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Oecologia - Cover Gallery

April 2024

New Content ItemCover illustration Plant-pollinator interactions are threatened by habitat alterations and biodiversity loss, and changes in these interactions may lead to declines in flower visitors and pollination services. In this issue, Balmaki et al. characterized long term plant-pollinator interactions and identified potential risks to specialized butterfly species due to habitat loss, fragmented landscapes, and changes in plant assemblages. The cover photo is a scanning electron microscope (SEM) image that captures a butterfly covered with pollen grains, highlighting the critical role Lepidopterans play in pollination. Each pollen grain, shown in yellow, sticks to the scales and hairs of the butterfly, showing how the pollen is picked up from flowers.
Photo credit: Behnaz Balmaki.

Effects of climate change on Lepidoptera pollen loads and their pollination services in space and time

Volume 204/4

March 2024

New Content ItemCover illustration The impact of herbivory on a plant is frequently impacted by its neighbors, a phenomenon known as associational effects. Associational effects of parasitic plants and their hosts could provide new insights into plant-neighbor interactions, but have yet to be explored. In this issue, Su et al. report that leaf functional traits of parasitic mistletoe, such as carbon, nitrogen, and condensed tannin content, were influenced by their host plants. Consequently, herbivory of mistletoe leaves was directly influenced by their own leaf traits and indirectly impacted by associational effects of the host plants, primarily through changes in mistletoes’ leaf traits.
Photo credit: Guofa Su.

The associational effects of host plant and mistletoe functional traits on leaf herbivory in mistletoe

Volume 204/3

February 2024

New Content ItemCover illustration The dilution-effect hypothesis proposes that increased biodiversity can protect susceptible hosts against disease by reducing the probability that they are encountered by a parasite through addition to the community of species that are less susceptible to infection. In this Special Issue on Parasite Ecology in Aquatic Systems, Fearon et al. report that the presence of additional host species, including Daphnia retrocurva (pictured), reduced prevalence of a bacterial parasite in lab experiments, but the size of bacterial epidemics in natural lakes was not impacted by the Daphnia host community. The photo shows one infected host (upper right) and one uninfected host (bottom left).
Photo credit: Meghan Duffy.

Inconsistent dilution: experimental but not field evidence for a dilution effect in Daphnia–bacteria interactions

Volume 204/2

January 2024

New Content ItemCover illustration Two of the major factors that control the composition of herbaceous plant communities are competition for limiting soil resources and herbivory. In this issue, Furey and Tilman present results from a fourteen-year full-factorial experiment in a tallgrass prairie ecosystem that crossed nitrogen (N) addition with fencing to exclude white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus, from half the plots. They found that the yellow Solidago rigida and silver-grey Artemisia ludoviciana had opposite responses to nitrogen addition and deer herbivory. These results are interpreted as support for a competition-defense trade-off where the species that is presumed to be the better competitor for nitrogen, S. rigida, did best when soil nitrogen was in low quantities inside of the fence and the better-defended species, A. ludoviciana, did best when soil nitrogen was plentiful outside of the fence.
Photo credit: George N. Furey.

Trade-offs between deer herbivory and nitrogen competition alter grassland forb composition

Volume 204/1

November-December 2023

New Content ItemCover illustration In ungulates, the negative impact of challenging environmental conditions on reproduction may be most pronounced in young females, but individual-based long-term studies exploring such age effects are scarce. In this issue, Rödel and colleagues studied age-dependent reproduction in free-ranging Przewalski’s horses (Equus ferus przewalskii) over a 20-year period at Hortobágy National Park in Hungary. They report that body condition and foaling rates decreased when large-herbivore density was high, especially in young females. Furthermore, foaling rates were also influenced by weather conditions experienced by the mares, also most strongly in young females.

Age-specific effects of density and weather on body condition and birth rates in a large herbivore, the Przewalski’s horse

Volume 203/3-4

September-October 2023

New Content ItemCover illustration Plant sex and the distance to, and density of neighboring conspecific plants are known to shape plant-herbivore interactions. However, no study has yet assessed their combined influence. In this issue, Muñoz-Gallego et al. found that herbivory by the feral goat Capra hircus and the invasive moth Paysandisia archon on the Mediterranean palm Chamerops humilis is infl uenced in complex ways by the conspecific palm neighborhood. Interestingly, female and male palms exhibited opposite patterns in goat florivory, highlighting the role of plant sex as a driver of neighborhood effects on dioecious species.

Sex-driven neighborhood effects on herbivory in the dioecious Mediterranean palm Chamaerops humilis L.

Volume 203/1-2

August 2023

New Content ItemCover illustration Can environmental DNA (eDNA) from river water reveal catchment biodiversity? Reji Chacko et al. filtered water from ten alpine catchments and detected diverse organisms using eDNA metabarcoding. The results permitted identification of unique plant and animal communities, showcasing the potential for rapid landscape-scale biomonitoring. In this issue’s cover image, an alpine stream is shown, along with the pump deployed to fi lter the water and capture eDNA.

Catchment-based sampling of river eDNA integrates terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity of alpine landscapes

Volume 202/4

July 2023

New Content ItemCover illustration In winter, Arctic foxes rely on prey species that require high-quality snow, such as lemmings, or use sea ice to access ice-adapted seals as a resource. In this issue, Verstege and colleagues found that Arctic foxes are declining at the southern edge of their range as the warming climate changes snow and ice conditions, which reduces the availability of their prey, demonstrating how changes to the cryosphere may affect predator populations and interactions with their prey.

Arctic and red fox population responses to climate and cryosphere changes at the Arctic’s edge

Volume 202/3

June 2023

New Content ItemCover illustration Bryophytes play an important role in forest ecosystem functioning. Identifying ecological factors that affect bryophyte diversity and distribution contributes to management seeking to preserve forest biodiversity. In this issue, work by Ilić and colleagues highlights the importance of habitat structure and soil characteristics as key environmental drivers of terricolous bryophyte diversity. Forest management should conserve diverse woody and herbaceous species to maintain habitat structure, as well as the preservation of soil diversity, to safeguard diverse microhabitats to maintain forest ecosystem function.

Environmental drivers of ground-floor bryophytes diversity in temperate forests

Volume 202/2

May 2023

New Content ItemCover illustration Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are often a limiting factor for freshwater zooplankton, because many phytoplankton algae are a poor source of these essential nutrients. On the other hand, PUFAs are a major target of reactive oxidative species and their peroxidation results in toxic products. In this issue, Moore et al. show that PUFA-rich diet of a heterokont algae Nannochloropsis can extend lifespan and increase heat tolerance in the zooplankter Daphnia, at the same time resulting in elevated levels of lipid peroxidation, in particular in ovaries and excretory system. The cover image shows a female Daphnia magna stained for lipids and lipid peroxidation. Green: lipid peroxidation signal visible in the shell gland. Red: non-oxidated lipids in the recently laid eggs in the brood chamber. Colors enhanced by adjusting contrast and saturation in the green channel.

Diet effects on longevity, heat tolerance, lipid peroxidation and mitochondrial membrane potential in Daphnia

Volume 202/1

April 2023

New Content ItemCover illustration Competition for water is a major determinant of vegetation dynamics worldwide, but may be less important in the wet tropics. To explore this possibility, Gomes et al. studied the role of soil-water relationships in the rapid displacement of an endemic island sedge by expanding patches of a pantropical legume. On the tropical Trindade Island, a long-term study showed that at low soil-water availability Guilandina bonduc forms patches that decrease the water potential of surrounding soils, then expand and kill the endemic Cyperus atlanticus. However, at high soil-water availability both species coexist, indicating that water competition may be at the core of this interaction.

Competition for water and rapid exclusion of an island endemic by a pantropical species in a tropical climate

Volume 201/4

March 2023

New Content ItemCover illustration In boreal forests, feather mosses such as Hylocomium splendens and Pleurozium schreberi are colonized by cyanobacteria, which provide large amounts of nitrogen to forest ecosystems through nitrogen fi xation. Although these feather mosses are also ubiquitous in subalpine forests of East Asia, little is known regarding their associated cyanobacteria and their ability to fi x nitrogen. In this issue, Kubota et al. use molecular analysis to demonstrate that cyanobacteria associated with these two moss species in Japan belong to the same genetic clusters as those in the other boreal forests. In Japan, cyanobacterial associations were strongly controlled by nitrogen concentrations of moss shoots. This work demonstrates consistent responses to environmental factors and cyanobacterial community structure in moss–cyanobacteria associations across a large geogarphic region.

Nitrogen fixation and nifH gene diversity in cyanobacteria living on feather mosses in a subalpine forest of Mt. Fuji

Volume 201/3

February 2023

New Content ItemCover illustration In Europe, droughts are becoming more frequent and intense and are often combined with summer heatwaves. These extreme weather events can cause mass mortality events. In this issue, Dezetter and colleagues experimentally demonstrated that Asp vipers (Vipera aspis) can mitigate the stress of droughts through behavioural hydroregulation. When exposed to dry air, these snakes increased shelter use, which provided a moist microclimate that reduced dehydration and muscle wasting. Hygrometric constraints and behavioural hydroregulation should be considered when modeling the eff ects of climate change on ectotherms.

Behavioural hydroregulation protects against acute effects of drought in a dry-skinned ectotherm

Volume 201/2

January 2023

New Content ItemCover illustration Rodent-eating Northern Hawk Owls sometimes occur in large numbers in southern Norway, and such irruptions usually follow declines in rodent abundance in their regular northern breeding range. However, little is known about ow much food they encounter when they arrive to southern areas. In this issue, Dale and Sonerud found that hawk owls were able to track rodent abundance and usually settled in areas with above-average food availability. The hawk owl on the cover was photographed during the 2020 irruption when bank voles were abundant in southern Norway.

Hawk owl irruptions: spatial and temporal variation in rodent abundance drive push and pull dynamics

Volume 201/1

November-December 2022

Cover illustration In this issue, NooteNew Content Itemn and Guénard demonstrated that precipitation plays a key role in shaping taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional aspects of communities of ground dwelling ants. This pattern was partly driven by Marauder Ants (genus Carebara), which are also among the most abundant ants in the tropical rainforests of Asia. As shown by the ants depicted (Carebara nr. diversa), individuals of the same colony vary greatly in size and shape correlated with their functional roles in the colony. These specimens were found on Lamma Island, Hong Kong SAR, China.

Ant communities in disturbed subtropical landscapes: is climate more important than stochastic processes?

Volume 200/3-4

October 2022

New Content ItemCover illustration How do predators track multiple mobile prey on the landscape? Zabihi-Seissan et al. tested three hypotheses describing space-use by wolves hunting for elk and moose during the winter. The fi ndings illustrate spatial trade-off s between prey encounter and killing, and prey availability versus accessibility when hunting two large responsive prey. In this issue’s cover image, a wolf is observed walking through snow during annual aerial surveys of wildlife in Riding Mountain National Park.

Wolf spatial behavior promotes encounters and kills of abundant prey

Volume 200/1

August 2022

New Content ItemCover illustration How does habitat of origin infl uence the response of prey to predators? In this issue, Knight and colleagues studied a rocky-reef ecosystem with kelp forest and urchin barren alternative states as a model to answer this question. They demonstrated that purple sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) from kelp forest, but not barren habitat, respond to lobster cues. Barren-habitat urchin behavior appeared to be driven by the high conspecifi c density rather than poor urchin nutritional condition associated with barren habitats. These behavioral diff erences may reinforce the persistence of barren habitat states and signal that habitat-specific prey responses, and their consequences, should be explored across ecosystems.

Conspecific cues, not starvation, mediate barren urchin response to predation risk

Volume 199/4

July 2022

New Content ItemCover illustration Climate change is causing some species of birds to shift their ranges toward the poles. While this is well researched for migratory birds in the breeding season, overwintering species remain understudied. In this issue, Bosco and colleagues found that range shifts of overwintering birds exhibit habitat-specific patterns linked to snow depth; species with strong habitat specialization shifted more northward compared to generalist species. These results demonstrate that climate-change induced range shifts may occur outside the breeding season, as in the overwintering birds studied here. Factors such as habitat type and local snow condition may infl uence how these range shifts are manifested.

Range shifts of overwintering birds depend on habitat type, snow conditions and habitat specialization

Volume 199/3

June 2022
New Content ItemCover illustration Weather affects insect populations but it has been difficult to determine the exact causes and consequences of certain climatic events to population oscillations. With the use of a long-term butterfl y monitoring program, Ubach and colleagues reveal the climatic events aff ecting more than 60 species of butterfl ies in the Mediterranean region. The results showed diff erences among climatic regions and a major effect of density-dependent processes. Some species, such as the marsh fritillary (Euphydryas aurinia) shown on the cover of this issue, are aff ected negatively by warm winters.

Weather and butterfly responses: a framework for understanding population dynamics in terms of species’ life-cycles and extreme climatic events

Volume 199/2

May 2022

New Content ItemCover illustration Consumption rates of animals can be limited because of mildly toxic components in certain food items. Red knots (Calidris canutus canutus) forage on bivalves on the mudflats of Banc d’Arguin, Mauritania, which are covered by sea-grass. The most abundant bivalve species there, Loripes orbiculatus, lives in symbiosis with sulfide-oxidizing bacteria. In an experimental setting, Oortwijn and coworkers have shown that sulfur compounds in these bivalves inhibit the consumption rates of red knots.

Sulfur in lucinid bivalves inhibits intake rates of a molluscivore shorebird

Volume 199/1

April 2022

New Content ItemCover illustration Plants experiencing range shifts because of climate change are likely to encounter novel soil microbial communities, and these interactions may affect endemic species differently from wide-ranging species. Rdodhoendron catawbiense, a small-ranged Appalachian shrub, and R. maximum, a widespread congener, form specialized belowground mutualisms with ericoid mycorrhizae. Mueller & colleagues used greenhouse mesocosm experiments to test how these species performed when grown in conspecific (local) or congeneric (novel) soils. Both species showed higher germination rates in novel soils, suggesting that soil communities associated with congeners could facilitate the establishment of endemic species outside their native range. This issue’s cover image shows a) ericoid mycorrhizae colonizing a rhododendron root, b) an uncolonized root, and c-d) a germinating rhododendron seed in contact with fungal hyphae.

Of mutualism and migration: will interactions with novel ericoid mycorrhizal communities help or hinder northward Rhododendron range shifts?

Volume 198/4

March 2022

New Content ItemCover illustration In Tropical Montane Forests, low-lying clouds frequently enshroud vegetation and support hundreds of vascular epiphyte species. Gotsch and colleagues have found that these plant communities, which perform critical roles in water and nutrient cycling, express suites of traits relating to either drought resistance or drought tolerance and that some suites of traits are more vulnerable to climate change in this region. Photo credit: Sybil G. Gotsch.

Trade-offs between succulent and non-succulent epiphytes underlie variation in drought tolerance and avoidance

Volume 198/3


February 2022

New Content ItemCover illustration Understanding how climate and grazing impact dominant grass species is essential for management and conservation of grasslands ecosystems. By sampling several tallgrass prairies that have incorporated cattle grazing, Bachle & Nippert report that climate plays a stronger role than grazing in shaping the physiological and anatomical traits of Andropogon gerardii (Big Bluestem). Leaf anatomical construction was influenced by the availability and timing of rainfall events, thereby altering current and future physiological response. These results highlight the importance of understanding climatic effects on plant physiology to predict future grassland responses to climate change. Photo credit: Chris Helzer.

Climate variability supersedes grazing to determine the anatomy and physiology of a dominant grassland species

Volume 198/2


January 2022

New Content ItemCover illustration Senescence is a decline of physiological functions and processes with age, accompanied by increased risk of mortality. In this issue, Těšický and colleagues asked whether hormonal senescence occurs in plasma testosterone levels in birds. Using data from long-term monitoring of a free-living population, they report that testosterone levels were generally stable over years in Great Tits (Parus major), but similar to mammals, hormonal senescence was noted in males. They also noted a positive correlation of male plasma testosterone levels with carotenoid-based yellow plumage brightness. This research opens the way to further understanding of the causes of variation in condition-related traits. Photo credit: Ondřej Prosický, naturephoto.cz.

Inter-annual repeatability and age-dependent changes in plasma testosterone levels in a longitudinally monitored free-living passerine bird

Volume 198/1


December 2021

New Content ItemCover illustration A view from the top: The Colorado Rockies, seen here from the top of the Niwot Ridge Ameriflux tower, was the setting for Russ Monson’s pioneering investigations of carbon and water exchange in a complex terrain. Photo credit: Dave Moore.

Special Issue in honor of Russell K. Monson

Volume 197/4



November 2021

New Content ItemCover illustration A common aim of silvicultural is to make trees grow faster. In this issue, Runnel and colleagues ask if faster tree growth affects wood quality as habitat for dead-wood inhabiting species. In their study, conducted in the Swedish hemiboreal forests, they explored this question focusing on dead-wood inhabiting fungi and beetles. Their study determined that though fast-grown trees appeared to host more species, endangered red-listed species favored wood from slow-grown trees. Photo credit: Flavien Ferreira.

Do different growth rates of trees cause distinct habitat qualities for saproxylic assemblages?

Volume 197/3


October 2021

New Content ItemCover illustration Animals explore their environments, prospecting for resources and targeting suitable patches to increase fitness. Prospecting is costly because it requires leaving familiar patches and exploring a landscape with many unsuitable spaces. Social species may use public information, such as conspecific density and breeding performance, to decide whether and where to disperse. In empty patches, public information is not available and dispersal for colonisation is challenging. Oro and colleagues tracked Audouin’s gulls for three years and none of the tracked individuals colonised an empty patch, although they prospected over an extensive landscape. Lack of public information in empty patches may drive extended prospecting, long time delays in colonization, and produce complex dynamics in metapopulations and species range expansion. Photo credit: Juan Bécares.

High frequency of prospecting for informed dispersal and colonisation in a social species at large spatial scale

Volume 197/2


September 2021

New Content ItemCover illustration Does species richness of ectothermic and endothermic multitrophic guilds vary differently in response to the variation of temperature and productivity along a tropical elevational gradient? With this question in mind, Lasmar et al. report that arthropods (ants, beetles, harvestmen, and spiders) are more associated with temperature, while large mammals are more associated with productivity. However, when separated into trophic guilds, productivity association with arthropod species richness increases from low to high trophic levels, while there are no clear patterns among large-mammal trophic guilds. Photo credit: Clarissa Rosa.

Temperature and productivity distinctly affect the species richness of ectothermic and endothermic multitrophic guilds along a tropical elevational gradient

Volume 197/1


August 2021

New Content ItemCover illustration How does colonization history affect the role of biotic interactions during community development? By manipulating founder identity, Vieira et al. investigated how traits related to resistance against predators and space use by early colonizers modulate the effects of fish predation during fouling community development. Predation affected community metrics when hard-bodied bryozoans were founders, but produced no effects on communities founded by soft-bodied ascidians. This outcome highlights that community structures may arise from the interplay between historical and contemporary processes. Photo credit: Edson A. Vieira.

Colonization history meets further niche processes: how the identity of founders modulates the way predation structure fouling communities

Volume 196/4


July 2021

New Content ItemCover illustration The biotic resistance hypothesis asserts that native species may hinder the invasion of exotic species by influencing direct or indirect interactions between exotic and local species. In this issue, Devegili and colleagues combine field observations and experiments to demonstrate that aggressive aphid-tending ants decrease exotic-plant seed set and enhance biotic resistance to invasion by protecting aphids with no impact on chewing herbivores. Photo credit: Andres M. Devegili.

Evidence of indirect biotic resistance: native ants decrease invasive plant fitness by enhancing aphid infestation

Volume 196/3


June 2021

New Content ItemCover illustration Understanding fire-driven seedling recruitment is essential for conservation and management of fire-prone vegetation, such as the South African fynbos. In this issue, Newton et al. identify three germination syndromes (fire cue-dependent, fire cue-enhanced, fire cue-independent) from the response of seeds to heat and smoke treatments in the fynbos genus, Leucadendron. Seed storage location was the most reliable predictor of species’ germination syndrome, with about 80% of soil-stored seeds more likely to respond to direct fire cues (primarily smoke) than canopy-stored seeds. Seed morphology was the next best predictor, with nutlet-bearing species around 70% more likely to respond to fire cues than winged seeds. Photo credit: Pablo Gómez Barreiro.

Fire-mediated germination syndromes in Leucadendron (Proteaceae) and their functional correlates

Volume 196/2


May 2021

New Content ItemCover illustration Prenatal and postnatal social environments can have important consequences that persist long into adult life. In a cooperative breeding bird, the sociable weaver (Philetairus socius), measuring telomere length only nine days after hatching predicts survival likelihood at least five years after fledging. While telomere length is positively associated with the postnatal presence of individuals helping parents to raise off spring, this effect is mitigated by the prenatal presence of those helpers. Photo credit: Matthieu Paquet.

Contrasting associations between nestling telomere length and pre and postnatal helpers’ presence in a cooperatively breeding bird

Volume 196/1


April 2021

New Content ItemCover illustration When a species extends its range by moving to a novel habitat, changes occur in the ecosystem where it has become established. How do features of the new species combine with those of the ecosystem to direct those changes? Leduc and collaborators studied this problem experimentally by extending the range of guppies (Poecilia reticulata) above barrier waterfalls that precluded their movements into four novel habitats. The presence and subsequent population growth of guppies affected these ecosystems’ primary productivity and respiration rates. However, the magnitude of those effects depended on the characteristics of the individual streams, primarily the variation among them in ambient light levels. Photo credit: Antoine Leduc.

The experimental range extension of guppies (Poecilia reticulata) influences the metabolic activity of tropical streams

Volume 195/4 – Read online


March 2021

New Content ItemCover illustration Aboveground herbivores and belowground fungi determine the growth of tree seedlings, generating ecological feedbacks that influence tree community assembly. Kadowaki et al. experimentally reveal that aboveground herbivores drive stronger tree species-specific feedback than belowground fungi in a Japanese temperate tree community. Photo credit: Kohmei Kadowaki.

Aboveground herbivores drive stronger plant species-specific feedback than belowground fungi to regulate tree community assembly

Volume 195/3 – Read online


February 2021

New Content ItemCover illustration Why do some snakes use more space than others? In a comparative analysis of 51 species of snakes, Fiedler and colleagues report that males use more space than females, that adults use more space than juveniles, and that snake species that feed of fish occupy less space than other snake species. Determining the factors that dictate large-scale patterns of space use has important management implications in an era of rapid climate change. 
Photo credit: Grégory Bulté.

Phylogenetic analysis of macroecological patterns of home range area in snakes

Volume 195/2 – Read online


January 2021

New Content ItemCover illustration Galapagos sea lions Zalophus wollebaeki raise their young in a diversity of natal sites, resulting in a wide range of maternal care and feedback from conspecifics. DeRango et al. show that these differences in rearing condition create consistent inter-individual differences in hormone levels and growth rate, which influence expression of boldness, response to stress, and level of activity during a crucial life stage. Photo credit: Eugene DeRango.

Developmental conditions promote individual differentiation of endocrine axes and behavior in a tropical pinniped

Volume 195/1 – Read online


December 2020

New Content ItemCover illustration Parasitism is the most common consumer strategy, but the role of parasites in nutrient transfer up the food chain remains understudied. Here, we analyzed the nutrient transfer in a food chain comprised of the diatom Synedra sp. as host, the chytrid fungus as its parasitic consumer and a rotifer as the predatory consumer of the chytrid. Our results support the presence of a “mycoloop”, showing that chytrid infections allow the transfer of nutrients bound in large, inedible phytoplankton to zooplankton through the production of edible transmission spores, thereby rerouting nutrients back into the food web. The image shows cells of the diatom Synedra sp. infected with chytrid. 
Photo credit: Alena S. Gsell.

Trophic position, elemental ratios and nitrogen transfer in a planktonic host–parasite–consumer food chain including a fungal parasite

Volume 194/4 – Read online


November 2020

New Content ItemCover illustration Many organisms encounter novel challenges when making life history transitions between juvenile and adult habitats. Metamorphosing juveniles of the salamander Ambystoma maculatum, shown in our cover photo of this issue of Oecologia, must transition from their larval home in ponds to their adult terrestrial habitat. Messerman and Leal identify intra- and interspecific differences in physiological water loss and metabolic rates among juveniles of five species of pond-breeding salamanders that are linked to success in transitioning to terrestrial life. Common rearing conditions indicated that these differences had a genetic basis and may be adaptive for the transition to local terrestrial conditions. Photo credit: Christian Alessandro Perez-Martinez.

Inter- and intraspecific variation in juvenile metabolism and water loss among five biphasic amphibian species

Volume 194/3 - Read online

October 2020

New Content ItemCover illustration In this issue, Badejo et al. review the benefits of colour variation in social insects and its potential use in applied studies. Colour variation may be affected by environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, and pollution, with potential use as a biomonitoring tool. Our cover photo of paper wasps illustrates conspicuous colour patterns used in signaling information about individual qualities with ecological and evolutionary significance. Photo credit: Oksana Skaldina.

Benefits of insect colours: a review from social insect studies

Volume 194/1-2 – Read online

August 2020

New Content ItemCover illustration In their study appearing in this issue, Chávez-González and colleagues evaluated drivers of the organization of plant-hummingbird interaction networks at multiple temporal scales in a Mexican xeric shrubland landscape. They reported that at intra-, inter, and multi-annual scales, plants and hummingbirds interacted based on their phenological matching, regardless of their abundance, nectar, and morphological characteristics. Shown in the photo is the hummingbird Lampornis clemenciae (Trochilidae) visiting Bouvardia ternifolia (Rubiaceae). Photo credit: Raúl Ortiz-Pulido.

Drivers of the structure of plant–hummingbird interaction networks at multiple temporal scales

Volume 193/4 - Read online

July 2020

New Content ItemCover illustration Peak river flows can cause mass advection of many taxa from upstream to downstream habitats, as seen in the endangered Popenaias popeii mussel in the Rio Grande. Spatial models show that restoring and protecting habitats over contiguous river stretches can help avert the loss of fragmented populations when reinstating historic peak river flows. Photo credit: Lyubov E. Burlakova.

Advection exacerbates population decline from habitat loss: maintaining threatened taxa while restoring natural river flow regimes

Volume 193/3 - Read online


June 2020

New Content ItemCover illustration Climate change is altering phenology in many species. In this issue, Sevenello and colleagues analyzed how the flowering period of spring ephemerals and the activity period of the solitary bee community is affected by interannual climatic variation in an eastern North American hardwood forest. They found that the flowering phenology of Anemone spp. was very sensitive to temperature, but that of Trillium grandiflorum was more responsive to photoperiod. Bee phenology was only weakly correlated with temperature. Nevertheless, temporal overlap between these plants and bees was not affected by climatic variability. These results show that interacting plant and bee taxa may respond to different environmental variables but still maintain their temporal overlap under the conditions recorded so far. Photo credit: Jessica Forrest.

Spring wildflower phenology and pollinator activity respond similarly to climatic variation in an eastern hardwood forest

Volume 193/2 – Read online


May 2020

New Content ItemCover illustration Marine environments are far from silent and coral reefs in particular house a large variety of vocal fishes. How can the different species communicate efficiently and avoid cacophony? Fishes may optimize their communication by selecting specific time and spectral windows to insert their signals within the acoustic space, as predicted by the Acoustic Niche Hypothesis. Bertucci et al.’s paper in this issue demonstrates that acoustic partitioning on reefs in French Polynesia are consistent with niche partitioning and turn cacophony into a "choral” reef. Photo credit: Dascyllus flavicaudus by Gilles Siu.
 

Local sonic activity reveals potential partitioning in a coral reef fish community

Volume 193/1 - Read online


April 2020

New Content ItemCover illustration While stomach contents are a traditional approach for characterizing a predator’s dietary niche, analysis of stable isotopes (isotopic niche) have become a common method to avoid lethal sampling and obtain robust data on assimilated resources. Comparison of these methods for four large shark species provided contrasting niche descriptions, highlighting technique specific considerations and the value of both methods. A White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) feeding on the carcass of a Humpback Whale killed by an impact with a boat in coastal waters of the northeastern U. S. is our cover photo. Photo credit: O. Shipley, T. Henshilwood, Fisheries Research Foundation.

Are you really what you eat? Stomach content analysis and stable isotope ratios do not uniformly estimate dietary niche characteristics in three marine predators

Volume 192/4 - Read online

March 2020

New Content ItemCover illustration Leaf-cutter ant nests change the soil CO2 dynamics in Neotropical rainforests. We designed flow-through chambers to continuously measure the convective CO2 fluxes emanating from nest openings for several days using low-cost components. The results showed CO2 emissions about ten thousand times greater than nearby soils (in average and per unit area), and those emissions followed a clear diel pattern driven by free convection with sporadic wind-forced convection. The central image shows early prototype testing at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica; the left, bottom image shows a worker of Attacephalotes carrying a leaf cutting to the nest with smaller workers hitchhiking, likely to protect the bearer from parasitic wasps and to prepare the leaf fragment before entering the nest. Photo credit: Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou (flow-chambers prototype) and Carlos de La Rosa (Attacephalotes workers).

Diel pattern driven by free convection controls leaf-cutter ant nest ventilation and greenhouse gas emissions in a Neotropical rain forest

Volume 192/3 – Read online

February 2020

New Content ItemCover illustration The arctic fox population in Iceland has increased steadily over a period of 30 years, beginning in the end of the 1970s. Based on stable isotope analyses, our results suggest that the foxes benefitted from increasing prey populations without major changes in their dietary habits. Sea birds were the main resource supporting this prolonged growth, but geese, which have become considerably more numerous in Iceland in the same period, have played only a minor role. Photo credit: Phil Garcia.

Dietary variation in Icelandic arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) over a period of 30 years assessed through stable isotopes

Volume 192/2 - Read online

January 2020

Neuer InhaltBiodiversity has been hypothesized to decrease prevalence of disease in a wide variety of host-pathogen systems. However, the generality of this hypothesis remains debated, particularly for some rodent-borne pathogens such as hantavirus. Long-term studies of small rodent communities are crucial to the understanding of the effect of biodiversity on hantavirus transmission and prevalence.
Photo credit: María Victoria Vadell.

Hantavirus infection and biodiversity in the Americas

Volume 192/1 – Read Online

December 2019

Neuer InhaltBiodiversity in the groundwater springs of Ash Meadows, Nevada, is predicted to change with increasing water temperatures from climate change and aquifer pumping. DNA surveying provides an eff ective tool to monitor ecological communities in these systems, enabling rapid and simultaneous assessment of thousands of species.
Photo credit: Elizabeth L. Paulson.

Inferences of environmental and biotic effects on patterns of eukaryotic alpha and beta diversity for the spring systems of Ash Meadows, Nevada

Volume 191/4 – Read Online

November 2019

Neuer InhaltAlthough experimental work has demonstrated males alter ejaculate production in response to their social environment, little is known whether this may occur within wild populations. Using an island population of Anolis sagrei, Kustra et al. fi nd that several sperm traits vary with fi ne-scale variation in density of an island population. These fi ndings extend the implications of sperm competition theory to within-population variation in the social environment. The cover photo is of a male Anolis sagrei from the population used in this study.
Photo credit: Ariel F. Kahrl.

Sperm morphology and count vary with fine-scale changes in local density in a wild lizard population

Volume 191/3 – Read Online

October 2019

Neuer InhaltNew research shows how food availability, predators, and people all influence giraffe social behavior, and highlights special requirements needed by mother giraffes to keep their babies safe. Groups of adult giraffes are food-focused and not influenced by predation risk, while baby giraffes hide in bushes from lions and seek out areas near pastoralist people where lions are rarer—but avoid higher-impact human areas. This information can help land managers to protect the places most important for giraffes.
Photo credit: Derek Lee.

Fission–fusion dynamics of a megaherbivore are driven by ecological, anthropogenic, temporal, and social factors

Volume 191/2 - Read Online

September 2019

Neuer InhaltThe study by Yoon et al. in this issue highlights the value of investigating immune systems in wild animals. The insect immune response was investigated using the Melissa blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa) and found to be aff ected by a complex suite of factors including phytochemical diversity, host plant-associated microbes, and foliar protein. Shown in the photo is a nectaring male Melissa blue butterfly.
Photo credit: M. Forister.

Host plant-dependent effects of microbes and phytochemistry on the insect immune response

Volume 191/1 – Read Online

August 2019

Neuer InhaltSurvival and movement are central to the ecology of organisms and can vary among demographic groups within species. Through the use of spatial capture-recapture data, Honeycutt et al. reveal evidence of age-specifi c survival and age- and sex-specifi c movement in tailed frogs, a group comprised of two ancient species that inhabit cold streams of northwestern North America. The cover photograph shows a female coastal tailed frog cryptically blending with her surroundings in a mountain stream of California, USA.
Photo credit: Justin M. Garwood.

Spatial capture–recapture reveals age- and sex-specific survival and movement in stream amphibians

Volume 190/4 – Read Online

July 2019

Neuer InhaltGlobally, turtles are among the most imperiled of vertebrate animals. Slow growth, late maturity, and longevity makes turtles particularly susceptible to population decline with habitat loss or modifi cation. In general, ecologists and conservationists know very little about the natural nest sites of freshwater turtles. Undergraduate student Elizabeth Ann Francis lead research examining the nesting habitat and habits of Snapping Turtles (Chelydra serpentina) in natural and manmade sites as part of a long-term study in Algonquin Provincial Park, Canada. Francis and colleagues show in a highlighted student research paper in this issue of Oecologia that natural and manmade nest sites share many physical characteristics, which explains, in-part, why turtles are attracted to nesting in human-modifi ed landscapes. Despite their physical similarities, manmade nesting sites were signifi cantly warmer than natural nest sites. Such elevated temperatures in human-modifi ed nesting habitat have the potential to alter embryonic development and skew sex ratios of developing off spring (through temperature-dependent sex determination). The researchers report that their fi ndings explain one of the most pervasive threats to turtle populations: road mortality and roads as an ecological trap.
This photo shows Snapping Turtle “H06”, a member of the study since 1989, as she completes nesting on a gravel road.
Photo credit: Patrick D. Moldowan.

Anthropogenic nest sites provide warmer incubation environments than natural nest sites in a population of oviparous reptiles near their northern range limit

Volume 190/3 – Read Online

June 2019

Neuer InhaltArthropod body size can vary with environmental conditions, as well as between males and females within a species, i.e. sexual size dimorphism (SSD). From zooplankton to butterflies, Horne et al. investigate patterns in SSD across a broad range of arthropod species and environmental gradients. Their meta-analysis shows that size at maturity is more variable in males than females across latitude, suggesting that over evolutionary time, directional selection has acted more strongly on male than female size. By contrast, size clines across altitudinal and seasonal temperature gradients appear not to differ systematically between the sexes. These findings provide afi eld-based comparison to earlier laboratory studies, and should interest a diverse range of ecologists, physiologists and evolutionary biologists. Pictured: Hylemya vagans (♂).
Photo credit: Curtis R. Horne.

Differential effects of soil waterlogging on herbaceous and woody plant communities in a Neotropical savanna

Volume 190/2 - Read Online

May 2019

Neuer InhaltOne of the most notorious invaders of marine ecosystems is the Pacifi c oyster (Magallana gigas). Originally introduced from Asia for aquaculture, this species has rapidly established in wild populations worldwide (cover photo: anoyster reef at the Wadden Sea coast of the Dutch island of Texel). Goedknegt et al. investigated the relative importance of invasive oysters in determining native and introduced parasite infection levels in native mussels in the Wadden Sea. While invasive oysters were determinants for the presence and infection of native mussels with some parasite species, host size and density of alternative host species also determined levels of infection. These results show that the eff ects of invaders on parasitism in native species are detectable in the fi eld, but that other biological and environmental factors additionally infl uence infection levels in native host communities.
Photo credit: Maria Anouk Goedknegt.

Interspecific homeostatic regulation and growth across aquatic invertebrate detritivores: a test of ecological stoichiometry theory

Volume 190/1 - Read Online

April 2019

Neuer InhaltAvian cholera recurrently causes massive mortality of yellow-nosed albatross nestlings on Amsterdam Island (IndianOcean). By combining individual immunological and demographic data, Gamble et al. demonstrated that a signifi cant proportion of adult yellow-nosed albatrosses are exposed to avian cholera. However, in contrast to nestlings, adults are able to mount a specifi c immune response and survive exposure. In addition, vaccination of breeding females induced the production of antibodies that could be transmitted to their off spring, opening possibilities for conservation strategies in these systems.
Photo credit: Thierry Boulinier.

Agricultural land-use history does not reduce woodland understory herb establishment

Volume 189/4 - Read Online

March 2019

Neuer InhaltPumas are ecosystem engineers that provision crucial habitat for numerous beetle species. Pumas in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, USA, create large, intact carcasses that become critical habitat for carrion-dependent beetles to forage, hide from predators, reproduce, mate and disperse. Pumas also provide carcasses to beetles reliably and regularly during a time of year when beetles need them the most, highlighting the important role of pumas in engineering their environment to support biodiversity.
Photograph by Mark Elbroch.

Dazed, confused, and then hungry: pesticides alter predator–prey interactions of estuarine organisms

Volume 189/3 - Read Online

February 2019

Neuer InhaltSarcodes sanguinea has no chlorophyll and is an obligate mycoheterotrophic plant. Cormier et al. show in this issue that hydrogen isotopes in plant-derived lipids or cellulose can inform on the carbon metabolism (i.e. the carbon autonomy) of heterotrophic plants and their autotrophic hosts. Shown in thepicture is a plant of Sarcodes sanguinea (Ericaceae) in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, USA.
Photo credit: Ansgar Kahmen.

Size–growth asymmetry is not consistently related to productivity across an eastern US temperate forest network

Volume 189/2 - Read Online

January 2019

Neuer InhaltFor desert plants, extreme high temperatures are more acute for leaves experiencing the highest radiation and lowest cooling winds. In the Australian desert shrub, Acacia papyrocarpa, the greatest stressful microclimatic conditions occur at lower and north-facing positions in the canopy and leaves at these positions have signifi cantly higher thermal tolerance. This species may optimise resources to protect against heat-induced damage across the whole plant.
Photo credit: Andy Leigh.

Eelgrass structural complexity mediates mesograzer herbivory on epiphytic algae

Volume 189/1 - Read Online

December 2018

Dec18When parasites are important sources of mortality, males can advertise their health to prospective mates directly through sexual displays whose expression is modulated by infection, or indirectly, through sexual displays whose expression changes with age. In a longitudinal study of male common yellowthroats, Freeman-Gallant and Taff show that infection with blood parasites is associated with slower growth of the black mask but not the yellow bib. Indeed, different populations of males are identified by the largest ornaments – older males in the case of bib, and a combination of older males and young, uninfected males in the case of mask. Female prefer large bibs in their population, and the authors suggest that if infection is opportunistic, females may benefit by preferring older males who are more likely to have withstood prior episodes of infection than young, uninfected males may not possess good genes for parasite resistance but simply good luck.
Photo credit: Conor C. Taff .

Age and infection history are revealed by different ornaments in a warbler

Vol. 188/4 - Read online

November 2018

Nov18Among living tree species, Acacia raddiana and Acacia tortilis (the genus name changed to Vachellia) inhabit some of the hottest and driest places on Earth. These Acacia trees are major components of savannas and open woodlands in many arid regions of Africa and the Middle East, yet little is known about their growth dynamics in situ. Studying these trees in the Arava valley in Israel, Winters et al. in this issue show that their cambial growth occurs during most of the dry season. Active growth at maximum daily temperatures as high as 45 °C relies on concurrent leaf gas exchange,which is in turn permitted by access to deep soil water, in spite of extreme heat and drought.
Photo credit: Neil Shtiglitz.

Tree growth and water-use in hyper-arid Acacia occurs during the hottest and driest season

Vol. 188/3 - Read online

October 2018

Oct18Flower abundance is known to influence plant reproduction through its effects on pollination quantity and quality. However, eff ects of flower abundance on these pollination components can act at different spatial scales. In particular, fl ower availability at the landscape and neighborhood scales can be important in governing plant reproductive output by differentially aff ecting quantitative and qualitive components of the pollination process. Scotch broom is a vigorous invader in many regions worldwide. This pollinator-dependent legume can form large monospecific stands in the Patagonian region of southern Argentina. Taking advantage of its synchronous mass-blooming and bright – yellow flowering display, Cavallero et al. used aerial photographs to estimate flower availability at differentspatial scales in order to study its infl uence on scotch broom’s pollination and reproduction. Increasing fl ower availability at the landscape scale reduced pollination quantity, whereas at the neighborhood-scale it increased pollination quality. Moreover, pollination quality had a higher positive effect on seed output than pollination quantity. Thus, fl ower availability can strongly affect seed output, due to contrasting and scale-dependent effects on pollination quantity and quality. This result has implications to understand the dynamics of invasive plants as well as in yield maximization of pollinator dependent crops.
Photo credit: Laura Cavallero.

Scale-dependent effects of conspecific flower availability on pollination quantity and quality in an invasive shrub

Vol. 188/2 - Read online

September 2018

Sept18Whose dung do dung beetles eat? Dung beetles (Scarabaeinae, > 6000 species) are important in burying and consuming dung. Dung use by dung beetles has hitherto relied on observations of dung ball formation, these used for larval feeding. However, adult diets are suspected to differ. Kerley and colleagues used DNA metabarcoding of feces of adult fl ightless dung beetles (Circellium bacchus), a supposed specialist on megaherbivore dung, to identify the source of dung on which the adults had fed. Rodent feces were most commonly fed on, and preferences among large herbivores are for cover-loving species, while dung of megaherbivores was avoided. The approach also allowed the detection of cryptic mammal species in the area. The differences in brood ball and adult feeding dung sources refl ect life history specific feeding abilities. Feeding on rodent feces is a hitherto unsuspected, but ecologically important, role for these dung beetles.
Photo credit: Graham Kerley.

Diet shifts by adult flightless dung beetles Circellium bacchus, revealed using DNA metabarcoding, reflect complex life histories

Vol. 188/1 - Read online

August 2018

Aug18Special Issue on “Honoring the Career of Professor James R. Ehleringer”. In this special issue seventeen papers are presented to reflect and honor the career of Professor James Ehleringer, who in addition to his many scientific accomplishments and discoveries, served as Editor-in-Chief for Oecologia for thirteen years. Shown in the cover photo is part of a population of Encelia farinosa taken near Oatman, Arizona in the Sonoran Desert. Professor Ehleringer, along with colleagues and students, has studied the population dynamics and ecophysiology of this unique desert shrub for nearly 40 years in deserts of the southwestern United States. The first paper of this issue describes the coupling of population dynamics in E. farinosa and two other species to prominent climate cycles in Pacific Ocean sea surface temperature, and the potential for desert topography to modify those dynamics.
Photo credit: James Ehleringer.

A tale of ENSO, PDO, and increasing aridity impacts on drought-deciduous shrubs in the Death Valley region

Vol. 187/4 - Read online

July 2018

Jul18As other resident herbivores in the high Arctic, Arctic hare (shown in the picture) forage on the few plants that can be accessed through the snow-pack. However, despite the limitedavailability of plant forage, molecular and stable isotope analyses described by Schmidt et al. revealed limited dietary overlap amongst Arctic hare, muskox and rock ptarmigan. Hence, despite consuming the same plant species in the same snow-free patches, these three herbivore species consume diff erent parts of the plants and/or consume the plant species in diff erent proportions.
Photo credit: Niels Martin Schmidt.

Limited dietary overlap amongst resident Arctic herbivores in winter: complementary insights from complementary methods

Vol. 187/3 - Read online

June 2018

Jun18Inga (Fabaceae), a speciose neotropical genus of trees, is attacked by a diversity of herbivores including this Automeris (Saturniidae) feeding on the underside of a young leaf. Years of research by Coley, Kursar and colleagues have provided key insights into how interspecifi c variation in anti-herbivore defenses may have evolved, how defenses shape host choice by herbivores and how they might regulate community composition and infl uence species radiations. In the review by Coley et al. they show that diverse defensive traits exhibit evolutionary lability, that interspecifi c diversity in secondary metabolites arose from novel combinations of common compounds, that divergence in defenses appears to be driven by herbivores, and that neighboring plants escape each other’s pests if their defenses diff er enough. Moreover, while related herbivores feed on hosts with similar defenses, there is a lack of congruence between herbivore and host phylogeny, suggesting evolutionary tracking, rather than coevolution.
Photo credit: Thomas A. Kursar.

Consequences of interspecific variation in defenses and herbivore host choice for the ecology and evolution of Inga, a speciose rainforest tree

Volume 187/2 - Read online

May 2018

May18Pileated woodpeckers are a successful suburban species that occupy large home ranges and defend territories by vocal and mechanical (drumming) means. In studying woodpecker use of suburbs around Seattle, WA, USA, Tomasevic and Marzluff unravel the relationship between home range and territory.Combining radiotelemetry, space use, and behavioral observations,the authors demonstrate that approximately a third of the home range is highly defended, that is defensive behaviors occurred more frequently there than did non defensive behaviors. Resources underlying such highly defended areas may be important to the persistence of organisms and, in the case of pileated woodpeckers, typically included locations of critical features, such as the nest and roost site.
Photo credit: John M. Marzluff

Space use of suburban pileated woodpeckers (Dryocopus pileatus): insights on the relationship between home range, core areas, and territory

Vol. 187/1 - Read Online

April 2018

Apr18Do butterflies share their host plants or not? The question of whether endemic butterfly species distributed throughout Japan compete for the same host plants, or manage to create exclusive distributions so they do not overlap, is the topic of the paper by Nakadai et al. in this issue. The study demonstrates that indeed the butterflies are more likely to share their host plants, thus giving support to the idea that there is resource niche fi ltering in the overlapping distribution of these insects. The photo shows Luehdorfi a japonica (Papilionidae), one of the endemic butterfly species in Japan.
Photo credit: Koya Hashimoto.

Geographical co-occurrence of butterfly species: the importance of niche filtering by host plant species

Vol. 186/4 - Read online

March 2018

Mar18In the Brazilian cerrado savanna, ant-treehopper associations frequently occur on inflorescences, but their effect on plant reproduction remains uncertain. Experimental manipulations by Ibarra-Isassi and Oliveira demonstrate that presence of treehoppers increases ant abundance on flowers and disrupts pollination, decreasing the frequency and duration of floral visits and ultimately reducing fruit and seed set. Treehopper herbivory has no direct effect on fruit or seed production. Experiments using dried ants pinned to inflorescences reveal that ant identity mediates flower visitation, with aggressive ants (Ectatomma brunneum) causing increased avoidance by floral visitors. These results highlight the importance of studying other interactions near flowers, in addition to just observing pollinators, for a proper understanding of plant reproduction. The main image shows an oil-collecting bee (Centrisvaria) approaching an inflorescence of Byrsonima intermedia occupied by ants attending honeydew-producing treehoppers (upper left). Oil glands at the calyx are shown on the image in the lower right corner.
Photo credit: J. Ibarra-Isassi and H. Soares Jr.

Indirect effects of mutualism: ant–treehopper associations deter pollinators and reduce reproduction in a tropical shrub

Vol. 186/3 - Read online

February 2018

Feb18Monocultures and farmland biodiversity. From experiments in outside enclosures Tissier et al. report that sowing only one crop reduces invertebrate and plant species richness by up to 38% compared to sowing a mix of crops. It also strongly reduces the reproductive success of the critically endangered European hamster, by up to 82%, suggesting nutritional defi ciencies impairing reproduction.
Photo credit: Nicolas Busser, CNRS/IPHC.

Monocultural sowing in mesocosms decreases the species richness of weeds and invertebrates and critically reduces the fitness of the endangered European hamster

Volume 186/2 - Read online

January 2018

Jan18Understanding the effects of habitat fragmentation on species diversity independent of the eff ects of habitat loss is challenging. In this issue, MacDonald et al. use butterfly assemblages on lake islands to decouple habitat fragmentation from habitat loss and test the habitat amount hypothesis, which negates direct effects of habitat fragmentation on species diversity. By differentiating between potentially reproducing and transient butterfly species on individual islands based on larval food plant occurrences, the study shows that inter-fragment movements of highly mobile species may inflate the observed diversity of small habitat fragments, obscuring important fragmentation eff ects on resident species diversity. Shown is an Atlantis fritillary (Speyeria atlantis), a highly mobile butterfly species that frequents the study area.
Photo credit: Zachary G. MacDonald.

Decoupling habitat fragmentation from habitat loss: butterfly species mobility obscures fragmentation effects in a naturally fragmented landscape of lake islands

Vol. 186/1 - Read online

December 2017

Dec17An animal’s personality has been shown to influence its ability to learn. Individuals that explore their environment more actively under both benign and threatening conditions are thought to learn new tasks at a faster rate, yet at the cost of accuracy. Those animals tending to be more neophobic and inactive learn slower but make fewer mistakes and are more flexible in their learning style. In this issue, Chung et al. show that an individual’s personality does not always dictate cognitive ability highlighting the need to test these predictions across taxa. This image shows a delicate skink boldly assessing the level of threat imposed by the photographer.
Photo credit: Shannon Walsh.

Does personality influence learning? A case study in an invasive lizard

Vol. 185/4 - Read online

November 2017

Nov17Climate change is expected to cause widespread changes in tree communities in the vast Amazonian forests of South America. In this issue, Stropp et al. use historical herbarium specimens of six Amazonian tree species to assess whether changes in leaf morphology over the past 60 years coincide with meteorological trends. In some species, leaves showed a significant trend for smaller size after the mid-1970s as the Amazonian climate became drier. This correlation between climate and leaf size suggests that some Amazonian trees have the capacity to respond to reduced precipitation with morphological changes that may be adaptive for survival. The picture was taken in the Amazonian rainforestin Colombia.Photo credit: Grégoire Dubois.

Drier climate shifts leaf morphology in Amazonian trees

Vol. 185/3 - Read online

October 2017

Oct17Fruit-frugivore interactions are of major importance in a variety of ecosystems. In this issue, Guerra et al. built an ecological network linking individuals of Miconia irwinii to their avian seed dispersers. The study exemplifi es how individual-based networks linking plants to frugivores that diff er in their seed dispersal eff ectiveness can advance our understanding of intraspecifi c variation in the outcomes of fruit–frugivore interactions.The picture shows the “Campo Rupestre” vegetation at the study site in the Serra do Cipó region (Brazil).
Photo credit: Tadeu J. Guerra

Intraspecific variation in fruit–frugivore interactions: effects of fruiting neighborhood and consequences for seed dispersal

Vol. 185/2 - Read online

September 2017

Sept17Small, shallow lakes may have crystal clear water and dense growth of submerged macrophytes, notably charophytes as shown on this underwater photograph from a South Scandinavian lake. In this issue, Kragh et al., report extensive increases of oxygen, temperature, and pH values, and dramatic depletion of dissolved inorganic carbon and CO2 from the morning to the afternoon, which generated afternoon depression of primary production on virtually every day. Charophyte species appear to be particularly tolerant to anoxia and high sulfi de concentrations in the bottom waters during daytime stratifi cation in small lakes.
Photo credit: Theis Kragh.

Profound afternoon depression of ecosystem production and nighttime decline of respiration in a macrophyte-rich, shallow lake

Vol. 185/1 - Read online

August 2017

Aug17Small carnivores are arguably under the greatest competitive pressure among all carnivores. In this issue, de Satgé et al. utilise camera-trap data to show that a guild of five African small carnivores – African wildcat Felis silvestris lybica (shown in the picture), grey mongoose Galerella pulverulenta, small-spotted genet Genetta genetta, striped polecat Ictonyx striatus, and yellow mongoose Cynictis penicillata– partition their activity along spatial, temporal and dietary axes, likely as a means to reduce their competitive interactions.
Photo credit: The Cape Leopard Trust.

Competition and coexistence in a small carnivore guild

Vol. 184/4 - Read online

July 2017

Jul17Juvenile resources can crucially shape adult life-histories, often via alteration in body mass. In this issue, Rosa and Saastamoinen show that larval food stress induces diff erential responses between the sexes in the Glanville fritillary butterfly (Melitaea cinxia). In females larval food stress reduces body mass and subsequently impacts reproductive output, whereas in males body mass remains unaffected. In males territorial behavior is nevertheless affected by food stress, potentially reducing their reproductive output.
Photo credit: Elena Rosa.

Sex-dependent effects of larval food stress on adult performance under semi-natural conditions: only a matter of size?

Vol. 184/3 - Read online

June 2017

Jun17The abundance of plants with crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) is increasing worldwide. In this issue, Yu et al. show that under drought and saline conditions a facultative CAM species (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum) had a competitive advantage over grasses (Bromus mollis). In wet environments, M. crystallinum adapted to the moderate competition with Bromus mollis by switching from C3 photosynthesis to CAM photosynthesis. These results demonstrate the ability of facultative CAM plants to capitalize on their photosynthetic plasticity to cope with biological stress from competition with grasses. CAM plants, like Carnegiea gigantea shown in this picture, feature water storage, photosynthetic plasticity and a high water usage effi ciency, which can off er a competitive advantage under certain ecological conditions.
Photo credit: Kailiang Yu.

Effects of competition on induction of crassulacean acid metabolism in a facultative CAM plant

Vol. 184/2 - Read online

May 2017

May17Stream features such as tree trunks and undercut banks provide habitat and protection for many species in freshwater streams but what do they do for returning adult salmon? In this issue, Andersson and Reynolds examine whether these features can provide refuge for spawning salmon from size-biased predation imposed by hunting bears. Streams with large amounts of wood and undercut banks limited size-selective predation pressure from bears, and streams with these features had larger salmon. Thus, habitat features can indirectly influence the body size of salmon by influencing size-selective predation pressure that salmon populations otherwise encounter. The photo shows an example of a tangled stream section in Hooknose Creek, on the central coast of British Columbia, Canada.
Photo credit: Aaron Gaffney.

Effects of habitat features on size-biased predation on salmon by bears

Vol. 184/1 - Read online

April 2017

Apr17Habitat diversity within agricultural landscapes can have direct and indirect eff ects on the reproductive success of birds. In this issue, Michel et al. show that the habitat configuration influences parental home-range dimensions and reproduction of little owls (Athene noctua). Experimental food supplementation improved nestling survival and condition. Paternal home-range size was positively correlated with nestling survival and negatively with condition at fl edging. This study shows how habitat characteristics influence individual behaviour, thereby determining spatial variation in reproductive performance. The photo shows a radio-tagged male little owl with the antenna sticking out of the plumage above the bird’s tail.
Photo credit: Silvio Bartholdi

Reproductive consequences of farmland heterogeneity in little owls (Athene noctua)

Volume 183/4 - Read Online

March 2017

Mar17As charismatic megafauna, nesting and foraging sea turtles are increasingly the focus of ecotourism activities. In this issue of Oecologia, Griffi n et al. quantify the behavioral responses of immature green turtles (Chelonia mydas) to disturbance by snorkelers and document a variation in personality types across individual turtles. This photo, taken at the study site Culebra Island, Puerto Rico, shows a turtle fl eeing after a snorkeler encounter.
Photo credit: Jacob W. Brownscombe

Volume 183/3 - Read Online

February 2017

Feb17Classic hypotheses regarding the regulation of avian clutch size do not account for variation in nutrients among females at the end of egg laying, strong right truncations in clutch size distributions, or the fact that many species with precocial young are determinate layers. One solution is that there is a maximum clutch size, above which the number of fl edged young declines. In this issue, Sedinger et al. show through experimental manipulations that the most productive brood size in Black Brent (Branta bernicla nigricans) is larger than that typically produced. Therefore, reduced gosling survival in large broods is not by itself the sole mechanism limiting maximum clutch size in brent. The image shows a female brent and her gosling on the Tutakoke River Colony in western Alaska.
Photo credit: David Stimac

Ultimate regulation of fecundity in species with precocial young: declining marginal value of offspring with increasing brood size does not explain maximal clutch size in Black Brent geese

Vol. 183/2 - Read Online

January 2017

Jan17Using stable isotope composition in plant materials as indicators of palaeoclimate relies on a mechanistic understanding of the drivers of isotopic enrichments in leaf water and associated organic compounds. Munksgaard et al. assessed the isotopic compositions in eucalypt leaf and stem water and leaf cellulose across Australian aridity gradients, demonstrating that 18O enrichment in leaf water is determined by the leaf to air water vapour pressure diff erence, which is also a strong predictor of leaf cellulose O-isotope composition.
Photo credit: Ansgar Kahmen; Corymbia aparrerinja near Alice Springs.

Identifying drivers of leaf water and cellulose stable isotope enrichment in Eucalyptus in northern Australia

Vol. 183/1 - Read online

December 2016

Dec16Climate change enhances the effects of eutrophication and forces Lake Victoria cichlids to respond morphologically. In this issue, van Rijssel et al. report that during a period of severe eutrophication, reduced wind speeds coincided with low oxygen levels and an increased gill surface area of three cichlid species. The photo shows the research transect in the Mwanza Gulf of Lake Victoria which has been monitored by the Haplochromis Ecology Survey Team (HEST) since the 1970s.
Photo credit: Crista van Geest.

Climatic variability in combination with eutrophication drives adaptive responses in the gills of Lake Victoria cichlids

Vol. 182/4 - Read online

November 2016

Nov16It is commonly assumed that whole-tree carbon gain is optimized when leaf photosynthetic capacity varies in proportion to vertical light gradients, yet observed photosyntheticprofi les do not follow this prediction. In this issue, Ambrose et al. show that this apparent discrepancy can be explained by increasing hydraulic constraints with height in giant sequoia trees in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. The study found that within-crown adjustments partially compensate for increasing hydraulic constraints, leading to the largest ever reported daily whole-tree water use rates, consistent with immense growth rates observed in these massive trees (pictured).
Photo credit: A.R. Ambrose.

Hydraulic constraints modify optimal photosynthetic profiles in giant sequoia trees

Vol. 182/3 - Read online

October 2016

Oct16The ability of plants to alter the life span and biochemical properties of their leaves in response to resource availability has been well documented and is the basis for theoretical predictions concerning the optimization of photosynthesis and carbon gain. Predictions of this theory have not been tested for non-vascular autotrophs such as macroalgae. In this issue of Oecologia, Rodriguez et al. show that the life span, size, thickness, pigment concentrations and photosynthetic performance of vegetative blades of the habitat forming marine alga Macrocystis pyrifera varied across a strong light gradient in a manner that was generally consistent with the prevailing theory of leaf life span in plants. Shown in the image is the apical meristem of the giant kelp M. pyrifera.
Photo credit: Ron H. McPeak.

Blade life span, structural investment, and nutrient allocation in giant kelp

Vol. 182/2 Read online

September 2016

Sept16Sea otter (Enhydra lutris) predation on herbivorous urchins in kelp forests is one of the classic examples of a top predator benefi tting a vegetated ecosystem through a trophic cascade. But what is the sea otter’s role in estuarine ecosystems? It has been documented that bloom-forming algae when stimulated by anthropogenic nutrient loading can drive the loss of important seagrass habitats. In this issue, Hughes et al. show how sea otters, through the consumption of crabs, can create a trophic cascade that influences the interaction between seagrass (Zostera marina) and bloom-forming green algae (Ulva spp.), which ultimately drives the resilience of seagrass.
Photo credit: Robert Scoles.

Trophic cascades on the edge: fostering seagrass resilience via a novel pathway

Vol. 182/1 - Read online

August 2016

Apr16Plant species from the high Andes are able to survive very low temperatures, particularly under drought conditions, but this freezing tolerance could be affected by climate change. In this issue, Sierra-Almeida et al. show that warmer and moister growing seasons could threaten plant survival and persistence of alpine species in dry mountains. The image shows a close up of a Phacelia secunda (Boraginaceae) plant during a freezing temperature event in the central Chilean Andes.
Photo credit: Lohengrin A. Cavieres.

Drought increases the freezing resistance of high-elevation plants of the Central Chilean Andes

Vol. 181/4 - Read online

July 2016

Jul16Invasive species can present new challenges to the ecological communities they invade. Can native species adapt to overcome these challenges? In this issue, Herr et al. show that native Eastern Fence Lizards cope with dangerously venomous invasive fire ants by consuming them. Both within the lifetime of individual lizards and across multiple generations, previous exposure to fire ants results in lizards that consume them at a greater rate than their fire ant naïve counterparts. This photo shows an Eastern Fence Lizard in the process of consuming its invasive prey.
Photo credit: Tracy Langkilde and Travis Robbins

Irresistible ants: exposure to novel toxic prey increases consumption over multiple temporal scales

Vol. 181/3 - Read online

June 2016

Jun16Montane forests of southern Patagonia are one of the few natural landscapes of the world dominated by a single species, in this case Nothofagus pumilio (lenga). Lenga can flourish in a broad range of temperature and precipitation regimes and is often the dominant species along mountain slopes in the region. In this issue of Oecologia, Mathiasen and Premoli report on the evolutionary potential for adaptation of lenga at contrasting elevations of an altitudinal gradient. Using a reciprocal transplant experiment, the authors show that low-elevation plants outperform high-elevation plants even at high elevation, suggesting that under global warming scenarios the former may drive the high-elevation variants to local extinction. These results suggest that the upslope migration process may be led by low elevation trees, and not the upper treeline forests as previously thought. The photo shows both high- and low-elevation lenga trees growing near treeline at the Challhuaco Valley, Rio Negro, Argentina
Photo credit: Paula Mathiasen

Living on the edge: adaptive and plastic responses of the tree Nothofagus pumilio to a long-term transplant experiment predict rear-edge upward expansion

Vol. 181/2 - Read online

May 2016

May16Winter conditions are believed to play an important role in the population dynamics of northern temperate stream fi sh, challenging the ability of fi sh to physiologically and behaviourally adapt. In this issue, Watz et al. show that brown trout (Salmo trutta) that spent the winter under ice cover grew more and used a broader range of habitats than trout in uncovered stream sections. These results indicate that the presence of surface ice may function as overhead cover against terrestrial piscivores and improve the energetic status of stream fi sh during winter.
Photo credit: Johan Watz

Ice cover affects the growth of a stream-dwelling fish

Vol. 181/1 - Read online

April 2016

Apr16Functional traits have been used to group ecologically similar species, but their potential goes far beyond: the Special Section of nine articles in this issue illustrates how functional traits are linked to species coexistence and to key ecological services and processes. Thus, trait-based ecology is becoming a powerful conceptual and operative tool. The photo shows a highly diverse shrub-perennial plant community developed on calcic gypsisols in central Spain where the functional structure of the community was controlled at fine scales by both biotic filtering and resource partitioning. The site was used by Chacon-Labella et al. for their study.
Photo credit: Julia Chacon-Labella

Vol. 180/4 (Special Topic on Functional Traits) - Read online

March 2016

Mar16Coral reefs are some of the most productive and biodiverse ecosystems in the world, yet we still know little about the food web architecture maintaining these vital ecosystems. In this issue, McMahon et al. used a compound-specific stable isotope fingerprinting approach to quantify carbon fl ow from key baseline end members to coral reef fi shes in the Red Sea. The study suggests that the tremendous diversity in food web architecture on coral reefs likely plays a critical role in maintaining coral reef productivity and biodiversity.
Photo credit: Tane Sinclair-Taylor.

Tracing carbon flow through coral reef food webs using a compound-specific stable isotope approach

Volume 180/3 - Read online

February 2016

Feb16Climate change may be driving lizard population declines in tropical rainforests. In this issue, Brusch IV et al. uset hermal physiology metrics to make predictions about what lizard species may be at greatest risk. They show that habitat specialists may be most impacted by future warming. This photo shows a Jesus-Christ Lizard (Basiliscus plumifrons), a species from lowland tropical forests.
Photo credit: Ellen B. Sperr.

Turn up the heat: thermal tolerances of lizards at La Selva, Costa Rica

Vol. 180/2 - Read online

January 2016

Jan16Peatlands dominated by peat mosses are important sinks of atmospheric carbon, but their role is potentially at stake as climate change promotes the encroachment of vascular plants. In this issue, Gavazov et al. demonstrate the competitive strategies for nutrient acquisition of dominant vascular plant species.Along an altitudinal gradient (in the photo the highest altitude peatland at 1885 m a.s.l.), foliar isotopic signatures of vascular plants reveal the intimate association of shrubs with their mycorrhizae and the intensified transfer of nitrogen via this symbiosis under warmer and drier climate.
Photo credit: Konstantin Gavazov

Environmental drivers of carbon and nitrogen isotopic signatures in peatland vascular plants along an altitude gradient

Vol. 180/1 - Read online

December 2015

Dec15Galapagos sea lions (Zalophus wollebaeki) are endemic to the geographically small extend of the Galapagos Islands, yet recent work has shown genetic and morphological differences between sea lions from the western and the central archipelago. In this issue, Jeglinski et al. show that these differences align with differences in foraging habitat, diving behaviour and dietary composition, and already exist between juvenile sea lions from both regions that just started to forage independently. These results highlight a case of incipient ecological speciation in a highly mobile marine top predator and suggest a role of early learning in driving the ecological and ultimately genetic differences in the population.

Differences in foraging ecology align with genetically divergent ecotypes of a highly mobile marine top predator

Vol. 179/4 - Read online

November 2015

Nov15How do plant water use strategies contribute to ecosystem scale drought eff ects? In this issue, Roman et al. develop a framework for classifying water use strategies and evaluate the impact of a severe drought on carbon cycling in the Morgan-Monroe State Forest in south-central Indiana (pictured). The study is based on a long term (1999–2013) eddy covariance record of carbon fluxes, and a 3 year (2011–2013) record of weekly leaf-level gas exchange and water potential measurements. Their results show that drought tolerant species, such as oaks (Quercus spp.), play a critical role in mitigating the impacts of drought on the forest carbon sink, which is of particular concern given that oaks are declining in many eastern US forests.
Photo credit: D. Tyler Roman

The role of isohydric and anisohydric species in determining ecosystem-scale response to severe drought

Vol. 179/3 - Read online

October 2015

Oct15Predation by introduced mammals has driven declines of New Zealand forest birds. In this issue, Parlato et al. show that cavity nesting was the key trait associated with more extensive range contraction, suggesting that cavity nesting species are the most vulnerable to predation. This photo shows an adult kakapo (Strigops habroptilus) with two chicks. The kakapo is a critically endangered cavity-nesting species that has been completely extirpated from the New Zealand mainland.
Photo credit: Don Merton, Department of Conservation.

Traits influencing range contraction in New Zealand’s endemic forest birds

Vol. 179/2 - Read online

September 2015

Sept15How are herbivorous insects able to subsist on a diet that is often rich in toxic chemical compounds? In this issue, Hammer and Bowers argue that symbioses with gut microorganisms may help insects overcome plant chemical defenses. Many bacteria and fungi in soil, leaves, and the mammalian gut can withstand and degrade plant toxins, but the importance of such microbial activity to the ecology and evolutionary diversification of insect herbivores is just beginning to be unveiled. Shown is the caterpillar Citheronia lobesis consuming Spondias mombin leaves, which contain a variety of secondary metabolites.
Photo credit: Tobin Hammer

Gut microbes may facilitate insect herbivory of chemically defended plants

Vol. 179/1 - Read online

August 2015

Aug15The North Adriatic Karst is covered by species-rich grasslands, but land abandonment has resulted intheir replacement by woodlands. In this issue, Batalha et al. Show that grasslands and woodlands are assembled by different rules, with environmental filtering being the dominant force in the former and competitive exclusion becoming more important in the latter. Understanding community assembly rules in grasslands and woodlands could contribute to improve conservation efforts.
Photo credit: Mitja Kaligarič.

Assessing community assembly along a successional gradient in the North Adriatic Karst with functional and phylogenetic distances

Vol. 178/4 - Read online

July 2015

Jul15White-collared Manakins (Manacus candei) are tropical birds that feed almost exclusively on fruit in Young and mature forest. In this issue, Wolfe et al. show that dry El Niño events were associated with strikingly low manakin survival in young forests, while El Niño events had little effect on survival in mature forests. These results suggest that mature forests may serve as refugia for fruit-eating birds during periods of climatic instability.
Photo credit: Chris Jiménez.

Changes in the apparent survival of a tropical bird in response to the El Niño Southern Oscillation in mature and young forest in Costa Rica

Vol. 178/3 - Read online

June 2015

Jun15Chemotactile spider cues alter food web structure and reduce local herbivory in the field. In this issue, Bucher et al. show that changes in insect communities due to the predation risk of nursery web spiders (Pisaura mirabilis) can reduce herbivory pressure on nettle plants (Urtica dioica), which in turn reduces leaf damage. These results suggest that non-consumptive effects can be very important within predator guilds.Photo credit: Roman Bucher.

Risk of spider predation alters food web structure and reduces local herbivory in the field

Vol. 178/2 Read online

May 2015

May15This issue includes a special section of 11 articles on Individual-level niche specialization. The papers in this volume illustrate a growing body of literature that asks: what has been overlooked by focusing on population-level mean phenotypes in ecology, and how might ecological systems and evolutionary processes be better understood by explicit recognition of phenotypic variation among individuals? These studies suggest that population-level means may be more appropriately viewed as emergent properties than principal entities of interest. Rosenblatt et al. investigate the prevalence, causes, and consequence of individual-level niche specialization in foraging behaviors across different populations of American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis), the dominant aquatic apex predator across the southeast US, using stomach contents and stable isotope data.
Photo credit: Garrett Miller.

Volume 178/1: Special Feature on Individual-level niche specialization

April 2015

Apr15Coordinated approaches to global change research: This issue includes a Special Section of ten articles that highlight key requirements to advance integrated ecological research to study ecosystem responses to global changes. Such requirements include long-term studies, combinations of observational and experimental research, and reference to large-scale context. The photo shows Ramat Hanadiv Park in the coastal plane of Israel, with a patchwork of habitats and land-uses representing the complexity and diversity of the Mediterranean ecological reality. This is an extensively investigated research site, and It was the site of the Batsheva workshop that led to this special section.
Photo was taken by Albatross; skyline@albatross.co.il

Volume 177/4: Special Feature on coordinated approaches to global change research - Read online

March 2015

Mar15Phenology and abundance influence species interactions. For amphibians and many other taxa, these factors are primarily investigated in experimental settings, leaving the applicability to natural populations unknown. In this issue, Anderson et al. (pp. 761–773) provide evidence from natural populations that both recruitment and demographic traits of two pondbreeding salamanders are correlated with complex intra-Zand interspecific processes. Important factors include the timing of breeding, the abundance of breeding adults, and metamorph survival and body size. Shown is an adult spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum), one of the species under investigation.
Photo credit: William E. Peterman.

Abundance and phenology patterns of two pond-breeding salamanders determine species interactions in natural populations

Volume 177/3 - Read Online

February 2015

Feb15Fruit secondary compounds protect fruits fromplant enemies, but how do they influence beneficial animals like seed dispersers? Studying bat-dispersed pepper plants (Piper spp.) in Costa Rica, Baldwin and Whitehead (pp., 453–466) showed that amides, a nitrogen-based class of compounds that are typical to many tropical pepper plants, decreased the retention times of seeds in the guts of the main bat disperser, Seba’s Shorttailed Fruit Bat (Carollia perspicillata). Their results suggest that fruit secondary compounds not only defend fruits against pests, but can also mediate seed disperser physiology and patterns of dispersal in tropical forests.
Photo credit: Susan Whitehead.

Fruit secondary compounds mediate the retention time of seeds in the guts of Neotropical fruit bats

Vol. 177/2 - Read online

January 2015

Jan15Nitrogen Deposition Reassessed. This special feature includes six articles that focus on the effects of chronic atmospheric N deposition in contrasting ecosystem types ranging from acidic grasslands in Europe, boreal forests in Canada, alpine grasslands in China, to temperate forests in the Midwest and Northeastern USA. The articles deal specifically with two distinct topics: the effects of N deposition on species composition; and the responses of pools and fluxes of N. The photo shows one of the atmospheric deposition collectors at the Tirasse site about 120 km north of Saint-Félicien, Quebec, Canada.
Image courtesy of Charles Marty.

Vol. 177/1 - Read online

December 2014

Jan14Cover illustration Is the fate of North American ash sealed? The emerald ash borer (EAB, shown in the pictures at the adult and larval stages) continues to spread and kill ash trees through larval feeding on the inner bark. However, Whitehill et al. (pp. 1047–1059) show that application of the phytohormone methyl jasmonate (MeJA) reduces EAB attack rates while inducing accumulation of a phenolic compound, verbascoside, in the inner bark. Furthermore, when supplied at MeJA-induced levels in artificial diet, verbascoside decreased growth, development, and survival of EAB larvae. This suggests that exploitation of MeJA based defences could conceivably become part of future integrated management strategies for this pest.

Decreased emergence of emerald ash borer from ash treated with methyl jasmonate is associated with induction of general defense traits and the toxic phenolic compound verbascoside

Volume 176/4 - Read Online

November 2014

Nov14Special Issue on “Ecophysiological effects of predation risk: an integration across disciplines”. The threat of predation has wide-spread consequences for prey behavior, morphology and development which must be generated by changes in prey physiology. However, the physiological mechanisms that underlie the costs and benefits of responding to predators have not been well studied. In this issue, 8 articles consider the effects of predation risk on prey digestive physiology, thermal ecology and neurobiology at the scale of individual hormonal pathways to ecosystem effects. Shown in the photo is a Colorado potato beetle being attacked by a predaceous stink bug.
Photo credit: Ellen Woods.

Volume 176/3: Special Topic: Ecophysiological Effects of Predation Risk

October 2014

Oct14Impacts of secondary succession on ecosystem fluxes. In this issue of Oecologia, Scartazza et al. show that the transition from the herbaceous vegetation of abandoned agricultural land to the Mediterranean shrub vegetation is associated with increased ecosystem water use efficiency at the beginning of the dry season, which might eventually translate into increased ecosystem carbon sequestration. Shown here is a false color aerial image of the Island of Pianosa in the Northern Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy), where the study was carried out, along with a sunset view of one of the flux towers used to measure biogeochemical cycling and water use.
Photo by: Franco Miglietta.

Comparing integrated stable isotope and eddy covariance estimates of water-use efficiency on a Mediterranean successional sequence

Volume 176/2 - Read Online

September 2014

Sept14Massive expansion of Lupinus nootkatensis in Iceland. Cold high elevation and high latitude ecosystems are known for their slow nitrogen cycle and highly adapted biota. Widespread invasions by symbiotic N2 fixing species of the genus Lupinus and Alnus are currently putting this biota at risk. In this issue, Hiltbrunner et al. summarize the evidence demonstrating that increased nitrogen input by such taxa reduces biodiversity, acidifies soils, enriches groundwater and runoff with nitrate, and augments the emissions of N2O (a potent greenhouse gas).
Photo by: Christian Körner.

Ecological consequences of the expansion of N2-fixing plants in cold biomes

Volume 176/1 - Read Online

August 2014

Aug14Why have plants evolved the ability to detect sound and vibration? In this issue, Appel and Cocroft (pp. 1257–1266) show that feeding by caterpillars (Pieris rapae) produces distinctive vibrations that propagate rapidly through the stems and leaves of Arabidopsis plants. Exposing plants to feeding vibrations in the absence of other herbivore cues caused the plants to produce more chemical defenses when later attacked by caterpillars. Defenses were primed by feeding vibrations, but not by vibrations from wind or insect song. This study shows for the first time that plants can mount a selective and ecologically meaningful response to an acoustic cue relevant to their fitness.
Photo by: Carlos F. Pinto.

Plants respond to leaf vibrations caused by insect herbivore chewing - OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE

Watch the YouTube video: The cabbage butterfly caterpillar (Pieris rapae) feeds on Arabidopsis thaliana

Volume 175/4 - Read Online

July 2014

Jul14Stressed by crowding? In this issue, Viblanc et al. (pages 763–772) show how the spatial location of breeding territories can affect the stress levels of colonial seabirds. In breeding king penguins, their results reveal that spatial variation in social density, rather than weather conditions or predation risk, has strong effects on the baseline stress hormones of those animals. Both during incubation and chick-rearing, crowded penguins indeed appear to have higher stress levels than their less-crowded conspecifics.

Stress hormones in relation to breeding status and territory location in colonial king penguin: a role for social density?

Volume 175/3 - Read Online

June 2014

Jun14How do nitrogen and phosphorus interact to influence primary productivity? On pages 667– 676 of this issue, Perini and Bracken demonstrate through observation and experimentation that the availability of nitrogen can limit the uptake and storage of phosphorus in an important intertidal foundation species, the seaweed Fucus vesiculosus. On the wave swept rocky shores pictured here (East Point, Nahant, MA, USA), nitrogen availability varies throughout the year. As nitrogen levels fluctuate and phosphorus levels remain constant, seaweeds take up and store phosphorus only when adequate nitrogen is available, providing evidence of an intrinsic linkage between these essential nutrients in the cellular machinery of primary producers.
Photo by: Christopher Marks.

Nitrogen availability limits phosphorus uptake in an intertidal macroalga

Volume 175/2 - Read Online

May 2014

May14Can plants, like animals, learn and remember? On pages 63–72, Gagliano et al. address this question and demonstrate experimentally that the sensitive plant Mimosa is capable of learning in a matter of seconds and most remarkably, remembering what has been learned for several weeks. In an animal-like fashion, this plant is able to learn through direct experience, yet it does it all without a brain. Shown in the photo Mimosa pudica plants.
Photo by Monica Gagliano.

Experience teaches plants to learn faster and forget slower in environments where it matters

Volume 175/1 - Read Online

April 2014

Apr14Seasonality and life history: On pages 1197–1204 Cox and Cresswell demonstrate that across 40 savannah species, the body mass gained during breeding positively correlates with adult survival and is a reflection of seasonal variation in food availability. A species that occupies a highly seasonal foraging niche such as this red-cheeked cordonbleu (Uraeginthus bengalus) will have a superabundance of food available during breeding and so will store fewer body reserves. They are thus able to raise more chicks, but at a cost to their own survival.
Photo by Martin Stervander.

Mass gained during breeding positively correlates with adult survival because both reflect life history adaptation to seasonal food availability

Volume 174/4 - Read Online

March 2014

Mar14Can small grazers damage large, fast growing kelps? In this issue, Poore et al. (pages 789-801) demonstrate that low levels of consumption by grazing crustaceans can result in unexpectedly large reductions in the growth of intertidal kelps due to the selective removal of photosynthetically active tissues. Clockwise from top left: blades and pneumatocysts of Macrocystispyrifera; the grazing isopod Amphoroidea typa; grazing damage by A. typa to a blade of Lessoniaspicata; beds of L. spicata in the rocky intertidal of northern-central Chile.
Photos by Ivan Hinojosa Toledo and Alistair Poore.

Major consequences of minor damage: impacts of small grazers on fast-growing kelps

Volume 174/3 - Read Online

February 2014

Feb14Photosynthesis in the shadow of giants. Coastal California redwood trees are the tallest trees in the world. Consequently the shade cast by redwood trees is severe, producing low light conditions for understory plants. Yet, most of the plant diversity in California redwood forests consists of tiny understory herbs growing under the redwood monocanopy. On pages 351 - 363 of this issue, Santiago and Dawson explain how plant use of water and nitrogen deposited by coastal summer fog contribute to utilization of fluctuating light in the deep forest. Shown here is Oxalis oregana catching an early morning sun fleck of light in the dappled light of the redwood forest understory.
Photo by: Louis S. Santiago.

Light use efficiency of California redwood forest understory plants along a moisture gradient

Volume 174/2 - Read Online

January 2014

Jan14An insectivorous bat switches to nectar diet. Although many animals change their diets with the seasons, supplementing insectivorous diets with nectar and fruit is extraordinarily rare in bats, the second largest order of mammals. In this issue, Frick et al. (pp 55-65) use stable isotopes to demonstrate strong seasonal reliance on cactus nectar by the insectivorous pallid bat (Antrozous pallidus) in desert habitats of Baja California Sur, Mexico. Pallid bats switch from a diet indistinguishable from other sympatric insectivorous bat species in winter, when no cactus nectar is available, to a diet intermediate between insectivorous and nectarivorous bats during the spring bloom of a bat-adapted cactus. The study establishes the first known plant-pollinator mutualism between a plant and a temperate bat.
Photo credit: Merlin Tuttle

Seasonal reliance on nectar by an insectivorous bat revealed by stable isotopes

Volume 174/1 - Read Online

December 2013

Dec13Hunting under predation risk. On pages 1227-1235 of this issue, Haapakoski et al. report results from an experimental outdoor study on weasel predation on voles in fragmented landscapes. Hunting efficiency by small mammals should decrease in fragmented habitats due to small predator's own risks of avian predation in the open matrix area. As predicted, weasels killed more voles in the non-fragmented habitat which provided cover from raptors and owls during prey search.Shown here is the small snake-like mammalian predator, the least weasel (Mustela nivalis nivalis), in its summer habitat in central Finland.
Photo by: Marko Haapakoski

Mammalian predator–prey interaction in a fragmented landscape: weasels and voles

Volume 173/4 - Read Online

November 2013

Nov13What animals do during metamorphosis matters. For frogs, the awkward stage between forlimb emergence and tail resorption has long been recognized as a high-risk period, yet we know little of how risk changes with the move from water to land, or if metamorphs compensate behaviorally for their morphological handicaps. In this issue, Touchon et al. (pages 801-811) show that risk of mortality for red-eyed treefrogs in the water with predatory bugs rises sharply with forelimb emergence. Metamorphs reduce activity in response to bug cues, but this is insufficient to protect them. Long-tailed metamorphs can substantially improve their survival prospects by climbing onto land to face spiders instead. Once in air, metamorphs become even less active, as they need not move to breathe. This inactivity reduces attack rates, more than compensating for their poor escape ability. Depending on predator cues, red-eyed treefrogs emerge from ponds with short or long tails; shown is a long-tailed metamorph recently emerged from a pond in Gamboa, Panama.
Photo by: Randall Jiménez

Behavioral plasticity mitigates risk across environments and predators during anuran metamorphosis

Volume 173/3 - Read Online

October 2013

Oct13Should we stay or should we go? On pages 409-420 of this issue of Oecologia, van Beest et al. report that predation risk by wolfes and forage abundance are important scale-dependent determinants of temporal variation in site fidelity of non-migratory female elk and that their combined effect is most apparent at short temporal scales. Shown in the photo is a group of vigilant female elk in Riding Mountain National Park (MB, Canada), a long-established elk-wolf system, where the study was carried out.
Photo by Ryan K. Brook

Temporal variation in site fidelity: scale-dependent effects of forage abundance and predation risk in a non-migratory large herbivore

Volume 173/2 - Read online

September 2013

Sept13Regulation of indirect defenses (extrafloral nectaries, EFNs) under competition. Plants often balance resource allocation between competition and defense, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. On pages 213/221 of this issue, Izaguirre et al. demonstrate that the activity of EFNs in passionfruit (Passiflora edulis) is induced by simulated herbivory and jasmonate treatment, and strongly suppressed by a low ratio of Red to Far-Red radiation (R:FR), which is a key signal of competition in plant canopies. Strikingly, EFN responses to herbivory and light quality were restricted to the branches that received the treatments. These results demonstrate that the R:FR ratio is an important regulator of indirect defenses, which helps the plant to concentrate defense resources on those branches that are less likely to be shaded by competitors. Clockwise from top right: P. edulis flower; EFNs located in the petioles; EFNs located in the abaxial side of the sepals; close-up of a petiolar EFN visited by Argentine ants.
Photos by: Miriam M. Izaguirre.

No time for candy: passionfruit (Passiflora edulis) plants down-regulate damage-induced extra floral nectar production in response to light signals of competition

Volume 173/1 - Read Online

August 2013

Aug13Benevolent mistletoes dispersers? Representatives from six of the eight lineages considered mistletoe-specialist frugivores, clockwise from top left: Tyrannulus elatus, Tyrannidae (Roger Ahlman), Euphonia violacea, Fringillidae (Dario Sanches); Phainopepla nitens, Ptilogonatidae (Elaine R Wilson); Pogoniulus bilineatus, Lybiidae (Krzysztof Blachowiak); Grantiella picta, Meliphagidae (Chris Tzaros); Dicaeum hirundinaceum, Nectariniidae (Peter Menkhorst). Rather than coevolved dispersers, Watson and Rawsthorne (DOI 10.1007/s00442-013-2693-9) suggest that these specialists may be better considered exploitative, intensifying existing infections into more concentrated, reliable, and defendable resources.


Mistletoe specialist frugivores: latterday ‘Johnny Appleseeds’ or self-serving market gardeners? By David M. Watson, John Rawsthorne

Volume 172/4 - Read Online

July 2013

Jul13Interplant communication: Damage to the leaves of a willow can decrease herbivory experienced by its close neighbors. On pages 869-875 of this issue of Oecologia (10.1007/s00442-013-2610-2), Pearse et al. report strong evidence for the importance of interplant volatile cues in mediating herbivore interactions with willows. Shown in the photo are willow bushes following a riparian corridor in the Sierra Nevada Mountains (CA, USA).
Photo by Kaori Shiojiri.

Interplant volatile signaling in willows: revisiting the original talking trees

Volume 172/3 - Read Online

June 2013

Jun13Getting ready for a date: A male orchid bee (Euglossa viridissima) collecting perfumes for his courtship display (in this case, p-dimethoxybenzene from a treated log). On pages 417-425 of this issue of Oecologia (10.1007/s00442-013-2620-0), Pokorny et al. investigate how these insects collect fragrant substances from environmental sources and balance the perfume composition in the face of seasonal, local, and habitat-dependent variations in compound availability.
Photo by Tamara Pokorny.

Acquisition of species-specific perfume blends: influence of habitat-dependent compound availability on odour choices of male orchid bees (Euglossa spp.)

Volume 172/2 - Read Online

May 2013

May13Indirect biotic interactions under water: A perch (Perca fluviatilis) in a lake near Uppsala, Sweden feeding among zebra mussels attached on the underside of a foot bridge. On pages 245-256 of this issue of Oecologia (10.1007/s00442-013-2611-1), Hirsch et al. investigate how the presence of invasive zebra mussels in Swedish lakes can indirectly trigger phenotypic changes in a native fish by altering the availability of pelagic and benthic food resources.
Photo by Philipp Hirsch and Katharina Büchel.

Indirect trophic interactions with an invasive species affect phenotypic divergence in a top consumer

Volume 172/1 - Read Online

April 2013

Apr13Ecosystem ecology: Terrestrial subsidies have important impacts on biogeochemistry and nutrient cycling in river and lake ecosystems. Lake Meliquina surrounded by temperate forests in Patagonia, Argentina.
Photo by: Amy T. Austin.

Volume 171/4 - Read Online


March 2013

Mar13Studying the ecological impacts of increased atmospheric CO2. The image shows CO2 tanks used for the alpine treeline FACE experiment in Stillberg (Switzerland) after a summertimesnow event.
Photo by: Frank Hagedorn.

Volume 171/3 - Read Online


February 2013

Feb13Seed dispersal by frugivorous birds is the basis for regeneration of fleshy-fruited plants in numerous ecosystems. A fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) feeds upon fruits of hawthorn (Crataegus spp.)."
Photo: © by S. Rösner | pixeldiversity.com

Volume 171/2 - Read Online


January 2013

Jan13Plant-insect interactions. A larva of the Passiflora specialist insect, Agraulis vanillae (Gulf fritillary), chewing a branch of "mburucuyá" (Passionflower, Passiflora caerulea).
Photo by: Carlos L. Ballaré.

Volume 171/1 - Read Online

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