Use when targeting Forest Ecology and Management or deciding whether a forest-science manuscript fits this venue. Encodes the journal's fit, the ecological-evidence-with-management-relevance bar, silviculture and disturbance expectations, Elsevier house style, official-submission re-check, and desk-reject heuristics.
SkillScore95Maintained
Automatic
◆Research pack
Last verified 8/15/2026
What it changes
Passed 21 of 22 test cases with the skill, and 8 of 22 without it.
Without skill36%
With skill95%
Checks it passed that the model alone missed
The [Fit] field rates the submission fit as Low.
The [Fit] field rates the manuscript fit as Low.
The [Fit] field assesses the submission fit as Low.
and 15 more in the full report
14 fixed7 passed either way0 still failing1 broke
Pass-rate lift
+59 pp
Tokens
+38%
Agent turns
0%
Response time
-44%
Model gemini-3.6-flashMeasured 8/15/2026v121 of 22 cases passed with skill
Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.
See it in action
One of 14 test cases the skill fixed. Same model, same prompt, with and without the skill.
1 of 14
Prompt
We evaluated fire return intervals and cattle grazing management impacts on native grass species composition in a tallgrass prairie ecosystem in Kansas. Provide a venue evaluation using the bracketed schema ([Fit], [Target], [Topic tags], [Ecological evidence], [Management relevance], [Method/evidence], [Top risk], [Official items to re-check], [Re-route suggestion]).
What was checked, without and with the skill
Checked
Without skill
With skill
The [Fit] field rates the manuscript fit as Low.
Missed
Passed
The [Top risk] field notes that non-forest or prairie studies are out of scope.
Missed
Passed
case-15 · gemini-3.6-flash · 8/15/2026 · answers are capped and redacted
What's inside
The instructions your model reads when the skill loads.
SKILL.md126 linessingle file
Forest Ecology and Management (forest-ecology-and-management)
Journal positioning
Forest Ecology and Management is Elsevier's outlet for the science of forest ecosystems and
how that science informs their management: forest ecology and stand dynamics, silviculture
and regeneration, disturbance (fire, wind, insects, pathogens) and restoration, biodiversity
and habitat, and carbon, growth, and productivity. Its defining expectation is sound
ecological evidence paired with explicit management relevance — a study must both advance
understanding of how forests function and make clear what its findings mean for managing,
restoring, or conserving forested land. A competent forest-ecology paper with no applied or
management implication, or a non-forest ecological study, is a poor fit however rigorous.
This skill is a fit / venue-selection / re-framing tool. It does not replace the
journal's current author guidance. Before submitting, re-check the live Forest Ecology and
Management author instructions and data policy.
When to trigger
The author names Forest Ecology and Management and wants a fit/framing check for a
forest-science paper.
A forest-ecology, silviculture, or disturbance study must be re-framed around its
management or restoration implications to fit, or recognized as out of scope.
The author is choosing between this journal, global-change-biology,
agriculture-ecosystems-and-environment, and a general-ecology venue.
The author needs the journal's expectations for ecological rigor coupled to management
relevance.
Scope & topic fit
Forest stand dynamics, regeneration, growth, and productivity across managed and natural
forests, including long-term and chronosequence studies.
Silviculture and management interventions: thinning, harvesting systems, planting,
species/provenance choice, and their ecological and stand-level consequences.
Disturbance ecology and recovery: fire regimes and fuels, wind and drought damage, insect
and pathogen outbreaks, and post-disturbance restoration.
Forest biodiversity, habitat structure, deadwood, and the response of flora and fauna to
management or disturbance.
Forest carbon, nutrient, and water dynamics when framed around management or land-use
decisions rather than pure biogeochemistry.
Restoration, afforestation/reforestation, and conservation in forested systems with