Ecology

12 July 2016

Hierarchical organization of a Sardinian sand dune plant community

Valentina Cusseddu, Giulia Ceccherelli, Mark Bertness

Editor rating: 7 / 10

G Matt Davies –– A rare experimental validation of ecological theory and frequently offered explanations for the spatial structuring of sand-dune ecosystems. This paper goes further than the normal descriptive approach and uses manipulations to discern important interactions and processes

5 July 2016

Differences in meiofauna communities with sediment depth are greater than habitat effects on the New Zealand continental margin: implications for vulnerability to anthropogenic disturbance

Editor rating: 8 / 10

James Reimer –– Micro- to regional scale analyses of meiofaunal communities, with both evidence of environmental factors and possible influences of trawling and environment (sediment density). This study sets the stage for many different future works.

30 June 2016

Protogyny in a tropical damselfish: females queue for future benefit

Editor rating: 7 / 10

Louise Barrett –– This is a fascinating system, and this is a well designed study.

23 June 2016

Biodiversity management of organic orchard enhances both ecological and economic profitability

Editor rating: 7 / 10

Blanca Landa –– Organic production is its initial stage sin China and this mansucript can provide information on the advantae and changes of organic vs conventioal production

21 June 2016

Towards evenly distributed grazing patterns: including social context in sheep management strategies

Editor rating: 7 / 10

Wendy Rauw –– It is an original work on grazing patterns in sheep. The method of using GPS data provides very useful information to sheep grazing.

21 June 2016

The impact of an invasive ambrosia beetle on the riparian habitats of the Tijuana River Valley, California

Editor rating: 8 / 10

Dezene Huber –– Well written and timely. Covers some initial information on an introduce species in California, and provides some early-impression natural historical information that will be potentially important in the long-term record.

14 June 2016

Transient turbid water mass reduces temperature-induced coral bleaching and mortality in Barbados

Editor rating: 7 / 10

James Reimer –– This work examines large-scale ocean circulation patterns as a factor in determining the severity of coral bleaching events - something that has been little discussed or examined in the literature until now.

1 June 2016

Living to the range limit: consumer isotopic variation increases with environmental stress

Editor rating: 7 / 10

James Reimer –– A nice and well-put together ecological study, combining a research question and clear hypothesis with stable isotope analyses.

31 May 2016

Rapidly increasing macroalgal cover not related to herbivorous fishes on Mesoamerican reefs

Editor rating: 9 / 10

Joseph Pawlik –– This paper can be added to a growing list of recent contributions that find no relationship between seaweed cover and fish abundance on Caribbean reefs. This study is important because of its temporal and spatial scale, which is different from other studies.

17 May 2016

Optimization of viral resuspension methods for carbon-rich soils along a permafrost thaw gradient

Editor rating: 8 / 10

Budiman Minasny –– Permafrost soil is important