Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment

Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment is a benefit of membership of the Ecological Society of America. International in scope and interdisciplinary in approach, Frontiers focuses on current ecological issues and environmental challenges. Frontiers is aimed at professional ecologists and scientists working in related disciplines.
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Molecular detection techniques can be used in species monitoring, pathogen surveillance, dietary analysis, and a variety of other ecological applications. In the February 2020 issue of Frontiers, Mosher et al. present a communication framework that can help to guide collaborative partnerships between laboratory scientists, resource managers, and ecologists who employ these techniques.

In the Southern Ocean, extent and quality of sea ice are key to the reproductive success of certain Antarctic pinnipeds such as the leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx). When sea-ice concentrations fall below 10%, researchers capture fewer seal vocalizations – recorded underwater and serving as a proxy for seal presence and reproductive activity. This finding, by Roca et al. in the June issue of Frontiers, indicates that sea-ice-dependent seals may lack the capacity to adjust the timing of their breeding in response to short-term changes in environmental conditions, which is critical given intensified climate-change impacts in polar regions.