Ricardo Sánchez Martín | Functional generalism in plant-hummingbird interactions: causes and consequences from a plant perspective – Functional Ecologists

In this week’s blog post, we’re learning all about the causes and consequences of functional generalism! Author Ricardo Sánchez Martín explains the fascinating fit between hummingbirds and the plants they…

Vision in Challenging Environments – from Darkness to Dazzling Light – Functional Ecologists

Zuzana Musilova and Sara Mae Stieb When animals look out into their world, they don’t all see the same thing. For some, light is abundant, even overwhelming. For others, it…

does flower temperature affect pollinator behaviour? – Functional Ecologists

In this week’s blog post, we learn what’s the buzz about pollinators and their affinity to heat. Through her recently published paper: “Isolating the effects of floral temperature on visitation…

Contribute to our Pride Month Blog Series! – Functional Ecologists

To celebrate Pride Month in June, we are relaunching our Rainbow Research blog series! This series aims to promote the visibility and inclusion of ecologists and evolutionary biologists from the…

Weight loss in female birds – an adaptive strategy – Functional Ecologists

In this blog post, Tim Forrester helps answer a weighty question: Does weight loss help or hurt nesting birds? Based on his recent paper with Tom Martin, “Observational and experimental…

Nature’s Painkiller: How Virtual Scenes Ease Pain in the Brain

Summary: Viewing natural scenes can significantly reduce how people perceive pain, a new neuroimaging study has found. Researchers discovered that participants reported less pain and exhibited altered brain activity associated…

Studying at my Dream Site – Functional Ecologists

In this ‘Postcards from the Field’ blog post, Dr Diana Tataru – based at Tulane University – discusses their work on monkeyflowers in the beautiful Yosemite National Park, California! Diana…

A herbivore-induced defense- plant protein in honeydew enhances natural enemy fitness – Functional Ecologists

In this post, Pablo Urbaneja-Bernat, tenure track at Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology (Spain), presents his work ‘Not just candy: A herbivore-induced defense- plant protein in honeydew enhances natural…

Disentangling how riparian forests shape trophic interactions in detritus-based stream food webs – Functional Ecologists

Authors Rebecca Oester, Florian Altermatt and Andreas Bruder take a cold dip into Riparian forests and how they influence trophic interactions. In this blog post, lead author Rebecca, a PhD…

Growth-mortality trade-off in tropical tree seedlings is determined by stem elongation and soil fertility. – Functional Ecologists

In this new post Caicai Zhang, from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Institute of Eastern-Himalaya Biodiversity Research at Dali University, shares insights from her recently…