Interactions connect the units of ecological systems, forming networks. Individual-based
networks characterize variation in niches among individuals within populations. These …

Aquatic ecologists face challenges in identifying the general rules of the functioning of
ecosystems. A common framework, including freshwater, marine, benthic, and pelagic …

Half of all plant species rely on animals to disperse their seeds. Seed dispersal interactions
lost through defaunation and gained during novel community assembly influence whether …

Food webs influence ecosystem diversity and functioning. Contemporary defaunation has
reduced food web complexity, but simplification caused by past defaunation is difficult to …

The belowground compartment of terrestrial ecosystems drives nutrient cycling, the
decomposition and stabilisation of organic matter, and supports aboveground life …

Large carnivores can exert top–down effects in ecosystems, but the size of these effects are
largely unknown. Empirical investigation on the importance of large carnivores for …

Plants act as ecosystem engineers playing fundamental roles in steering their surroundings,
including soil abiotic and biotic conditions, soil organisms, and the complex soil food web …

Functional responses describe how consumer foraging rates change with resource density.
Despite extensive research looking at the factors underlying foraging interactions, there …

Soil is one of the most biodiverse terrestrial habitats. Yet, we lack an integrative conceptual
framework for understanding the patterns and mechanisms driving soil biodiversity. One of …

The ratio of predator-to-prey biomass is a key element of trophic structure that is typically
investigated from a food chain perspective, ignoring channels of energy transfer (eg …