This is a cool approach to an interesting management problem: a study used particle-tracking velocimetry (PTV) to assess the response of grass carp larvae when exposed to out-of-water acoustic signals

What co-benefits do we gain when planting trees along stream margins? We don't fully know. PhD funded by the George Mason Charitable Trust going now — mapping food webs across Mt Taranaki's "ring of restoration" 🌱🐟 Please repost among your networks More info here: tinyurl.com/TreesInsects...

What co-benefits do we gain when planting trees along stream margins? We don't fully know. PhD funded by the George Mason Charitable Trust going now — mapping food webs across Mt Taranaki's "ring of restoration" 🌱🐟 Please repost among your networks More info here: tinyurl.com/TreesInsects...

When you visit Curonian Spit, you can find a sizable colony of~5000 cormorants. You can immediately see their effects of massive nutrient flow of guano. Flock of birds as the original inspiration (airborne geological formation) for the biogeochemistry by Vladimir Vernadsky. 🧪⚒️ #Geology #Ornithology

What co-benefits do we gain when planting trees along stream margins? We don't fully know. Fully-funded PhD going now — mapping food webs across Mt Taranaki's "ring of restoration" 🌱🐟 Please repost among your networks Email: frank.burdon@waikato.ac.nz

eDNA and traditional surveys provide divergent species lists? That's not a flaw—it’s a predictable feature based on what is being measured. 🧬 This paper breaks down the eDNA "inference chain" (shedding, transport, degradation & PCR) to show why eDNA is an inferential tool, not a direct count. 👇

What does eDNA actually measure? Clarifying the conceptual foundation of molecular biodiversity surveys

Environmental DNA (eDNA) has expanded rapidly from proof-of-concept demonstrations to a widely used tool in biodiversity assessment, invasive species surveillance, fisheries management and conserva...

tandfonline.com

Can agentic AI automate fisheries and ecological modelling? 🐟🤖 While AI agents can automate complex R coding workflows, subtle statistical hallucinations mean they aren't ready for unsupervised analysis and policy advice. Great tool for experts, risky for non-experts. 🧵👇

Automating Ecological and Fisheries Modelling With Agentic <fc>AI</fc>

Fisheries modelling requires specialist training, but the availability of suitably skilled modellers is limiting delivery of science to inform management. Agentic AI can automate computing workflows ....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

This substack post by Dr Simon Lovatt offers a powerful analogy for navigating the new funding landscape from an unlikely source - the Spice Girls 1996 hit "Wannabe". simonlovatt1.substack.com/p/tell-me-wh... @waikatouniversity.bsky.social

As analyses become cheaper, real observation becomes more valuable. My latest long-form essay Are we observing the Earth *less*? A case for observatories, long-term studies, and museums in an increasingly tech-obsessed world 👇 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

Our recent study showed a 91% decline in kōura (freshwater crayfish) populations in invaded Arawa lakes 📉🐟 Our new study shows rising temperatures also pose a threat, but restoring rocky shorelines and riparian trees may give kōura a fighting chance 🪨🌿 Read more: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Littoral habitat structure influences freshwater crayfish populations in five volcanic lakes of Aotearoa New Zealand - Hydrobiologia

Freshwater crayfish are increasingly threatened by habitat degradation, declining water quality, and invasive species. In Aotearoa New Zealand, lake populations of the endemic northern freshwater cray...

link.springer.com

Trophic transfer efficiencies decrease with warming in freshwater ecosystems. Tradeoffs between primary production and TTEs may help explain why freshwater ecosystems with differing levels of production sustain similar food chain lengths (although some will benefit from trophic subsidies) #foodwebs

Global synthesis reveals systematic variation in trophic transfer efficiency across and within ecosystems

A global synthesis shows that energy transfer efficiency varies across and within ecosystems and is often below the 10% benchmark.

science.org

One of the famous stories in Te Arawa history is that of the rangatira Hatupatu, when he attempted to introduce tāmure (snapper) to the Arawa Lakes. The story holds that it was unsuccesful, despite the great effort made to bring live fish inland from the coast. Imagine if snapper were in the lakes🎣😉

I've been thinking a lot about how I do science, with the challenges of getting access to sites. Using microcosms could be an excellent alternative to help test ecological theories and new methods. I'll be interested to read this paper.

Pavel Kratina@kratina.bsky.social · last mo.

Have #natural #microcosms fulfilled the promise of #model systems? Read our new paper, with @srivastavalab.bsky.social, @ecolgonzalez.bsky.social, Nick Gotelli & others royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/article...

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

I've been thinking a lot about how we can improve freshwater biodiversity monitoring 📊🔍 This new paper may have the answers. DNA megabarcoding, combined with automated imaging & machine learning (CNNs) can provide accurate IDs, abundance, AND biomass for aquatic insects 🐛🧬

We live in a time where machines are increasingly automating routine tasks, but also creative ones. Does generative AI have a role in science communication? One tool turned a published paper into a comic - a study I lead-authored from my postdoc work on EcoImpact in Switzerland @eawag.bsky.social

Researchers with access to field stations are in a very privileged position - it is imperative that they are used to keep their functions alive in the minds of administrators

Journal of Experimental Biology@jexpbiol.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Field stations are the inspirational lifeblood of many research projects, providing essential facilities and infrastructure, and in our new Perspective series researchers from across the globe tell us about the incredible field stations where they work journals.biologists.com/jeb/collecti...

Cool study of the impact of an introduced North American freshwater fish on crayfish in New Zealand.

Frank Burdon@fburdon.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Invasive species are widely recognised as a major threat to biodiversity—yet quantifying their true impact can be challenging without long-term data. Our recent research highlights just how significant these effects can be.

Invasive species are widely recognised as a major threat to biodiversity—yet quantifying their true impact can be challenging without long-term data. Our recent research highlights just how significant these effects can be.

This fun online game is a useful educational tool for understanding more about the ecology of gammarid amphipods in streams: amphipodfeast.francoiskeck.fr

This study documents the novel use of UAVs for surveying populations of a wetland dragonfly with a high-resolution camera, along with characterising different aspects of the habitat using hyperspectral imaging

Non-invasive UAV-based monitoring of a wetland indicator dragonfly in a floating-mat wetland: implications for habitat assessment and management - Wetlands Ecology and Management

Effective wetland management requires reliable indicator species and monitoring methods that minimize ecosystem disturbance. This study presents a non-invasive UAV-based approach for monitoring the di...

link.springer.com

I was just checking the numbers for Marsden this year, and Standard Grant EOIs submitted to the Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour panel had the lowest referral rate (13.5%) of any grant type for the eight panels.

Anyone familiiar with SIA will know the troubling assumptions that need to be made about TDFs. This new preprint indicates that fractionation rates for nitrogen are temperature dependent, at least in lab populations of a cyprinid fish www.authorea.com/doi/full/10....

The role of response diversity in promoting community stability depends on disturbance regimes and is shaped by species interactions. Stability following pulse disturbances was highest when multiple interacting species uniformly exhibited strong resistance or fast recovery

Species Interactions Determine the Importance of Response Diversity for Community Stability to Pulse Disturbances

Caculations of response diversity can be based on species fundamental responses in isolation or their realised responses in the community using metrics of response dissimilarity and response divergen...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Flying changes how metabolism scales with body mass –> NEW META-ANALYSIS of insects and spiders in Ecology Letters with @vojsavagjoni.bsky.social, H. Tan, A. Hirst and D. Atkinson onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Locomotion Reveals Contrasting Responses in Body Mass‐Scaling of Metabolic Rates Between Winged and Wingless Arthropods

We test how activity and locomotor mode affect metabolic scaling in arthropods. Only winged insects show increased scaling with activity, likely due to flight-related thermal and biomechanical factor...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

“Cutting off fundamental, curiosity-driven science is like eating the seed corn. We may have a little more to eat next winter but what will we plant so we and our children will have enough to get through the winters to come?” ― Carl Sagan

What a great location for a conference ##SFS2026 I'm feeling invigorated and energized after seeing some really cool talks over the week. You can't beat the scale of the USA as an incubator for research excellence

I’ve been thinking about starting a Substack, but beyond its obvious limitations as a platform for self-promotion and rambling thoughts, there are also ethical concerns to consider. In fact, I'm at the point where I'm actively boycotting it—and you should too www.theguardian.com/media/2026/f...

Revealed: How Substack makes money from hosting Nazi newsletters

Exclusive: Site takes a cut of subscriptions to content that promotes far-right ideology, white supremacy and antisemitism

theguardian.com

I'm not superstitious, but my encounter with this adult Pteronarcys californica at the #SFS2026 social last night felt momentous - a timely reminder of the spatial footprint for riverscapes - and the cool bugs that call freshwaters home (for some of the time, at least) freshwaterscience.bsky.social

Thinking of my super powers as a stream ecologist: the ability to discern the small insect sitting on my hotel room desk as an aquatic micro-caddisfly from the family Hydroptilidae. Close to the Spokane River so not surprising, but still trying to work out how it made its way in to the room.