Population viability of the orchid Gymnadenia conopsea increases with population size but is not related to genetic diversity |

2025 HARPER PRIZE SHORTLIST: For the next two weeks, we are featuring the articles shortlisted for the 2025 Harper Prize. The Harper Prize is an annual award for the best early career research paper published in Journal of Ecology. Linus Söderquist’s ‘Population viability of the orchid Gymnadenia conopsea increases with population size but is not related to genetic diversity’ is one of […]

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Innovation Fund 2025 auctions attract almost €10 billion of bids from European industry for decarbonisation support

Applications for the Innovation Fund 2025 auctions for industrial heat decarbonisation and hydrogen production closed on 19 February 2026. The pilot auction on industrial heat (IF25 Heat) attracted 85 bids from a variety of European industries, amounting to €1.4 billion in funding requested. The auction for hydrogen production (IF25 Hydrogen Auction) attracted 58 bids from […]

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Coexistence between Przewalski’s horse and Asiatic wild ass in the desert – The Applied Ecologist

Shortlisted for the 2025 Southwood Prize About the research Overview Our paper explores how two closely related wild equids—Przewalski’s horses and Asiatic wild asses—coexist in the extremely water-limited deserts of the Dzungarian Gobi. Classical niche theory would predict competitive exclusion under such scarcity, especially since horses are more water-dependent. By combining controlled water-use experiments with long-term […]

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Habitat quality sets the limits of neighbourhood effects in epiphyte communities |

Theresa Möller, University of Hamburg in Germany, discusses her article: Effects of habitat quality and fine-scale spatial structure on epiphytic lichen and bryophyte communities Epiphytic lichens and bryophytes inhabit one of the most heterogeneous habitats in forest ecosystems: the bark of living trees. Different tree species provide distinct habitat conditions, leading to distinct epiphyte communities […]

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Commission unlocks €2.7 billion for 54 clean industry projects under the Innovation Fund

The Innovation Fund is continuing to support the deployment of net-zero technologies across Europe with revenues from the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). 54 cutting-edge projects selected under the Innovation Fund 2024 Call for Net-Zero Technologies have signed their grant agreements, marking a crucial step in scaling up their technologies. Six additional projects from […]

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Effectiveness of novel hybrid mangrove living shorelines is context dependent – The Applied Ecologist

Shortlisted for the 2025 Southwood Prize About the research Overview Coastal areas are increasingly vulnerable to hazards such as erosion and flooding, and there is growing recognition that nature-based approaches can play an important role in coastal protection because they can adapt to changing environmental conditions. As new approaches are developed, it is important to test […]

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Ammonium preference and microbial nitrification inhibition drive the expansion of a poisonous plant in alpine -meadows |

2025 HARPER PRIZE SHORTLIST: For the next two weeks, we are featuring the articles shortlisted for the 2025 Harper Prize. The Harper Prize is an annual award for the best early career research paper published in Journal of Ecology. Jianguo Ma’s ‘Ammonium preference and microbial nitrification inhibition drive the expansion of a poisonous plant in alpine -meadows‘ is one of […]

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Commission holds a high-level policy dialogue on the future of the cement industry in Europe

The dialogue brought together industry representatives and key stakeholders. Commissioner for the Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy, Jessika Roswall also took part.  The exchange focused on how to accelerate the sector’s clean transition, with a strong emphasis on innovation, competitiveness and resilience.  Building on the Clean Industrial Deal and the proposed Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA), the […]

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Ecological corridors enhance adaptation success of translocated conflict elephants – The Applied Ecologist

Shortlisted for the Chico Mendes Prize About the research Overview My research investigates the ecological adaptation of a translocated sub-adult male Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) as a strategy to mitigate increasing human-elephant conflict (HEC). By tracking a satellite-collared individual relocated from its original conflict zone, I sought to determine if a relocated elephant can successfully integrate […]

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One hundred years of change in the Tatra Mountains forests: Why history matters |

Kacper Foremnik, Department of Forest Biodiversity of the University of Agriculture in Krakow in Poland, discusses his article: Century-long trends in plant diversity of temperate mountain vegetation are modulated along elevation gradient One hundred years ago, a group of outstanding researchers carried out pioneering phytosociological surveys in the Polish part of the Tatra Mountains. At […]

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