🍁🌎 Can bioenergy crops help restore native forests? Our new paper suggests they can! We found that willow plantations can serve as an effective “nurse crop” for native hardwoods—linking renewable energy & ecological restoration. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1... @sunyesf.bsky.social

Established Short‐Rotation Willow (<fi>Salix</fi> spp.) as an Effective Facilitator of Native Hardwood Tree Regeneration in New York State, <fc>USA</fc>

In the Northeastern US, short-rotation willow biomass crops have the potential to serve as nurse crops that facilitate hardwood regeneration on former agricultural land to support afforestation effor...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

🌎🌐🍁 New paper! Our study, led by Dr. Joanna Lumsden-Pinto, shows how forest structure & understory plant communities in Long Island's pine barrens change with time since last fire to help us understand long-term wildfire effects. iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1... #ForestEcology #FireEcology

🍁🌎🌐As non-native species increasingly alter ecosystems worldwide, understanding their impacts grows in importance. Our team is studying how emerald ash borer–driven ash mortality is reshaping forested wetlands—from understory plants & microbes to forest regeneration, soils, & hydrology. Stay tuned!🌿

🍁🌎🌐Field season in full swing! Our team is surveying microclimate, seed banks, & forest plant communities across the temperate-boreal forest ecotone in four Northeastern US states. Excited to see what we learn! @sunyesf.bsky.social @sunyofficial.bsky.social #ForestEcology #ClimateChange #FieldWork

#bloomscrolling: Botanizing in Slovakia’s Western Carpathians again—an incredible mosaic of flower-rich mountains, forests, meadows, & narrow gorges. Spring is bursting with color here! 🌿🌸 You can meet the plants that I met too - on my iNaturalist page here: www.inaturalist.org/projects/flo...

Flora of the Western Carpathians, Slovakia.

Species observed during botanical explorations in Slovakia, particularly in the Western Carpathian Mountains (for now focusing mainly on Slovak Paradise and Central Slovakia). To be continued…

inaturalist.org

#bloomscrolling A wonderful trip to Scotland w/hiking & botanizing on the Isle of Skye done. Check out these Scottish early bloomers! More about plants that call this rugged landscape home is in my iNaturalist Project "Flora of the Scottish Highlands & Islands": www.inaturalist.org/projects/flo... 🍁

Azure blue meets emerald green. Unassuming yet unforgettable, the woodland forget-me-not (Myosotis sylvatica), an Eurasian native naturalized in North America. Its Greek name translates to 'mouse’s ear' because of its fuzzy, ear-shaped leaves. An early bloomer & a symbol of true love & remembrance.

🍁🌎🌐 Happy to receive the most-cited 2024 paper distinction for our Ecological Monographs paper "Mycorrhizal fungi as critical biotic filters for tree seedling establishment during species range expansions" lead by my doctoral student Jordon Tourville w/advice by Tom Horton @sunyesf.bsky.social

🍁Spring is in full swing but early-flowering forest plants—“spring ephemerals”—like skunk cabbage, trout lily, & Dutchman’s breeches are facing warming climate & high deer pressure as I & others discuss in this new piece👇 #EARTHWEEK2026 @sunyesf.bsky.social greatmountainforest.org/the-understu...

The Understudied Understory: Spring Ephemerals and the Changing Forest

A walk in the woods in April can feel confusing. The twiggy canopy and leaf-brown forest floor look like November, while the bright sun seems to indicate summer has arrived. During this brief window ...

greatmountainforest.org

Spring is going strong in Upstate New York forest understories. 🍁

🍁🌎🌐 Happy to receive the most-cited 2024 paper distinction for our Ecological Monographs paper "Mycorrhizal fungi as critical biotic filters for tree seedling establishment during species range expansions" lead by my doctoral student Jordon Tourville w/advice by Tom Horton @sunyesf.bsky.social

Eastern skunk cabbage blooms early as it melts its way out of winter. Its fleshy inflorescence generates heat, melts snow, & releases a pungent odor that attracts flies & beetles when little else is available. Often called a “famine food,” it’s toxic & required repeated boiling to become palatable.

🌎🌐🍁It’s been a pleasure to work with @pablolopezbust.bsky.social @nybg.bsky.social! The data on dry tropical forest seed traits that he assembled @hulshof.bsky.social lab @ VCU with the help of our undergrads @sunyesf.bsky.social is invaluable. What a great experience for the students too!

Catherine Hulshof@hulshof.bsky.social · 4mo ago

It's great to see students thrive. Pablo's work on tropical seed traits and dispersal has taken him across Neotropics, Caribbean, and New York too with @dovciak-lab.bsky.social. Stay tuned for more work from Pablo. #NSFfunded Enhorabuena @pablolopezbust.bsky.social news.vcu.edu/article/clas...

🌎🌐🍁Exciting experiment completed! 🌱 Our lab helped MS student Daniel Wehner wrap up a greenhouse study on how arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculum from understory plants may aid sugar maple seedling establishment in high-elevation ectomycorrhizal forests under climate warming. Stay tuned for results!

Another amazing Tropical Ecology course in Panamá 🇵🇦! From rainforests to reefs, students experienced incredible ecosystems & learned from Embera & Kuna communities. Always inspiring to see ecology come alive. Thanks to Chuck Kroll, our partners & @sunyesf.bsky.social —can’t wait for the next one!

🍁🌎 Nice article by Danny Wehner on his research “An Uphill Battle: Seed dispersal & mycorrhizal constraints on the climate-driven upslope migration of tree species…” in Mitchelliana, The New York Flora Association Newsletter 37(1) 2026. Congrats Danny! @sunyesf.bsky.social nyflora.org/mitchelliana/

Please welcome Noah Capello-MPS student in our group. Noah came to @sunyesf.bsky.social from @binghamtonu.bsky.social where he graduated summa cum laude w/Excellence Award for his capstone on transitional housing. He is now taking courses in ecology & management of invasive species & wetlands.

🌐🌎 Conspecific adult trees interact w/microsites to affect forest regeneration across climate-sensitive temperate-to-boreal forest biome transitions as shown by @nathankiel.bsky.social in an insightful analysis of our extensive forest demography data @sunyesf.bsky.social. Link in comments.

Thanks for featuring our work!

Journal of Forestry Research@forestryjfr.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Compelling ecological perspective from @dovciak-lab.bsky.social 🌍 This work highlights how fine-scale interactions shape regeneration across temperate–boreal transitions. Discover more forest dynamics research in JFR: link.springer.com/journal/11676 #ForestryResearch #JFR #research #environment 🍃🌐

Adding to forest ecology feed 🍁

Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻@dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 6mo ago

🌐🌎 Conspecific adult trees interact w/microsites to affect forest regeneration across climate-sensitive temperate-to-boreal forest biome transitions as shown by @nathankiel.bsky.social in an insightful analysis of our extensive forest demography data @sunyesf.bsky.social. Link in comments.

🌐🌎 Conspecific adult trees interact w/microsites to affect forest regeneration across climate-sensitive temperate-to-boreal forest biome transitions as shown by @nathankiel.bsky.social in an insightful analysis of our extensive forest demography data @sunyesf.bsky.social. Link in comments.

🌎Welcome our new PhD student-Wendy Owens Rios @wendyhaeco.bsky.social. Wendy is a lecturer at SUNY Geneseo developing her PhD @sunyesf.bsky.social on soil biogeochemistry, microbial ecology, & plant–soil interactions in forested wetlands impacted by ash decline due to non-native emerald ash borer.

New article with @dovciak-lab.bsky.social, Jordon Tourville, and Jay Wason out in Journal of Biogeography: “Conspecific adult dominance interacts with microsite factors to influence forest regeneration patterns across elevation” doi.org/10.1111/jbi....

Excited to share a short, behind-the-scenes video 🎥 interview highlighting my research & teaching in plant ecology @sunyesf.bsky.social—along with a look inside our greenhouses. Thanks to @tylerdorholt.bsky.social, Gavin Ellis, & Jason Kohlbrenner for the opportunity & support. youtu.be/66tkQacmqAY

Martin Dovciak Believes in the Power of Botany | Meet the Faculty

YouTube video by SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

youtu.be

New 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘢 article by Nathan Kiel. Read about how land conservation initiatives underwent rapid change in early twentieth-century Wisconsin, culminating in the protection of hundreds of local natural areas scattered across the state. @nathankiel.bsky.social #envhist #wisconsin #conservation

State Natural Areas and the Evolution of Land Conservation in Twentieth-Century Wisconsin

Land conservation initiatives underwent rapid change in early twentieth-century Wisconsin, culminating in the protection of hundreds of local natural areas scattered across the state.

environmentandsociety.org

Excited to share a short, behind-the-scenes video 🎥 interview highlighting my research & teaching in plant ecology @sunyesf.bsky.social—along with a look inside our greenhouses. Thanks to @tylerdorholt.bsky.social, Gavin Ellis, & Jason Kohlbrenner for the opportunity & support. youtu.be/66tkQacmqAY

Martin Dovciak Believes in the Power of Botany | Meet the Faculty

YouTube video by SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

youtu.be

www.linkedin.com/posts/martin...

About Shingle Shanty Preserve and Research Station | Martin Dovciak

Check out this lovely video on really cool research & education activities in the heart of the Adirondacks by our former lab member & Shingle Shanty Preserve & Research Station director Stephen Langdo...

linkedin.com

www.linkedin.com/posts/martin...

I love these fall botany field trips with my students to magical nature spots in Central New York State. Emerald forests, azure lakes, and multicolor meadows and old fields abounding with plant life… ...

I love these fall botany field trips with my students to magical nature spots in Central New York State. Emerald forests, azure lakes, and multicolor meadows and old fields abounding with plant life a...

linkedin.com

Have you ever wondered if temperate🌳 & boreal🌲 tree seedlings🌱germinate & grow best in their own leaf litter, heterospecific litter, on moss, or on bare soil? If so stay tuned for more from Tee Atwater’s honors thesis experiment completed this Fall! @sunyesf.bsky.social @sunyofficial.bsky.social

It’s great to work at one of the top-ranked doctoral degree granting institutions on sustainability. At @sunyesf.bsky.social we live what we teach and study! www.waer.org/news/2025-10...

SUNY ESF listed among the nation's leaders for sustainability

The university was recently rated as a top performer among colleges by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.

waer.org