Lovers and fighters, and how their coexistence affects their evolution within an eco-evolutionary feedback loop

Eco-evolutionary dynamics are well studied but the term is applied to a wide variety of effects and interactions. Yet comparing these different types of studies on eco-evolutionary dynamics will inform on how this field can move forward, which is precisely the aim of a recent British Ecological Society cross-journal Special Feature. Here,  Isabel Smallegange (an Associate Professor of Population Biology at the University of Amsterdam) … Continue reading Lovers and fighters, and how their coexistence affects their evolution within an eco-evolutionary feedback loop

Animal Social Networks: Joint Special Feature Open Call

The recent focus on the study of animal social networks has led to some fundamental new insights. These have spanned across fields in ecology and evolution, ranging from epidemiology and learning through to evolution and conservation. Whilst network analysis has been used to address questions about sociality, food webs, bipartite networks and more over the past decade it is now extending into a wider variety … Continue reading Animal Social Networks: Joint Special Feature Open Call

Research gaps in Animal Social Network Analysis

Post provided by Damien Farine, Sebastian Sosa, David Jacoby, Mathieu Lihoreau and Cédric Sueur Here at Methods in Ecology & Evolution and the Journal of Animal Ecology we are excited by the new directions that the next decade of research into animal social networks will bring. We hope to encourage new advances in the study of animal social networks by calling for high-quality papers for … Continue reading Research gaps in Animal Social Network Analysis

How do birds avoid their sibling-species competitors?

Being similar can be problematic. When ecologically-similar species co-occur, competition can result. So how can this be avoided? A recent paper published in the Journal of Animal Ecology shows how birds avoid their sibling-species competitors. Authors Lechosław Kuczyński, Anna Skoracka, Jiri Reif and Radka Reifova explain. Mechanisms that enable coexistence of ecologically-similar species are crucial in maintaining biological diversity. When such species co‑occur they inevitably compete for resources, such as … Continue reading How do birds avoid their sibling-species competitors?

Glimpsing evolutionary instability in mountains

There are many challenging environments on the planet, and the Andes Mountains are no exception. Animals living at height need to overcome a range of extremes – but how do they achieve this and what impact does it have on their evolution? Chauncey Gadek is a Masters student at the University of New Mexico, and his research with Dr Christopher Witt examines the impact of … Continue reading Glimpsing evolutionary instability in mountains

Volume 85:6 a slideshow

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Male Montagu’s Harrier Edwin on the hunt for grasshoppers near Djilas, Senegal. Ellinor Schlaich et al. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12583

Issue 85:6 is now online and for the first time we have two In Focus papers in the issue as we no longer want to limit ourselves to championing only one great paper!

The First is by Pedro Jardano and takes a look at the paper by Sazatornil et al. on morphological matches and the assembly of mutualistic hawkmoth–plant networks. The second is by Shawn Wilder and Punidan Jeyasingh and they review the paper by Zhang et al. on how warming and predation risk shape stoichiometry.

To make the most of all the great photos from our authors we have included a slideshow of the best images.

Read the full November 2016 issue here.

Continue reading “Volume 85:6 a slideshow”