Category: Special Features

Animal Functional Traits

Plant-animal interactions: The search for general interaction rules brings energetic traits into focus

Alexander Neu, Huw Cooksley, Karen J. Esler, Anton Pauw, Francois Roets, Frank M. Schurr, Matthias Schleuning This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can be found here. Plants and animals interact in different ways with each other. Interactions can be positive for both partners (e.g., mutualistic interactions between plants and their pollinators), or they can be positive for one … Continue reading Plant-animal interactions: The search for general interaction rules brings energetic traits into focus

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Infection-Induced Phenotypes

Zombie ant fungi and their hosts’ final choices of where to die

Ian Will, Sara Linehan, David G. Jenkins, Charissa de Bekker This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can be found here. Ophiocordyceps “zombie ant fungi” infect and modify the behavior of carpenter ants. In the final moments before death, the infected ant wanders the forest vegetation in search of an elevated position that benefits production and spread of fungal … Continue reading Zombie ant fungi and their hosts’ final choices of where to die

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Natural History Collections

Combining information from multiple natural history collections can reveal how the relationships between plants and pollinators have changed through time

Demetra Rakosy, Tia-Lynn Ashman, Amber Stanley, Leana Zoller, Tiffany M. Knight This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology perspective article which can be found here. Plants and animals form interdependent partnerships, which ensure both the reproduction of over 87% of all plants on earth and food resources for most pollinator populations. They are also critical for human food production. These partnerships between … Continue reading Combining information from multiple natural history collections can reveal how the relationships between plants and pollinators have changed through time

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Infection-Induced Phenotypes

A parasite revamps DNA deep inside the brain of its host

Philip Ngo, Louis Lignereux, Ryan O’Handley, Ajai Vyas This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can be found here. A small hop on a ferry from the Australian mainland and one reaches Kangaroo Island. It comprises more than 4000 square kilometers of farms, sparsely living humans, periodic tourism exuberance, feral cats, biodiverse bushland, and a protected national park. The … Continue reading A parasite revamps DNA deep inside the brain of its host

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Ecosystem Engineers, Reviews

Ghosts of animals, plants, and microbes: How organisms affect the environment after they’re gone

Lindsey K. Albertson, Leonard S. Sklar, Benjamin B. Tumolo, Wyatt F. Cross, Scott F. Collins, H. Arthur Woods This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology review article which can be found here. Living organisms change the environment in many ways. Beavers create dams for themselves, and these small impoundments and pools they form are habitat for many other organisms. Corals build reefs that … Continue reading Ghosts of animals, plants, and microbes: How organisms affect the environment after they’re gone

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Infection-Induced Phenotypes

Treating stickelbacks infected with a tapeworm that alters its risk-taking behaviour with lithium restores some, but not all, of its normal behaviour

Verônica Angélica Alves and Nadia Aubin-Horth This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can be found here. Most organisms on earth are parasites. One of parasites’ keys to success is their ability to alter their host’s morphology, appearance, physiology, and behaviour. When the tapeworm Schistocephalus solidus infects the threespine stickleback, this small fish starts exhibiting risky behaviours such as … Continue reading Treating stickelbacks infected with a tapeworm that alters its risk-taking behaviour with lithium restores some, but not all, of its normal behaviour

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Fire as a dynamic ecological and evolutionary force

Wildfire shapes future forests through impacts on root-associated fungi

Rebecca E. Hewitt, Nicola J. Day, M. Rae DeVan, D. Lee Taylor This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology review article which can be found here. In the boreal forest wildfire activity is increasing with strong effects on both the types of forests that regenerate and on ecosystem function. Wildfires alter the soil environment and the vegetation, which are both key to … Continue reading Wildfire shapes future forests through impacts on root-associated fungi

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Infection-Induced Phenotypes, Pespectives

Linking infection, feeding behavior, and pathogen transmission

Jim Adelman and Francis Tillman This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology perspective article which can be found here. When animals get sick, their behavior often changes. While such changes can include gross alterations to activity levels and food consumption, subtler effects on the ability to find food or food preference may also arise. Each of these behavioral changes has important implications … Continue reading Linking infection, feeding behavior, and pathogen transmission

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Fire as a dynamic ecological and evolutionary force, Reviews

Fire characteristics determine how fire affects insects and other arthropods: evidence from a review

Blyssalyn V. Bieber, Dhaval K. Vyas, Amanda M. Koltz, Laura A. Burkle, Kiaryce S. Bey, Claire Guzinski, Shannon M. Murphy, andMayra C. Vidal This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can be found here. Humans are altering nature in many important ways, and these changes are affecting the organisms with whom we share our environment. One of the most … Continue reading Fire characteristics determine how fire affects insects and other arthropods: evidence from a review

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Animal Functional Traits

Changes in forest structure favour wood-living beetle species with certain traits

Lukas Drag, Ryan C. Burner, Jörg G. Stephan, Tone Birkemoe, Inken Doerfler, Martin M. Gossner, Paul Magdon, Otso Ovaskainen, Mária Potterf, Peter Schall, Tord Snäll, Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, Wolfgang Weisser, Jörg Müller This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can be found here. Global climate change is slowly affecting the structure of forests around the world. We know that these … Continue reading Changes in forest structure favour wood-living beetle species with certain traits

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