Ratios Matter is a quarterly newsletter keeping you up to date on what’s happening in the field of ecological stoichiometry. This newsletter will include conference announcements, special sessions, summaries of new manuscripts, job openings, and interesting stories behind the science. Subscribe to the newsletter so you don’t miss anything.

What is Ecological Stoichiometry?

Ecological stoichiometry is a field of scientific research that examines the balance of multiple chemical elements and energy in ecological interactions. Ratios Matter (our newsletters name) because the theory behind ecological stoichiometry makes predictions about how the relative ratios of elements (like nitrogen and phosphorus) affect diverse biological and ecological processes. If you’ve ever had a field of crops, a garden, or even a houseplant you are probably familiar with the basic idea – you grow these plants in specific types of soil and add certain fertilizers because they need specific amounts of key nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus to grow. If there is a very high ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus in the soil, adding more nitrogen will not help the plant grow because its growth is still limited by how much phosphorus it can acquire.

Ecological stoichiometry is not just about growing crops though! We have a growing community of scientists working on ecological stoichiometry because of its wide applicability to understand nutrition and its effects on the environment. Scientists have used ecological stoichiometry to study harmful algal blooms in lakes, fish production in aquaculture and in nature, the growth of cancerous tumors, the possibility that life could exist on other planets, the effects of changing dietary patterns in humans, and an endless variety of other questions.

Interested in learning more? Subscribe to the newsletter to find out about the latest research on this exciting topic and the people doing it.