How tightly are plant biomass & soil nutrients linked worldwide?Our new study (400+ sites across all biomes) in J Sustain Agric Environ shows climate plays a key role in decoupling this relationship—challenging classic views of nutrient limitation onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
New paper from lab-@natecoevo.nature.com
Abiotic and biotic controls of non-native perennial plant success in drylands
Non-native plant success in drylands is facilitated by high grazing pressure & resource availability.
Led by Rahmanian and @ftmaestre.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Plant phenolics play a key roles in plant strategies.
Here we explore the drivers of phenolic content in plants over 1800 species across global drylands 🧪🌐
➡️besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-27...
📸 Microscopic image of hyphae of Aspergillus niger, which causes a disease known as "black mold" on certain fruits and vegetables and is a common contaminant of food. Photo by Y_tambe, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Many thanks to all co-authors and collaborators involved in this global effort led by Yawen Lu & Carlos A. Guerra
In our latest paper, just published in @natcomms.nature.com we show that soil conditions, landscape structure & land-use change shape global soil pathogenic fungal diversity. Landscape complexity and crops increase diversity, while grass and tree cover reduce it www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Just published in @natecoevo.nature.com: using data from the @erc.europa.eu funded BIODESERT dryland survey, we show that plant diversity strongly enhances ecosystem resistance to increasing grazing pressure. Conserving biodiversity is key to sustaining dryland rangelands worldwide rdcu.be/eXY6D
Read the paper (#openaccess) here: besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Just published in @journalofecology.bsky.social Using data from 1,854 plant species coming from the @erc.europa.eu funded #BIODESERT survey, we show how climate & grazing jointly shape leaf phenolics—key defence compounds—across global drylands. Great work led by PhD student Kaarina Shilula
A few years ago I shared my @erc.europa.eu Starting Grant proposal (BIOCOM) openly on @figshare.com doi.org/10.6084/m9.f... I never imagined it would reach over 14K views and >6K downloads. A reminder of why sharing proposals & experiences matters—for those coming after us
Happy to share our new paper from the @erc.europa.eu funded #BIODESERT global survey! Brilliantly led by MSc student Imke Smit, we show that plant facilitation in drylands is driven by a consistent trait match between dominant and target species Out in Global Ecol Biog dx.doi.org/10.1111/geb....
📸 in the first tweet from Zoshua Colah
@unsplash.com
And let’s strive to be those reviewers and editors ourselves. A bit of kindness goes a long way—making the whole system better for everyone, but particularly for ECRs.
and genuinely encouraging. It was a reminder that peer review is not just gatekeeping; it’s a collaborative process that often improves our science. So let’s celebrate the many reviewers and editors who invest their time with rigor and kindness
Peer review in top journals is tough, and we often focus on its “dark side”: delays, rejections, and harsh reports. But there’s also a bright side we talk about far too little. Our recent acceptance came with exceptionally kind words from the handling editor—polite, thoughtful, ...
In the paper we discuss actions to transition to a much-needed and more sustainable food production system. Read the paper (#openaccess) for free here: www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/17...
In our new @mdpiopenaccess.bsky.social #Water paper, led by Jaime Martínez-Valderrama, we quantify the hidden & huge cost of food waste in #Spain Between 2014–2018, >480,000 tons of fruits & vegetables were discarded — wasting 36 hm³ of water and emitting >36,000 tCO₂-eq. A crisis that we must stop
The photographs show examples of cyanobacteria-dominated biocrusts in (a) the Al Ula region (Saudi Arabia) and (b) central Saudi Arabia. Photographs by
Corey Nelson
Our new review in @universitypress.cambridge.org
Cambridge Prisms: Drylands explores the ecology of biocrusts in the Arabian Peninsula, one of the most extreme and underexplored regions on Earth, their functions, knowledge gaps & potential for land restoration doi.org/10.1017/dry....
Thrilled to be one of the plenary speakers for the @iavs5.bsky.social 68th #IAVS Symposium (Gijón, Spain, 22-26 June 2026) along legends like @jcsvenning.bsky.social @gmendietal.bsky.social @ftmaestre.bsky.social et al!
Join us to discuss plants across taxonomic, spatial and temporal scales! 🌿
A new article in Biological Reviews by Islam et al. synthesizes current knowledge on C cycling and storage in desert ecosystems, highlighting the roles of precipitation patterns, vegetation dynamics & soil inorganic processes in regulating C sequestration onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Delighted to celebrate the first anniversary of this journal. As an editor, it’s been inspiring to see such a wide range of articles advancing our understanding of dryland ecosystems. If you work in #drylands please consider submitting your work to us www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Although many ecosystems can weather several years of moderate drought, consecutive years of extreme dryness push them past a tipping point, resulting in dramatic declines in plant growth, researchers report in Science. https://scim.ag/4ogN9I8
Excited to give a plenary talk at the @iavs5.bsky.social Symposium 2026 in beautiful Gijón, Spain! Looking forward to share our latest research about #dryland plant diversity and to reconnecting with the global vegetation science community gijon2026.iavs-meetings.org Don´t miss it!
Our new article in @ejsoilscience.bsky.social highlights the key uncertainties limiting the use of nitrification inhibitors (NIs), a promising tool to curb N pollution and N₂O emissions. Better design & smarter use of NIs are key for sustainable N management onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/author...
#MultiyearDroughts, it is nice to see studies with distinct designs and used data converge to similar results — "25-30%" seems to be a key range, in this study about the measured reduction of primary production in grassland and in our previous study with kNDVI www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... .
New paper out 🥳
Drought intensity and duration interact to magnify losses in primary productivity | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
@stockholm-uni.bsky.social
Excelente reportaje de Miguel Ángel Criado para @elpais.com elpais.com/ciencia/2025... sobre nuestro artículo en @science.org 👇
Kudos to Tim Ohlert & Melinda Smith for leading this work and congratulations to all authors and collaborators that made this study possible
📸 of the Ciempozuelos site by David Sánchez Pescador
This study shows the power of international collaboration to tackle global challenges like drought. Grateful to have served on the IDE Steering Committee and happy to see our @erc.europa.eu supported Ciempozuelos field site contributing to this global effort.