Happy to see this being published: lead by Veronika Fontana, we examined changes of traits of butterflies, ants, beetles, and grasshoppers along elevation in our outdoor lab #LTSERMatsch (at @euracalpenv.bsky.social ). 🦋🐜🦗🪲🏔️ w/ @gniedrist.bsky.social @jseeber.bsky.social @eliaguariento.bsky.social

Basic and Applied Ecology@basicapplecol.bsky.social · yesterday

🦋🏔️ New article: How do arthropod traits shift with elevation? Across four groups in Italy's Vinschgau Valley, orthopterans and butterflies lose trait diversity higher up, while ants gain it. 🐜 DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba... @gfoesoc.bsky.social

🦋🏔️ New article: How do arthropod traits shift with elevation? Across four groups in Italy's Vinschgau Valley, orthopterans and butterflies lose trait diversity higher up, while ants gain it. 🐜 DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba... @gfoesoc.bsky.social

Kudos to the organisation team and speaker of @bes-soilecogroup.bsky.social for the #SoilEcologyInPractice conference in Stirling! 👏 I really enjoyed it, thx that I could show my latest results from #BEN-EAF (poster --> doi.org/10.13140/RG....). Great excursion, great people, hope to see you soon! 🫶

In our (totally unbiased) opinion this is the perfect way to end a conference. #SoilEcologyInPractice delegates either hiked to the summit of Dumyat Hill, Stirling or took part in a fungal foray. Which would you choose? Drop any photos from today in the comments below ⬇️🍄⬇️

Amazing visuals and figures on Swiss Alpine Biodiversity! 😲 In collaboration with @gmba-ipo.bsky.social ! Check it out! ⤵️ swissalpinebiodiversity.ch

Working with #arthropod #bodymass in #ecology? 🕷️🪲🦟🦗🐜🐝🪳🐞 Then this preprint is for you! Batch-measuring of body length, width, and area and calculation of individual level body mass! ⚖️ This is a game changer!🌐 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... @wslresearch.bsky.social @uni-wuerzburg.de @ethz.ch

Next in #BEN-EAF: look at the details! 🔎 We will identify some #SoilFauna to species level to close distribution gaps in the @cairngormsnews.bsky.social. #Carabidae like this Carabus problematicus are straightforward, but other smaller critters not. Fortunately, @hutton.ac.uk has in-house experts. 🤝

Hm, I see no difference guys! Maybe because I am using mapy.com and @organicmaps.bsky.social , two REAL free and open European map projects, not indulging every strange mood of a elderly president. 🤓 #LakeOntario #BuyEuropean #BuyCanadian #GoEuropean #BoycottGoogle #Maps

I’ve just had my say on our future Euro banknotes. Have your say too! There are designs with birrrrrds. 😍 www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/banknot...

Future banknotes

The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central bank of the European Union countries which have adopted the euro. Our main task is to maintain price stability in the euro area and so preserve the purch...

ecb.europa.eu

Counting, sorting, identifying. 🤓 Time to check all the alpine #SoilFauna from soil samples & pitfall traps from the Ben Avon plateau (@cairngormsnews.bsky.social) in #Scotland. After a nice sampling season, I am in the soil labs of @hutton.ac.uk in Aberdeen. Very promising first results already! 🤞

On the way home after a wonderful @uissi-social.bsky.social Thanks to all and hopefully see you in 4 years in South Africa @monitant.bsky.social @melvinopolka.bsky.social @euracalpenv.bsky.social

Working with #SoilRespiration of #SoilMicrobiota and/or #MountainSoils? Then check out the paper of Magdalena Nagler from @uniinnsbruck.bsky.social! Easy magazine article and paper in the link below. (text in EN, DE, and IT! Kudos to our #EuracResearch press team) www.eurac.edu/en/magazine/...

Alpine Soil Microbiome & Climate Change: New Study | Eurac Research

How do mountain soils breathe? A new study provides a precise picture of microbial metabolism in alpine meadow soils under changing environmental conditions.

eurac.edu

Revealed: the top 10 invertebrates of the year

Revealed: the top 10 invertebrates of the year

At last! It’s time for our invertebrate of the year competition as voted for by you. Today, the common woodlouse – come back on Tuesday to find out who else made the top 10

theguardian.com

Field work seems to be over for now in our #BEN-EAF outgoing mobility project in the #Cairngorms. We did sample soil for #eDNA #metabarcoding and collected our pitfall traps. It was a great and quite warm sampling weather! 😎 Next: do some invertebrate identification in the labs of @hutton.ac.uk.

Back in Obergurgl for my yearly high alpine animal ecology course, as always the highlight of my teaching year 💪🏻⛰️🕷️🪱

Peacock spiders are only 4mm long, but their courtship dance rivals any bird of paradise. Australia has over 90 species of these tiny, ultra-colorful performers.

What is a Southtyrolean – addicted to mountains – doing in #Scotland at the weekend? Well... 🤠 Ben Nevis (1345m) - highest mountain of 🇬🇧 & 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Sgùrr Alasdair (992m) - highest mountain on Skye The Storr (719m) - top above busy Old Man of Storr (Skye) ➕ often being alone or very few people! So nice! 🧘

Field work half-time for #BEN-EAF! ⛰️ We took #SoilFauna samples, and heat-extract them in the soil lab at @hutton.ac.uk. Mainly springtails & mites! Also: we got ground beetles, wolf spiders, and harvestmen from pitfall traps. 🕷️🪲 Thanks again to Andrea Britton and Debbie Fielding for the help!

Here we go: pitfall traps are collecting now critters at the #alpine plateau of Ben Avon (@cairngormsnews.bsky.social, Scottish #Highlands). 🕷️🪲🐛 4 habitat types, 3 pitfall traps each: Maybe some new records? Thanks to Andrea Britton & Debbie Fielding from @hutton.ac.uk! ✌️ #BEN-EAF #AlpSoil_Lab

Some good news for the @mebnetwork.bsky.social (former #SoilTemp). 🌡️ New #TOMST soil temperature and soil humidity loggers are now installed in #alpine habitats of the #ScottishHighlands, in the @cairngormsnews.bsky.social, as part of my #BEN-EAF project on alpine soil fauna at the @hutton.ac.uk.

While samplings of #alpine beasties in the @cairngormsnews.bsky.social for my #BEN-EAF project at @hutton.ac.uk are still in the preparation, here some impressions of the critters I've found while hiking. As temperatures go up, so more activity is expected, right @naturescot.bsky.social? 🤓 🕷️🐛🪱🧬

The fate of mountain biodiversity in a warming world www.nature.com/articles/s44...

The fate of mountain biodiversity in a warming world - Nature Reviews Biodiversity

Species living on mountains are thought to be especially vulnerable to ongoing climate change. This Review explores past and present responses of mountaintop species to climate warming to help to&nbsp...

nature.com

A livestream of a volcano in the Philippines captured a meteor crashing to Earth today. What are the odds? Mayon Volcano, Location: Albay, Luzon, Philippines

never pass on the symphylan

Preparations for my #BEN-EAF project as visiting scientist at @hutton.ac.uk are still ongoing, but I could hike in the Scottish #Highlands already! Looking forward to taking #alpine #SoilFauna samples (cores and pitfall traps) and to compare these with #eDNA samplings. 🕷️🧬 #MountainSoilBiodiversity

Achievement unlocked! ☝️BUT!!! All the thanks go to @mdainese.bsky.social for his hard work on the review on "Global change experiments in mountain ecosystems: A systematic review". 🙏 Read it openly here: doi.org/10.1002/ecm.... #AlpineEcology #MountainBiodiversity #FunctionalEcology #GlobalChange

Two weeks ago, we had our MonitAnt workshop with all project partners in the beautiful Bavarian Forest National Park. We even managed a short field trip, where everyone enjoyed being surrounded by wood ants and their myrmecophiles (see picture). 😉

First day for me today at The James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen, Scotland! I will do my research on alpine soil fauna here for the next five months and check out what "beasties" we can find in the remote and astonishing Highlands. 🕷️🪲🪱 Thanks for the warm welcoming today. 🤗 @jennistockan.bsky.social

We are hosting our first conference! Join us in Stirling, UK 📍between the 8th and 10th of September 2026 📅 for an exciting line up of talks, workshops and field excursions 🥾 🪴. We can't wait to meet you all! www.britishecologicalsociety.org/content/soil...