conclusions more robust.

Reviewed by eLife

Long term trend and short-term dynamics of a willow ptarmigan population

1. Tomas Willebrand
2. Maria Hörnell-Willebrand
3. Rolf Brittas
4. Eivind Flittie Kleiven

Reviewed by Peer Community in Ecology

Corrigendum: Trait matching without traits: using correspondence analysis to investigate the latent structure of interaction networks

1. Lisa Nicvert
2. Hervé Fritz
3. Stéphane Dray

Reviewed by Peer Community in Ecology

Effect of spatial overdispersion on confidence intervals for population density estimated by spatial capture–recapture

1. Murray G. Efford
2. David Fletcher

Reviewed by Peer Community in Ecology

Loss of olfaction reduces caterpillar performance and increases susceptibility to a natural enemy

1. Qi Wang
2. Yufei Jia
3. Hans M Smid
4. Berhane T Weldegergis
5. Liana O Greenberg
6. Maarten Jongsma
7. Marcel Dicke
8. Alexander Haverkamp

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important manuscript investigates the role of olfactory cues in Pieris brassicae larvae, focusing on their interactions with the host plant Brassica oleracea and the parasitoid wasp Cotesia glomerata. The authors' demonstration that impaired olfactory perception reduces caterpillar performance and increases susceptibility to parasitism is convincing. These findings highlight the ecological significance of olfaction in mediating feeding behavior and predator avoidance in herbivorous insects.

Reviewed by eLife

On the quest for novelty in ecology

1. Gianluigi Ottaviani
2. Alejandro Martínez
3. Matteo Petit Bon
4. Stefano Mammola

Reviewed by Peer Community in Ecology

Effects of blood meal source and seasonality on reproductive traits of Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae)

1. Kevin Alen Rucci
2. Gabriel Barco
3. Andrea Onorato
4. Mauricio Beranek
5. Mariana Pueta
6. Adrián Díaz

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This useful study provides the first assessment of potentially interactive effects of seasonality and blood source on mosquito fitness, together in one study. During revision, the manuscript has been substantively improved, providing additional solid data to support the robustness of observations. Overall, this interesting study will advance our current understanding of mosquito biology.

Reviewed by eLife

An experimental test of the influence of microbial manipulation on sugar kelp ( Saccharina latissima ) supports the core influences host function hypothesis

1. Jungsoo Park
2. Evan Kohn
3. Siobhan Schenk
4. Katherine M. Davis
5. Jennifer S. Clark
6. Laura Wegener Parfrey

Reviewed by preLights