TreeDivNet 2026 in Freiburg, Germany

North American Forest Genetics Society #NAFGS26 🌲 🌳 🧬! Abstracts due Mar 1 | Travel Awards Mar 8 | Early Reg ends Mar 31 | Looking forward to welcoming you & our invited speakers in Québec City: @jillahamilton.bsky.social @cavenderg9.bsky.social @jeansebmoore.bsky.social @arthurouaknine.bsky.social

January issue: Review from Keping Ma on the effects of forest biodiversity on ecosystem function. 🧪🌎
Web link: go.nature.com/4pNeQJ0
Readcube: rdcu.be/eZInL

@xliu225.bsky.social
@cavenderg9.bsky.social
@alainpaquette.bsky.social

In anticipation of the United States' withdrawal from IPBES, Chair @davidobura.bsky.social responds with #empathy and a renewed commitment to supporting credible science to inform biodiversity decision-making 🐋 🌿💗

Split-screen image on a deep green background. Left side contains a statement from Dr David Obura, IPBES Chair, regarding the US withdrawal from IPBES and extinction threats to over 1 million species. Right side shows a photograph of a man wearing glasses, dressed in a dark jacket and grey shirt, seated at a conference table with a microphone. The IPBES logo appears at the bottom with the tagline "Science and Policy for People and Nature". The design features white typography on the dark green background, creating a professional contrast. Several small pins or badges are visible on the speaker's jacket.

“We cannot withdraw from the fact that over 1 million species of plants and animals face extinction.”

IPBES remains committed to its mandate to provide the most credible science and evidence about biodiversity to all decision makers and actors.

— @davidobura.bsky.social , @ipbes.net Chair

Ecological insights from three decades of forest biodiversity experiments - Nature Reviews Biodiversity Experiments manipulating tree species diversity and measuring effects on ecosystem function have been important tools for assessing how biodiverse forests can accumulate biomass, store carbon and help...

I am glad to share insights on what we have learned from the global set of forest biodiversity experiments over the last three decades in this new review paper first-authored by my wonderful colleague, Xiaojuan Liu, from the BEF China experiment www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Protecting nature to stabilize climate - The Salata Institute Climate change and biodiversity loss are tightly linked crises. Treating them as separate problems risks making both worse.

salatainstitute.harvard.edu/protecting-n...

My first time in the Atlantic Forest—Parque das Neblinas—in Brazil before heading to #COP30. I saw these incredible Tangará birds (wire-tailed manakins) in the midst of their mating dance. Apparently the male birds cooperate in a hierarchy of sorts to attract the female. Enjoy!

My first time in the Atlantic Forest—Parque das Neblinas—in Brazil before heading to #COP30. I saw these incredible Tangará birds (wire-tailed manakins) in the midst of their mating dance. Apparently the male birds cooperate in a hierarchy of sorts to attract the female. Enjoy!

📢 latest IDENT paper, in @journalofecology.bsky.social !
@paqlab.bsky.social @meganedeziel.bsky.social @ritasousasilva.bsky.social @cavenderg9.bsky.social @ebsearle.bsky.social

Next‐generation specimen digitization: capturing reflectance spectra from the world's herbaria for modeling plant biology across time, space, and taxa Spectral reflectance measured from herbarium specimens represents a potentially vast source of information relevant to plant taxon identification and functional traits, which has inspired many labora....

Herbaria + spectra = broad and rapid insights into plant ecology and evolution 🌿
Proud to share our latest with @cavenderg9.bsky.social and #IHerbSpec: doi.org/10.1111/nph....

Those terms focus on the technology and technical methods. They don’t capture what biologists care about—biological processes. We are first and foremost biologists, testing hypotheses about biological systems, harnessing technologies to extend our reach & ask questions we couldn’t address before

Herbarium director position opening at Oregon State University ‪@osu-herbarium.bsky.social‬ Great opportunity for herbarium- and field-trained botanists at any rank. bpp.oregonstate.edu/bpp/about/op...

What is spectral biology? We explain in this synthesis article on “Spectral biology across scales in changing environments”
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/R6QXPK
www.spectralbiology.org

I am very happy to share this paper that provides the conceptual synthesis for our forthcoming special feature in Ecology on spectral biology and the NSF ASCEND Biology Integration Institute (Advancing Spectral biology in Changing Environments..)

esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/R6QXPK...

Fun week @idiv-research.bsky.social attending the 1st meeting of sTREND working group on synthesis of tree traits responses to neighbouring diversity with @mixedforests.bsky.social, @ritasousasilva.bsky.social, @habenblondeel.bsky.social, @cavenderg9.bsky.social, @shankothari.bsky.social and others

How does tree plasticity in response to neighbors influence forest productivity? We had such a great sTREND meeting at iDIV discussing the consequences of intraspecific variation in trees for ecosystem function and potential mechanisms of complementarity and net biodiversity effects.

Trump’s NIH And NSF Cuts Estimated To Cost The U.S. Economy $10 Billion Annually Economists find public R&D drives U.S. productivity growth — and pays for itself

www.forbes.com/sites/johndr...

"For every dollar spent [on science], the economy eventually produces an additional $1.71 in output. That return exceeds nearly every other form of public or private investment."

Just sayin’

Every year, we host a lecture and celebrate after with a banquet. This year, May 3 at 3pm EDT, we will hear from Ryan Schmidt from Harvard on the hidden heroes of herbaria! The lecture can be watched in person or on zoom - details & registration here: www.eventbrite.com/e/torrey-bot...

🌾🌿🧪 #botany

Just sayin‘

The ground is daily shifting under our feet, and it is hard to cope or know what to do. It was so uplifting hiking on Mt Graylock in the Berkshires today with Steven Augustine and Azzo Seguin—thinking about freezing tolerance along altitudinal gradients.

What interesting and exciting common garden / reciprocal transplant experiments do you know of? Who is conducting them? I'm interested in connecting with folks as we continue to work on our climate-focused bur oak experiment in OK, IL and MN w/ @cavenderg9.bsky.social, Heather McCarthy & colleagues.

An herbarium specimen with visible mottling due to infection by Turnip mosaic virus. Uses of herbarium specimens for virus research appear with icons.

Check out this new #AJB Commentary by Elizabeth Lombardi & Hannah Marx!

#Herbaria as critical resources for studying plant-virus #biodiversity & #epidemiology

doi.org/10.1002/ajb2... #botany #plantscience #ecology

Beautiful hemlock and red oak grove along the Cattaraugus Creek in western NY @Steven-Augustine 🌲🌲🌳

Forest and Biodiversity 2: A tree diversity experiment to understand the consequences of multiple dimensions of diversity and composition for long‐term ecosystem function and resilience We introduce a new “ecosystem-scale” experiment at the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve in central Minnesota, USA to test long-term ecosystem consequences of tree diversity and composition. T...

For the forest ecology feed #forestecol 🍁

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

Our paper on the Forest and Biodiversity experiment (FAB2) at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve is out. We made the cover! The “ecosystem-scale” experiment is designed to test long-term ecosystem consequences of tree diversity & composition
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Oak restoration project in Boulder Creek, CA – 2024 Update Six years ago I began a forest restoration project in Boulder Creek, CA using fire mimicry treatments to help improve the health of a grove of coast live oaks, some of which are likely more than 25…

Six-year results of a native forest restoration project in a grove of old-growth coast live oaks showing the efficacy of emulating fire to improve the health and longevity of fire-adapted trees. #oakhealth #firemimicry #suddenoakdeath 🌎🌐🌲🔥

Climate change now required learning for Minnesota high school students A recent poll found that 74% of Minnesotans want schools to teach about the causes of climate change, its consequences and potential solutions.

State level wins matter. www.cbsnews.com/amp/minnesot...

#ESA Governing Board retreat earlier this week. Should ESA extend the tent? How do we keep what is essential to academics but inclusive of NGOs, gov’t, private sector, indigenous voices? Navigating the changing publication landscape. ESA at #COP16 representing US science…does it justify the flights?