Animal Ecology in Focus

This blog post is provided by Caio S. Ballarin and tells the #StoryBehindThePaper for the article, “Optimising daily sampling of plant–bee interaction networks”, which was recently published in the Journal of Animal Ecology. This study tracked plant-bee interaction networks throughout the day, revealing how interactions shift from dawn to dusk. They provide a framework to optimise sampling strate…

This blog post is provided by Shahar Chaikin and tells the #StoryBehindThePaper for the article, “Native habitat affinities predict fish invasions with post-invasion habitat shifts”, which was recently published in the Journal of Animal Ecology. This study tracked fish populations within their native Red Sea range and into their invaded Eastern Mediterranean range, revealing traits that drive inv…

This blog post is provided by Irene Bouwman and tells the #StoryBehindThePaper for the article “Elephant space use and habitat selection change across drought timescales“, which was recently published in Journal of Animal Ecology. This study examined how drought affects the spatial use and habitat selection of African elephants. As charismatic as elephants may be in David Attenborough…

Reflections from our Executive Editor, Dr Nate Sanders Nearly 100 years ago, a 27-year-old Charles Elton published Animal Ecology, a foundational book that helped launch a new science. The book launched and defined the scientific study of how animals interact with one another and their environment. Drawing inspiration from the emerging study of plant communities, Elton argued that animal communit…

In this blog post, Matia Haïm Muller tells the #StoryBehindThePaper for the article “Assessment of large-scale spatial variation in age-specific survival and age at first breeding in a long-lived species”, recently published in the Journal of Animal Ecology. The study uses long-term ringing, resighting and dead-recovery data from more than 90,000 white storks across Germany to reveal how survival…

This blog post is provided by Martyna Syposz and tells the #StoryBehindThePaper for the article “Snowmelt predicts earlier breeding across the latitudinal range of an Arctic nesting seabird, the Little Auk (Alle alle)“, which was recently published in Journal of Animal Ecology. This study examined how snowmelt timing is linked to breeding onset in several little auk colonies over time…

This blog post is provided by Federico Garrido-de León and tells the #StoryBehindThePaper for the article “A new approach to quantify isotopic (co)variation across levels of biological organization using double-hierarchical generalized linear models”, which was recently published in Journal of Animal Ecology. In their study, Garrido-de León and colleagues quantified patterns of trophic variabilit…

This blog post is provided by Guillaume Dillenseger, and tells the #StoryBehindThePaper for the article “Predator-guild-specific parental responses mitigate higher predation risk on ground nests close to forest patches in a mosaic landscape“, which was recently published in Journal of Animal Ecology. This study tested whether predation risk of experimental lapwing nests and aggressive…

This blog post is provided by M. Florencia Miguel and colleagues and tells the #StoryBehindThePaper for the article, “Species loss alters the mesoscale structure of mutualistic networks”, which was recently published in the Journal of Animal Ecology. In their study, M. Florencia Miguel and colleagues shed new light on the patterns of species loss, exploring how these losses can shape network stru…

This blog post is provided by Angus Mitchell and colleagues and tells the #StoryBehindThePaper for the article, “Ocean acidification, more than warming or heatwaves, constrains shoaling behaviour in a range-extending fish through habitat simplification”, which was recently published in the Journal of Animal Ecology. In their study, Mitchell and colleagues reveal the hidden impact that climate cha…

This blog post is provided by Casey Patmore and Per T Smiseth and tells the #StoryBehindThePaper for the article “Plasticity in parental care: Interspecific competitor cues shape biparental cooperation in a burying beetle”, which was recently published in Journal of Animal Ecology. This study examined how burying beetle parental care and breeding success was affected by interspecific …

This blog post is provided by Pedro A. D. Dias and Ariadna Rangel-Negrín from the Primate Behavioral Ecology Lab, Universidad Veracruzana, México, and tells the #StoryBehindThePaper for the article “Does energy minimisation constrain behavioural plasticity? Long-term activity budgets of a model folivore–frugivore“, which was recently published in Journal of Animal Ecology. This study …

This blog post is provided by Lucy Johanson and Heloise Gibb and tells the #StoryBehindThePaper for the article, “Digging into dirt: rewilding with threatened mammals shapes soil insect assemblages”, which was recently published in the Journal of Animal Ecology. In their study, Johanson, Gibb and colleagues explore the insect communities of the Australian desert and how they are impacted as …

This blog post is provided by Solange Alexandra Batista-Nunes and tells the #StoryBehindThePaper for the article, “Contrasting properties of predation and scavenging networks governed by megaherbivores in an African savannah”, which was recently published in the Journal of Animal Ecology. In their study, Batista-Nunes and colleagues conduct the first comparison of predation and scavenging network…

This blog post is provided by Felicia Keesing and tells the #StoryBehindThePaper for the article “Climate warming, acorn masting, and the dynamics of rodent populations: Comparing long-term studies“, which was recently published in Journal of Animal Ecology. This study takes advantage of the accidental similarity between two long-term studies of acorns, rodents, and climate, exploring…

This blog post is provided by Meng Xu and Ignasi Arranz and tells the #StoryBehindThePaper for the article “Season and human footprint weaken the negative effect of temperature on the intraspecific metabolic scaling exponent of wild brown trout populations“, which was recently published in Journal of Animal Ecology. This study examined how temperature and other environmental variables…

Maria del Mar Labrador (she/her) provides the story behind her paper, “Host space, not energy or symbiont size, constrains feather mite abundance across passerine bird species“, which was shortlisted for this year’s Elton Prize. We also hear a little about her journey into animal ecology About the paper What is your shortlisted paper about, and what are you seeking to answer with your research? T…

Lucas Invernizzi (he/him) provides the story behind his paper, “The Expensive Son hypothesis“, which was shortlisted for this year’s Elton Prize. We also hear a little about his journey into animal ecology About the paper: What is your shortlisted paper about, and what are you seeking to answer with your research? In many species, males and females differ in size and developmental needs. Our pape…

Angus Mitchell (he/him) provides the story behind his paper, “Tropical fishes can benefit more from novel than familiar species interactions at their cold-range edges“ which was shortlisted for this year’s Elton Prize. We also hear a little about his journey into animal ecology. About the paper What is your shortlisted paper about, and what are you seeking to answer with your research? Our paper …

Marco Fioratti Junod (he/him) provides the story behind his paper, “Herbivory mediates the response of below-ground food-webs to invasive grasses“, which was shortlisted for this year’s Elton Prize. We also hear a little about his journey into animal ecology. About the paper: What is your shortlisted paper about, and what are you seeking to answer with your research? The study deals with the comb…