Key concepts and a world-wide look at plant recruitment networks.

Plant-plant interactions are major determinants of the dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems. There is a long tradition in the study of these interactions, their mechanisms and their consequences using experimental, observational and theoretical approaches. Empirical studies overwhelmingly focus at the level of species pairs or small sets of species.

RecruitNet: A global database of plant recruitment networks.

Plant recruitment interactions (i.e., what recruits under what) shape the composition, diversity, and structure of plant communities.

Predators of the giant pine scale, (Gennadius 1883; Hemiptera: Marchalinidae), out of its natural range in Turkey.

is a sap sucking scale insect endemic to the Aegean basin and it has been introduced to several regions in Greece and Turkey to increase pine honey production. It is also considered as a pest since heavy infestation may leave the host trees vulnerable to secondary pests. An understanding of its natural predators would facilitate planning biocontrol programs.

From refugia to contact: Pine processionary moth hybrid zone in a complex biogeographic setting.

Contact zones occur at the crossroad between specific dispersal routes and are facilitated by biogeographic discontinuities. Here, we focused on two Lepidoptera sister species that come in contact near the Turkish Straits System (TSS). We aimed to infer their phylogeographic histories in the Eastern Mediterranean and finely analyze their co-occurrence and hybridization patterns in this biogeographic context.