One of ecology’s oldest questions - how does population growth change as density increases? - remains surprisingly contentious. In our new @plosbiology.org paper we contribute to the ongoing debate by applying the idea of “Growth-Density Inversion”: doi.org/10.1371/jour.... 1/6

Growth-density inversion in Escherichia coli reveals superlinear, not sublinear, density dependence

Sublinear density dependence has been widely reported empirically, but this is at odds with resource competition theory. This study uses a tightly controlled test in a microbial model system to reveal...

doi.org

Sublinear #DensityDependence is widely reported empirically, but is at odds with theory. @jamesaorr.bsky.social &co use a tightly controlled test in a microbial model system to reveal superlinear density dependence, so aligning empirical evidence with theory @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4vwAmEZ

Bacteriophage continue to have so much to teach us. It's in our interest to understand how they work and impact human & environmental health. New joint work led by @mariandm.bsky.social & @rantahan.bsky.social inferring single-cell latent period & burst size heterogeneity from population dynamics.

Inferring single-cell heterogeneity of bacteriophage lysis-associated life-history traits from population-scale dynamics

Theory-guided experiments reveal single-cell heterogeneity of lysis-associated bacteriophage traits from population scale data.

science.org

Evolutionary rescue in a phage community! New paper from former PhD student, Sam Greenrod, with brilliant colleague @craigmaclean.bsky.social : academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...

Rapid adaptation accelerates competitive suppression in a parasite community

Abstract. Environmental stress leads to changes in community composition by altering competitive hierarchies and pushing taxa towards extinction. Parasites

academic.oup.com

Eye-opening work by @olimeacock.bsky.social (former postdoc, now PI in Sheffield). He presents an exact mapping from steady-state consumer-resource to generalized Lotka-Volterra models, revealing that cross-feeding can lead to competition for other limiting resources. Feedback pls!

Oliver Meacock@olimeacock.bsky.social · 2mo ago

New preprint from @saramitri.bsky.social and me: tinyurl.com/3dsjnm4d The headline result - we derive a general way to connect mechanistic ecosystem models to the gLV equation. This reveals that strengthening cooperative mechanisms can make effective gLV interactions increasingly competitive. Weird!

Excited to share our new paper in @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social on data and code archiving at @britishecologicalsociety.org journals. TL;DR: Data archiving rates are high, code archiving rates are low, documentation needs to be improved! besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.....

Data‐ and code‐archiving in the British Ecological Society journals: Present status and recommendations for future improvements

Data- and code-archiving are important components of open science, as both make research more transparent, reproducible, accountable and credible, allowing future researchers to build on previous ...

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

A common complaint many people have about wind turbines: they don't like the look of them. But what lies beneath that dislike? Read more here: substack.com/home/post/p-...

Please share widely! Abstract submissions open for the 2026 Jacques Monod conference: Ecology and evolution of host-parasite interactions in a changing world! Held in beautiful Roscoff France from November 2- 6, 2026. Abstracts submission deadline : June 6 cjm.sb-roscoff.fr/en/conferenc...

Was great to be at the @hometreecharity.bsky.social conference last week! Not the usual suspects in the room, which made for some interestingly left-field discussions. These events are really important and they actually run it at a loss - so fair play to them for creating the space. Some thoughts 👇

PLEASE SHARE. PhD Opportunity with me, Ben Raymond and Jan Engelstaedter and Andrew Letten at University of Queensland. Experimentally testing mechanisms of how temperature may change selection and spread of AMR in E. coli. Coupled with some advanced modelling and sequencing. 🧪🦠 #microsky

The first Eco-Onco Exchange seminar has been postponed by one week, to Apr 22nd! Register here: forms.gle/B77tZmyzCzmp...

great summary of our newest paper - led by Abby Gilson #seaweed #MarineLife 🦑 #AlgalAwesomeness! #oceanfarmers

Annals of Botany@annbot.bsky.social · 5mo ago

🌊🌿Join us to learn about the newly published “Biodiversity-Ecosystem Functioning: Increased species diversity does not increase the productivity of cultivated kelp” in @annbot.bsky.social by Abby Gilson and co-authors. (1/9) 👉 doi.org/qsqg @nessocon.bsky.social #aobpapers #macroalgae #kelpfarming

MENI is back! Join us in Dublin this August 2026 for our 3rd Meeting for Microbial Evolution in Ireland. We are delighted to have @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social @drrebeccajhall.bsky.social @jpjhall.bsky.social and @tweethinking.bsky.social join us as keynote speakers this year. miniurl.com/MENI

New paper by Laurie Wojcik et al. where we show that response to a pulse perturbation has a hump-shaped relationship with top-down control royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...

Top-down control and species composition influence nonlinearly the short-term response of experimental food webs to a nutrient pulse perturbation

Abstract. Extreme weather events intensify with global change and frequently disturb aquatic ecosystems via, e.g. nutrient pulses through surface runoff. W

royalsocietypublishing.org

Very excited to share the latest work from our lab, which was published today in Nature! nature.com/articles/s41... PhD graduate and now post-doc Sofia Dahlman, along with co-senior author Sam Forster from The Hudson and other researchers from our lab and others.

Isolation, engineering and ecology of temperate phages from the human gut - Nature

Human host-associated cellular products may act as induction agents for bacteriophages.

nature.com

This is a real loss. Few people did as much as Manchán Magan to connect the Irish landscape to its language and culture. His books are impressive works of accessible scholarship and will hopefully be read for many years to come. #SpeirGorm

Broadcaster and scríbhneoir Manchán Magan dies aged 55

The writer, broadcaster and documentary maker Manchán Magan has died at the age of 55, his family has confirmed.

rte.ie

I have an MRC-funded PhD project available (www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin...) on how warming will change the problem of AMR. Join a small and friendly group (padpadpadpad.netlify.app/about) in (sometimes) sunny Cornwall. 🧪🦠 #microsky Please share the ad below with anyone who may be interested.

Check out this new article on null model selection for multiple stressor research. Fantastic work by Iris Pimentel from @leeselab.bsky.social within the @crc-resist.bsky.social. Freely available at: dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3...

Wolves were treated as a threat to livestock and hunted to extinction in Ireland, aided by bounties. Portrait of John Watson with hound at his side and skin of ‘last wolf in Ireland’ 1786 under their feet. Royal Dublin Society collection #InternationalWolfDay

Was great to attend a Summer Academy of the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes. Really creative and clever students - enjoyed the seminar with the students and felt honored to give an evening talk in such a nice location on trends in insect populations. #Neubeuern #Studienstiftung #Insectdecline

Want to name a real virus? I have recently discovered 9 new phages which now need names! To enter, you simply need to donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust on my JustGiving page (£2 = 1 entry) and share your email with me on donation (see link info). Please share 💚 www.justgiving.com/page/meaghan-c-1

Thrilled to announce our webinar series: 🌱📈 Quantifying Ecology 📈🌱 We are collaborating with our SIG friends to bring you quantitative methods in different ecological contexts. Kicking off with Dr @jamesaorr.bsky.social and @bes-aquaticgroup.bsky.social on 5th August. More details to come!

Final version published in @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social Kong et al. Ecosystems have multiple interacting processes that buffer against co-occurring stressors www.cell.com/trends/ecolo...

Ecosystems have multiple interacting processes that buffer against co-occurring stressors

There are multiple processes that buffer the effects of anthropogenic stressors. Much is known about how single buffering processes (e.g., biodiversity, adaptation) mitigate the effects of stressors o...

cell.com

Online now: Making sense of (sublinear) density dependence

Making sense of (sublinear) density dependence

Sublinear density dependence has been reported in numerous empirical studies and yet it is seemingly incompatible with most resource-explicit competition models. Reconciling this disconnect will either necessitate substantive revision of empirical methods or the assumptions of resource competition theory, but it also presents opportunities for original research with wide-ranging implications.

dlvr.it

Please share. 2 tenure-track T&R math/stat jobs at the University of Queensland, Australia. Amazing weather, gorgeous campus & lifestyle. 17% employer retirement contribution, lots of leave. Strong global reputation. Supports diversity @stevenstrogatz.com uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/uqcare...

Honoured to receive the 2024 Robert May prize !! 😊 🎉 Many thanks to the @britishecologicalsociety.org & @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social

Methods in Ecology and Evolution@methodsinecoevol.bsky.social · last yr.

Congratulations to the winner of our 2024 Robert May prize!! 🏆 Read more about Maëlis’ research on the methods blog 👉https://methodsblog.com/2025/04/17/robert-may-prize-2024-winner-announced-for-early-career-researcher-award/

🚨Jeremy Barr discusses how he began studying #bacteriophages, the historic use of the T-series #phages, and how they have shaped the field. #MicroSky #PhageSky www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The T-series bacteriophages are reductionist models that continue to shape the field - Nature Microbiology

Jeremy Barr discusses how he began studying bacteriophages, the historic use of the T-series phages and how they have shaped the field.

nature.com

Very happy to see this paper out, wonderful collaboration with Gaowen Yang and @jamesaorr.bsky.social & other friends Kong et al. @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social Ecosystems have multiple interacting processes that buffer against co-occurring stressors 🧪 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Ecosystems have multiple interacting processes that buffer against co-occurring stressors

There are multiple processes that buffer the effects of anthropogenic stressors. Much is known about how single buffering processes (e.g., biodiversit…

sciencedirect.com

We have announced the 2024 Robert May Prize shortlist, our award for early career researchers! 🏆 Follow the link below to see our shortlisted authors and their papers 🌎 🧪 👇

Reminder: application deadline upcoming for applications from MS + PhD students + postdocs for a Summer School on Quantitative Phage-Bacteria Dynamics Across Scales U of Maryland, College Park, June 23-27, 2025 Apply by 3/21/25: bit.ly/phageschool2...