On December 12, 2017, members of Mordecai, Peay, and Fukami Labs met to talk about the papers published in 2017 that each of us liked the most. These papers, the best papers of 2017 according to us, are listed below. (If you are curious about the papers we picked before, check out our 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 lists.)

Best papers of 2017


Bennett, J. A., H. Maherali, K. O. Reinhart, Y. Lekberg, M. M. Hart, and J. Klironomos. 2017. Plant-soil feedbacks and mycorrhizal type influence temperate forest population dynamics. Science 355:181-184. Link

Burns, A. R., E. Miller, M. Agarwal, A. S. Rolig, K. Milligan-Myhre, S. Seredick, K. Guillemin, et al. 2017. Interhost dispersal alters microbiome assembly and can overwhelm host innate immunity in an experimental zebrafish model. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114:11181-11186. Link

Bush, A., R. Sollmann, A. Wilting, K. Bohmann, B. Cole, H. Balzter, C. Martius, et al. 2017. Connecting Earth observation to high-throughput biodiversity data. Nature Ecology & Evolution 1:0176. Link

Cohen, J. M., M. D. Venesky, E. L. Sauer, D. J. Civitello, T. A. McMahon, E. A. Roznik, and J. R. Rohr. 2017. The thermal mismatch hypothesis explains host susceptibility to an emerging infectious disease. Ecology Letters 20:184-193. Link

Duffy, J. E., C. M. Godwin, and B. J. Cardinale. 2017. Biodiversity effects in the wild are common and as strong as key drivers of productivity. Nature 549:261-264. Link

Frederickson, M. E. 2017. Mutualisms are not on the verge of breakdown. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 32:727-734. Link

Gerz, M., C. Guillermo Bueno, W. A. Ozinga, M. Zobel, and M. Moora. 2017. Niche differentiation and expansion of plant species are associated with mycorrhizal symbiosis. Journal of Ecology, published online early. Link

Keymer, A., P. Pimprikar, V. Wewer, C. Huber, M. Brands, S. L. Bucerius, P.-M. Delaux, et al. 2017. Lipid transfer from plants to arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi. eLife 6:e29107. Link

Koskella, B., L. J. Hall, and C. J. E. Metcalf. 2017. The microbiome beyond the horizon of ecological and evolutionary theory. Nature Ecology & Evolution 1:1606-1615. Link

Kyaschenko, J., K. E. Clemmensen, E. Karltun, and B. D. Lindahl. 2017. Below-ground organic matter accumulation along a boreal forest fertility gradient relates to guild interaction within fungal communities. Ecology Letters 20:1546-1555. Link

Murdock, C. C., M. V. Evans, T. D. McClanahan, K. L. Miazgowicz, and B. Tesla. 2017. Fine-scale variation in microclimate across an urban landscape shapes variation in mosquito population dynamics and the potential of Aedes albopictus to transmit arboviral disease. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 11:e0005640. Link

Saavedra, S., R. P. Rohr, J. Bascompte, O. Godoy, N. J. B. Kraft, and J. M. Levine. 2017. A structural approach for understanding multispecies coexistence. Ecological Monographs 87:470-486. Link

Siletti, C. E., C. A. Zeiner, and J. M. Bhatnagar. 2017. Distributions of fungal melanin across species and soils. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 113:285-293. Link

Worrich, A., H. Stryhanyuk, N. Musat, S. Konig, T. Banitz, F. Centler, K. Frank, et al. 2017. Mycelium-mediated transfer of water and nutrients stimulates bacterial activity in dry and oligotrophic environments. Nature Communications 8:15472. Link