Our 2026 Award Winners

Journals & Publications

• ESA's Journals and Publications

  

  The Ecological Society of America has over 100 years of journal publishing history and offers some of the most widely read and cited journals in the field of ecology. The seven journals in our portfolio encompass a wide range of paper types to include an array of aims and scope of study, making them an important and accessible outlet for scientists, researchers, practitioners, professionals, citizen scientists, and others seeking to publish their work. ESA staff provide editorial support with our publishing partner, John Wiley & Sons, and several discounts towards publication in ESA journals are available from our publisher and from ESA. Publishing in ESA journals contributes to ESA programs for students, early career researchers, and underrepresented groups, and we thank our editors, reviewers, authors, and readers for their support.

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• Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment

  

  Factors like climate change, species invasions, and shifting disturbances are dramatically transforming ecosystems, with consequences for biodiversity and conservation. In western North America, the historically diverse sagebrush biome is undergoing monumental change due to invasion by annual grasses. Using a decade of data describing the occurrence of 40 songbird species at more than 500 sites across the region, the study by Hobart et al. in the May issue of Frontiers found that grass invasion is driving fundamental shifts in bird communities. Although the number of songbird species—such as the cedar waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) pictured on the cover—in local communities increased with increasing grass cover, the replacement of shrubland and sagebrush specialists by grassland generalists stands to drive regional declines in biodiversity. New maps also provide information about where songbird communities are most liable to change in the future, which can help guide efforts to reduce the impact of invasive grasses.

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• Ecosphere

  

  Giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis) were persecuted to near extinction during the 20th century. Today, due to extensive protections, their populations are expanding throughout their range, presenting interesting opportunities to study the ecology of this species. Notably, giant otters create communal latrines containing feces and other olfactory and visual cues. In their article in the April issue of Ecosphere, Olden et al. show that in the northern Pantanal giant otter latrines may serve as biogeochemical hotspots that temporarily alter vertebrate community structure. Generally, following latrine establishment, vertebrate diversity increased, while vertebrate community evenness decreased, and several species otherwise rarely observed became temporarily common.

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• Ecology

  

  The photo on the cover of the May issue of Ecology shows an individual of the bumble bee Bombus perplexus foraging on an Echinacea flower in Ipswich, Massachusetts, USA. In their article in the April issue of Ecology, Elshoff et al. studied how the phenologies of this and thirteen other eastern North American bumble bee species changed in response to spatiotemporal climate variation. The authors found that B. perplexus, like most of the other species in their study, both began and ended its flight period earlier in the year in warmer conditions. Unlike most other species, however, its flight period also appeared to shorten under these conditions.

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• Ecological Monographs

  

  A thorough understanding of the impacts of climate change on species requires integrating multiple lines of evidence across adult and juvenile stages. Although spiders are significant generalist predators, their responses to novel environments remain understudied. The study by Sheffer et al. in the February issue of Ecological Monographs focuses on the wasp spider, Argiope bruennichi, which has expanded its range northward in Europe over the course of just a few decades. The authors find that northern populations have diverged from southern populations through a combination of genetic and plastic responses resulting in accelerated development, smaller body sizes, and physiological adaptations in offspring that enhance low-temperature survival. The May cover image shows a female A. bruennichi on her web.

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• Ecological Applications

  

  Quantifying density-dependent and independent effects on vital rates enables evaluation of their impact on population growth and informs management. In their article in the March issue of Ecological Applications, Walters et al. investigated the drivers of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) population dynamics using 35-years of snorkel count data. Environmental effects on productivity and survival (smallest size class), were primary contributors to population dynamics, highlighting methods to disentangle environmental and density dependence drivers. The April cover photo shows the annual sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) return, a forage subsidy to stream-dwelling trout, and driver of survival for the largest fish.

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• The Bulletin

  

  The April issue of the ESA Bulletin highlights resources for ecological education, including an approach that combines acoustic bird monitoring with music-making, conveys the importance of environmental justice and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), and shares society actions and summaries from regional meetings and ESA's annual meeting. The cover image depicts a donkey beside a grazing exclusion where vegetation has naturally recovered, illustrating ecological change.

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• Earth Stewardship

  

  We are delighted to announce a call for submissions for Earth Stewardship. This exciting new Open Access journal, launched with our publishing partner, John Wiley & Sons, calls for a broad spectrum of scientifically and technologically innovative and groundbreaking contributions including cross-cultural perspectives from leading researchers, policymakers, traditional custodians of land and sea and indigenous communities. Earth Stewardship publishes applied and theoretical articles to promote a broad, intercultural, and participatory foundation for earth stewardship.

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