A Queensland Rural Fire Service superintendent says fire conditions in parts of the state are on the edge after receiving very little rain this wet season. #bushfires #regional #communities #weather #emergency #services
Surely 1) is a breeze compared to 2)?
We found doing 2) with two under 7 hard enough...
It's a bad one, that's for sure.
Yes.
A black-and-white studio portrait photograph of Emma Lucy Braun, the pioneering American botanist and plant ecologist widely regarded as one of the most influential scientists in the study of eastern North American forests. Shown from the shoulders up against a soft, neutral gradient background, Braun appears in her later years with a calm, intelligent gaze directed straight at the viewer. Her white hair is neatly styled and swept back from her face, and she wears delicate round wire-rimmed glasses. A gentle, knowing half-smile softens her expression, conveying quiet authority, warmth, and scholarly poise. She is dressed in a light-colored, pleated blouse with a gathered neckline and a prominent dark floral brooch pinned at the center of her chest; the visible sleeve features subtle decorative patterning. The tight, centered composition focuses entirely on her face and upper torso, creating an intimate and dignified mood that emphasizes intellect and dignity over ornamentation.
Botanist/plant ecologist E. Lucy Braun is one of the most influential ecologists in North American history.
+ First woman President, Ecological Society of America, 1950
+ Helped establish plant ecology as a rigorous academic discipline
She was born #OTD in 1889. #WomenInSTEM #conservation #ecosky
Wildfires used to 'go to sleep' at night. Climate change is turning them into prime burning hours
phys.org/news/2026-04...
📢 PhD opportunity @aucklanduni.bsky.social
Exploring the role of phosphite for kauri dieback disease treatment
Click the link to find out more about this exciting opportunity to make a difference for kauri conservation 🌱
@loraxcate.bsky.social
newzealandecology.org/phd-explorin...
This post from GFANZ has links to the Radio NZ article from yesterday and the Save Science Coalition report "Underfunding our future -- the human face of science cuts". Recommended reading for anyone interested in a robust future for public research in Aotearoa New Zealand.
#NZPOL
NEW EPISODE of #FireEcology Chats! 🔥Azaj Mahmud and Dylan Schwilk discuss predicting key aspects of shoot flammability and how that relates to flammability category rankings in the National Fire Protection Association’s Firewise program #SNFECO Listen here: https://fireecology.org/feco-podcast/ep90
Fascinating stuff! I reckon the strangler figs of the Australian Wet Tropics would be great candidates for latrine sites too.
A sky filling with smoke from a burning forest below
A new study from the University of Tasmania's Fire Centre finds that logged forests burn more severely in a bushfire than old growth. Researchers used a natural experiment to provide the strongest evidence yet on a question with real consequences for how the state manages its forests: utas.au/lf
The City Nature Challenge is fast approaching. That's four days in our cities to find as many species as we can and get as many people out observing nature.
The four day observing period this year is 24–27 April (Friday–Monday), followed by two weeks of uploading and identifying.
This will the […]
These handsome devils with their fancy crowns appear to be Charaxes sempronius, the Tailed Emperor butterfly.
They're native to Australia where they feed on kurrajong or bottletree shrub leaves.
They're also famous for getting drunk & fighting on hilltops.
Let's talk about these tiny dragons.
Congrats, Frank!
Holacanthella paucispinosa on the cover of this month's issue of Nature Ecology and Evolution. Photo by Frank Ashwood
Breaking news: giant springtail from Aotearoa NZ made the cover of @natecoevo.nature.com!
This amazing pic of H. paucispinosa by @frankashwood.bsky.social should lure readers to the global study by @zheng-zhou.bsky.social et al on soil animal trophic diversity 🌍🌿🕷️🪱🪳🧪
www.nature.com/natecolevol/...
Fire-embracers possess higher shoot flammability, lower litter flammability and a more acquisitive strategy than fire-tolerators in Pinus yunnanensis
Dachuan Dai, @jgpausas.bsky.social, Xinglei Cui et al.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Image: Ptilotus senarius grows in such a remote part of Australia it’s a miracle it was rediscovered at all. Credit: Aaron Bean/inaturalist.org/observations/288434421
No longer extinct, just critically endangered
Citizen science platforms including iNaturalist are leading to major new discoveries and are becoming crucial to the work of scientists.
buff.ly/uDgXY04 via University of New South Wales #PlantScience
📄 New paper out in Science Advances (@science.org)
#TropicalCyclones undergoing rapid intensification during #MarineHeatwaves lead to ~60% more billion-dollar disasters—even after accounting for coastal exposure.
More insights in the paper 👇
🔗 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
📢 Have you seen the news about froggy backpacks? For a detailed look, you can read the full article here in NZJE!
🐸 Suitability of radio telemetry for Aotearoa | New Zealand's only extant semi-aquatic frog, Leiopelma hochstetteri
🐸 Lead author: Tobia Dale
newzealandecology.org/nzje/3628
Nature conservation e.g. by NGO Fundacion Jocotoco, can help to bend the curve of biodiversity decline. The graph shows how large parts of the diversity comes back due to natural regeneraion of a rainforest. It illustrates the main finding of our study published in Nature: Protection restores 90% of species diversity in 30 years.
Good news! #Biodiversity🦜🐜🐒🐸 in a tropical #rainforest 🌴🇪🇨can naturally recover quickly 📈 (if the conditions are suitable = enough surrounding forest). Our new study in #Nature
#forestecol #restoration @jocotoco.bsky.social
www.reassembly.de/posts/recove...
www.reassembly.de/news/rainfor...
Holy smokes! An incredible start to the 'Wildfire Season' in the US this year - owing to an abnormally hot and snowless winter in some parts of the country.
Ecologists I need a favor! 🌎🌍🌏
I am teaching a GIS class for freshmen. I want to zoom in for like 15-20 min with other ecologists that are using drones, uav, collars, biologgers, telemetry, or any type of sensors to study wildlife. 1️⃣
Come join us! The University of Western Australia has two openings for Lecturers at Level B - one position is in Marine Biology, the other is for a Lecturer in Zoology. Both are teaching/research positions.
Position descriptions are here:
external.jobs.uwa.edu.au/en/listing/
Please repost 🙏
🔥Boreal fungi recover very differently after fire vs. clear-cutting. Fires leave long-lasting deadwood that supports rich and red-listed species; clear-cuts do not. High deadwood + structural complexity are key, but old-growth remains irreplaceable 👉️ buff.ly/DLExOE9
Bill McKibben reports on what Trump’s reorganization of the Forest Service means for rural America: newyorkermag.visitlink.me/G5KAKJ
The #Berkeley project that became one of the world's most crucial scientific tools (#iNaturalist by @inaturalist.bsky.social )
www.sfgate.com/local/articl...
I was just teaching Spandrels of San Marco a couple of weeks ago...
