Revisiting Komdeur et al. 1997

In a paper published in Nature in 1997, Jan Komdeur, Serge Daan, Joost Tinbergen and Christa Mateman showed, through a combination of observation, experiment and genetic analysis, that, in the endemic and endangered Seychelles warbler, parents can manipulate sex ratio adaptively to improve their future reproductive success. Nineteen years after the paper was published, I …

Revisiting Karban et al. 2000

In a paper published in Oecologia in 2000, Richard Karban, Ian Baldwin, Kimberly Baxter, Grit Laue and Gary Felton experimentally demonstrated that plants that had not been attacked by herbivores could sense and respond, by upping their defenses, to cues released by neighboring plants that had been attacked. Seventeen years after the paper was published, …

Revisiting Kokko et al. 2002

In a paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society of London London B, Hanna Kokko, Robert Brooks, John McNamara and Alasdair Houston integrated 'Fisherian' and 'good genes' ideas into a general model of female mate choice for indirect benefits. Fourteen years after the paper was published I asked Hanna Kokko how she got interested …

Revisiting Leibold et al. 2004

In a paper published in Ecology Letters in 2004, Mathew Leibold, Marcel Holyoak, Nicolas Mouquet, Priyanga Amarasekare, Jonathan Chase, Martha Hoopes, Robert Holt, Jonathan Shurin, Richard Law, Dave Tilman, Michel Loreau and Andrew Gonzalez reviewed the metacommunity concept in ecology and the four paradigms or approaches that have guided theoretical and empirical work on metacommunities …

Revisiting Gill and Wolf 1975

In a paper published in Ecology in 1975, Frank Gill and Larry Wolf examined the costs and benefits of feeding territoriality in the golden-winged sunbird, a species found commonly in the montane regions of Kenya. Gill and Wolf found that maintaining territories was beneficial when the nectar levels are low but the costs of territory …