On the Cover

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Cover Image: Volume 24 Number 5, May 2021
The cover image is based on the Letter Soil carbon persistence governed by plant input and mineral protection at regional and global scales by Leiyi Chen et al., https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13723.
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The cover image is based on the Letter Beyond nitrogen: phosphorus - estimating the minimum niche dimensionality for resource competition between phytoplankton by Peter Hofmann et al., https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13695.
Image Credit: Susanne Dunker.
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The cover image is based on the Letter Paternal age negatively affects sperm production of the progeny by Pauline Vuarin et al., https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13696.
Cover Image: Volume 24 Number 3, March 2021
The cover image is based on the Letter Predator presence and recent climatic warming raise body temperatures ofisland lizards by Félix Landry Yuan et al., https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13671. Photo Credit: Masami Hasegawa.
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Featured in Ecology Letters

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In the Spotlight: Tim Coulsen, Editor-in-Chief

Watch the video and discover how Ecology Letters is supporting your research and driving future discoveries.

Reasons to publish in Ecology Letters

Ecology Letters aims to provide authors with detailed peer review feedback whilst supporting the rapid publication of your scholarly research.

In 2020, the journal received around 1,300 submissions and had an acceptance rate of approximately 15%, with a median of 6 days for the time to first decision.

To submit your manuscript, please click here. For further information about the submission process, please refer to our Author Guidelines.

Early Career Researcher Award 2019

Congratulations to @LG_Shoemaker on winning the Ecology Letters Early Career Researcher Award 2019, and for an informative presentation of her winning paper. You can view the on-demand webinar presentation (registration required) here.

Outcome of the Savanna Science Network Meeting which was attended by the Ecology Letters Editors in March 2020

As of 2020, Ecology Letters offers Open Research badges from the Centre for Open Science

Ecology Letters is now offering Open Research badges from the Centre for Open Science. Authors will have an opportunity at the time of manuscript submission to determine whether they wish to participate. Applying and qualifying for Open Research badges is not a requirement for publishing with the journal. Further information about the program is available in the Author Guidelines.

Jisc, UK institutions and Wiley agree ground-breaking deal!

Exciting news for UK researchers and libraries. Wiley has agreed a major transitional deal with Jisc. This means researchers at 138 UK institutions can now publish Open Access with Ecology Letters at no direct cost. Read more about the Wiley/Jisc Agreement here. 

Cover Caption: Southern Double-collared Sunbird (Cinnyris chalybeus) at the Koeberg Reserve, Western Cape, South Africa 

Photo Credit: Andy Boyce

From: Andy Boyce, page 642

Ecology Letters is excited to launch a new publication type: Viewpoint. For further details, please click here

Articles

LETTER

Time lags and the invasion debt in plant naturalisations

  •  25 April 2021

Abstract

For invasions, lags of decades to centuries between species’ introduction and establishment in the wild (naturalisation) are common, leading to the idea of an invasion debt: accelerating rates of introduction result in an expanding pool of introduced species that will naturalise in the future. Here, I show how concepts from survival analysis can be used to understand and forecast time lags, and to quantify invasion debts. The same approach can be used to understand time lags associated with other ecological processes.
SYNTHESIS

Trait dimensions in bacteria and archaea compared to vascular plants

  •  24 April 2021

Abstract

Among widely measured trait‐dimensions for bacteria and archaea three main axes are evident. Bacterial strategies can be viewed both through the facet of substrate‐use pathways, and through the facet of quantitative traits such as genome size and maximum growth rate. Comparing strategies via measurable traits can sidestep debates about concepts such as oligotrophy and immediately allow comparisons across separate habitats.
LETTER

Multiple distinct, scale‐dependent links between fungi and decomposition

  •  24 April 2021

Abstract

Wood decay is better predicted by variation in fungal communities than climate, but multiple links exist: interspecific competition slows decomposition in diverse communities and variation in traits also constrains process rates. We paired field and laboratory experiments using a forest‐shrubland ecotone and discovered that while fungal communities closer to forests were capable of faster decomposition, wood containing diverse fungal communities decomposed more slowly. Stochastic small‐scale community assembly is nested within large‐scale turnover in the regional species pool, decoupling the trends and creating multiple significant links between fungi and decomposition varying not just quantitatively but qualitatively with scale.
LETTER

Bryophyte C:N:P stoichiometry, biogeochemical niches and elementome plasticity driven by environment and coexistence

  •  24 April 2021

Abstract

Our study provides, for the first time, an estimation of bryophyte C:N:P stoichiometry of 145:8:1, intermediate between Redfield's ratio for marine plankton and those for vascular plants. We found that biogeochemical niches were well differentiated amongst species and were considerably phylogenetically conserved, indicative of adaptive value for species. Our results provide an evolutionary bridge between the ecological stoichiometries of algae and vascular plants and suggest that differences in elementomes could be used to understand community assemblages and functional diversity.
Letter

Altered precipitation dynamics lead to a shift in herbivore dynamical regime

  •  24 April 2021

Abstract

Theoretical work has suggested that climate variation can interact with density‐dependent feedbacks to influence population dynamics, and patterns of climate variation are expected to change with change climate. In this study, we show that changing precipitation dynamics drove a change in population dynamics in a species of outbreaking herbivores. We also conduct simulations which suggest that interactions between density‐dependent feedback and changing patterns of climate variation may have been behind this shift in population dynamics. ​
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The following is a list of the most cited articles based on citations published in the last three years, according to CrossRef.

free access

Predicting species distribution: offering more than simple habitat models

  •  993-1009
  •  15 August 2005
free access

The unseen majority: soil microbes as drivers of plant diversity and productivity in terrestrial ecosystems

  •  296-310
  •  29 November 2007
free access

The metacommunity concept: a framework for multi‐scale community ecology

  •  601-613
  •  4 June 2004

Global analysis of nitrogen and phosphorus limitation of primary producers in freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems

  •  1135-1142
  •  8 October 2007
free access

Impacts of climate change on the future of biodiversity

  •  365-377
  •  18 January 2012
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free access

Impacts of climate change on the future of biodiversity

Open access

Flowers respond to pollinator sound within minutes by increasing nectar sugar concentration

Open access

A process‐based metacommunity framework linking local and regional scale community ecology

Abstract

Here, we present a fundamental reconception of the metacommunity framework that explicitly links local coexistence theory to the spatial processes inherent to metacommunity theory, allowing for a continuous range of competitive community dynamics. These dynamics emerge from the three underlying processes that shape ecological communities: (1) density‐independent responses to abiotic conditions, (2) density‐dependent biotic interactions and (3) dispersal. Using a simulation model, we show how classic theories in community ecology are linked by the three common processes in our framework.
free access

Designing optimal human‐modified landscapes for forest biodiversity conservation

Abstract

We review key concepts on species responses to landscape disturbances to prioritize management strategies for conservation of forest wildlife. We design optimal landscape scenarios for preserving most forest wildlife and promoting the delivery of goods and services to humans. The proposed scenarios can therefore guide forest preservation and restoration strategies in human‐modified landscapes.
Open access

Animal Sound Identifier (ASI): software for automated identification of vocal animals

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