Ecology Podcast

In this podcast, Amelia Macho sits down with Ximena Cibils to discuss her research "Silicon and Epichloë-endophyte defences in a model temperate grass reduce feeding efficiency and immunity of an insect folivore”. Ximena's research has been shortlisted for Functional Ecology's 2023 Haldane Prize for early career researchers. Ximena presented the first report of silicon defences and Epichloë-endophyte derived alkaloids compromising insect immunity via reduced melanisation response. Deploying both physical and chemical defences against multiple insect herbivore traits, including feeding efficiency, growth and immunity, may be a successful defence strategy in temperate grasses.

For Black History Month 2023, the British Ecological Society is celebrating the work of Black ecologists around the world. In this episode, Jeanelle Brisbane joins Amelia Macho. Jeanelle is an Assistant Forest Officer at Dominica’s Forestry, Wildlife & Parks Division, and the founder of WildDominique, a conservation organization. Here, she speaks about her early experiences of nature growing up in Dominica, her international studies, and the impact of Hurricane Maria on both Dominica's ecology and her career. You can read Jeanelle's 2022 blog post here: https://functionalecologists.com/2022/10/28/jeanelle-brisbane-building-on-island-capacity-as-the-foundation-for-conservation-success/ Check out all of the British Ecological Society's BHM 2023 blog posts and podcasts here: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/membership-community/black-history-month-2023/

In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Frank Harris sits down with Samuel Ross and Darren O’Connell to discuss their recently published review article in Functional Ecology—Passive acoustic monitoring provides a fresh perspective on fundamental ecological questions. Sam and Darren hope their review paper motivates the use of passive acoustic monitoring approaches to think about blue-skies research and the grand challenges affecting our planet, because much of what we can learn by recording and experiencing natural soundscapes is fundamental to our knowledge of life on earth. - Paper: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.14275 - PLS: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2023/01/23/passive-acoustic-monitoring-provides-a-fresh-perspective-on-fundamental-ecological-questions/ - Sam's website: https://samuelrpjross.com/ - Darren's website: https://people.ucd.ie/darren.oconnell

For Black History Month 2023, the British Ecological Society is celebrating the work of Black ecologists around the world. In this episode, Jhan Salazar joins Frank Harris to discuss his early fascination with nature and the importance of representation in academia. Jhan is fifth-year graduate working on understanding patterns of evolution and adaptation of species to mountain environments in the Neotropics. Jhan is doing this research in Dr. Jonathan Losos' Lab in the Department of Biology and Biomedical Sciences at Washington University, St. Louis, USA. Check out all of the British Ecological Society's BHM 2023 blog posts and podcasts here: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/membership-community/black-history-month-2023/

For Black History Month 2023, the British Ecological Society is celebrating the work of Black ecologists around the world. In this episode, Gideon Deme joins Frank Harris to discuss his journey towards becoming an ecologist, highlight barriers to accessing ecology for black ecologists, and inspiring figures that helped him along the way. Gideon is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Biology at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, USA. Gideon is also an Associate Editor for Ecological Solutions & Evidence Check out all of the British Ecological Society's BHM 2023 blog posts and podcasts here: www.britishecologicalsociety.org/membersh…th-2023/

For Black History Month 2023, the British Ecological Society is celebrating the work of Black ecologists around the world. In this episode, Reuben Fakoya-Brooks joins Amelia Macho. Having studied Zoology, Reuben worked as researcher for the NHS before starting a PhD in Human Behavioural Ecology at University College London. He has worked closely with the BES, founding the Racial & Ethnic Equality & Diversity (REED) ecological network here, which he also chaired. Reuben talks about his journey navigating work and academia, as well as his passion for photography, and discusses the importance of representation and support for under-represented communities. Check out all of the British Ecological Society's BHM 2023 blog posts and podcasts here: www.britishecologicalsociety.org/membersh…th-2023/

For Black History Month 2023, the British Ecological Society is celebrating the work of Black ecologists around the world. In this episode, Dr Perpetra Akite speaks to Amelia Macho about her experiences in academia, as a researcher and lecturer at the University of Makerere, Kampala, Uganda. Perpetra discusses the importance of representation and role models for Black ecologists, as well as the need for more effective collaboration. You can read Perpetra's blog post, referenced in the podcast, here: https://relationalthinkingblog.com/2020/10/13/perpetra-akite-my-ugandan-ecological-journey-against-all-odds/ Check out all of the British Ecological Society's BHM 2023 blog posts and podcasts here: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/membership-community/black-history-month-2023/

An analysis of 75 years of Peregrine Falcon monitoring data shows that performance increased substantially following the reduction in the use of organochlorine pesticides. Gradual recovery of the population occurred over four decades. Our results suggest that the temporal pattern of organochlorine pesticide use strongly influenced Peregrine reproductive parameters but that the pattern of influence differed regionally. Image Copyright M. McGrady

For Black History Month 2023, the British Ecological Society is celebrating the work of Black ecologists around the world. In this first episode, Yoseph Araya joins Lydia Groves to discuss how we can encourage more people to experience nature, highlight role models and suggest what we can do to improve Black ecologists' experiences in academia. Yoseph is a Senior Lecturer at the Open University and Lydia is the Publishing Assistant for Journal of Applied Ecology. Check out all of the British Ecological Society's BHM 2023 blog posts and podcasts here: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/membership-community/black-history-month-2023/

Douglas Cirino, shortlisted for the Southwood Prize 2022, talks to Lydia Groves about his research article ‘Balanced spatial distribution of green areas creates healthier urban landscapes’ as well as what he's been up to since the prize nomination. Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14195

In this podcast, Amelia Macho chats with Ricardo Correia - Assistant Professor at the Biodiversity Unit of the University of Turku - about his paper 'The searchscape of fear: A global analysis of internet search trends for biophobias'. This research was published in People and Nature in July 2023. It investigated Google search trends for biophobias between 2004 and 2022. Its findings, that 17 out of the 25 biophobias investigated increased in search prevalence worldwide, particularly in urban populations, suggest an increasing disconnectedness from nature, which has implications for perceptions towards biodiversity conservation. Read the article here: https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10497 Read the Plain Language Summary here: https://relationalthinkingblog.com/2023/06/14/plain-language-summary-internet-searches-reveal-the-prevalence-of-multiple-biophobias-across-the-world/ Hissing Cockroach sound clip from Pixabay

Hillary Smith joins Lydia Groves, publishing assistant for Journal of Applied Ecology, to discuss the research article ‘Sea-weeding: Manual removal of macroalgae facilitates rapid coral recovery’. Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14502

In this podcast, Frank Harris sits down with Michael Belitz—a Post-Doc at Michigan State University, USA—to discuss his recently published paper: Phenological research based on natural history collections: Practical guidelines and a lepidopteran case study. This paper featured in a Special Feature on Natural History Collections was published jointly in Functional Ecology, Journal of Animal Ecology, Journal of Ecology and Methods in Ecology and Evolution. Belitz et al. provide a set of best practice recommendations to utilize NHC data for phenology and showcase these practical guidelines through a case study that utilizes natural history collection data to test hypotheses about trends in when North American adult butterflies and moths are in flight. * Special Feature: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/leveraging_natural_history?= * Article: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.14173 *PLS: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2022/09/06/guidelines-for-using-natural-history-collections-to-better-understand-how-seasonal-biological-events-are-responding-to-global-change/

In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with Fernanda Santos, Joe Bailey, and Jen Schweitzer who guest edited the recently published Functional Ecology special feature titled "Fire as a dynamic ecological and evolutionary force." This collection of studies provide recommendations on how to: engage in developing ecological and evolutionary databases for fire ecology; integrate hierarchical genetic structure or phylogenetic structure; develop new experimental frameworks that limit context dependent outcomes,; increase sample size and availability of curated datasets; increase functional trait knowledge; and increase representation of ecological communities in the literature and context-dependency.

In this podcast, Frank Harris sits down with Nicki Mitchell—Associate Professor at the University of Western Australia, and Deputy Director at the UWA Oceans Institute—to discuss her recently published paper: Activity of a freshwater turtle varies across a latitudinal gradient: Implications for the success of assisted colonisation Nicki et al's results conclude that poor growth of turtles in the southern wetland was likely a result of lower body temperatures, stemming from a reduced ability to thermoregulate in water. Consequently, for assisted colonisation of juvenile P. umbrina to be successful, recipient wetlands must offer aquatic microclimates that are sufficiently warm to promote foraging activity that leads to growth, and ultimately to maturation. * Article: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.14338 * PLS: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2023/05/15/seeking-a-just-right-site-for-the-western-swamp-turtle/

In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with Philip Zylstra—Adjunct Associate Professor at the School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Australia—to discuss his recently published paper: Mechanisms by which growth and succession limit the impact of fire in a south-western Australian forested ecosystem Philip’s paper shows that, left alone, Red Tingle forests burn with much smaller flames, store far more carbon, and provide safe habitat for the many species now threatened by frequent fire. Once we know such natural controls on fire, it is possible to work with and reinforce them. * Article: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.14305 * Plain language summary: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2023/03/21/forests-that-keep-fires-small-and-how-they-do-it/

In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with Matthias Schleuning—one of the three guest editors (also Joseph Tobias & Dani Garcia)—to discuss the recently published Special Focus titled, "Animal Functional Traits." This collection of studies shows how precise measurements of morphological or physiological traits can increase mechanistic understanding of community assembly across trophic levels, particularly of the mechanisms underpinning large-scale biodiversity patterns. Special Focus: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2435.animalfunctionaltraits Blogpost: https://functionalecologists.com/2023/01/05/animal-functional-traits-a-functional-ecology-special-focus/

Mark Huxham joins Lydia Groves, publishing assistant for Journal of Applied Ecology, to discuss the research article 'Where to fish in the forest? Tree characteristics and contiguous seagrass features predict mangrove forest quality for fishes and crustaceans'. Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14421

In this episode, Assistant Editor for Functional Ecology, Frank Harris, sits down with Robin Heinen who has been nominated for the 2022 Haldane Prize. This prize is awarded to the best research from an early career researcher. Robin has been nominated for her paper: Foliar herbivory on plants creates soil legacy effects that impact future insect herbivore growth via changes in plant community biomass allocation Paper: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.14006 PLS: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2022/01/26/insect-feeding-leaves-a-detectable-footprint-in-the-soil-that-causes-plants-that-grow-in-it-to-hide-belowground/ Blogpost: https://functionalecologists.com/2022/03/01/robin-heinen-feeding-from-up-to-bottom-belowground-herbivory-impacts-on-plant-soil-feedbacks/

Sarah is the author of one of the shortlisted research articles for the Southwood Prize 2022, celebrating early career ecologists. Lydia Groves, publishing assistant for Journal of Applied Ecology, sits down with Sarah Schwieger to discuss the research article 'Rewetting prolongs root growing season in minerotrophic peatlands and mitigates negative drought effects'. Find the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14222

Paula is the author of one of the shortlisted research articles for the Southwood Prize 2022, celebrating early career ecologists. Lydia Groves, publishing assistant for Journal of Applied Ecology, sits down with Paula Prist to discuss the research article 'Roads and forest edges facilitate yellow fever virus dispersion'. Find the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14031

In this episode, Assistant Editor for Functional Ecology, Frank Harris, sits down with Hannah Meier who has been nominated for the 2022 Haldane Prize. This prize is awarded to the best research from an early career researcher. Hannah has been nominated for her paper: Temperature-mediated transgenerational plasticity influences movement behaviour in the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Paper: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.14214 Plain language Summary: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2022/11/07/the-effects-of-temperature-can-influence-the-movement-of-green-algae-individuals-across-multiple-generations/ English Blogpost: https://functionalecologists.com/2023/01/24/hannah-meier-transgenerational-behavioral-plasticity-in-chlamydomonas-reinhardtii/ German Blogpost: https://functionalecologists.com/2023/01/24/hannah-meier-transgenerational-behavioral-plasticity-in-chlamydomonas-reinhardtii-german-translation/

Liz is the author of one of the shortlisted research articles for the Southwood Prize 2022, celebrating early career ecologists. Lydia Groves, publishing assistant for Journal of Applied Ecology, sits down with Liz Koziol to discuss the research article 'Manipulating plant microbiomes in the field: Native mycorrhizae advance plant succession and improve native plant restoration'. Find the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14036

In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with Lauren Nadler and Sandra Binning—two of the four guest editors (also Shelley Adamo & Dana Hawley)—to discuss the recently published cross-journal (with Journal of Animal Ecology) Special Feature titled, The Mechanisms and Consequences of Infection-Induced Phenotypes. This special feature highlights recent insights into the ways parasites alter host phenotypes across a range of systems. Here, we contextualize how each contribution expands our knowledge of the role of parasites in driving individual variation in animal phenotypes. Special Feature: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2435.infection-induced-phenotypes Editorial: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.14309 Transcript: https://functionalecologists.com/2023/04/12/the-mechanisms-and-consequences-of-infection-induced-phenotypes-podcast-transcript/

In conversation with Paulina Arancibia, one of our shortlisted candidates for the 2023 Elton Prize with Journal of Animal Ecology.

Audio Abstract for recently published research paper: Disgust in animals and the application of disease avoidance to wildlife management and conservation. Article: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13903

Audio Abstract - French Translation for recently published research paper Disgust in animals and the application of disease avoidance to wildlife management and conservation. Article: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13903

In this podcast episode for Journal of Applied Ecology, Publishing Assistant Lydia Groves, is joined by Tercia Strydom, Izak Smit and Brian van Wilgen to discuss their newly published research article entitled 'High-intensity fires may have limited medium-term effectiveness for reversing woody plant encroachment in an African savanna'. Article: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14362

In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with Anna Stöckl—a Group Leader at Konstanz University, Germany—to discuss her recently published paper: Flower patterns improve foraging efficiency in bumblebees by guiding approach flight and landing Anna’s paper shows that flower patterns reduced flower handling time by up to 30%, without a reduction in nectar discovery time. Instead, the patterns were involved in guiding approach flight, landing and departure decisions. Anna et al. revealed these effects on flower-experienced foragers. Since these represent the majority of active pollinators, the nectary-independent impact of flower patterns must be considered fundamental to plant–pollinator interactions under natural conditions. * Article: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.14262 * Plain language summary: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2023/01/10/flower-patterns-improve-foraging-efficiency-in-bumblebees-by-guiding-approach-flight-and-landing/ * Transcript: https://functionalecologists.com/2023/03/30/flower-patterns-improve-foraging-efficiency-in-bumblebees-by-guiding-approach-flight-and-landing-podcast-transcript/

In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with William K. Oestreich—a postdoctoral fellow at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, USA—to discuss his recently published paper ‘Acoustic signature reveals blue whales tune life history transitions to oceanographic conditions’. Will’s paper suggests that blue whales use flexible cues, perhaps including individual sensing of food availability and social information from other individuals (blue whale songs are audible over hundreds of kilometres) to match timing of feeding and migration with ecosystem processes. This flexibility could be key to survival of this endangered population in an era of rapid global change Article: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.14013 Plain language summary: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2022/02/02/blue-whales-flexibly-time-feeding-and-migration-to-match-ocean-conditions/ Transcript: https://functionalecologists.com/2023/03/15/acoustic-signature-reveals-blue-whales-tune-life-history-transitions-to-oceanographic-conditions-podcast-transcript/

In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with Thomas Chouvenc—Assistant Professor at the University of Florida—to discuss his recently published paper ‘Eusociality and the transition from biparental to alloparental care in termites.' Thomas’ paper shows that, in eusocial insects, colony foundation is a critical bottleneck, where the founding individuals must engage in a temporary (but obligatory) parental care phase that may ultimately reflect on the family unit conditions of their sub-social ancestors. Article: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.14183 Podcast Transcript: https://functionalecologists.com/2023/03/01/eusociality-and-the-transition-from-biparental-to-alloparental-care-in-termites-podcast-transcript/ PLS: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2022/09/20/parental-care-behaviors-shifted-from-parents-to-offspring-in-social-insects/

For Black History Month, the British Ecological Society (BES) journals are celebrating the work of Black ecologists from around the world and sharing their stories. The theme for UK Black History Month this year is Time for Change: Action Not Words. In this very special podcast episode, British Ecological Society Journals podcast is collaborating with Anne Chisa, host of The Root Of The Science Podcast, to produce a panel discussion for Black History Month 2022! Do follow their Twitter account and support Anne however you can! In this podcast, we discuss the journeys of our guests, talk through the challenges that black ecologists (and scientists) face, and look at actions that can be taken to foster a more diverse and inclusive academic landscape. A transcript of this podcast is available here: https://functionalecologists.com/2022/11/07/bes-collaborates-with-the-root-of-the-science-podcast-for-a-special-panel-discussion-with-daniel-pauly-nasiphi-bitani-and-mthokosizi-moyo-for-bhm-2022 Check out all of the British Ecological Society's BHM 2022 blogposts here: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/black-history-month-2022/

For Black History Month, the British Ecological Society (BES) journals are celebrating the work of Black ecologists from around the world and sharing their stories. The theme for UK Black History Month this year is Time for Change: Action Not Words. Sandra is a PhD candidate in the Xenopoulos Aquatic Ecology Lab, Canada. In this podcast, we sit down to discuss being an 'aFISHionado', growing up as a global citizen of the world, the need to explore and consider the great ecological research coming out of the African continent, and how to go about creating a fairer and more diverse ecosystem in ecology and academia. A transcript of this recording is available here: https://functionalecologists.com/2022/10/24/sandra-klemet-nguessan-discusses-how-to-cultivate-a-more-equitable-and-diverse-landscape-in-ecology-and-academia-with-frank-harris-podcast-transcript Check out Sandra's website to stay up-to-date with her journey and research: https://sandraklemetnguessan.wordpress.com/ Check out all of the British Ecological Society's BHM 2022 blogposts here: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/black-history-month-2022/

The latest Methods in Ecology and Evolution brought to you in 3 minutes… more or less! In this episode we interview Roland Kays about his recent publication 'The Movebank system for studying global animal movement and demography'. Read the full article here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/2041-210X.13767 You can also check out Roland's podcast 'Wild Animals' for crazy stories about animals by the people who study them. For more exclusive content check out the MEE blog and social media. Music: “You’re no help” by Silent Partner (CC BY-SA 3.0).

The latest Methods in Ecology and Evolution brought to you in 3 minutes… more or less! In this episode we interview Dr Josh Cullen about their recent publication titled "Identifying latent behavioral states in animal movement with M4, a non-parametric Bayesian method". Read the full article here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/2041-210X.13745 For more exclusive content check out the MEE blog and social media. Music: “You’re no help” by Silent Partner (CC BY-SA 3.0).

The latest Methods in Ecology and Evolution brought to you in 3 minutes… more or less! In this episode we interview Cassandra Konecny and Graham Brownlee about their recent publication titled “Adapting a propane turkey fryer to manipulate temperature in aquatic environments”. Read the full article here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/2041-210X.13662 For more exclusive content check out the MEE blog and social media. Music: “You’re no help” by Silent Partner (CC BY-SA 3.0).

The latest Methods in Ecology and Evolution brought to you in 3 minutes… more or less! In this episode we interview Dr Ana Sequeira about their recent publication titled “A standardisation framework for bio-logging data to advance ecological research and conservation”. You can read the full article here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/2041-210X.13593 For more exclusive content check out the MEE blog and social media. Music: “You’re no help” by Silent Partner (CC BY-SA 3.0).

In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with Phoebe Griffith—a researcher from the Institute of Zoology, London, and the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Oxford University—to discuss her recently published paper ‘Using functional traits to identify conservation priorities for the world's crocodylians.’ To understand better the functional diversity of crocodylians, Griffiths et al. collected a database of functional traits of all species of crocodylians. These traits are measurable qualities – such as skull shape or saltwater tolerance – that allow us to understand the different ecological role of species, and how similar and different species are from one another. Read the paper here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.14140 For those that are hard of hearing, a transcript of the interview is available here: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2022/08/05/conserving-the-ecological-diversity-of-crocodylians/ Check out Phoebe's Edge of Existence blogpost for some great pictures and content: https://www.edgeofexistence.org/blog/crying-crocodile-tears-the-disappearing-diversity-of-crocodilians-and-their-ecological-roles/ To find out about and support ongoing croc conservation efforts, please do check out the following links: 1. https://www.edgeofexistence.org/fellow/jailabdeen-a/ 2. https://www.edgeofexistence.org/fellow/emmanuel-amoah/ Crocodylians have surprisingly diverse ecological roles, from the huge, highly aquatic and mostly fish-eating gharial to the tiny African dwarf crocodiles which can catch prey on land below the rainforest canopy. Sadly, over half of all crocodylians are threatened with extinction. If these threatened species go extinct, we will lose the diversity of ecological roles that they represent. Functional diversity is an important aspect of biodiversity to understand and conserve.

Listen to MEEin3 to hear the latest methods in ecology and evolution in just three minutes...more or less! In this episode, find out about Dr Chloe Robinson's method 'Propylene glycol-based antifreeze is an effective preservative for DNA metabarcoding of benthic arthropods' https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/712232

Associate Editor Sharif Mukul and Stuart W. Smith discuss this month's Editor’s Choice paper.

In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with Jack J. Devlin—an early career researcher from the University of Kentucky—to discuss his recently published paper ‘Simulated winter warming negatively impacts survival of Antarctica's only endemic insect.’ Read the paper here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.14089 Read a transcript of this interview here: https://functionalecologists.com/2022/07/12/simulated-winter-warming-negatively-impacts-survival-of-antarcticas-only-endemic-insect-podcast-transcript/ A plain language summary of this study is available here: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2022/05/20/simulated-winter-warming-negatively-impacts-survival-of-antarcticas-only-endemic-insect/ Antarctic winters are challenging for terrestrial invertebrates, and species that live there have specialised adaptations to conserve energy and protect against cold injury in the winter. However, rapidly occurring climate change in these regions will increase the unpredictability of winter conditions, and there is currently a dearth of knowledge on how the highly adapted invertebrates of Antarctica will respond to changes in winter temperatures. With warmer winters expected to become more common with climate change, this study’s results indicate that winter warming could negatively impact cold-adapted insects like the Antarctic midge (Belgica antarctica). At the time of writing, this research is “in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric”.

In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with two Guest Editors—Pablo García-Palacios and Ji Chen— to discuss our recently published Special Feature on soil carbon storage. Read the Special Feature for free here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/13652435/2022/36/6 A transcript of this podcast is available to read here: https://functionalecologists.com/2022/06/30/emerging-relationships-among-microbes-soil-carbon-storage-and-climate-change-podcast-transcript/ The Guest Editors' Functional Ecology blogpost can be read here: https://functionalecologists.com/2022/06/07/pablo-garcia-palacios-ji-chen-emerging-relationships-among-soil-microbes-carbon-dynamics-and-climate-change/ The Special Feature identifies emerging findings from soil microbial ecology and climate change research that can reduce uncertainty if incorporated into theory and models. The contributions span from novel perspectives on the priming effect and soil microbial enzymes, to understudied key biomes for global soil C such as tropical forests, to plant inputs–microbial necromass–mineral interactions, to soil C and microbial responses to changing precipitation patterns and recent advances in trait-based and soil C modelling. Together, this collection of papers draws attention to novel frameworks and ideas that can pave the road for future research on microbial contribution to soil C turnover and storage under climate change.

Blog Associate Editor, Julie Koch Sheard, sits down with the Guest Editors of Journal of Animal Ecology's Special Feature, Understanding climate change response in the age of genomics. As global temperatures continue to rise, there is a major threat to species and ecosystems worldwide. In order to develop conservation and mitigation strategies, and understanding of how animal populations respond to changing environments is crucial. Recent genomics-based studies have begun to shed light on the mechanisms by which animal populations respond to climate change and offer methods to predict how they will respond in the future. This Special Feature highlights emerging genomics approaches and their applications across a diverse range of animal species; exploring range shifts, phenotypic plasticity and local adaptation of animal populations. By connecting these topics and their ecological implications, this feature aids researchers in using genomics to understanding climate change response.

JOURNAL CLUB: Jane Catford interviews Prof. David Tilman about his mini-review: Extinction, climate change and the ecology of Homo sapiens. Listen to the podcast, and then join Dave online for a live Twitter discussion! (full details below) • 00:00 Introductions and a summary of the paper. • 03:12 What’s led you from the start of your career, to asking these big questions around the impacts of agriculture, fossil fuels, and the intersection of human health and the environment? • 06:25 You say in your abstract that ‘ecology needs to become a more mechanistic and predictive science’ - how can we achieve that, and what do you think has been holding us back? • 08:42 If we had more mechanistic predictive models, do you think we could have better anticipated those unintended consequences that came out from mandating that we use maize for fuel? • 12:13 You make a strong argument that we need to be doing more multi-disciplinary thinking and working - in practice, how do we do that? • 19:10 Which strategies should be used to best communicate our science to policy makers and decision makers? • 21:24 The messages from your paper are very sobering, how do you deal with this and stay optimistic as you look to the future? • 24:40 Live Twitter discussion details Read the full paper here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1365-2745.13847 If you’d like to chat to Dave about his research, join us for a JOURNAL CLUB discussion, LIVE on Twitter, and tag us in your questions and comments: 🗓️DATE: Tuesday 24th May 2022, 3pm (UK time) 📌TWITTER TAGS: #JEcolJournalClub @GDavidTilman Or, leave your questions in the comments below, by the above date.

Lara Ferry talks to Lillian Tuttle, an early career researcher shortlisted for the 2021 Haldane Prize, about how a small-yet-mighty fish, the cleaner goby, may be relatively immune to lionfish predation for an unexpected reason. Read the research here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13806

Emma Sayer talks to Kelsey Shaw, an early career researcher shortlisted for the 2021 Haldane Prize, about how parasites thrive or suffer when embedded in different ecological communities. Read the review here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13892

Enrico Rezende talks to Ummat Somjee, an early career researcher shortlisted for the 2021 Haldane Prize, about New Zealand giraffe weevils and the wonder of exhibiting an extreme 30-fold range in male body mass. Read the research here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13888

This is an audioblog provided by Christyn Bailey, telling the #StoryBehindThePaper: ‘It’s a hard knock life for some: heterogeneity in infection life-history of salmonids influences parasite disease outcomes‘, which was recently published in the Journal of Animal Ecology.

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

JAE Blog editor Julie Sheard interviews Mark Ditmer from Colorado State University. They discuss citizen science and Mark’s paper published in Journal of Animal Ecology for the special issue on citizen science by the British Ecological Society Journals.