http://www.journalofecology.org current issue RSS Feed http://www.journalofecology.org/details/journalArticle/1316947/Nitrification_is_linked_to_dominant_leaf_traits_rather_than_functional_diversity.html Summary 1.  The internal cycling of nitrogen (N) is a critical process in terrestrial ecosystems. Nitrification occurs when soil microbes convert ammonium to nitrate. Nitrification is known to be regulated by abiotic soil properties, but less is known about how plant communities influence this important ecosystem function. 2.  Two contrasting hypotheses propose mechanisms for how communities influence ecosystem... 2011-06-22T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofecology.org/details/journalArticle/970323/Journal_of_Ecology_News.html 2010-12-22T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofecology.org/details/journalArticle/1018089/Causes_behind_insect_folivory_patterns_in_latitudinal_gradients.html Summary 1. Adams and Zhang recently published one of the best studies so far of patterns of insect folivory along a latitudinal (climatic) gradient. They show clear negative trends in foliage loss in relation to temperature for certain groups of insect herbivores. 2. Although their suggestion that the plant–herbivore interaction may be more important in cooler climates could be valid, they did not bring up the... 2010-08-20T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofecology.org/details/journalArticle/555399/Journal_of_Ecology_News.html 2010-01-25T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofecology.org/details/journalArticle/555393/Journal_of_Ecology_News.html 2010-01-25T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofecology.org/details/journalArticle/492827/Measuring_the_importance_of_competition_a_new_formulation_of_the_problem.html Summary 1. Currently, there is a debate among plant ecologists on the concepts of the intensity of competition and the importance of competition, which is central to many issues of modern plant population ecology and plant community ecology. 2. It is problematic that the current measures of intensity and importance of competition, typically, are reported as dimensionless indices because they hide the fact that... 2009-10-28T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofecology.org/details/journalArticle/410105/Facilitation_in_the_conceptual_melting_pot.html Summary 1. Here we present an introduction to this issue’s Special Feature arising from the British Ecological Society Symposium: Facilitation in Plant Communities (20–22 April 2009). 2. Papers in the Special Feature demonstrate the benefits that arise from cross‐system application of general concepts, for example, the well‐known stress gradient hypothesis. Such comparisons challenge our definition of... 2009-10-13T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofecology.org/details/journalArticle/301923/Professor_John_L__Harper_FRS_CBE_19252009.html 2009-06-11T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofecology.org/details/journalArticle/244989/Species_diversity_and_productivity_why_do_results_of_diversitymanipulation_exper.html Summary 1Experiments that directly manipulate species diversity often report a positive diversity effect on productivity, whereas observations of natural communities reveal various productivity–diversity relationships and nutrient addition to natural plant communities generally results in negative productivity–diversity relationships. 2We hypothesize that this apparent paradox... 2009-04-23T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofecology.org/details/journalArticle/178893/Measuring_the_importance_of_competition_in_plant_communities.html Summary 1Plant ecologists have developed numerous ways to measure competition and to rank the effects of competition relative to other factors. According to one line of logic, there is an important distinction between competitive intensity (broadly, the absolute, proximate effects on individuals) and the importance of competition (loosely, the relative effects on ecological or evolutionary processes). ... 2009-03-30T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofecology.org/details/journalArticle/167579/Plant_strategy_theories_a_comment_on.html Summary 1It is suggested that arguments concerning the nature of primary plant strategies could have been resolved more rapidly by reference to older literature relating to the behaviour of solutes in the rhizosphere and by more active programmes of plant trait screening. 2The critique of CSR theory in Craine (2005) is rejected largely on the basis that it misunderstands the role... 2007-02-12T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofecology.org/details/journalArticle/167620/Professor_Arthur_J__Willis_19222006.html 2006-09-26T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofecology.org/details/journalArticle/167642/Plant_species_and_functional_group_effects_on_abiotic_and_microbial_soil_propert.html Summary 1Plant species differ in their capacity to influence soil organic matter, soil nutrient availability and the composition of soil microbial communities. Their influences on soil properties result in net positive or negative feedback effects, which influence plant performance and plant community composition. 2For two grassland systems, one on a sandy soil in the Netherlands... 2006-07-11T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofecology.org/details/journalArticle/167658/The_freezer_defrosting_global_warming_and_litter_decomposition_rates_in_cold_bio.html Summary 1Decomposition of plant litter, a key component of the global carbon budget, is hierarchically controlled by the triad: climate > litter quality > soil organisms. Given the sensitivity of decomposition to temperature, especially in cold biomes, it has been hypothesized that global warming will lead to increased litter decomposition rates, both through direct temperature effects and... 2006-05-23T00:00:00Z http://www.journalofecology.org/details/journalArticle/167674/Announcement.html 2006-04-10T00:00:00Z