Ecology

Drab and distant birds are studied less than their fancy-feathered friends

1. Silas E. Fischer
2. Joshua G. Otten
3. Andrea M. Lindsay
4. Donald B. Miles
5. Henry M. Streby

Reviewed by PREreview

Intra- and interspecific diversity in a tropical plant clade alter herbivory and ecosystem resilience

1. Ari Grele
2. Tara J Massad
3. Kathryn A Uckele
4. Lee A Dyer
5. Yasmine Antonini
6. Laura Braga
7. Matthew L Forister
8. Lidia Sulca
9. Massuo Kato
10. Humberto G Lopez
11. André R Nascimento
12. Thomas Parchman
13. Wilmer R Simbaña
14. Angela M Smilanich
15. John O Stireman
16. Eric J Tepe
17. Thomas Walla
18. Lora A Richards

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important, large experimental study examines the effects of plant species richness, plant genotypic richness, and soil water availability on herbivory patterns for Piper species in several tropical sites. The authors find solid evidence that water availability, as well as intra- and interspecific plant diversity, influence herbivory and herbivore diversity, but that the effects differ geographically.

Reviewed by eLife

Habitat loss weakens the positive relationship between grassland plant richness and above-ground biomass

1. Yongzhi Yan
2. Scott Jarvie
3. Qing Zhang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study advances our understanding of how landscape context affects the relationship between grassland plant diversity and biomass. This study used very well-designed approaches to analyze complex ecological relationships in real-world landscapes and thus provides compelling evidence to support its findings. The work will be of interest to landscape ecologists and community ecologists.

Reviewed by eLife

Linking root-associated fungal and bacterial functions to root economics

1. Ran Wu
2. Xiaoyue Zeng
3. M. Luke McCormack
4. Christopher W. Fernandez
5. Yin Yang
6. Hui Guo
7. Meijie Xi
8. Yu Liu
9. Xiangbin Qi
10. Shuang Liang
11. Thomas E. Juenger
12. Roger T. Koide
13. Weile Chen

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This valuable study advances our understanding of the below-ground resource acquisition strategies of diverse tree species, integrating the roles of both roots and their associated microbes. The support for the conclusions is incomplete owing to the uncertainties or shortcomings associated with the design and statistical analyses. Regardless of these technical issues, this study can be of broad interest for plant and microbial ecologists.

Reviewed by eLife

Bull Trout passage at beaver dams in two Montana streams

1. J. Marshall Wolf
2. Niall G. Clancy
3. Leo R. Rosenthal

Reviewed by PREreview

Mining threats in high‐level biodiversity conservation policies

1. Aurora Torres
2. Sophus O. S. E. zu Ermgassen
3. Laetitia M. Navarro
4. Francisco Ferri‐Yanez
5. Fernanda Z. Teixeira
6. Constanze Wittkopp
7. Isabel M. D. Rosa
8. Jianguo Liu

Reviewed by PREreview

Functional trade-offs: exploring the temporal response of field margin plant communities to climate change and agricultural practices

1. Isis Poinas
2. Christine N Meynard
3. Guillaume Fried

Reviewed by Peer Community in Ecology

Synthetic eco-evolutionary dynamics in simple molecular environment

1. Luca Casiraghi
2. Francesco Mambretti
3. Anna Tovo
4. Elvezia Maria Paraboschi
5. Samir Suweis
6. Tommaso Bellini

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  In this important study, the authors develop a promising experimental approach to a central question in ecology: What are the contributions of resource use and interactions in the shaping of an ecosystem? For this, they develop a synthetic ecosystem set-up, a variant of SELEX that allows very detailed control over ecological variables. The evidence is convincing, and the work should be of broad interest to the ecology community, leading to further quantitative studies.

Reviewed by eLife

Pig herd management and infection transmission dynamics: a challenge for modellers

1. Vianney Sicard
2. Sébastien Picault
3. Mathieu Andraud

Reviewed by Peer Community in Animal Science

A fungi hotspot deep down the ocean: explaining the presence of Gjaerumia minor in Equatorial Pacific bathypelagic waters

1. Massimo C. Pernice
2. Irene Forn
3. Ramiro Logares
4. Ramon Massana

Reviewed by Arcadia Science