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Membership Services
ESA members, renew today to keep your benefits—Annual Meeting discounts and publishing grants, among so many others—going through next year. Thinking of joining for the first time? Here are just a few reasons why you should!
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Wetland Buffers Are No Substitute for Landscape‐scale Conservation
Many agricultural water protection policies around the world recommend 5 to 50 m wide uncropped buffers around water bodies to protect wetlands from contamination by fertilizers and pesticides. In the April issue of Ecosphere, Sawatzky and Fahrig found that such wetland buffers do not effectively protect wetlands from agricultural contamination, but offer a solution.
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Bridging Communities & Ecosystems: Inclusion as an Ecological Imperative
Inclusive approaches to ecology can build bridges between theory and practice, connect those working in disparate landscapes and subdisciplines, and incorporate diverse perspectives. For 2019, we made inclusion the theme of our Annual Meeting.
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Intensive silviculture accelerates Atlantic Rainforest biodiversity regeneration
By São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) 5/22/2019 An experiment conducted in Brazil in an area of Atlantic Rainforest suggests that intensive silviculture, including the use of herbicide and substantial amounts of fertilizer, is a more effective approach to promoting the regeneration of tropical forest and biomass gain than the traditional method based on manual weeding and less fertilizer. The study…
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Temperatures in the African savanna affect ant/plant mutualism
By University of Florida 5/16/19 In the wide world of tropical flora, insects often take up the mantle of protecting the plants that shelter them, each mutually satisfied in a happy marriage of nature’s making. This is particularly true for acacia trees that tower over the African savanna. Their tiny protectors are carnivorous ants that dissuade animals from browsing on…
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Species facing climate change could find help in odd place: urban environments
By Tufts University 5/14/19 When it comes to wildlife conservation efforts, urban environments could be far more helpful than we think, according to new research. A study published today in Ecology shows that animals move faster through ‘low quality’ habitats – evidence that could change the way conservationists think about managing landscapes to help species move in response to climate…
Journals & Publications
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Ecological Applications
During commercial harvesting of brine shrimp eggs in Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA floating eggs aggregate with currents and harvesters concentrate eggs and vacuum them up. In the April 2019 issue of Ecological Applications, Belovsky and Perschon present at 20-year management study that developed a model ensuring abundant shrimp for both avian consumption and egg harvesting.
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Ecological Monographs
The relationship between animals and their gut flora is simultaneously one of the most common and most complex symbioses on Earth. In the May 2019 issue of Ecological Monographs, Ravenscraft et al. characterize variation of the gut microbiota within and among butterfly species, increasing our understanding of how this hidden symbiosis affects and is affected by its host.
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Ecosphere
Many agricultural water protection policies around the world recommend 5 to 50 m wide uncropped buffers around water bodies to protect wetlands from contamination by fertilizers and pesticides. In the April issue of Ecosphere, Sawatzky and Fahrig found that such wetland buffers do not effectively protect wetlands from contamination by agricultural contaminants, but conserving ~40% uncropped land within a 150–300 m radius of wetlands may alleviate such contamination.
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Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
Natural history archives at universities and museums often house large collections of fossilized and preserved specimens, many of which contain evidence of parasites. In the April issue of Frontiers, Harmon et al. demonstrate that such specimens – including fecal samples, animal skins, and liquid-preserved hosts – can yield valuable information on how parasites have contributed to wildlife disease over the centuries.
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Ecology
Predicting the long‐term consequences of habitat alteration for the preservation of biodiversity and ecosystem function requires an understanding of how ecological filters drive taxonomic and functional biodiversity loss. Results presented by Hung et al. in the May 2019 issue suggest that ecological filtering altered bee assemblages in habitat fragments, even when such fragments contained well‐preserved native plant assemblages, underscoring the importance of preserving large areas of natural habitat for the conservation of bees.
