Ecology

Crop productivity of Central European Permaculture is within the range of organic and conventional agriculture

1. Julius Reiff
2. Hermann F. Jungkunst
3. Nicole Antes
4. Martin H. Entling

Reviewed by Peer Community in Ecology

Exploring Rubiaceae fungal endophytes across contrasting tropical forests, tree tissues, and developmental stages

1. Humberto Castillo-González
2. Jason C. Slot
3. Stephanie Yarwood
4. Priscila Chaverri

Reviewed by Peer Community in Ecology

Birds migrate longitudinally in response to the resultant Asian monsoons of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau uplift

1. Wenyuan Zhang
2. Zhongru Gu
3. Yangkang Chen
4. Ran Zhang
5. Xiangjiang Zhan

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study addresses a novel and interesting question about how the rise of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau influenced patterns of bird migration, employing a multi-faceted approach that combines species distribution data with environmental modeling. The findings are valuable for understanding avian migration within a subfield, but the strength of evidence is incomplete due to critical methodological assumptions about historical species-environment correlations, limited tracking data, and insufficient clarity in species selection criteria. Addressing these weaknesses would significantly enhance the reliability and interpretability of the results.

Reviewed by eLife

Combining radio-telemetry and radar measurements to test optimal foraging in an aerial insectivore bird

1. Itai Bloch
2. David Troupin
3. Sivan Toledo
4. Ran Nathan
5. Nir Sapir

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study enhances our understanding of the foraging behaviour of aerial insectivorous birds. Using solid methodology, the authors have collected extensive data on bird movements and prey availability, which in turn provide support for the main claim of the study. The work will be of broad interest to behavioural ecologists.

Reviewed by eLife

Thermal preconditioning modulates coral physiology and heat tolerance: A multi-species perspective

1. Erik F. Ferrara
2. Anna Roik
3. Franziska Wöhrmann-Zipf
4. Maren Ziegler

Reviewed by preLights

Delayed dichromatism in waterfowl as a convenient tool for assessing vital rates

1. Adrien Tableau
2. Iain Henderson
3. Sébastien Reeber
4. Matthieu Guillemain
5. Jean-François Maillard
6. Alain Caizergues

Reviewed by Peer Community in Ecology

Using informative priors to account for identifiability issues in occupancy models with identification errors

1. Célian Monchy
2. Marie-Pierre Etienne
3. Olivier Gimenez

Reviewed by Peer Community in Ecology

Partitioning changes in ecosystem productivity by effects of species interactions in biodiversity experiments

1. Jing Tao
2. Charles A Nock
3. Eric B Searle
4. Shongming Huang
5. Rongzhou Man
6. Hua Yang
7. Grégoire T Freschet
8. Cyrille Violle
9. Ji Zheng

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The authors propose that positive biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships found in experiments have been exaggerated because commonly used statistical analyses are flawed. To remedy this, a new type of analysis based on a concept of "partial density monoculture yield" is proposed. However, the presented concept and analysis methods are not reproducibly described (how can partial density monoculture yield experimentally be assessed?), do not appear to be complete, and are inadequate for hypothesis testing. The reviewers found that the authors misinterpret current research in the field and made limited efforts to understand or address the reviewer comments about this study.

Reviewed by eLife

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 improved, providing additional solid data to support the robustness of observations. However, the discussion still requires further refinement to present the conclusions in manner that is consistent with the data presented. Overall, this interesting study will advance our current understanding of mosquito biology.

Reviewed by eLife

Defensive symbionts provide high protection against natural enemies at low cost to hosts: a meta-analysis

1. Cássia Siqueira Cesar
2. Eduardo SA Santos
3. Rodrigo Cogni

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study makes a valuable advance in our understanding of defensive symbionts in insects. It uses a meta-analysis to quantify the magnitude of change in host fitness components when symbionts are present in hosts exposed to natural enemies. The evidence supporting the study conclusions is solid, with analyses confirming common assumptions that symbionts generally provide defence at low cost to hosts.

Reviewed by eLife