Journal of Ecology

Journal of Ecology publishes research that explains how organisms, populations, communities, and ecosystems function in terrestrial environments. Its scope includes plant ecology, vegetation science, ecosystem processes, biogeography, global change, conservation, and interactions between organisms and their physical surroundings.¹ The journal is published by Wiley on behalf of the British Ecological Society, whose journals form part of the society’s programme for advancing ecological research and its application.²

Its defining emphasis is ecological insight rather than a particular technique or habitat. Studies may therefore range from long-term field experiments and demographic analyses to remote sensing, molecular methods, and quantitative models. Papers are generally expected to address questions of wider ecological significance, making the journal relevant to both specialist plant scientists and researchers studying broader ecosystem patterns.

The journal’s long history places it among the established periodicals of modern ecology. Founded in 1913 by the British Ecological Society, it developed during a period when plant communities, succession, soils, and habitat description were central to ecological research.² Its archive consequently records major changes in the discipline, including the movement from descriptive natural history toward experimental, comparative, and process-based ecology.

Historical volumes remain useful for tracing shifts in terminology, sampling practice, and ideas about vegetation. The journal’s continuing identity is not limited to its early botanical orientation: contemporary issues combine plant-focused research with ecosystem ecology, environmental change, restoration, and conservation. The publisher maintains bibliographic and access information for both current content and the journal’s back catalogue.¹³

Journal of Ecology evaluates original research, reviews, and other scholarly contributions through formal editorial and peer-review processes. Its author information describes requirements for manuscript preparation, ethical conduct, data presentation, and submission, reflecting the publication standards of the British Ecological Society journals.⁴

Articles commonly test ecological mechanisms across scales: a plant trait may be examined in relation to competition, a community may be tracked through disturbance or succession, or an ecosystem process may be linked to climate and land use. The journal’s online platform provides article-level records, abstracts, supplementary material, and citation information, while persistent identifiers support discovery and reuse.¹ Its serial identity is distinguished by print ISSN 0022-0477 and online ISSN 1365-2745.⁵

The journal’s historical value lies partly in the contrast between its early descriptive studies and its current emphasis on general ecological explanation. Older papers can preserve baseline observations of vegetation and land use that later researchers use when assessing ecological change, although comparisons must account for differences in nomenclature and sampling design.

A less obvious feature is the breadth of organisms and approaches represented under a plant-ecology title. Research may concern fungi, herbivores, microbes, soils, fire, flooding, or atmospheric change when those subjects illuminate plant communities or ecosystem function. The journal also provides a venue for synthesis and theory, not only new field measurements. Readers can search its archive through the publisher and established scholarly indexes, including JSTOR, which makes the publication’s early twentieth-century record accessible alongside newer work.¹³

Vegetation science

The study of plant communities, their composition, structure, distribution, and change.

Ecosystem ecology

The study of exchanges of energy and matter between organisms and their physical environment.

Succession

The directional change in the composition or structure of an ecological community over time.

Peer review

Evaluation of scholarly work by qualified researchers before publication.