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Functional Ecology

An Official Journal of the British Ecological Society

Edited by:
Charles Fox, Ken Thompson, James Cresswell and Frank Messina with Liz Baker

ISI Journal Citation Reports® Ranking: 2007: 23/116 (Ecology)
Impact Factor: 3.157

Functional Ecology publishes quality research papers in organismal ecology, including physiological, behavioural and evolutionary ecology, and the implications of organismal ecology for community and ecosystem-level patterns and processes. Papers may describe experimental, comparative or theoretical studies on any types of organism. Work that is purely descriptive, or which focuses on population dynamics (without investigation of the underlying factors influencing population dynamics) will not be accepted unless it sheds light on those specific areas mentioned above.

The journal publishes the following:

Standard Papers - experimental, comparative or theoretical papers.
Reviews - syntheses of topics of broad ecological interest.
Perspectives - short articles presenting new ideas (without data) intended to stimulate scientific debate.
Forum articles - commentaries on major ideas in organismal ecology or on papers recently published in Functional Ecology.
Technical Reports - reports on new methods or techniques of broad interest to the ecological community.
Special Features - collections of manuscripts, typically Reviews or Perspectives, on a single theme.

TopNews and Announcements

Special Feature: The Evolutionary Ecology of Senescence
The latest issue of Functional Ecology includes seven hot review articles on the evolutionary ecology of senescence:
The evolutionary ecology of senescence
Monaghan et al.
The evolution of senescence from a comparative perspective
R Ricklefs
Measuring senescence in wild animal populations: towards a longitudinal approach
Nussey et al.
Ageing in a eusocial insect: molecular and physiological characteristics of life span plasticity in the honey bee
Münch et al.
Environmental damage and senescence: modelling the life history consequences of variable stress and caloric intake
M Mangel
Evolutionary genetics of ageing in the wild: empirical patterns and future perspectives
Wilson et al.
Sexual selection, sexual conflict and the evolution of ageing and lifespan
Bonduriansky et al.
Read these special feature articles free online until the end of 2008.

Birds select fruit with highest concentrations of antioxidents
Fruit-eating birds actively select fruit with the highest concentrations of antioxidants - compounds that help them maintain a healthy immune system - ecologists have found. This is the first time that a group of antioxidants known as flavonoids have been found to boost the immune system in studies on living animals, as opposed to test-tube studies. The results are published in the following article in Functional Ecology:
Fruit for health: The effect of flavonoids on humoral response and food selection in a frugivorous bird by Carlo Catoni et al.
Read the full press release on these research findings: Feathered friends favour fruity flavonoids.
Coverage in The Telegraph (UK): Birds know which berries are most healthy

2007 JBS Haldane Prize Winner
The Editors of Functional Ecology are pleased to announce that the 2007 JBS Haldane Prize winner for the best paper by a young investigator goes to Dr Ed Ayres for: "The influence of below-ground herbivory and defoliation of a legume on nitrogen transfer to neighbouring plants".

Using an interesting and imaginative experiment with plants in pots, Ed and his colleagues use factorial manipulations of aboveground and belowground herbivory to explore how herbivores may alter soil microbial biomass and the transfer of N among plant species. The editors believe that the results published in this paper could have important implications for plant communities in the field.

Hot paper: Species abundance dynamics under neutral assumptions
The editors of Functional Ecology have identified the following article as a novel study in community ecology and biodiversity. Click on the link below to read this article free online until the end of December 2007:
Species abundance dynamics under neutral assumptions: a Bayesian approach to the controversy
Crispin M. Mutshinda, Robert B. O'Hara and Ian P. Woiwod

Functional Ecology articles free after two years
The British Ecological Society is committed to making ecological research as accessible as possible. Papers published in Functional Ecology will therefore be made freely available online two years after issue publication, back to 1997, here.

Online submission
Submit your manuscript online via Manuscript Central.

Online Open
Authors of articles in this journal can now choose to make their articles open access and available free for all readers through the payment of an author fee. Read more.

Articles published online ahead of print - Early View
Articles which have been fully copy-edited and peer-reviewed are published online before the print edition of this journal is published in Early View.

Free online access in the developing world
Access to this journal is available free online within institutions in the developing world through the AGORA Initiative with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the OARE Initiative (Online Access to Research in the Environment) with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Blackwell goes CarbonNeutral®
Blackwell Publishing is the first publisher to become CarbonNeutral®. Read more about the initiatives we have signed up to with The CarbonNeutral Company here.

TopHighlights

Highly-Cited 'Hot Paper'
The article below by Lynn B Martin, published in the April 2006 issue of Functional Ecology, has been highlighted by ISI® as a highly-cited 'hot paper' in the field of Environment/Ecology. Read an interview with the author here and read the full research article online below:
Phytohemagglutinin-induced skin swelling in birds: histological support for a classic immunoecological technique
L. B. Martin Ii, P. Han, J. Lewittes, J. R. Kuhlman, K. C. Klasing, M. Wikelski

Highlighted Articles
Low temperature limits of root growth in deciduous and evergreen temperate tree species
P. ALVAREZ-URIA, C. KÖRNER
Leaf litter flammability in some semi-arid Australian woodlands
F. R. SCARFF, M. WESTOBY
Scaling of insect metabolic rate is inconsistent with the nutrient supply network model
S. L. CHOWN, E. MARAIS, J. S. TERBLANCHE, C. J. KLOK, J. R. B. LIGHTON, T. M. BLACKBURN
Adaptations of an insect to a novel host plant: a phylogenetic approach
A. J. GASSMANN, A. LEVY, T. TRAN, D. J. FUTUYMA

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