I am recruiting a PhD student next year! If you want to work on conservation in working landscapes, consider applying. If interested, please fill out this Google Form in lieu of an email inquiry (forms.gle/1pMESJ5ME8uK...). Check out our website to learn more about us: karp.ucdavis.edu

My department, Evolution and Ecology at UC Davis is hiring a plant evolution position! I am biased, but it's a great department 😃 apply here: recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07777

I am excited to announce a job for an Asst Prof in Plant Evolution in the dept. of Evolution and Ecology at @ucdavis.bsky.social. We're looking broadly, from macro (speciation, comparative genomics, evo-devo) to micro (pop biology, adaptive evolution, evo-eco). recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07777

@tiffanydobbyn24.bsky.social just wrote a wonderful article about Karen Gallardo's ongoing field season on barn owls, rodents, and noise in California vineyards... Check it out! caes.ucdavis.edu/news/what-ba... @ucdavisnews.bsky.social

What Barn Owls Hear Over California Vineyards

After the sun sets and darkness falls over the vineyards near Lodi, American barn owls start to glide above the grapevines in search of rodents below. As the birds hunt, researchers at the University ...

caes.ucdavis.edu

Thrilled to share our paper showing that warming doesn't favor all pests... it's more complicated that & thermal traits don't explain the variation! Thanks to an amazing author team & Mia Lippey in particular for all her hard work. www.ucdavis.edu/news/scienti... www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10....

Scientists Dispute Hypothesis That Climate Change Will Unleash Massive Ag Pest Populations

The widespread hypothesis that climate warming will result in unprecedented agricultural pest populations and cause food insecurity worldwide is oversimplified, according to a new study by a team led ...

ucdavis.edu

🌱 From UC Davis: Warming does not drive universal crop pest outbreaks, but some natural enemies may struggle more than pests as temperatures rise. (Mia Lippey, Emily Meineke, Jay Rosenheim) ▶️ www.ucdavis.edu/news/scienti... #ClimateChange #PlantSciences #Agriculture

Scientists Dispute Hypothesis That Climate Change Will Unleash Massive Ag Pest Populations

The widespread hypothesis that climate warming will result in unprecedented agricultural pest populations and cause food insecurity worldwide is oversimplified, according to a new study by a team led ...

ucdavis.edu

🐝From PNAS: Field data challenge predictions of universal pest outbreaks under warming, showing crop pests and beneficial insects respond differently by species. (Mia K. Lippey, Jay A. Rosenheim, Daniel S. Karp, Emily K. Meineke) ▶️ www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... #Entomology #PlantScience #Climate

Field data challenge predictions of universal crop pest proliferation under warming | PNAS

Models generated from laboratory-based thermal performance experiments predict that arthropod crop pest densities will escalate under rising temper...

pnas.org

Super fun big day yesterday with Rob Furrow, Jay Riggio, and Zane Pickus From midnight with bitterns/rails in a coastal marsh, to dusk in the desert, to flammulated owls in the Sierras! Despite fog (which killed sea watches) and absence of shorebirds... 215 spp across 10 counties and 709 miles!

Today, I joined patients, researchers, scientists, and advocates at the Capitol for the Save Science, Save Lives rally. We gathered together to fight for my bill, SB 895, to protect the lifesaving scientific, medical, and environmental research the Trump administration is trying to destroy.

Incredible video produced by the Wild Farm Alliance on all the cool work coming out of Napa Valley songbird project. Check it out! youtu.be/ISj5gxifUWU

Research Shows: Birds & Vineyards are Mutually Beneficial

YouTube video by Wild Farm Alliance

youtu.be

So thrilled to have spent an evening capturing owls for Karen Gallardo Cruz's amazing project examining noise impacts on owls and rodents on vineyard... Some very cool science to come!!!

We're looking for a junior specialist to work on a fun project exploring seagrass local adaptation across the whole state of California! It should be a good mix of field and molecular work. Please share with folks you think would be interested! recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07605

Jr. Specialist - Stachowicz/Bay Lab

University of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now!

recruit.ucdavis.edu

@westernu.ca did a write up on our new paper! Forgive me for being proud of this contribution. ☺️ news.westernu.ca/2026/03/rain... #ornithology #birds #meta-analysis #rain

New Western research reveals how rainfall shapes bird populations

New study shows rainfall patterns play a powerful role in shaping bird populations and which species are most vulnerable as precipitation becomes more erratic.

news.westernu.ca

Thrilled to share our new paper out in @science.org, led by François Leroy and Petr Keil! Using the Breeding Bird Survey, we document not only a continent-wide decline in bird abundance since the 1980s — but, crucially, the acceleration of these declines over time. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Acceleration hotspots of North American birds’ decline are associated with agriculture

Human activities might have accelerated declines of population abundance, but this acceleration remains underexplored. Using 1033 North American Breeding Bird Survey routes, we analyze abundance chang...

science.org

And here is some of the amazing news coverage of our paper. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/26/c... by @catrineinhorn.bsky.social

Birds Aren’t Just Declining. They’re Declining Faster, a New Study Finds.

nytimes.com

So thrilled to share this awesome perspective paper, led by @nperezmendez.bsky.social, discussing how climate mitigation strategies for rice agriculture also need to consider biodiversity impacts! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Climate Change Mitigation in Rice Farming Should Account for Biodiversity

Climate change mitigation and biodiversity loss are closely linked challenges, yet agricultural strategies often address them separately. Focusing on rice farming, this article shows that widely prom...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Néstor Pérez-Méndez@nperezmendez.bsky.social · 8mo ago

🚨 New paper out in Global Change Biology @globalchangebio.bsky.social Climate mitigation in rice farming can’t operate in a carbon tunnel vision but needs to incorporate a spatiotemporal approach to prevent unintended negative side effects in freshwater biodiversity. doi.org/10.1111/gcb....

“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

Tired of lumping all insectivores together? Now we can appreciate a quantitative breakdown of foraging ecology across all birds!

Ferran Sayol@ferransayol.bsky.social · 10mo ago

New paper out! 🐦📊 We realease AVONICHE, a global dataset with detailed information on the proportional use of 32 foraging niches, combining dietary categories with the behaviours and substrates used to access resources. Openly access the paper and data in GEB: doi.org/10.1111/geb....

New job alert! We're hiring a short-term technician from mid May to late August to survey birds and pests in lettuce fields across the California Central Coast. Housing provided, pay is $20-23. Check out the job ad to apply: karp.ucdavis.edu/join-the-lab/

🍒🪶Excited for our new article to come out in @jappliedecology.bsky.social We show that falcons attracted to orchards using nestboxes reduce food safety risks and crop damage from wild birds. besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Falcons reduce pre‐harvest food safety risks and crop damage from wild birds

In the absence of American kestrels, there are more birds in orchards. This leads to increased crop damage and more bird faecal contamination.

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Excited to hype up this excellent paper led by Mia Lippey, finishing up her PhD at @ucdavis.bsky.social, and in collaboration with @beckyck.bsky.social, @dskarp.bsky.social + others, finding that once again in (agro)ecology "it depends". 👩‍🔬 🐞🪲🌍🌐🧪 esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirec...

Amazing morning tagging along for the salmon research on Putah Creek!

You may have heard that the UC decided to cancel the Presidential Postdoc program, a decision which lots of folks found incredibly short-sighted. But we just got an email from UC Pres Milliken that the fellowship program is back, baby! (at least for the time being, but hey, it's something)

If you're an undergrad looking for a great biodiversity/conservation field course, please check this out. Run by my buddy Jordan Karubian through Tulane U.

First time chasing a rare bird with the kiddo... a total success! (after a mild scare when a Sharp-shinned Hawk flew off with a bird in its talons that we thought was our Sagebrush Sparrow.)

The Bodega Marine Lab and @ucdavis.bsky.social were on @jeopardyofficial.bsky.social last night! 🎉 We’ll take "Ways to Make a Marine Scientist’s Day” for $1,000, please, and give a big shoutout to our @whiteabalone.bsky.social team! 📺: Season 42, E9434 - Week 10, Episode 49

New agroecology research in "Ecological Applications"👇

Daniel Karp@dskarp.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Another really cool pest paper just came out in @esajournals.bsky.social! Led by Mia Lippey, we show how variable pest responses are to landscape context... even in the same cropping system! esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

We showed that they vary even within the same genus doi.org/10.1111/1365... (shameless plug 😅)

Spatiotemporal isolation of oilseed rape fields reduces insect pest pressure and crop damage

We find that there is no one fits all approach in designing landscapes for flea beetle regulation as habitat use and scales of effect are species-specific for these pests. However, increasing the spa....

doi.org

Another really cool pest paper just came out in @esajournals.bsky.social! Led by Mia Lippey, we show how variable pest responses are to landscape context... even in the same cropping system! esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

Kiddo went all out on my birthday cake this year... With a little help from @rachaelabay.bsky.social :)