Two male southern elephant seals clash over a harem. This photograph won the behavioral and physiological ecology category in the BMC Ecology photography contest of 2013.
This photo took first prize in the BMC Ecology Community, Population and Marcoecology category. A Polistine wasp approaches a Scarce swallowtail butterfly, which is in turn approaching a Scabius flower.
The winning BMC Ecology photograph for the Conservation Ecology and Biodiversity Research category. A Galapagos tortoise on a human road on Santa Cruz Island.
A peak into a scientist's notebook during a survey of secondary old-growth forest in Peru won Editor's Pick in the BMC Ecology photo contest.
The winning photo in the 2013 BMC Ecology Landscape Ecology and Ecosystems category. Rice paddies in Yuanyang, China.
The overall runner-up in the 2013 BMC photo competition depicts a subalpine flower meadow in Colorado.
The stick insect Timema poppensis moves into camouflage position on a redwood tree (Sequoia sempervirens) in the winning image in the 2013 BMC Ecology photography contest.
BMC Ecology also chose 19 "highly commended" images, including this insect Vellozia flower in Serra do Cipó, Brazil”
A male Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus), visits a scarlet gilia (Ipomopsis aggregata) flower at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Colorado. This photo was highly commended in the 2013 BMC Ecology photo contest.
Blowflies surround a Bulbophyllum lasianthum orchid, which attracts the flies with the smell of rotting meat. This photo was highly commended in the 2013 BMC Ecology photo contest.
A hoverfly doing what it does best (hovering) was highly commended in the 2013 BMC Ecology photo contest.
Communication in bulldog ants (Myrmecia nigriscapa) in Sydney, Australia, a 2013 BMC Ecology highly commended photo.
Two frogs jump for their lives as a duck hops up on the rock where they were resting in this BMC Ecology commended photo.
Arabian babbler (Turdoides squamiceps) group preening in front of a neighboring group during a border confrontation.
“This cricket was singing at dusk at the edge of secondary forest in Borneo. He had crawled into the natural funnel of a ginger plant which was being used to amplify the sound of the song," photographer Michael Siva-Jothy said of this photo, which was highly commended by BMC Ecology.
This BMC Ecology commended photo shows a small crab,Planes minutus (Columbus crab), living on an individual of Caretta caretta (Loggerhead Sea Turtle).
The caterpillar of the gypsy moth Lymantria dispar killed by the parasitic wasp Glyptapantheles liparidis. The wasp lays eggs in the caterpillar, and its larvae develop inside, killing the unfortunate creature.
A European squid (Loligo vulgaris) squeezes its prey, a bream (Sparus aurata) in its arms. This photo was highly commended in the 2013 BMC Ecology photo contest.
The photo "Multitrophic interactions in action" was highly commended by the journal BMC Ecology.
A bird perches on a jawbone in this 2013 BMC Ecology commended photo. "People are trying to create reserves and refugees for animals. But the encroachment due to sprawling of cities highlights the problem of saving either one or another species, because in a restricted area often it is not possible to conserve all the species occurring inside," said photographer Matteo Lattuada.
"During a field mission to Ethiopia, I gave an introduction to gradient analysis for researchers at Jimma University, with whom we investigate the effects of coffee cultivation on the diversity and community structure of epiphytic orchids, birds and trees in evergreen moist Afromontane forests," said photographer Raf Aerts of the University of Leuven.
The tropical tree Ceiba pentandra, otherwise known as Kapok. This is a rare large individual in a lowland tropical forest and was highly commended in the 2013 BMC Ecology photo contest.
A flock of decoy Northern Gannets on the North Island of New Zealand. Ecologists are trying to re-establish real gannets by setting up these fake flocks and playing gannet calls through solar-powered speakers. This photo was highly commended in the 2013 BMC Ecology photo contest.
Researchers carry vegetation survey equipment to a forest dynamics plot in Puerto Rico.
A dinoflagellate (plankton) bloom turns the tide luminous blue in this "highly commended" 2013 BMC Ecology photo.
This BMC Ecology commended photo illustrates research into the stress of king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus). Researchers fitted a penguin with an external heart rate monitor and compared the pitter-patter of the penguin hearts in parts of the colony disturbed by human presence and parts not disturbed. At the upper right, a heart rate trace shows when a bird's heart rate spiked during capture.
