Web Ecology (WE) is a platinum open-access journal issued by the European Ecological Federation (EEF), an organization representing the European ecological societies. Web Ecology publishes papers from all fields of ecology without any geographic restriction. It is a forum to communicate results of experimental, theoretical, and descriptive studies of general interest to an international audience. Original contributions, short communications, and reviews on ecological research on all kinds of organisms and ecosystems are welcome as well as papers that express emerging ideas and concepts with a sound scientific background. Papers must be original and not previously published in another journal. We also aim to serve as a publication forum for those European ecological societies that do not maintain their own society journal. Web Ecology also offers the opportunity to publish special issues resulting from conferences or symposiums from ecological societies.
Web Ecology is free to publish and free to read, thanks to the commitment of the European Ecological Federation to science accessibility.
Gabriela Gleiser, Nicolay Leme da Cunha, Agustín Sáez, and Marcelo Adrián Aizen
Web Ecol., 21, 15–43, https://doi.org/10.5194/we-21-15-2021,https://doi.org/10.5194/we-21-15-2021, 2021
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Human population growth imposes increasing demands on crop yield (i.e., crop production per unit area). Worryingly, first signs of yield deceleration and stagnation were reported. In our study we show how crop cultivation region, type of harvested organ, pollinator dependency, and life form affect yield growth and/or stability of globally important crops. Our results together advocate for a more diverse agriculture involving the cultivation of different crops with different ecological features.
Robert R. Junker, Maximilian Hanusch, Xie He, Victoria Ruiz-Hernández, Jan-Christoph Otto, Sabine Kraushaar, Kristina Bauch, Florian Griessenberger, Lisa-Maria Ohler, and Wolfgang Trutschnig
Web Ecol., 20, 95–106, https://doi.org/10.5194/we-20-95-2020,https://doi.org/10.5194/we-20-95-2020, 2020
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We introduce the Alpine research platform Ödenwinkel to promote observational and experimental research on the emergence of multidiversity and ecosystem complexity. The Ödenwinkel platform will be available as a long-term ecological research site where researchers from various disciplines can contribute to the accumulation of knowledge on ecological successions and on how interactions between various taxonomic groups structure ecological complexity in this Alpine environment.
Ruben H. Heleno, William J. Ripple, and Anna Traveset
Web Ecol., 20, 1–10, https://doi.org/10.5194/we-20-1-2020,https://doi.org/10.5194/we-20-1-2020, 2020
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It is not only the climate that is changing. We are now also observing a global biological change. Here we revise the overwhelming evidence that these changes affect not only individual species but also simplify the structure of entire food webs, threatening long-term community persistence. We must take urgent action to protect the integrity of natural food webs, or we might rapidly push entire ecosystems outside their safe zones.
Laura Concostrina-Zubiri, Juan M. Arenas, Isabel Martínez, and Adrián Escudero
Web Ecol., 19, 39–51, https://doi.org/10.5194/we-19-39-2019,https://doi.org/10.5194/we-19-39-2019, 2019
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Can organisms other than vascular plants establish and develop on road slopes? Yes, biological soil crusts (or biocrusts) can. Here, we found that lichen biocrusts are common and relatively abundant in road slopes after ~20 years of construction with no assistance needed. These findings are of critical importance for dryland restoration because biocrusts can speed up ecosystem recovery by stabilizing soil surface, improving soil fertility and facilitating vascular plant establishment.
Web Ecol., 18, 129–141, https://doi.org/10.5194/we-18-129-2018,https://doi.org/10.5194/we-18-129-2018, 2018
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Natural or synthetic neopolyploids offer unique opportunities to quantify the immediate consequences of polyploidy. We developed a protocol based on seedling exposure to colchicine to obtain neotetraploids from wild diploid plants of Jasione maritima, with potential for being used in other species. High rates of tetraploid conversion were obtained, but survival decreased with increasing colchicine concentration. Therefore, low concentrations were ideal for obtaining neotetraploids.
Web Ecology is happy to announce the addition of a new subject editor to our editorial board. Ricardo Rocha is a conservation scientist, with a holistic interest in applied ecology and a profound desire to contribute to a healthy publishing environment.
Web Ecology is happy to announce the addition of a new subject editor to our editorial board. Ricardo Rocha is a conservation scientist, with a holistic interest in applied ecology and a profound desire to contribute to a healthy publishing environment.
Web Ecology is happy to announce the addition of a new subject editor to our editorial board. Dr. Erinne Stirling is an Australian postdoctoral fellow at Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Zhejiang University, China, and visiting research fellow at the Acid Sulfate Soils Centre, The University of Adelaide, Australia.
Web Ecology is happy to announce the addition of a new subject editor to our editorial board. Dr. Erinne Stirling is an Australian postdoctoral fellow at Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Zhejiang University, China, and visiting research fellow at the Acid Sulfate Soils Centre, The University of Adelaide, Australia.
To show our support for Ukraine and in accordance with current European sanctions, we have introduced a range of measures relevant to our open-access publications process.
All fees for papers from authors (first, corresponding, or contact authors) affiliated to Ukrainian institutions are automatically waived, regardless of if these papers are co-authored by scientists affiliated to Russian and/or Belarusian institutions. The only exception to the waiver for Ukrainian authors will be if the corresponding or contact authors are from a Russian and/or Belarusian institution, in that case the APCs are not waived.
Due to restrictions for authors from Russian and Belarusian institutions that are necessary to comply with European sanctions, we recommend any authors from institutions in these countries to contact us on editorial@copernicus.org for more information.