Ecological dark matter: Insect decline and the planetary monitoring gap | PLOS Biology

Ecological dark matter: Insect decline and the planetary monitoring gap

Wherever we look, insect numbers are declining, but most insect life on Earth is found in locations we are not actively monitoring. This Perspective discusses the insect decline and how can we build in the next decade the planetary observatory that biodiversity requires.

journals.plos.org

Historical Perspective: Sridhar et al. use the backstories of famous scientific papers in Ecology and Evolution to uncover the background roles of natural history that are written out of papers. Available now ahead of print! www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Very happy to that our large-scale collaborative weave project (w/ @annamichalik.bsky.social & @sympiotr.bsky.social ) "Plant pathogens in #insect #microbiome [...]" has been approved! @fwf-at.bsky.social @ncn.gov.pl @univie.ac.at @jagiellonskiuni.bsky.social @dome-vienna.bsky.social 1/6 👇🏽

Trait differences and coexistence in Salamanders!

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences@pnas.org · 3mo ago

There are dozens of species of similar-looking woodland salamanders in Appalachia. A study of 33 species shows that they nevertheless vary in physiological traits, such as skin resistance to water loss, metabolic rate, and cold tolerance. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/qhJW50ZhXem

Biodiversity loss isn't just about losing species—it alters how they interact, threatening the ecosystems we depend on. A new study from a largescale subtropical forest experiment reveals that specialized and diverse species interactions are key to keeping ecosystems functioning. #BEF #Forest

Multitrophic interaction networks mediate biodiversity effects on ecosystem multifunctionality - Nature Communications

Biodiversity loss alters the functioning of ecosystems by modifying how species interact. This study shows that functionally similar and specialized interactions play a crucial role in enhancing ecosy...

nature.com

How can an extremely simple equation open the door to virtually infinite complexity? Fifty years ago, Bob May’s classic paper in @nature.com on chaos showed how deterministic rules can generate unpredictability, with deep implications for ecology, physics & beyond. mym.iimas.unam.mx/ramon/docs/M...

1000 evaluators given identical resumes & told candidate used AI. Only difference on resumes was candidate’s name: Emily vs James. Study found women using AI are evaluated as less competent than men who use AI...To evaluators, women’s AI use signaled inability, while men’s AI use signaled initiative

David Ho@davidho.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Women’s use of AI is perceived as a sign of incompetence, while men’s use of AI is seen as an indication of initiative. 🤦🏻‍♂️

Only two months until the UK/Commonwealth & EU release of The World Beneath our Feet, with the US release just a month after that... It's all feeling very real all of a sudden! Pre-orders are SUPER IMPORTANT, so please reserve a copy from your preferred book seller now! #TheWorldBeneathOurFeet 🧪

Our new paper is out! We explore differences in #individual plant-pollinator #networks to understand how population processes influence the assembly of species #interactions. Check it out! besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Structural differences in individual pollinator networks across bee species reveal the importance of population‐level processes in the assembly of species interactions

By downscaling pollen-transport networks from species to individuals, we found that pollinators interacted with fewer plant species than expected under random sampling, indicating high individual spe...

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

phys.org/news/2026-06...

Cockroach genomes are packed with DNA transferred by their endosymbiont bacterial partners

Genes aren't just transferred from parents to their offspring. Nature has found other ways to pass on genetic information, even between different species. And a new study, published in the journal Pro...

phys.org

@plosbiology.org - The integration of biogeography and ecology has been limited. The emergence of new methods and high-quality ecological network data at biogeographical scales promote deeper integration of biogeography and ecology. @mncn-csic.bsky.social journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Biotic interactions biogeography: A framework for understanding how species interactions shape biodiversity patterns across scales

Biogeography and ecology have long developed in parallel. This Essay explores how new data on species interactions across large scales now allow their integration, opening fresh insights into how biod...

journals.plos.org

Across ninety years during the 20th century, #insect populations declined in #Switzerland🇨🇭with major declines from the 1930s and 1960s. Can the 21st century help recover? 🌍 www.nature.com/articles/s41... #Entomology #Nature #BiodiversityLoss

Ninety-year trends reveal sharpest insect declines in the mid-twentieth century - Nature Ecology & Evolution

Assessing the magnitude and drivers of recent biodiversity losses requires informative, long-term baseline data. Here the authors reconstruct the temporal trajectories of butterflies and saproxylic be...

nature.com

First cave Pompilid. Beautiful!

Jess Marsh@jessmarsh.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Introducing the world's only known cave-adapted spider wasp... Troglopompilus miracaecatus (Pompilidae) from the caves of the Nullarbor, Australia. A world first: Eyeless, long limbs and antennae, highly reduced wings. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #cave #wasp #biodiversity

New paper: Do #hyperparasitoids affect #plant #fitness? Plant Traits and Reproduction in a Multitrophic System. #aphids. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10..... @mitchelbourne.bsky.social @MaxAdam @cbgpmontpellier.bsky.social #Wageningen

Plant Traits and Reproduction in a Multitrophic System: The Role of Aphids, Parasitoids and Hyperparasitoids

This field mesocosm study examined the top-down effects of hyperparasitoids, parasitoids and aphids on plant growth and fitness. Parasitoids reduced aphid populations, but this effect was attenuated ...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Bilan et perspectives de recherches en cours au @cbgpmontpellier.bsky.social par des chercheurs @inrae-dpt-spe.bsky.social sur la mouche à ailes tachetées - #Drosophila suzukii - un ravageur majeur des cultures de fruits www.inrae.fr/actualites/m...

La mouche drosophile suzukii : mieux comprendre pour construire des solutions durables

Arrivée en Europe il y a une quinzaine d’années, la mouche à ailes tâchetées Drosophila suzukii s’est imposée comme un ravageur majeur des cultures de cerises, fraises, framboises, myrtilles et mûres....

inrae.fr

Unexpected expansion and regrowth in Earth’s mangrove forests over the past four decades www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Unexpected expansion and regrowth in Earth’s mangrove forests over the past four decades

Global mangrove forests have disappeared rapidly because of deforestation but have also regrown through natural regeneration and restoration. Yet their long-term trends in extent and canopy cover rema...

science.org

Interested in #plant #herbivore #predator #symbiont interactions and #thrips #biocontrol? I am recruiting a permanent lab technician at #CBGP #Montpellier. All backgrounds and identities welcome. Please repost! @cbgpmontpellier.bsky.social More info here: recrutement.cirad.fr/offre-de-emp...

This is very cool: a simple statistical test of dysbiosis, or really any microbiome composition data relative to a reference. Outperforms Bray-Curtis and every other metric, while simultaneously being very simple to compute. Probably would work on RNAseq data too.

bioRxiv Microbiology@biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Ratio Percentile Deviation (RPD): A nonparametric, compositionally robust method for measuring the divergence of a microbial sample from a reference dataset https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.05.27.728224v1

New paper out in New Phytologist 🌱 After centuries of research in Europe, we have studied only ~37% of all seed-dispersal interactions. Birds of prey, ants, and rodents are among the most understudied - yet researchers rarely flag them as gaps! nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Neglected seed dispersers and research compartmentalisation: how much do we know about what we don't know?

Geographic distribution of seed dispersal studies by disperser guild.

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Rejoignez nous ! Un profil d' #Ingénieur en administration de bases de données pour la #biodiversité et l’ #environnement est ouvert au concours externe de l' @ird-fr.bsky.social, au CBGP Candidatures jusqu'au 3 Juillet 2026 à 17h. Le profil complet est ici : ent.ird.fr/share/s/M1lS...

📖 New article Species loss alters the mesoscale structure of mutualistic networks🌍 🐏🌱 👇️ Read here buff.ly/HnWJRWT

I'm excited to share that my first chapter was just published in Ecology. If you'd like to read about how "Light pollution at night impacts monarch butterfly growth and performance," you can find it here: esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

First Ma lab #GMI paper is now online! It‘s a mini-review on insect-induced plant #galls —their coolness and research potential! Plant galls induced by insects: Coordinated developmental reprogramming and defence manipulation www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Exceptional seminar, Monday June 1st, 2pm (FR time) "Anticipating ecological disruptions with measurement of network coherence" by #Dominique_Gravel @usherbrooke.bsky.social, Canada Zoom: tinyurl.com/fdwnf2wz Pwd: DG@cbgp!01 #food_webs #ecological_networks #biodiversity

Interested in #plant #herbivore #predator #symbiont interactions and #thrips #biocontrol? I am recruiting a permanent lab technician at #CBGP #Montpellier. All backgrounds and identities welcome. Please repost! @cbgpmontpellier.bsky.social More info here: recrutement.cirad.fr/offre-de-emp...

New work out! #Coevolution and synchronized evolutionary rates in #aphid dual #endosymbiot sytems w/ Jess, Emmanuelle, Armelle, & co. doi.org/10.64898/202... @cbgpmontpellier.bsky.social @inrae-france.bsky.social @cemess.bsky.social @dome-vienna.bsky.social @univie.ac.at #SymbioSky #MicroSky

We will post weekly manuscripts published at PAMI. Today: how tomato spotted #wilt #virus facilitates non-vector #spidermite species (#Tetranychus urticae and Tetranychus evansi) on #tomato. brill.com/view/journal...

Very happy to be invited as a keynote at the SIP in Wageninen, where I did my postdoc! Come to listen about insect- #symbiont #networks across environmental and agricultural #gradients. @cbgpmontpellier.bsky.social

Alexander Haverkamp@alexhaverkamp.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Save the Date! SIP19 will bring the international insect-plant interaction 🌱 🐛 community to @w-u-r.bsky.social, 22 to 26 August 2027: event.wur.nl/sip19/home Keynote Speaker: @nkwhiteman.bsky.social, Christelle Robert, @adsteinbrenner.bsky.social, @sunsicker.bsky.social, @enricfrago.bsky.social

#StatsPubs No matter how many times you read it, this paper on hierarchical GAMs keeps giving. Clear model explanations together with R code (mgcv). So useful! doi.org/10.7717/peer... Thanks for writing @ericjpedersen.bsky.social, D. Miller, @gsimpson.bsky.social @noamross.net

Phages as ecosystem engineers of plant microbiomes: Cell Host & Microbe www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

Phages as ecosystem engineers of plant microbiomes

Phages modulate plant microbiomes through bacterial lysis and by equipping bacteria with auxiliary genes through lysogeny. In this Forum, we highlight the underappreciated role of phages in plant heal...

cell.com