International Days, Methods papers, Statistical methods

Do-it-yourself fishing and climate scenario experiments with a marine ecosystem model

Post provided by Michael Heath, Tom Doherty,  Jack Laverick & Douglas Speirs

Herring is a planktivorous fish species. Credit: Atle Grimsby.

World Fisheries Day, celebrated on November 21, is dedicated to highlighting the critical importance of healthy ocean ecosystems and to ensure sustainable stocks of fisheries in the world. Pressure to find ecologically sustainable strategies for harvesting food from the sea is getting ever stronger, especially in the face of changing climate. However, the question is complex because the harvestable species live in a complex food web where everything is directly or indirectly connected to everything else. Models for carrying out scenario analyses on the impact of fisheries management options on food webs are usually the preserve of trained experts.

In this blog post, Michael Heath of the University of Strathclyde guides us through how using a new marine modelling package and online app, published in their recent Methods in Ecology and Evolution paper ‘StrathE2E2: An R package for modelling the dynamics of marine food webs and fisheries.’, makes these analyses easily accessible to anyone with just basic website skills.

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Unknown's avatarChloe V. RobinsonLeave a comment
Conservation and management, Statistical methods

Let’s get real: translating species distribution models into conservation practice

Post provided by Veronica F. Frans

Species distribution models (SDMs) are popular methods for identifying important habitats for species, but what does it take to translate SDMs into conservation practice? In this post, Veronica Frans discusses the applications of iSDMdb as featured in the paper, “Integrated SDM database: enhancing the relevance and utility of species distribution models in conservation management”, recently published in Methods in Ecology and Evolution.

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Unknown's avatarBen WhittakerLeave a comment
Cover Image Stories, Journal Issues, Methods papers

Cover Stories: Overlooked primary producers key to accurate trophic position estimation

Post provided by Matthew Ramirez, Alexi Besser, Seth Newsome, and Kelton McMahon

The cover of our October issue shows a katydid feeding on a leaf in the Tirimbina Rainforest National Wildlife Refuge of Costa Rica. Once digested, nitrogen from the leaf is incorporated into the katydid’s tissues in the form of amino acids, with slight modification to their stable nitrogen isotope values (δ15N). In this post the authors discuss the importance of understanding and accounting for variability in primary producer amino acid δ15N values when characterizing where consumers are positioned within food webs, detailed in their Methods in Ecology and Evolution article “Meta-analysis of primary producer amino acid δ15N values and their influence on trophic position estimation.”

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Unknown's avatarChloe V. RobinsonLeave a comment
Journal Issues

November Issue Out Now!

Our November issue is online now! Our penultimate issue of the year contains 18 articles about the latest methods in ecology and evolution. This month we have methods for long-term acoustic monitoring, automated landmarking of 3D biological structures, assessing the movement of small mammals and more, plus two Applications and two Practical Tools articles for your reading. Find out more below! Featured Articles A primer on partially … Continue reading November Issue Out Now!

Unknown's avatarIndia StephensonLeave a comment
Road to COP26

Microscopic phytoplankton are storytellers of our oceans under climate change

Post provided by Dr Rosie Sheward The 2021 UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) is being held Glasgow this week, and now more than ever before, the pressure is on for world leaders to agree on climate action to keep global warming below 1.5°c. In the lead up to the conference, we’re asking our editors and authors to discuss their research at the interface of climate … Continue reading Microscopic phytoplankton are storytellers of our oceans under climate change

Unknown's avatarIndia StephensonLeave a comment
Methods papers

Monsters Behind the Movies

Post provided by Ben Whittaker & Chloe Robinson

“There’s no such thing as monsters” you whisper to yourself while creeping into bed, regretting your decision to spend the whole night watching horror movies. Thunder rumbles in the distance as rain begins tapping on the windowpane. The lamps flicker and black out. “Just a power cut” you chuckle nervously, clutching the bed covers up to your face. Laid in the darkness, you become aware of every creak and bump echoing throughout the empty house. But what is that shuffling sound? Is it coming closer? The shuffling stops right outside your bedroom door, which gently rattles and then slowly groans open. A dreadful chill runs down your spine. “There’s no such thing as monsters?”

In this special Halloween post, blog editors Chloe Robinson and Ben Whittaker conjure stories of the real-life monsters that have inspired movie makers. Continue reading at your own peril and be warned that Methods in Ecology and Evolution holds no liability for ensuing nightmares, hauntings, or extra-terrestrial abduction.  

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Unknown's avatarBen WhittakerLeave a comment
Journal Issues

October Issue Out Now!

Our October Issue is out now! It’s a bumper issue, with 26 articles presenting the latest methods in ecology and evolution. We have methods for measuring temporal change in alpha diversity, aerial imaging of field plots, analysing 3D morphology images and more, plus four Applications and five Practical Tools articles for your reading. Find out more below! Featured Articles The potential and practice of arboreal … Continue reading October Issue Out Now!

Unknown's avatarIndia StephensonLeave a comment
Road to COP26

Functional Strategies to COP26

This year’s UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) will be held in Glasgow in November, and now more than ever before, the pressure is on for world leaders to agree on climate action to keep global warming below 1.5°c. In the lead up to the conference, we’re asking our editors and authors to share their research at the interface of climate and ecology. In this post, Jesus Aguirre Gutierrez of the University of Oxford presents research on the role of functional diversity in the response of tropical forests to climate change.

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Unknown's avatarIndia StephensonLeave a comment
Conservation and management, Ecology

On foot snares and felids

By Methods in Ecology and Evolution Executive Editor Aaron M. Ellison A recent Practical Tools article published in Methods in Ecology & Evolution described a foot snare used to capture jaguars and cougars in Brazil (Ribeiro de Araujo et al. 2021a). Within hours of the posting of the proofed version of the article on the Early View section of the journal’s website, comments on Twitter … Continue reading On foot snares and felids

Unknown's avatarIndia StephensonLeave a comment
International Days, Methods papers

Trash Talking: Every Litter Bit Hurts

Post provided by Chloe Robinson

Trash collected from a beach clean at Buccaneer Bay Provincial Park, BC in collaboration with Pender Harbour Ocean Discovery Station (PODS) and the Loon Foundation. Picture credit: Jessica Scott.

It is no surprise that COVID-19 has changed the course of a substantial number of things in the world since the start of the pandemic. One of the most understated impacts is the devastating reversal of many years’ worth of fighting plastic pollution. In the wake of International Coast Cleanup Day and World Environmental Health Day, Associate Editor Dr. Chloe Robinson will be discussing the impacts of marine litter and plastic pollution on marine life and how the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup program is working to stop the leak of litter and plastic pollution into the ocean.

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Unknown's avatarChloe V. RobinsonLeave a comment