Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America最新文献

These photographs illustrate the article “The influence of lightning on insect and fungal dynamics in a lowland tropical forest” by Kane A. Lawhorn, Jeannine H. Richards, Evan M. Gora, Jeffrey C. Burchfield, Phillip M. Bitzer, Cesar Gutierrez, and Stephen P. Yanoviak published in Ecology https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4521

“In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king”—this old Dutch proverb carries a deep message about relative advantage and perspective. At its core, the saying suggests that a person with limited knowledge becomes an expert among those who know nothing about the subject or that mediocre talents shine brightly when surrounded by complete beginners. The wisdom of this saying reminds us that value is often relative rather than absolute. It encourages us to recognize that what might seem like a modest capability in one context could be extraordinarily valuable in another. However, there is also a subtle warning within this proverb: what appears to be exceptional in one environment might actually be quite limited in the broader world. The one-eyed person is only “king” in the land of the blind; in a land of people with full vision, they would not hold the same advantage.

This old proverb finds a fascinating parallel in the world of ecological research, particularly regarding statistical analyses and methodological debates during the peer review process. As the editor of an ecology journal myself, I frequently encounter peculiar situations that perfectly illustrate this proverb. I regularly witness intense battles between reviewers and authors over statistical analyses. These methodological debates often become surprisingly heated, with reviewers demanding specific statistical approaches or criticizing authors' analytical choices with remarkable confidence. The authors, in turn, defend their methods with equal vigor or propose alternative analyses with similar conviction. I am an author of scientific papers too and I have been in this battlefield before. But what makes this scenario particularly fascinating is my privileged position as an editor. I can see the academic backgrounds of both the reviewers (who are not anonymous to editors) and the authors, revealing that these passionate statistical arguments are typically occurring between researchers whose primary expertise lies in other areas. For instance, heated debates about the appropriateness of certain probability distributions, statistical packages for specific analyses, the interpretation of main and interactive effects, or the application of mixed models often occur without an adequate understanding of the underlying mathematical principles (Ellison and Dennis 2010). This creates a rather intriguing situation in scientific publishing in ecology: Complex statistical discussions and decisions about methodological rigor are being arbitrated by researchers who, while potentially excellent in their primary field of study, often lack the formal mathematical or statistical training that would traditionally qualify one to make such judgments.

This situation perfectly embodies the proverb's wisdom. Ecologists who have taken a few additional statistics courses or who have spent more time self-studying mathematical concepts often find themselves in positions of significan

Although effective teamwork has been widely studied, little of this information is readily accessible to ecologists, environmental scientists, and their collaborators. In this article, we provide a Blueprint, comprised of 10 professional tips to guide ecological and environmental scientists and their teams toward high performance. This Blueprint uses illustrative qualitative survey data and network analysis data from an international ecology-based team which used a values-based approach to influence the structure of their network and interpersonal relationships. In addition, they built trust and achieved their goals of creating an expansive collaborative, allowing for data sharing.

Studying the ecology of ancient organisms requires a tremendous amount of data, as in the case of prehistoric sharks where our knowledge is based mostly on teeth. Shark Tooth Forensics is a participatory science project tackling the problem of deciphering the ecology of ancient sharks with assistance from public school students. Traditionally, paleontological data collection protocols use research staff or a cadre of trained volunteers to collect paleontological data, whereas participatory science provides a means to increase the number of people involved in paleontological research. Students contributing to our project search for fossil shark teeth in sediments from various geologic time periods, and measure and record the teeth they discover for accessioning in natural history museums. Statistical analyses reveal that middle school students provide measurements of shark teeth that are indistinguishable from those same measurements taken by research staff. However, it is necessary to collect data from large student populations, ~10–30 students, before obtaining a statistically reliable sample. In addition, we find students are able to recognize shark teeth from a variety of species, not just stereotypical triangular teeth of species like the Great White (Carcharodon carcharias). Teachers can utilize Shark Tooth Forensics curricular activities that use student data in curriculum as a way to gain more personal investment. We estimate over 2,000 students have already participated, and with the potential for this project to last for decades, many thousands more will have the opportunity to discover fossil sharks and reconstruct the lives of these ancient fish.

These photographs illustrate the article “Tree species controls over nitrogen and phosphorus cycling in a wet tropical forest” by Ann E. Russell, Steven J. Hall, Ricardo Bedoya, Stephanie N. Kivlin, and Christine V. Hawkes published in Ecological Monographs. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecm.1639.

These photographs illustrate the article “Livestock shifts lepidopteran herbivore community due to intraguild predation in Mediterranean agroforestry systems” by Álvaro Gaytán, Tara Canelo, Carlos Pérez-Izquierdo, and Raúl Bonal published in Ecological Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.3088

These photographs illustrate the article “Root functional traits are important predictors for plant resource acquisition strategies in subtropical forests” by Guangcan Yu, Yufang Wang, Andi Li, Senhao Wang, Jing Chen, Jiangming Mo, and Mianhai Zheng published in Ecological Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.3082