To avoid trophic mismatches, large herbivores should reschedule the breeding timing to keep in synchrony with the recent advance of plant phenology caused by climate change. To do so, individuals must track resources along two main non‐exclusive axes: time (rescheduling the breeding timing) and space (i.e., shifting their range). While the vast majority of studies have focused on the study of specific

Models are increasingly being used for prediction in ecological research. The ability to generate accurate and robust predictions is necessary to help respond to ecosystem change and to further scientific research. Successful predictive models are typically accurate, reliable, and transparent regarding their assumptions and expectations, indicating high predictive capacity, robustness, and clarity

In rocky intertidal habitats, the pronounced increase in environmental stress with elevation, caused by tides, generates significant vertical variation in community structure. Along coastlines, environmental changes generate horizontal biological variation, which, when measured at large sampling intervals, generally surpasses vertical biological variation. It is unknown, however, how vertical biological

In recent decades, many bumble bee species have declined due to changes in habitat, climate, and pressures from pathogens, pesticides, and introduced species. The western bumble bee (Bombus occidentalis ), once common throughout western North America, is a species of concern and will be considered for listing by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We attempt

Control of long‐established invasive species to aid threatened native species presents major logistic and economic challenges. Invasive common carp (Cyprinus carpio ) recently accounted for over 90% of the fish biomass in Utah Lake (Utah, USA), driving many undesired changes to ecosystem structure. Carp control efforts have removed >12,000 tons of carp from the system over 10 yr. However, the impact

Conceptual and methodological tools from behavioral ecology can inform studies of habitat quality, and their potential for evaluating habitat restoration in conservation efforts is explored here. Such approaches provide mechanistic detail in understanding the relationship between organisms and their habitats and are thus more informative than correlations between density and habitat characteristics

In the paper by Kooijman et al. (“Resilience in coastal dune grasslands: pH and soil organic matter effects on P nutrition, plant strategies, and soil communities,” Ecosphere 11(5):e03112), affiliations for two authors were incorrect. The second affiliation of Roland Bol and the first affiliation of Erwin Klumpp should be to the Institute of Bio‐ and Geosciences (IBG‐3) Agrosphere, Forschungszentrum

River regulation can modify natural flow regimes with deleterious effects on aquatic communities. While the effects of flow manipulation on the physical environment and populations and assemblages of aquatic organisms have been described thoroughly, how and to what extent river regulation influences ecosystem processes like food web architecture is less studied. Emergent aquatic insect prey can provide

Invasive Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus ) have introduced a nonnative pentastomid parasite (Raillietiella orientalis ) to southern Florida that has spilled over to infect native snakes. However, the extent of spillover, regarding prevalence and intensity, is unknown. We examined native snakes (n  = 523) and invasive pythons (n  = 1003) collected from Florida to determine the degree to which parasite

Several factors influence neonate survival rates in white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus ), and an emphasis on predation as the primary limiting factor to neonate recruitment may serve to detract researchers from understanding other influential variables. We estimated survival and cause‐specific mortality of white‐tailed deer neonates in the absence of predators with an emphasis on assessing how

To mitigate and adapt to climate change, forest carbon sequestration and diversity of the ecosystem must be included in forest management planning, while satisfying the demand for wood products. The future provisions of ecosystem services under six realistic management scenarios were assessed to achieve that goal. These services were carbon sequestration, types and quantities of roundwood harvested

Predator–prey dynamics can have landscape‐level impacts on ecosystems, and yet, spatial patterns and environmental predictors of predator–prey dynamics are often investigated at discrete locations, limiting our understanding of the broader impacts. At these broader scales, landscapes often contain multiple complex and heterogeneous habitats, requiring a spatially representative sampling design. This

Pathogens utilize different modes of transmission to maximize transmission success. In vector‐borne disease systems, both vertical and horizontal modes of transmission are common, but the relative contribution of these modes is not well understood but may be determined by host genetics, physiology, or environmental conditions. This study focuses on an emerging tick‐borne relapsing fever pathogen, Borrelia

Predicting the drivers of incursion and expansion of vector‐borne diseases as part of early‐warning strategies (EWS) is a major challenge for geographically extensive diseases where spread is mediated by spatial heterogeneity in climate and other environmental drivers. Geospatial data on these environmental drivers are increasingly available affording opportunities for application to a predictive disease

Ecological occupancy modeling has historically relied on high‐quality, low‐quantity designed‐survey data for estimation and prediction. In recent years, there has been a large increase in the amount of high‐quantity, unknown‐quality opportunistic data. This has motivated research on how best to combine these two data sources in order to optimize inference. Existing methods can be infeasible for large

The study of vegetation community and structural change has been central to ecology for over a century, yet the ways in which disturbances reshape the physical structure of forest canopies remain relatively unknown. Moderate severity disturbances affect different canopy strata and plant species, resulting in variable structural outcomes and ecological consequences. Terrestrial lidar (light detection

Recent cyanobacterial blooms in otherwise unproductive lakes may be warning signs of impending eutrophication in lakes important for recreation and drinking water, but little is known of their historical precedence or mechanisms of regulation. Here, we examined long‐term sedimentary records of both general and taxon‐specific trophic proxies from seven lakes of varying productivity in the northeastern

Frozen tundra soils hold one of the Earth's largest pools of organic carbon. Climate warming and the associated permafrost thaw release a large fraction of this carbon into circumpolar lakes, inducing extreme browning that fuels the heterotrophic microbial food web. How this permafrost carbon affects organisms higher in the food chain remains unknown. Using dissolved organic matter properties, total

The Aspen‐FACE (Free‐Air Carbon Enrichment) experiment was an 11‐yr study of the effect of elevated CO2 and ozone (alone and in combination) on the growth productivity of model aspen communities (pure aspen, aspen‐birch, and aspen‐maple) in the field in northern Wisconsin, USA. Uncertainty remains about how these short‐term plot‐level responses might play out at landscape scales where climate change

Understanding the behavioral responses of large carnivores to human activity in protected areas is important for conserving top predators. Roads and associated vehicle traffic have a range of impacts on wildlife, including mortality from vehicle collisions and behavioral changes from increasing traffic levels. Roads concentrate human activities and may be particularly impactful when located adjacent

Satellite telemetry data are commonly used to quantify habitat selection, examine animal movements, and delineate home ranges. These data also contain valuable information concerning dens, nests, roosts, and other central places that are often associated with important life history events and may exhibit unique characteristics; however, using satellite telemetry data to study central places is complicated

Imperfect detection is ubiquitous among wildlife research and is therefore commonly included in abundance estimation. Yet, the factors that affect observation success are largely unknown for rare and elusive species, such as large carnivores. Here, we took advantage of intensive ground‐based monitoring effort and an extensive GPS data set (2000–2018) and developed a winter sightability model for gray

Climate change is projected to increase the frequency of extreme drought events, which can have dramatic consequences for ecosystems. Extreme drought may interact with other stressors such as invasion by non‐native species, yet little research has explored these dynamics. Here, we examine the physical mechanisms and temporal scale underlying a dieback of an invasive non‐native plant, Lepidium latifolium

The Bemisia tabaci complex in Ecuador was studied with respect to phylogenetic relationships and eco‐geographical distribution. Whitefly samples were collected from natural and agricultural environments in nine provinces of Ecuador (latitude, 2° N–5° S; longitude, 78°–81° W). Mitotypes were identified based on phylogenetic analysis of the 3′‐mtCOI ‐tRNAleu region (832 bp) and corrected pairwise distance

Deforestation can compromise ecological processes and biotic interactions, including the host–parasite relationship. While some parasites infect only one host, others require multiple hosts to complete their complex life cycles. In this context, different parasites may have different demands and traits and may have specific responses to habitat degradation. Here, we tested whether forest cover has

Trees play an important role in both the water and carbon cycles. Sensors that measure the flow rate of sap in individual trees provide critical insight into water use dynamics, and these data are vital for the understanding of ecosystem functions. Current sap flux sensors typically require the installation of multiple needle‐like probes into the sapwood of the tree. Despite the scientific value of

The abundant‐center hypothesis posits species are most abundant in the center of their climatic range and forms a key assumption in many species distribution models. However, this hypothesis has not been rigorously evaluated in plant communities, in part because abundance as a fraction of dominance is rarely incorporated. Here, we ask whether tree species frequency and abundance peak in the center

Plant genome size influences the functional relationships between cellular and whole‐plant physiology, but we know little about its importance to plant tolerance of environmental stressors and how it contributes to range limits and invasion success. We used native and invasive lineages of a wetland plant to provide the first experimental test of the Large Genome Constraint Hypothesis (LGCH)—that plants

Recent ecological theories propose that species reach their highest abundance and genetic diversity in the center of their ecological niche and decline toward the edges. We assessed whether Lyle's flying fox, Pteropus lylei , abundance and genetic diversity were correlated with niche centroid distance using an ecological niche model as a proxy for fundamental niche (N F). Alternatively, we assessed

Many bee species are declining globally, but to detect trends and monitor bee assemblages, robust sampling methods are required. Numerous sampling methods are used, but a critical review of their relative effectiveness is lacking. Moreover, evidence suggests the relative effectiveness of sampling methods depends on habitat, yet efficacy in urban areas has yet to be evaluated. This study compared the

Functional response models describe the relationship between prey density and per capita prey consumption rate by a predator. Type II functional responses, in which density‐dependent predation occurs via a decelerating feeding rate, seem to prevail in nature and are commonly described by Holling’s disk equation. In the derivation of the disk equation, Holling did not include digestion time. Although

The trait‐based approach can address questions in order to understand how the functioning of organisms scales up to that of ecosystems and controls some of the services they deliver to humans, including in agriculture. However, the importance of interspecific vs the intraspecific trait variability (ITV) for classifying species according to their traits in agrosystems on a large diversity of pedoclimatic

As most species live in seasonal environments, considering varying conditions is essential to understand species dynamics in both geographic and ecological spaces. Both resident and migratory species need to contend with seasonality and balance settling in favorable areas with tracking favorable environmental conditions during the year. We present an exploratory framework to jointly investigate a species'

Understanding potential limitations to tree regeneration is essential as rates of tree mortality increase in response to direct (extreme drought) and indirect (bark beetle outbreaks, wildfire) effects of a warming climate. Seed availability is increasingly recognized as an important limitation for tree regeneration. High variability in seed cone production is a trait common among many northern temperate

Semiarid and savanna‐type (SAST) ecosystems in East Africa have unique plant species compositions and characteristics that make quantifying this biome's seasonality and interannual variability difficult. Phenoregion classification offers a way to use seasonality of vegetation growth to help understand the phenological spatial patterns of complex landscapes. Here, we used Normalized Difference Vegetation

The majority of species exist in metapopulations, where populations are linked to one another through dispersal. Disturbances (natural or anthropogenic) are known to affect population vital rates which can reverberate to the metapopulations through dispersal, which is determined by the topology of the habitat network (i.e., the number of patches and their spatial layout). Within a habitat network,

Estimating abundance and growth of animal populations are central tasks in ecology and natural resource management. Removal models for estimating abundance have a long history in applied ecology, and recent developments provided hierarchical extensions that account for spatially replicated sampling and heterogeneous capture probabilities. Measurement error is common to removal data collected from many

We present the first comprehensive analysis of the Pacific Northwest estuaries (PNWE) zooplankton time series, which encompasses 38 estuaries distributed across more than 1000 km of the North American Pacific Coast. With observations spanning more than 20 yr, we here examine biogeographic trends among zooplankton communities, patterns of biological invasion across the region, and environmental correlates

Determining organisms’ responses to novel temperatures is relevant from ecological, evolutionary, and conservation perspectives. Here, we have validated designs and included biological examples for three affordable devices to estimate thermal responses of ectotherms: (1) a water bath that can be programmed to increase temperatures to estimate an organismal critical thermal maximum (CTmax), (2) a miniature

Changing climatic regimes are causing increasing temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, and are subsequently expected to impact the spatial distribution of species. The distribution of plants at the scale of continents broadly conforms to the climatological regimes at play; however, in scaling down to the regional and landscape context, the influence of climate becomes confounded by complex

Phenotypic changes due to human activities are occurring at a far greater speed than those originating from natural causes in animal populations. For instance, phenotypic divergence among individuals may arise in populations supplemented with farm‐reared fish that are known to display different phenotypes from those of wild individuals because of domestication. Little is known about how these phenotypic

Diversity within species can have community‐level effects similar in magnitude to those of species diversity. Intraspecific diversity in producers and consumers has separately been shown to affect trophic interactions, yet we have little understanding of how variation at these two levels could simultaneously affect trophic interactions. Salt marshes dominated by Spartina alterniflora are an ideal system

Seed survival is a key process for plant populations; variation in the activity and abundance of animals that consume seeds can lead to dramatic shifts in seed fate. Because granivores may respond to contemporary disturbance as well as to enduring changes in habitats caused by past disturbances, understanding seed fate requires studies capable of evaluating how past and present disturbances modify

Pathogens and parasites (henceforth “pathogens”) can make up a large percentage of the biomass found in ecosystems, and therefore, their impacts on ecosystem processes should be prominent. Pathogens influence ecosystem processes by affecting the abundance or phenotype of hosts and through direct contributions to ecosystem production. However, there has been little quantitative synthesis of the relative

Conservation is increasingly in conflict with human activities due to global human population growth, particularly in areas that support threatened species. Conflicts often impede effective implementation of needed conservation measures and also have implications for social inequality, resource use and economic development. Bivalve molluscan shellfish aquaculture is commonly considered one of the least

Extreme climatic events (ECEs) are becoming more frequent and more intense due to climate change. Furthermore, there is reason to believe ECEs may modify "tail associations" between distinct population vital rates, or between values of an environmental variable measured in different locations. "Tail associations" between two variables are associations that occur between values in the left or right

Plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) and plateau zokors (Myospalax baileyi) occur naturally in the alpine meadow of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP). Their feeding and burrowing activities affect plant composition and soil properties (e.g., soil carbon accumulation and soil nitrogen cycling), but research to study the complex interactions between small mammals, livestock, and habitat is currently lacking

Data paucity can seem to hinder science‐based approaches to the conservation of imperiled species. Yet, even individually limited datasets can improve understanding and management of complex ecological systems when carefully integrated. We demonstrate this approach to gain first insights on the transmission ecology of Yersinia pestis in Grasslands National Park (GNP), Canada, where both the bacterium

Evidence is accumulating of the disruptive effects of climate change on species interactions. However, little is known about how changes in climate patterns, such as temporal shifts in rainfall events, will affect multitrophic interactions. Here, we investigated the effects of changes in rainfall patterns on the interactions between root herbivores, a plant, and its associated aboveground insects in

Coastal systems experience frequent disturbance and multiple environmental stressors over short spatial and temporal scales. Investigating functional traits in coastal systems has the potential to inform how variation in disturbance frequency and environmental variables influence differences in trait‐based community composition and ecosystem function. Our goals were to (1) quantify trait‐based communities

Understanding the mechanisms governing ecological stability—why a property such as primary productivity is stable in some communities and variable in others—has long been a focus of ecology. Compensatory dynamics, in which anti‐synchronous fluctuations between populations buffer against fluctuations at the community level, are a key theoretical mechanism of stability. Classically, compensatory dynamics

Although explosive volcanic eruptions are natural disturbances that cause significant environmental repercussions and impose multiple changes on ecosystems, post‐eruption studies of rivers and streams are not common. The most recent eruption of the Puyehue‐Cordón Caulle volcanic complex (PCCVC) began on 4 June 2011 with a large explosion and the emission of a column of gas and volcanic ash (particle

Greenhouse crops are thought to be simplified ecosystems because they often consist of monocultures that are relatively isolated from their environment. However, insect pests are still able to colonize these protected crops, which threaten their yields. Similarly, natural enemies of pests may be able to colonize greenhouses, providing a form of natural biological pest control. Protected strawberry

Soil organic matter (SOM) and pH are key ecosystem drivers, influencing resilience to environmental change. We tested the separate effects of pH and SOM on nutrient availability, plant strategies, and soil community composition in calcareous and acidic Grey dunes (H2130) with low, intermediate, and/or high SOM, which differ in sensitivity to high atmospheric N deposition. Soil organic matter was mainly

Disturbances can interrupt feedbacks that maintain stable plant community structure and create windows of opportunity for vegetation to shift to alternative states. Boreal forests are dominated by tree species that overlap considerably in environmental niche, but there are few tests of what conditions initiate and sustain different forest states. Here, we examine patterns of post‐fire growth and density

A new field of shorebird feeding ecology has been opened, stemming directly from natural history observations of previously overlooked morphological and behavioral features. We describe how the pieces of this puzzle were assembled to reveal a fascinating story of small shorebird migration, trophic level shift, and direct feeding upon mudflat superficial biofilm just prior to breeding. Many unexplored

Large carnivores are negotiating increasingly developed landscapes, but little is known about how such behavioral plasticity influences their demographic rates and population trends. Some investigators have suggested that the ability of carnivores to behaviorally adapt to human development will enable their persistence, and yet, others have suggested that such landscapes are likely to serve as population

As the quality and quantity of natural habitats decrease, pressure increases to better understand species–habitat interactions and how animal communities respond to habitat changes. We assessed the relative importance of local habitat heterogeneity and productivity measures as predictors of avian species richness and compared these results to models for species of conservation concern (SCC). We derived

Dynamic forest models are a key tool to better understand, assess, and project decadal‐ to centennial‐scale forest dynamics. Despite their success, many questions regarding appropriate model formulations remain unresolved, and few models have found widespread application, for example, across a whole continent. We aimed to scrutinize the representation of ecological processes in dynamic forest models

Northern Yellowstone National Park provides an example of passive restoration, as wetlands and riparian areas there lost most tall willows in the 20th century, due to intensive herbivory by elk (Cervus canadensis). Following large carnivore restoration in the late 1990s, elk numbers decreased, and some researchers reported willows growing taller with reductions in browsing, evidence of a shift toward