Current workflows in academic ecology rarely allow an engagement of ecologists with philosophers, or with contemporary philosophical work. We argue that this is a missed opportunity for enriching ecological reasoning and practice, because many questions in ecology overlap with philosophical questions and with current topics in contemporary philosophy of science. One obstacle to a closer connection and collaboration between the fields is the limited awareness of scientists, including ecologists, of current philosophical questions, developments and ideas. In this article, we aim to overcome this obstacle and trigger more collaborations between ecologists and philosophers. First, we provide an overview of philosophical research relevant to ecologists. Second, we use examples to demonstrate that many ecological questions have a philosophical dimension and point to related philosophical work. We elaborate on one example -- the debate around the appropriate level of complexity of ecological models -- to show in more detail how philosophy can enrich ecology. Finally, we provide suggestions for how to initiate collaborative projects involving both ecologists and philosophers.

Body size determines mobility and fitness of insects in various ways. Yet, especially in parasitoid species, drivers of body size are poorly understood, as they can be influenced by complex interactions between parasitoid behaviour, the environment, and their hosts. We measured the body size of 393 individuals of four parasitoid species sampled with trap nests for cavity-nesting bees and wasps in the Southern Black Forest, Germany. We related the body size of the parasitoids to the size of 15 host species and the diameters of their nests along four environmental gradients (canopy cover, structural complexity, herb cover and deadwood diameter). Host identity, nest diameter, and to a lesser extent, size differences within host species, were primary drivers of parasitoid body size, albeit parasitoid species differed in their responses. For instance, when the host Trypoxylon figulus doubled in size, Nematopodius debilis (parasitizing the host directly) increased by 37% in size, while Trichrysis cyanea (parasitizing food resources) increased by only 8%. Across host-parasitoid species combinations, there was only a weak positive relationship between the size of parasitoids and their hosts. In addition, we did not observe size variations in hosts and parasitoids across environmental gradients. Our findings highlight the primary factors influencing parasitoid size, with host identity and nest diameter emerging as influential factors within and between species, though not uniformly across all species. In contrast, the relationship between parasitoid and host size and environmental gradients were less influential. Considering the environmental variables that directly affect body size, such as microhabitat conditions and biotic interactions, may further clarify the dynamics shaping variation in parasitoid size.

Most studies of plant--animal mutualistic networks have been temporally static. This approach has revealed many general patterns in the structure of complex webs of mutualistic interactions, but limits our ability to understand the ecological and evolutionary processes that shape these networks, and to predict the consequences of natural and human-driven disturbance on species interactions. The growing availability of temporally explicit data is allowing ecologists to move beyond this static perspective. We review the growing literature dealing with temporal dynamics in plant--animal mutualistic networks including pollination, seed dispersal and ant defence mutualisms. We identify general patterns of temporal variation in these networks across temporal scales. We discuss potential mechanisms underlying variation in interactions, ranging from behavioural and physiological processes at the narrowest temporal scales to ecological and evolutionary processes operating over much broader temporal scales. We conclude by discussing priorities for future research, including an improved understanding of the abiotic and biotic factors driving temporal network change, and further development and refinement of analytical tools. Our review highlights the key role of the importance of considering the temporal dimension for our understanding of the ecology and evolution of complex webs of mutualistic interactions.