How large numbers of competing plant species manage to coexist is a major unresolved
question in community ecology. The classical explanation, that each species occupies its …

Bayesian inference is an important statistical tool that is increasingly being used by
ecologists. In a Bayesian analysis, information available before a study is conducted is …

Trait-based studies have become extremely common in plant ecology. Trait-based
approaches often rely on the tacit assumption that intraspecific trait variability (ITV) is …

Advances in computational statistics provide a general framework for the high‐dimensional
models typically needed for ecological inference and prediction. Hierarchical Bayes (HB) …

Natural populations of beach mice exhibit a characteristic color pattern, relative to their
mainland conspecifics, driven by natural selection for crypsis. We identified a derived …

Analyses of ecological data should account for the uncertainty in the process (es) that
generated the data. However, accounting for these uncertainties is a difficult task, since …

Matrix projection models occupy a central role in population and conservation biology.
Matrix models divide a population into discrete classes, even if the structuring trait exhibits …

Tree rings provide an invaluable long‐term record for understanding how climate and other
drivers shape tree growth and forest productivity. However, conventional tree‐ring analysis …

In this chapter, we first trace the history of the concept of ecological niche and see how its
meanings varied with the search for a theory of ecology. The niche concept has its roots in …

Forests and their soils contain the majority of the earth's terrestrial carbon stocks. Changes
in patterns of tree growth can have a huge impact on atmospheric cycles, biogeochemical …