Functional Ecology

Functional Ecology publishes high-impact papers that enable a mechanistic understanding of ecological pattern and process from the organismic to the ecosystem scale. Because of the multifaceted nature of this challenge, papers can be based on a wide range of approaches. Thus, manuscripts may vary from physiological, genetics, life-history, and behavioural perspectives for organismal studies to community and biogeochemical studies when the goal is to understand ecosystem and larger scale ecological phenomena. We believe that the diverse nature of our journal is a strength, not a weakness, and we are open-minded about the variety of data, research approaches and types of studies that we publish. Certain key areas will continue to be emphasized: studies that integrate genomics with ecology, studies that examine how key aspects of physiology (e.g., stress) impact the ecology of animals and plants, or vice versa, and how evolution shapes interactions among function and ecological traits. Ecology has increasingly moved towards the realization that organismal traits and activities are vital for understanding community dynamics and ecosystem processes, particularly in response to the rapid global changes occurring in earth’s environment, and Functional Ecology aims to publish such integrative papers.

Functional Ecology 是一本致力于推动对生态模式和过程机理认识从有机体到生态系统各个尺度的学术期刊。它采用多学科的方法，涵盖了从生理学、遗传学、生命史和行为学角度研究生物体，以及从群落和生物地球化学角度研究生态系统和更广阔生态现象的论文。期刊认为其内容的多样性是一种优势，对各种数据、研究方法和研究类型持开放态度。《功能生态学》特别强调几个关键研究领域，包括将基因组学与生态学结合的研究、探讨生理学关键方面（如压力）如何影响动植物生态学或其逆效应的研究，以及研究进化和人为（全球）变化如何影响功能和生态特征之间相互作用的论文。期刊认识到，生物体的性状和活动对于理解群落动力学和生态系统过程至关重要，尤其是在快速全球变化的地球环境中。