The 2024 prize was won by Dr Jamie C. Weir of Institute of Ecology and Evolution, at the University of Edinburgh. Dr Weir’s paper entitled “Trophic generalism in the winter moth: a model species for phenological mismatch” (Oecologia 2024, 206:225-239; https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-024-05629-5) has won the 2024 Oecologia Ehleringer Prize for best student research.Dr Weir’s paper presents a novel experimental and conceptual perspective suggesting that occupation of a broad trophic niche may help consumers like the winter moth exploit a narrow phenological niche.Time structures the interactions between different species in nature - and for many, getting their timing right can dictate whether or not they survive. Winter moth caterpillars hatch in spring, with the first flush of fresh new leaves, and have become a classic example of organisms that rely on precisely timing their life history. Hatch too late and plant foliage is mature and defended by noxious chemicals; hatch too early in spring and there are no leaves available for them to eat. However, most prior work ignores the hugely varied diet of these caterpillars, and focuses on oak as an archetypal host for insect herbivores. In fact, winter moth caterpillars can eat the leaves of a diverse range of deciduous and coniferous trees, as well as low growing shrubs, and in many cases perform better on these than the classic host-plant, oak. By hedging their bets, and exploiting a range of different plant species, winter moth caterpillars deploy a strategy that offers them resilience in case of mistiming with any one of those plant species in isolation. In this paper, Jamie presents the results of an assay of winter moth caterpillar performance across different host-plant species, with insects drawn from four British populations. He frames these results within the novel context of phenological buffering, and discusses how the broad diet of winter moth caterpillars could be a vital pillar of their success (and persistence) in a precarious phenological and ecological niche.Find out more here: https://link.springer.com/journal/442/updates/23340402 Publication date 19 Dec, 2025
