1. Original Research Articles. Original articles should not exceed 7000 words inclusive of all parts of the paper apart from online Supporting Information. Typescripts should be arranged as follows, with each section starting on a separate page.

Title Page

• A concise and informative title.
• A list of author names, affiliation(s), and e-mail addresses.
• The name, complete mailing address (including e-mail address, telephone and fax numbers) of the corresponding author.
• A running title not exceeding 45 characters.
• A word count of the entire paper broken down into summary, main text, acknowledgements, references, tables and figure legends.
• The number of tables and figures.
• The number of references.

Abstract. The abstract should outline the purpose of the paper and the main results, conclusions and recommendations, using clear, factual, numbered statements. Authors should follow a formula in which point 1 sets the context and need for the work; point 2 indicates the approach and methods used; the next 2-3 points outline the main results; and the last point identifies the wider implications and relevance to management or policy.  The whole abstract should be readily understandable to all the Journal's readers and must not exceed 350 words.

Keywords. A list in alphabetical order not exceeding ten words or short phrases, excluding words used in the title and chosen carefully to reflect the precise content of the paper.

Introduction. State the reason for the work, the context, background, aims and the hypotheses being tested. End the Introduction with a brief statement of what has been achieved.

Materials and methods. Include sufficient details for the work to be repeated. Where specific equipment and materials are named, the manufacturer’s details (name, city and country) should be given so that readers can trace specifications by contacting the manufacturer. Where commercially available software has been used, details of the supplier should be given in brackets or the reference given in full in the reference list.

Results. State the results of experimental or modelling work, drawing attention to important details in tables and figures. The Results section should conform to the highest standards of rigour.

Discussion. Point out the importance of the results and place them in the context of previous studies and in relation to the application of the work (expanding on the Synthesis and applications section of the Summary). Include clear recommendations for management or policy.

Acknowledgements. Be brief. If authors refer to themselves as recipients of assistance or funding, they should do so by their initials separated by points (e.g. J.B.T.). Do not acknowledge Editors by name.

References (see Manuscript Specifications below).

Tables (see Specifications). Each table should be on a separate page, numbered and accompanied by a legend at the top. These should be referred to in the text as Table 1, etc. Avoid duplication between figures and tables.

Figures (see Specifications). Figures and their legends should be grouped together at the end of the paper before Supporting Information (if present). If figures have been supplied as a list at the end of the text file (as recommended), they should appear above their respective legend. Figures should be referred to in the text as Fig. 1, Figs 1 & 2, etc. Photographic material should also be referred to as Figures. Do not include high-resolution versions of figures at submission; reduce the size and resolution of graphics to a file size of less than 1 MB. If a manuscript is accepted, higher quality versions of figures can be submitted at a later stage.

CITATIONS AND REFERENCES. Citation to work by four or more authors should be abbreviated with the use of et al. (e.g. Manel et al. 1999). Citation to work by one, two or three authors should always give the author names in full. Work with the same first author and date should be coded by letters, e.g. Thompson et al.1991a,b. Citations should be listed in chronological order in the text and be separated by a semi-colon, e.g. Balmford & Gaston 1999; Royle et al. 2007. The references in the Reference list should be in alphabetical order with the journal name unabbreviated. The format for papers, theses, entire books and chapters in books is as follows:

Begon, M., Harper, J.L. & Townsend, C.R. (1996) Ecology: Individuals, Populations and Communities, 3rd edn. Blackwell Science, Oxford.
Tuyttens, F.A.M. (1999) The consequences of social perturbation caused by badger removal for the control of bovine tuberculosis in cattle: a study of behaviour, population dynamics and epidemiology. PhD thesis, University of Oxford.
McArthur, W.M. (1993) History of landscape development. Reintegrating Fragmented Landscapes (eds R.J. Hobbs & D.A.Saunders), pp. 10-22. Springer Verlag, Berlin.
Hill, M.O., Roy, D.B., Mountford, J.O. & Bunce, R.G.H. (2000) Extending Ellenberg's indicator values to a new area: an algorithmic approach. Journal of Applied Ecology, 37, 3-15.

References should be cited as 'in press' only if the paper has been accepted for publication. Work not yet submitted for publication or under review should be cited as 'unpublished data', with the author's initials and surname given; such work should not be included in the Reference section. Any paper cited as 'in press' or under review elsewhere must be uploaded as part of the manuscript submission as a file 'not for review' so that it can be seen by the editors and, if necessary, made available to the referees.

2. REVIEWS ARTICLES. Reviews should be at least 10000 words inclusive of all parts of the paper. The layout should follow the same format and specifications as for Standard Papers except that the organisation of the main text need not follow the division into Introduction, Materials and methods, Results and Discussion.

3. SHORT COMMUNICATIONS ARTICLES.Communication articles should be short contributions up to 4000 words inclusive of all parts of the paper. Format and specifications are as for Standard Papers except that any Summary section should be short (no more than 150 words) and the layout of the main text can be flexible.

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

1. The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
2. The submission file is in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, RTF, or WordPerfect document file format.
3. Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.
4. The text is single-spaced; uses a 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
5. The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which is found in About the Journal.
6. If submitting to a peer-reviewed section of the journal, the instructions in Ensuring a Blind Review have been followed.