Podcasts for the journal Functional Ecology

Functional Ecology

FE Haldane 2020: Shortlisted author Anderson Feijo talks to Senior Editor Lara Ferry

Haldane Prize 2020

FE Haldane 2020:  Anderson Feijo talks to Lara Ferry

Ken Thompson, senior editor for Functional Ecology, discusses Simon Pierce's new paper, "Implications for biodiversity conservation of the lack of consensus regarding the humped-back model of species richness and biomass production" 
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12147/abstract

KenThompson discusses the humpback model, biodiversity and  Simon Pierce's new commentary.

As part of our new Mechanisms of Plant Competition Special Feature, Susan Schwinning talks to Alan Knapp about plant competition in water-limited environments.

Water is the primary factor limiting the growth and productivity of land plants, and fluctuations in plant-available water are ubiquitous in most terrestrial environments, due to variable and unpredictable rainfall. Evolution has produced numerous strategies of compromise between the conflicting goals of maximizing growth and reproduction when water is available and minimizing the risk of mortality when it is not. Because no species is able to pre-empt all opportunities for water and nutrient uptake, many plant species can coexist. However, the mechanisms responsible for making this stable, competitive coexistence possible are often hidden and difficult to study experimentally.

Understanding and predicting how plant communities will respond to contemporary climate change remains a challenge to science, but one that can be guided by addressing the fundamental ways in which fluctuations in plant-available water interact with competition, between either adults or seedlings.

Schwinning, S., Kelly, C. K. (2013), Plant competition, temporal niches and implications for productivity and adaptability to climate change in water-limited environments. Functional Ecology, 27: 886–897. doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.12115

For more on this, check out our Special Feature page: http://www.functionalecology.org/view/0/specialfeatures.html

FE: Susan Schwinning talks to Alan Knapp about plant competition in water-limited environments

How best can international journals support applied ecologists in emerging economies
Workshop held at INTECOL congress in London, 20th August 2013 organised by E.J. Milner-Gulland and Jos Barlow, sponsored by Journal of Applied Ecology
As the world’s emerging economies (including Brazil, China, India and Russia) continue to develop, there is increasing concern about the likely ecological cost, both at home and internationally. There is an acute and urgent need for influential and effective applied ecologists in these countries, but international ecological discourse is still dominated by science from Europe and the rich, English-speaking world. As a global community of ecologists, we need to be proactive to ensure that we are engaging with the myriad challenges of this new world order. In this workshop we aim to explore the ways in which international journals, their publishers, and ecologists worldwide can support applied ecology in countries with emerging economies. The speakers and organisers bring a diverse range of expertise and perspectives to the workshop, ensuring a lively debate and innovative ideas.

Journal of Applied Ecology INTECOL Workshop

Liesje Mommer talks about using molecular techniques to look at below-ground plant competition and facilitation as  the keynote speech for our Mechanisms of Plant Competition symposia.

FE INTECOL Symposium: Liesje Mommer for Mechanisms of Plant Competition

Alan Knapp talks to Brian Steidinger, the winner of the 2015 Haldane Prize for Early Career Research, about his paper "Variability in potential to exploit different soil organic phosphorus compounds among tropical montane tree species"
(Functional Ecology, 29:1, pp 121–130)

Soil phosphorus is as essential as water for plant growth, but its low availability in some areas forces plants to develop different strategies to acquire it. Mycorrhizal associations, symbiotic associations between a fungus and a vascular plant, represent the most common strategy for access to the different pools of soil P by plants and it therefore seems reasonable to assume that different symbiotic fungal species will be differently able to exploit this non-renewable resource and that non-mycorrhizal species could have a competitive disadvantage. Brian Steidinger and his co-authors tested this hypothesis by comparing phosphatase enzyme activity and performance of five tropical tree species belonging to different functional groups: arbuscular mycorrhizal angiosperms, arbuscular mycorrhizal conifers, ectomycorrhizal angiosperms and non-mycorrhizal proteoid plants. 
- See more at: http://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/grants-awards/honours_awards_prizes/prize-for-the-best-paper-by-a-young-author/haldane-prize

FE Alan Knapp interviews Haldane Prizewinner Brian Steidinger

Lara Ferry talks to Daniel Fitzgerald about his Haldane prize-winning paper, "Using trophic structure to reveal patterns of trait‐based community assembly across niche dimensions".

Haldane

FE: Lara Ferry talks to Daniel Fitzgerald, winner of the 2017 Haldane Prize

In this episode, Ken Thompson talks to Rannveig Jacobsen, recently shortlisted for the Haldane Prize for Early Career researchers for her paper, "Exclusion of invertebrates influences saprotrophic fungal community and wood decay rate in an experimental field study". You can find this paper, along with the other shortlisted papers, here: http://bit.ly/Haldane2018

FE:  Ken Thompson talks to Rannveig Jacobsen about the influence of insects on decomposer fungi

Chuck Fox and Jane Hill chat about Functional Ecology's new experiment looking at single vs double-blind review. You can find out more about this experiment here: http://j.mp/BES_DoubleBlind

Jane Hill interviews Chuck Fox about FE's new Single vs Double-blind experiment

"Breaking down leaves is basically hard work, so if the fungi have the option of an easier life, they take it?"

Why - and how - do algae slow the rate of leaf decomposition in aquatic ecosystems? In this podcast, Ken Thompson interviews Hal Halvorson about his paper "Periphytic algae decouple fungal activity from leaf litter decomposition via negative priming", recently shortlisted for Functional Ecology's Haldane prize.
(Find this and the other shortlisted papers at http://j.mp/2019HaldaneShortlist).

FE Ken Thompson & Hal Halvorson: algae, fungi and leaf decomposition

"It seems that both groups are picking the flowers when they're feeding - they're walking about and you can see them pick flower after flower after flower after flower."

In this podcast, Jurene Kemp talks about her paper, Cryptic petal coloration decreases floral apparency and herbivory in nocturnally closing daisies - recently shortlisted for Functional Ecology's Haldane Prize.
(Find this and the other shortlisted papers at j.mp/2019HaldaneShortlist).

FE: Ken Thompson &  Jurene Kemp: Daisies that close at night use colour to hide from herbivores

Coping with stress: some species survive by breaking the rules, as Lanna Desantis explains to Robbie Wilson as part of the Special Feature: The Ecology of Stress 

For more information, read the lay summary (http://bit.ly/VQU0Xx) and article (http://bit.ly/14qsdBq)

FE: Ecology of Stress - Robbie Wilson interviews Lanna Desantis

Recent analysis of global datasets has shown that plants are constrained in how they allocate resources to their leaves, with trade-offs between building sturdy leaves with a long lifespan that are inefficient in capturing light or building flimsy leaves with a short lifespan and high efficiency. However, it is unknown whether similar patterns occur at more local scales, particularly when you consider the same plant species growing under different conditions. In this study, Justin P. Wright talks with Alan Knapp about the surprising results of examining the effects of varying nitrogen availability and water table depth on the form and function of leaves of over 20 species of wetland plants and what that means for ecologists looking to predict how the addition or subtraction of species will affect the way that ecosystems function.

Read the paper here: http://bit.ly/XTUD5H or the lay summary here: http://bit.ly/142W5Gh

FE: Justin Wright talks with Alan Knapp for Functional Ecology

Terries Williams talks to Emma Sayer about Hunters vs Hunted, Narwhales vs iPhones, the difficulties of bribing grizzly bears and her new paper on new perspectives on the energetic costs of survival at the top of the food chain - the first ever Calow-Grace review.
Read the paper here:
https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13649

FE: Terrie Williams talks to Emma Sayer on the costs of surviving at the top of the food chain

Robbie Wilson interviews David Jachowski on his work "Unravelling complex associations between physiological state and movement in African elephants."
Understanding animal movements involves a complex association of factors.  In addition to anatomical constraints and factors like the surrounding environment, more cryptic factors can play a role-- such as an animal's internal, physiological state, or navigational capacity.  Complex movement models have been constructed in an attempt to infer an animal's internal state based on movement behaviours, but direct studies of the effect of an individual’s internal state on movement behaviour have been lacking. 
African elephants are known to alter their behaviour in response to their physiological state, with elevated stress hormone concentrations being associated with reclusive behaviour and aggression towards humans. A better understanding of the link between internal, physiological state and the use of space in relation to the proximity of environmental features and refugia is important in mitigating human-elephant conflict. 
Read the lay summary here: http://bit.ly/11KoGeb
Read the paper here: http://bit.ly/126B33e


FE: Unravelling associations between body state and movement in African elephantsDavidJochowski

Podcasts from the British Ecological Society

FE Alan Knapp interviews Haldane Prizewinner Brian Steidinger

British Ecological Society

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