Effect of mean April/May temperature on nest-level mismatch across three passerine species
Caterpillar-bird mismatch increases significantly in warmer springs.
As the #climate warms, fluctuations in caterpillar abundance therefore have the potential to be an important modulating factor on the effects of trophic mismatch across ecological systems.
🧵4/4
We analysed paired #caterpillar abundance and #bird breeding performance data from 14 sites in England, over 15 years.
We found that increased caterpillar abundance significantly increased performance in Blue and Great Tits—especially # of offspring fledged—across a range of mismatch values.
🧵3/4
#Trophic #mismatch with an ephemeral #food resource can have serious negative effects on consumer performance.
But higher overall resource abundance could offset some of the effects of mismatch, by establishing a higher resource baseline across all levels of mismatch.
🧵2/4
📣 New Preprint, out now on @ecoevorxiv.bsky.social...
Resource abundance can buffer trophic mismatch in a caterpillar-passerine food-chain 🌳→🐛→🐦
w/ @kenandlindasmith.bsky.social, @piedflynet.bsky.social et al.
Read it here: doi.org/10.32942/X2K...
...or scroll for some highlights 🧵👇 1/4
Thanks to everyone who came along at #BES2025 to chat about my work on phenological synchrony with @kenandlindasmith.bsky.social and @piedflynet.bsky.social
Even for specialist species, mismatch may only matter in years where resources are scarce 🐦🐛
If I missed you at the conference, get in touch!
Thank you! 👍
If you're at the @britishecologicalsociety.org #BES2025 in Edinburgh and interested in #phenology, come and find me for a chat about how resource abundance modulates the impacts of the trophic #mismatch.
My poster is A17.21 in the Cromdale Hall, and I'll be there from 6pm this evening!
🌳 -> 🐛 -> 🐦
You can find the whole paper available, open access, at Oecologia 📄:
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Very pleased to announce that my recent paper in Oecologia "Trophic generalism in the winter moth: a model species for phenological mismatch" won the journal's 2024 Ehleringer Prize for student research! 🏆
You can read more about the paper and the award below 👇
link.springer.com/journal/442/...
It's an excellent statue! An almost aristocratic air of quiet confidence, which suits its position tucked away at the back of the museum. It feels as though you're interrupting his reverie as you walk by.
If you missed the @linneansociety.bsky.social's annual lecture in #Edinburgh last month, you can watch it now on YouTube! 👇
Hear Mark Blaxter (@sangerinstitute.bsky.social) give an inspiring overview of the Tree of Life Project! 🌳🦋🐒
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cca7...
Thank you to everyone who joined us in Edinburgh last night for our partnership lecture with @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social! Prof Mark Blaxter gave a brilliant talk on how genome sequencing is helping us understand and protect biodiversity. Recording will be posted soon.
@sangerinstitute.bsky.social
I was quite impressed and humbled yesterday to give a talk at the @linneansociety.bsky.social, in front of this very portrait and plate!
2/2. This year, we're excited to have Mark Blaxter, of the @sangerinstitute.bsky.social, talking about sequencing the genomes of all life - and the insights this can offer us in a changing world...
*Thurs 27th, 6-8pm*
Sign up now, for free, in person or online! 👇
tinyurl.com/edin-linnsoc...
1/2. In or around #Edinburgh?... 🏰
There's still time to sign up for our annual @linneansociety.bsky.social lecture, hosted by @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social.
**Thurs 27th, 6-8pm**
Sign up now, for free, in person or online! 👇
tinyurl.com/edin-linnsoc...
... or scroll for more info 🧵👇
Had a great time today presenting a poster about my PhD work 🐛 at the @linneansociety.bsky.social symposium on biological resilience. Some excellent talks in wonderful surroundings - so much food for thought with Darwin looking on - and all topped off with a fishy keynote @trishschulte.bsky.social 🐠
As extinction accelerates, scientists race to decode the DNA of life - unlocking secrets that could help save our planet’s biodiversity.
Join Mark Blaxter, leader of the Sanger Institute’s Tree of Life programme, as he explains the genome sequencing of biodiversity.
📆 Nov 27 6pm
buff.ly/nq2Gf04
Mammal colouration is typically drab, and iridescence virtually unheard of, except in the most unlikely place: blind, subterranean golden moles. Here, researchers quantitatively confirm iridescence in 14 mammal species: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... #JRSocInterface #evolution
“Andrews adds that researchers adapting the task to other species would need to think carefully about what constitutes strong evidence: Dogs, for instance, might consider scent to be a stronger source of evidence than visual cues.”
#scicomm
www.science.org/content/arti...
🧪 🐵 🦊
G. moholi posing. Image Credit: Jamie Weir. All rights reserved.
In summer, when insects are most abundant, they are a dominant part of the diet of G. moholi.
Understanding the kinds of insects eaten by bushbabies and how they find them is key for their #conservation, and for unpicking their functional role in tropical/sub-tropical forest food-webs.
🧵 8/8
Sound may act as an important proxy for prey size in nocturnal feeding behaviour.
Bushbaby vocalisations are usually confined to social contexts, but I also made novel observations of vocalisations associated with solo foraging 🗣️👇
🧵 7/8
Furthermore, manipulative experiments using Male Driver Ants 🐜 -- a popular prey item -- suggested that while visual movement was a key driver of prey-finding behaviour in G. moholi, sound made prey items particularly attractive and increased the incidence of targeting for feeding.
🧵 6/8
Previous evidence is mixed, with some reports emphasising a primary role for Lepidoptera in the diet, others suggesting Coleoptera and Orthoptera are most important (e.g. Harcourt, 1986).
I observed G. moholi easily catch Lepidoptera mid-flight, including strong fliers such as hawk-moths.
🧵 5/8
Observing/testing predation of different prey items, I found that:
• Moths were always consumed
• Insects with distasteful or noxious secretions (Shield/Stink Bugs) were avoided
• Beetles were closely examined before consumption, and only some eaten
--> clear, species-level prey choice 🐒🐞🦋
🧵 4/8
While recording moths at a UV light trap in South Africa during Oct/Nov 2024, I was able to closely observe the Southern Lesser Bushbaby (G. moholi) foraging and predating insects drawn to the light.
The fieldwork was generously supported by @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social Davis Expedition Fund.
🧵 3/8
Much remains unknown about our #primate relatives.
E.g./ Though #insects are a key dietary component for many #nocturnal species, we still have little idea of:
• which taxa are eaten, and why
• individual/population/seasonal variation in preferences
• the #sensory stimuli used to find them
🧵 2/8
G. moholi posing. Image Credit: Jamie Weir. All rights reserved.
In my **new paper**, out now in Folia Primatologica, I shed light on the nocturnal feeding habits of the Southern Lesser Bushbaby (Galago moholi), documenting observations and experiments made during fieldwork in South Africa.
tinyurl.com/bushbaby-diet
...Scroll for more #bushbaby pics 👀👇
🧵 1/8
Excellent! When are we bringing pith helmets back to fieldwork? ⛏️
many thanks to @soerinegerlich.bsky.social for leading this study into phenological limits in Arctic communities. For me this collaboration was a real eye-opener into the potential for species to reach limits to their ability to respond plastically. Who knows what the consequences will be.
