In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Assistant Editor, Frank Harris, sits down with Thomas Chouvenc—Assistant Professor at the University of Florida—to discuss his recently published paper ‘Eusociality and the transition from biparental to alloparental care in termites.'

Thomas’ paper shows that, in eusocial insects, colony foundation is a critical bottleneck, where the founding individuals must engage in a temporary (but obligatory) parental care phase that may ultimately reflect on the family unit conditions of their sub-social ancestors.

Article: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.14183

Podcast Transcript: https://functionalecologists.com/2023/03/01/eusociality-and-the-transition-from-biparental-to-alloparental-care-in-termites-podcast-transcript/

PLS: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2022/09/20/parental-care-behaviors-shifted-from-parents-to-offspring-in-social-insects/

Eusociality and the transition from biparental to alloparental care in termites

Podcasts for the journals of the British Ecological Society

Ecological Solutions and Evidence
Functional Ecology
Journal of Ecology
Journal of Animal Ecology
Journal of Applied Ecology
Methods in Ecology and Evolution
People and Nature

Covering new developments in ecology around the world.

Science

Amelia Macho speaks with André Luza, whose review article "Going across taxa in functional ecology: Review and perspectives of an emerging field" has been shortlisted for Functional Ecology's 2023 Haldane Prize for Early Career Researchers.

André’s review mapped the limitations of current research in functional ecology involving multiple taxa, presented ecological questions to a functional cross-taxa research and showed directions to pushing the limits of this research field. It aimed to encourage researchers in the field of functional ecology to move beyond single taxa and traits, and to integrate more branches and dimensions of the Tree of Life in their research.

2023 Haldane Prize Shortlist: André Luza

Lydia Groves, publishing assistant for Journal of Applied Ecology, sits down with Dominic McAfee to discuss the research article 'Soundscape enrichment enhances recruitment and habitat building on new oyster reef restorations'. Dominic is the author of one of the shortlisted research articles for the Southwood Prize 2023, celebrating early career ecologists.

You can read Dominic's research article here: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14307
You can find out more about the Southwood Prize here: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/publications/best-paper-by-an-early-career-researcher/southwood-prize/

Southwood Prize 2023: Dominic McAfee on Oysters and Soundscapes

In this podcast, Amelia Macho sits down with Ximena Cibils to discuss her research "Silicon and Epichloë-endophyte defences in a model temperate grass reduce feeding efficiency and immunity of an insect folivore”. Ximena's research has been shortlisted for Functional Ecology's 2023 Haldane Prize for early career researchers.

Ximena presented the first report of silicon defences and Epichloë-endophyte derived alkaloids compromising insect immunity via reduced melanisation response. Deploying both physical and chemical defences against multiple insect herbivore traits, including feeding efficiency, growth and immunity, may be a successful defence strategy in temperate grasses.

2023 Haldane Prize Shortlist: Ximena Cibils

For Black History Month 2023, the British Ecological Society is celebrating the work of Black ecologists around the world. In this episode, Jeanelle Brisbane joins Amelia Macho. 

Jeanelle is an Assistant Forest Officer at Dominica’s Forestry, Wildlife & Parks Division, and the founder of WildDominique, a conservation organization. Here, she speaks about her early experiences of nature growing up in Dominica, her international studies, and the impact of Hurricane Maria on both Dominica's ecology and her career. 

You can read Jeanelle's 2022 blog post here:
https://functionalecologists.com/2022/10/28/jeanelle-brisbane-building-on-island-capacity-as-the-foundation-for-conservation-success/

Check out all of the British Ecological Society's BHM 2023 blog posts and podcasts here: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/membership-community/black-history-month-2023/

Black History Month 2023: Jeanelle Brisbane on Conservation, Education and Representation

In this podcast for Functional Ecology, Frank Harris sits down with Samuel Ross and Darren O’Connell to discuss their recently published review article in Functional Ecology—Passive acoustic monitoring provides a fresh perspective on fundamental ecological questions.

Sam and Darren hope their review paper motivates the use of passive acoustic monitoring approaches to think about blue-skies research and the grand challenges affecting our planet, because much of what we can learn by recording and experiencing natural soundscapes is fundamental to our knowledge of life on earth.

- Paper: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.14275
- PLS: https://fesummaries.wordpress.com/2023/01/23/passive-acoustic-monitoring-provides-a-fresh-perspective-on-fundamental-ecological-questions/

- Sam's website: https://samuelrpjross.com/
- Darren's website: https://people.ucd.ie/darren.oconnell

Eusociality and the transition from biparental to alloparental care in termites

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