Community trajectories towards a restoration target (increase in zooplankton community diversity and abundance to regain ecosystem function, facilitated by invasive fish removal), where functional and taxonomic composition recover at different rates: In the disturbance phase, non-native fish introductions reduce the functional diversity of zooplankton communities; during active restoration, fish are removed from lakes, allowing communities to recover functions associated with naturally fishless systems; the assisted or unassisted recovery phase is characterized by the initial reassembly of functional structure via plasticity and dispersal followed by taxonomic recovery through additional dispersal. Traits are shown as univariate for illustrative purposes but can encompass multiple traits in practice.

Our review of #trait - based approaches to ecological restoration is finally out in @esajournals.bsky.social *Ecological Applications*, highlighting the value of functional traits for creating system-general restoration strategies. 🌐 🧮➕📏 urldefense.com/v3/__http://

Thanks, Andrew, and you're right! I'm a bit biased but I'm excited about how we aim to link a cool range of ecology to help inform how we live with fire in grasslands.

Effects of management type and timing and winter snow manipulations on snow and litter insulation during winter and predicted associations with plant functional trait syndromes.

🔥🌱 From the #AJB Special Issue: “Understanding novel #fire regimes using plant trait‐based approaches" 🌱🔥

A functional trait perspective on restored temperate #grassland responses to changing winter insulation & managed disturbance by fire

By Katherine Charton et al.
doi.org/10.1002/ajb2... #botany

If interested and you'd like more information, check out the interest form here: forms.gle/HAyScFm2QrfW...

And please share widely!

A grassland on a sunny day near Boulder, CO

We're recruiting!! Myself along with Nathan Gill, Dylan Schwilk @schwilk.org, and Katharine Suding are recruiting people for Master's, PhD, and postdoc positions in GrassFire, an NSF funded project examining fuels and fire risk in grassland ecosystems across the Southern Great Plains! 🔥🌿🐮

Rainy spring may be bad news for fire season. Here’s what you can do about it Ecologist Katharine Suding shares insights on the increasing risks of grassland fire across the country.

🌱🔥 Grassland fires are becoming more frequent and more dangerous across the country. Ecologist Katharine Suding has spent her career understanding the ecosystems that produce them. She shares insights in a Q&A www.colorado.edu/today/2025/0...

Marine‐derived nutrients shape the functional composition of High Arctic plant communities Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Our article on "Marine-derived nutrients shape the functional composition of High Arctic plant communities" is finally out 🐧🦆🌱🌾💩🌊🏔️:
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

There is still time to apply for this position! If you have some spatial modelling skills and interest in wildfire, please consider applying.

Our department is searching for a new greenhouse manager: jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDeta... Share with your botanical friends on the job market!

Job ad: jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDeta...

Please share with anyone who might be interested and reach out with questions!

Grassland scene near Boulder, CO

📣We're recruiting! 📣 Katie Suding and I are looking for a postdoc interested in modelling grassland fire and fuels to contribute to an ongoing project on evaluating how grassland management and variation in fuels can impact wildfire risk around Boulder, CO. See the link below for more information.

Hi! 👋 We are scientists studying Earth & environmental systems at CU Boulder. Our name = cold/high places, but these days we work from tropics to poles, incl. the world ocean. Follow us for
🧊 Cold regions
⌛ Past climate
🏔️ Earth surface processes
💨 Atmospheric gases
🌱 Ecological change
& lots more!

Thanks Robert!

Thank you! It's been a pleasure working in INSTAAR the last few years!

Metabolomic and morphological trait diversity display contrasting patterns in temperate forest tree communities Studies of community assembly often explore the role of niche selection in limiting the diversity of functional traits (underdispersion) or increasing the diversity of functional traits (overdispersi....

Excited to share our new paper - plant metabolomics provide an additional trait dimension in community assembly to better understand how niche selection changes along environmental gradients.
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
A collaborative project led by @hennhouse.bsky.social

Long‐Term Alpine Plant Responses to Global Change Drivers Depend on Functional Traits Predicting the effects of global change on plant species and communities is a critical challenge as global change drivers accelerate and intensify. We used functional traits to determine whether ther...

Excited to share our new synthesis of global change experiments from the Niwot LTER

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

We had a great team and great leadership from Jon Henn!

Hi Markus, could you please add me? Thanks!

Hi Brian, thanks for putting this together, if you could add me, I'd appreciate it!

We have a LOT of opportunities for undergraduate student researchers this summer and beyond. Application review is starting! See top three blog posts for details and how to apply: damschenlab.zoology.wisc.edu