Anthony Ricciardi
@ecoinvasions.bsky.social
Ecologist (invasive species, freshwater biodiversity, bioinvasions, aquatic ecosystems) | Professor of Biology, McGill University | Director of the Bieler School of Environment | My lab account: @ricciardilab.bsky.social
#Feral cats and other animals do far more damage than we think. At a time of species decline, we can't afford this. theconversation.com/feral-cats-l...
Feral cats likely kill far more Australian native animals than we thought: first DNA analysis
We cannot fence the whole of Australia. Therefore, we need to know which species are most at risk from cats.
theconversation.com
"For the first time since red imported fire ants were discovered in Australia 25 years ago, we have genuine reason for optimism” writes Reece Pianta, Advocacy Director at the Invasive Species Council. Read the full piece on The Point: thepoint.com.au/opinions/260...
Caddisflies using microplastics as case-building material can transfer plastics to their predators. We demonstrated this using a benthic fish, brown bullhead, feeding on Limnephilus larvae. Larval cases wth microplastics were weaker & more attractive to fish: redpath-staff.mcgill.ca/ricciardi/Pf...
Ecological roulette in the Strait of Hormuz: “Species will certainly be departing the Persian Gulf on and in ships—that’s the inevitable part,” said Jim Carlton. “But we have a difficult time predicting when and where invasions will occur.” #bioinvasions insideclimatenews.org/news/0108202...
A Fleet Idled by Conflict Is Now Spinning an ‘Ecological Roulette’ Across the World’s Ports - Inside Climate News
Vessels stalled for months in the Strait of Hormuz are fouled with marine life. Scientists agree some will seed species invasions as the ships disperse. What they can’t say is whether anyone would not...
insideclimatenews.org
In epidemiology, when a disease carrier infects a large number of individuals that cause a chain reaction of disease spread, it's called a 'superspreader event'. The same applies to a vector (ships) introducing invasive species to a large number of environments (ports). www.cbc.ca/news/world/h...
'Worst-case scenario': Ships blocked from the Strait of Hormuz pose invasive species threat | CBC Climate Change News
Ships stalled in the Gulf region due to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz could pose an 'immense' threat, according to a paper published last week. Experts say biofouling on hundreds of ships over ...
cbc.ca
Childlike awe (joyful surprise & deep curiosity) about the natural world has driven many people, including me, to become scientists. And we never lose it. Listen here to what it sounds like.
Michelle says: Be kind. Always. ❤️@snarkysillysad.bsky.social · 4d agoScientists of the Nautilus research ship capture a Big Fin Squid on camera, at 5454m (17’800 ft) depth. This was their live reaction: 🔊 #AGoodPlace
RESEARCH: Climate Change Enhances the Success of Marine Invasive Species. Authored by Dr. Nicola Smith and Dr. William Cheung @ubccoru.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #OpenAcess @globalchangebio.bsky.social
Climate Change Enhances the Success of Marine Invasive Species
Climate change is associated with increased marine invasion success, especially over longer time scales. Short-term experiments showed variable and non-significant responses, whereas medium-term obse...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Prehistoric mass invasions: The Great American Biotic Interchange www.sciencenews.org/article/mamm...
Mammals moving between the Americas stopped over in Mexico
Ancient mammals may have had an easier time moving across the Isthmus of Panama from north to south thanks to Mexico’s climate.
sciencenews.org
"Ecology needs to develop, not swarms of mutually antagonistic theories..., but a new kind of comparative ecology that would bring them all into perspective. For unfortunately, Nature cannot be understood by pretending that it is simple." - Charles Elton, Animal Ecology (preface, 1965 ed.)
This is why blindly using generative AI is a very, very bad idea. It doesn’t *know* anything… “A Reuters analysis found the image of the map … contained an artificial intelligence watermark that signals it was made with OpenAI tools.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
US government map of Africa mislabels every country at global conference
State department ‘takes full responsibility’ for erroneous, widely shared chart displayed at Aids conference in Brazil
theguardian.com
The authors calculated average impact severity of invasions for each country and found that it is higher in the Global South despite a reporting bias for the Global North. "Weak governance and limited management capacity are the main drivers of high impact severity." www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Invasive species’ environmental impacts are more severe in the Global South
Invasive alien species (IAS) are a major threat to biodiversity, yet their impact distribution remains poorly understood. Global biodiversity assessments suggest the highest impacts in wealthy countri...
science.org
"Nature is now reaching us in a kind of sanitized, pre-interpreted, pre-digested way. Yet what good are a bunch of reports, dashboards, notifications, maps, and visualizations, if no one knows what it means?" tnature.substack.com/p/are-we-obs...
Are we observing the Earth *less*?
A case for observatories, long-term studies, and museums in an increasingly tech-obsessed world
tnature.substack.com
Charles Elton (1927) defined ecology as "scientific natural history", recognizing that observing species in their environment is essential to understanding their distribution & abundance. This implies that experiments and modeling should be guided by - rather than exclude - field observations.
Jeremy Yoder says no war@jbyoder.org · last wk.Natural history is dying; long live the natural historians In which I manage to make one of the oldest systematic anxieties in ecology and evolutionary biology about my personal natural historical imposter syndrome
"Climate change emerged as a ubiquitous threat, being the dominant threat for 65% of all islands, followed by land-use change (22%) and biological invasions (13%)" I would be interested to know what kinds of synergistic interactions occur between these threats, if such information exists.
Céline Bellard@celinebellard.bsky.social · last wk.We just got published our new paper, exploring 16,000 islands exposure to global changes, more than 65% threatened by climate change, 22% by land use and 13% by biological invasions ! @claramarino.bsky.social www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... @cnrs.fr @pnas.org @univparissaclay.bsky.social
Nice piece on the effect of invasive mussels on #GreatLakes food webs and fish, but mussels have not "helped clean the lake system of phosphates..."; they've just re-distributed them to the benthos, fueling benthic algae.
Anthony Ricciardi@ecoinvasions.bsky.social · last wk.Further contradicting the claim that invasive mussels have benefited the Great Lakes: Filtering activities of zebra & quagga mussels remove phytoplankton that the prey of lake whitefish feed on, setting off "a calamitous chain reaction further up the food chain." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Further contradicting the claim that invasive mussels have benefited the Great Lakes: Filtering activities of zebra & quagga mussels remove phytoplankton that the prey of lake whitefish feed on, setting off "a calamitous chain reaction further up the food chain." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
The Great Lakes’ most emblematic fish could be consigned to history books
A delicacy for centuries and a key part of Native tradition, the lake whitefish has seen its population crash. Researchers know why … but stopping it is another matter
theguardian.com
Invasive species are an evolving threat: how we respond is crucial www.theguardian.com/flinders-uni... #invasivespecies #ferals
Invasive species are an evolving threat: how we respond is crucial
As climate change and other factors intensify the threats from invasive species, researchers are finding smarter, more connected ways to protect ecosystems
theguardian.com
The last part of our letter to Canadian gov't. The 'Discussion paper' proposes to eliminate the 'Jeopardy test' of the Species at Risk Act- that will legalize actions known to imperil endangered species. The Cons will enthusiastically apply it when back in power www.sfu.ca/~amooers/sci...
Marine invasive species are poised to become an even greater threat to ocean biodiversity as climate change accelerates their success, according to a study by Dr. Nicola Smith @concordia.ca and Dr. William Cheung @ubccoru.bsky.social @science.ubc.ca oceans.ubc.ca/2026/07/27/c...
Trout species have been introduced beyond their native range in several parts of the world, and some native species have suffered. One of these is the swan galaxis. Should the galaxis be relegated to trout-free streams, or should the invasive be eliminated? 🌍🌰 www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07...
The efforts to save the Tasmanian fish at 'imminent risk' of extinction
Conservation efforts are showing some signs of success for a tiny, endemic Tasmanian fish. But its main threat is introduced trout, which is prized by anglers.
abc.net.au
In his 1995 paper, "Necessity and chance: deterministic chaos in ecology and evolution", Robert May reminds us that very simple & fully deterministic rules can produce time series that look like random noise - and thus explain some complex biological phenomena. He ends the paper with enthusiasm:
Luca@lucagalletti.bsky.social · last wk.The double pendulum isn’t random and it is not broken physics. It is deterministic chaos, a system governed by precise rules that can still behave unpredictably. It’s one of the most iconic and widely studied examples of chaos theory in physics, mathematics, and engineering. IG: @quantumdigest
