Functional Ecology

🎃October issue out now!🎃 📙On the cover: Close-up of seeds (Credit: Marina LaForgia) 🔬🌱 Read the full issue here👇️ buff.ly/QTWJKtj 🧪🌍️

📰Published📰Nitrogen stimulation of soil carbon content differs between two types of mycorrhizal-dominated ecosystems 🌱 buff.ly/8M7zZYg 🧪🌍️

📰Published📰The same temperature swings can help or hurt overwintering bumble bee queens 🐝 buff.ly/CV3zDcF 🧪🌍️

📰Published📰Single-species cover cropping in agricultural fields at a large scale may homogenize the soil microbiome🌱 buff.ly/E7BZyg6 🧪🌍️

🌊🦠 New blog post! 'Governing the Invisible: Linking Local Maritime Histories, Microbial Marine Life and Emerging Global Scale Effects' from Sarah Sandor, winner of the Best Lightning Talk award at the #BESAG2026 @icbm-uol.bsky.social @bes-aquaticgroup.bsky.social 📖 buff.ly/UzvMoFy

📰Published📰Herbivory enhances cadmium foraging in an invasive hyperaccumulaing plant 🌱 buff.ly/HbRdDNA 🧪🌍️

📰Published📰Improved use of deep soil water promotes radial growth during drought 💧 buff.ly/RsI71ft 🧪🌍️

Pleased to share our paper in @funecology.bsky.social authored by Morgane Dendocker, examining root #traits of temperate tree seedlings. We excavated more than 300 seedlings from 7 temperate tree species to investigate the drivers of variation in root traits related to water uptake.

#MondayCanopyReads from the BES Forest Ecology Group 🌱 Contrasting restoration strategies shape tree carbon recovery through different ecological pathways in subalpine forests Luo et al. (2026) | Journal of Applied Ecology Read: besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

We will be at #COP17Armenia as official observers. Find out more about why we're going in our LinkedIn newsletter 📬 lnkd.in/p/evRKQ39S

📰Published📰 Plant invasion in mountain ecosystems reduces soil micro-food web complexity at higher elevations🏔️ buff.ly/prWUT8d 🧪🌍️

📰Published📰Teamwork underground: How different mycorrhizal fungi help trees find the nutrients they need🌳 buff.ly/SSK3HSF 🧪🌍️

Fresh off the press “The effect of prenatal environment on brain mitochondrial function and prey detection in a lizard” 🦎🦎 is out in @funecology.bsky.social! Paper w/ @danielwanoble.bsky.social @cpictus.bsky.social besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

📰Published📰Individual bumble #bees have unique #foraging repertoires, which may influence the spread of bee #diseases🐝 buff.ly/P7iWXHc 🧪🌍️

The Data Management BES Better Science Guide has been updated!

📰Published📰When early life changes the brain, behaviour does not always follow🧠 buff.ly/KdPtAzY 🧪🌍️

📢New @ecotron-cnrs.bsky.social article published in @funecology.bsky.social exploring the very complex interactions between #drought and soil fauna #functional diversity on tree growth in an #Ecotron 🌱 #experiment.

📰Published📰Mediterranean tree growth in the context of climate change: effects of drought and soil macrofauna🌡️ buff.ly/nOIZfZi 🧪🌍️

📰Published📰Shrubs benefit from being functionally more conservative and distinct from neighbor trees🌳 buff.ly/NIpmRPG 🧪🌍️

📰Published📰How coastal wetland plants survive over time under climate change🌡️ buff.ly/XPJbUxJ 🧪🌍️

📰Published📰Land use #intensification and abrupt changes in central European #grasslands 🌱 buff.ly/PvteaXe 🧪🌍️

The Data Management Better Science Guide has been updated! 🚨 A big thank you to Natalie Cooper and Robert Barber for editing the guide, and everyone who contributed to the writing! (1/3)

Could you help shape the 2027 BES symposium? We are looking for a BES member to propose a programme for our 2027 symposium on the theme of Novel Futures in Ecology – what do we know and what should we do? Find out more and apply here www.britishecologicalsociety.org/content/bes-...

📰Published📰Threat level and sound production mode modulate acoustic warnings and defensive biting in snakes🐍 buff.ly/2Yz1hBp 🧪🌍️

📰Published📰Out of the fire and into the frying pan: hostile post-fire thermal conditions reduce activity windows for reptiles🦎 buff.ly/0IKYM1B 🧪🌍️

📰Published📰Prebiotics for the soil: a chemical boost to help restore degraded land🦠 buff.ly/m0BTJZL 🧪🌍️

📰Published📰Beyond Observed Diversity: A completeness-based invasion theory💡 buff.ly/gcrGPQd 🧪🌍️

📰Published📰How tree roots associate with rhizosphere soil microbial communities in subtropical forests🌳 buff.ly/STlOC20 🧪🌍️

💡 Can we count elephants from space? 🐘 Wilks et al. share their experience investigating the potential use of satellite surveys to identify elephants in the heterogeneous terrain of Botswana, Africa. 👇 Read here! buff.ly/v9c8ox7

Missed our last MEE live? You can now find it on our Youtube! 🌍 🧪 In this this webinar, Antica Culina introduces the concept of Risk of Bias (RoB), and discusses why RoB assessment matters for producing reliable systematic reviews and meta-analyses. buff.ly/B2GOVNe

Are you a scholar with experience in animal ecology?  The Journal of Animal Ecology is looking for a Senior Editor who can contribute to the Journal’s development in topical and developing fields. Applications close on 15 October ⌛

👀Behind the Paper!👀 Author Paul Huber discusses testing whether environmental stress increases social interactions in burying beetles. The answer is complex: it depends on who’s present, which stressor occurs and what you measure!🪲 Read it here👇️ buff.ly/qWZceD3 🧪🌍️ @sciencepaulh.bsky.social

📰Published📰The oxygen uptake capacity of freshwater fish evolves to favor hypoxia tolerance in lentic species but locomotion capacity in lotic species🐟️ buff.ly/wcTckHM 🧪🌍️

📰Published📰Activity patterns of roe deer mothers is linked to their reproductive success across habitats and conditions🦌 buff.ly/zwIpz9w 🧪🌍️

📰Published📰Leaky flowers: Why rainy days can make nectar robbing costly for primroses🌺 buff.ly/Pi1d7NN 🧪🌍️

📰Published📰Measuring complete elemental composition, including micronutrients and trace elements, outperforms models based only on carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in explaining photosynthetic traits🍃 buff.ly/zMkaW96 🧪🌍️

📰Published📰Community assembly on inland cliffs is context-dependent💡 buff.ly/c76qAuP 🧪🌍️

Thematic sessions are a core part of the BES Annual Meeting, providing a space to explore critical questions facing ecology today.  This year’s programme features exciting talks and discussions on ecological research and practice. Scroll to learn more 👇

🚨New paper! We tested how inter- and intraspecific variation in thermal response curves for dispersal rate affect metacommunity dynamics and diversity patterns under warming in ciliate communities.

We are so thrilled to announce our 2026 BES Award winners 💫 This year, our awards honour ten distinguished ecologists whose work has benefited the scientific community and society as a whole.

Our update to the BES Data Management Guide is now live! assets.britishecologicalsociety.org/2026/09/2110... Huge thanks to the incredibly talented ECRs who contributed sections. It's an excellent resource that I've already used with my PhD students. ❤️

👀Behind the Paper!👀 Author Dave Daversa discusses finding fungal infections circulating in Yosemite toad populations, the implications on re-introduction programmes, and more broadly, how exploratory research can lead to practical solutions🐸 Read it here👇️ buff.ly/VvUOA4Y 🧪🌍️

📰Published📰Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis infections proliferate during amphibian terrestrial dormancy🐸 buff.ly/mqcTuXa 🧪🌍️

📰Published📰We must understand both allocation and acquisition to understand life history evolution💡 buff.ly/1M3naC9 🧪🌍️

📰Published📰Scaling temperature-dependent dispersal rates to metacommunity dynamics: An experimental test🌡️ buff.ly/7j6dV0c 🧪🌍️

📰Published📰Context-dependent joint buffering of abiotic stress by parental care and sibling interactions🪲 buff.ly/CRir32r 🧪🌍️