Author Archives: Forest Biology Center

Our new review explores the phenomenon of mast seeding, where perennial plants produce highly variable and synchronized seed crops. We synthesize current knowledge on the mechanisms plants use to achieve this variability, from hypersensitivity to weather cues to interactions between pollination, fruit maturation, and internal resource dynamics. We highlight that variation in flowering effort, ratherContinue reading „Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics: Masting”

In the latest publication, co-authored by our colleague Urszula Eichert, you can read about the behaviour of captive-born European hamsters after being released into the wild. The study examined how sex, age, and the origin of the parent (from the wild or from captivity) affect the behaviour of the offspring in the first days afterContinue reading „Global Ecology and Conservation: Hamster behavior and conservation”

Our latest paper, Solstice, selection, and synchrony of seed masting, addresses how the summer solstice serves as a fixed, range-wide cue that synchronizes temperature sensing for flowering in European beech. Unlike growth processes, where local adaptation to environmental conditions is beneficial, masting relies on synchrony among individuals to enhance pollination efficiency and predator satiation. We showContinue reading „PNAS: solstice, growth, and masting”

We’re thrilled to announce that Dr. Jessie Foest has been awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions ERA Fellowship for her project FECUND, which tackles the urgent issue of forest regeneration under changing climate conditions. The project will explore how climate conditions influence early life stages of trees, from seed production to recruitment, combining field data, experimental work,Continue reading „MSCA Fellowship award”

I’m honoured to have received a START stipend from the Foundation for Polish Science (FNP). The award is designed to support early-career researchers, offering recognition for work to date and space to grow. For me, it’s a deeply appreciated vote of confidence as I continue to build my research on forest regeneration and long-term seedContinue reading „Dr Jessie Foest awarded START 2025 grant from the Foundation for Polish Science”

New research led by Dr Jessie Foest has just been published in Ecology, entitled:„Intraspecific variation in masting across climate gradients is inconsistent with the environmental stress hypothesis.” This study offers fresh insights into the diversity of reproductive strategies in trees and challenges long-standing assumptions in the field of mast seeding. Masting – the phenomenon whereContinue reading „Ecology: how variable is masting within populations & across climate?”

In our new paper, just published in New Phytologist, we used extensive long-term observations of snow tussocks (Chionochloa pallens) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica) to explore how plant resources and weather cues interact to influence mast seeding. Our results highlight a key finding: when plants have abundant internal resources, they respond strongly to even moderateContinue reading „New Phytologist: resources and cues fine-tune masting”

Górskie lasy tropikalne to unikalne ekosystemy charakteryzujące się wyjątkową różnorodnością gatunkową. Górskie lasy tropikalne znane też jako lasy mgliste położone są na zboczach wysokich gór, np. Andów, gdzie warunki środowiskowe płynnie zmieniają się wraz z gradientem wysokości przyczyniając się do wysokiego stopnia różnorodności tych ekosystemów. Wysoka różnorodność gatunków jest również odzwierciedlona w wysokiej różnorodności funkcjonalnej tychContinue reading „Oikos: zależności między cechami a środowiskiem w górskich lasach tropikalnych w Ekwadorze”

In our new paper, just published in Journal of Applied Ecology, we suggest intensifying livestock predation on prematurely dropped-infested acorns by allowing livestock foraging from October 1st onward. Pigs are usually released free range in early November, once weevil larvae have completed their development and escaped predation. The proposed management would increase the availability ofContinue reading „J Applied Ecology: Livestock as biological paste control in oak savannas”

Seed production varies widely over time (masting), with many cascading effects on the ecosystem. This makes long-term monitoring essential for forest management and conservation. Traditional methods, such as seed traps and quadrat sampling, are labour-intensive, resource-demanding, and prone to issues like trap destruction or limited canopy visibility. Our latest study demonstrates that the ground-based timedContinue reading „ForEcoMan: Time for efficient seed sampling”