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Journals & Publications

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  Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment

  Each year, vast numbers of photographs are uploaded to online biodiversity platforms such as iNaturalist. But within these image libraries, species-level identification and family-level representation vary across taxa. In the May issue of Frontiers, Mesaglio et al. explain how some groups of organisms are more easily photographed and/or possess characteristics that make them more easily recognizable. For instance, adult dragonflies such as the Australian emperor (Anax papuensis) generally have a standard body shape, relatively large size, and prominent coloration. Invertebrate zoologists who wish to conduct large-scale studies using current iNaturalist records would do well to choose dragonflies and butterflies as research taxa, given their high degree of recognition worldwide and their extensive coverage within the existing dataset.

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  Ecology

  A candy-striped spider (Enoplognatha ovata) feeds on a thread-waisted wasp (Ammophila sp.) at dawn. Three other victims (Prionyx canadensis) of the previous night's marauding hang nearby. At their study site on Canada's West Coast, Scott and McCann observed that candy-striped spiders commonly leave their capture webs to locate and launch sneak attacks on sleeping insects. These introduced spiders are extremely versatile predators with a broad diet dominated by pollinating insects, and likely have strong impacts on insect communities in North America. Scott and McCann's work, published in The Scientific Naturalist section of the May issue of Ecology, highlights the value of observing organisms in their natural environments.

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  Ecosphere

  To understand how environmental variables influence white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fawn survival, Engebretsen et al. deployed 180 cameras throughout the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge and the Big Cypress National Preserve. The authors were able to identify 271 fawns, such as the one shown here traveling with its mother through a cypress dome in the Big Cypress National Preserve. The authors used the camera data to create a data set for a spatial capture–recapture analysis that revealed differences in survival to 180 days between fawns born in 2015 and those born in 2016. The data reported in their paper in the April issue of Ecosphere suggest that extreme weather events likely contributed to lower recruitment in south Florida, USA.

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  Ecological Applications

  The Cape hare (Lepus capensis), photographed here in 2018 in Wadi Tznifim within the Nehalim Gdolim Nature Reserve, situated in the southern Negev Desert and Arava mountains of Israel, is native to the region. In their study published in the April issue of Ecological Applications, Lewin et al. show that nearby intensive agroecosystems have impacted these and other native desert species, as well as invasive species, through added agricultural resources mediated by trophic cascades.

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  Ecological Monographs

  Biodiversity–ecosystem functioning (BEF) experiments can be used to better understand the mechanisms behind diversity and ecosystem functions relationships. The BEF-China tree diversity experiment site is pictured here during early morning in September 2019. In their study published in the May issue of Ecological Monographs, Beugnon et al. studied the mechanisms behind tree diversity effects on microbial biomass and soil carbon concentration at this site. Their results highlight strong effects of forest diversity on soil microbial biomass and carbon by driving forest productivity, tree functional traits, and micro-environmental conditions.

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  Bulletin

  In the April issue of the ESA Bulletin, Lauren D. Pharr interviews Joseph Drew Lanham, a Black Man, naturalist, writer, and poet, and new MacArthur Fellow. Lanham is an ornithologist and bird watcher. The Bulletin contribution explores Lanham's influence, significance, and perspectives on ecology and society.

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