Phil Stevenson
@philstevenson.bsky.social
Prof in plant sciences | Kew.org | NRI.org | pollinators | sustainable food | chemical ecology | ecological pest management | guitarist | @sheducationband | evidence based views | FRES | FRSC | https://www.kew.org/science/our-science/people/phil-stevenson
Our new paper is just out in #ScienceAdvances Plant diversity modifies multi-trophic interactions in croplands, grasslands and forests www.science.org/doi/10.1126/.... A huge data crunch of 149 field studies - Nian-Feng Wan deserves the credit for this outstanding research.
Plant diversity modifies multi-trophic interactions in croplands, grasslands and forests
Plant diversity differentially affects trophic interactions across ecosystems.
science.org
The Bees, Pollinators and Invertebrates APPG held its first oral evidence session for our inquiry into invasive species and pollinator health 🐝 In particular, thanks to Helen Roy, @philstevenson.bsky.social and @jeffollerton.bsky.social for giving such engaging and detailed evidence!
Two-thirds of EU citizens back UK rejoining bloc, survey finds Even voters for far-right and Eurosceptic parties back closer relations, polling says www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Two-thirds of EU citizens back UK rejoining bloc, survey finds
Even voters for far-right and Eurosceptic parties back closer relations, polling says
theguardian.com
here is a pic of what I think is a carpenter bee near lizard point in Cornwall UK. It looks superficially like a Xylocopa virginica which is a USA native species but it is in @stevenfalk.bsky.social’s book as presumably a regular vagrant - can anyone confirm? Size of a large bumble bee. Thx
Conservationists alarmed by drastic cuts to key UK fund for global nature protection. Conservation groups warn slashing #DarwinInitiative will put species & habitats in more jeopardy, & set back efforts to halt decline in nature www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Conservationists alarmed by drastic cuts to key UK fund for global nature protection
Conservation groups warn slashing Darwin Initiative will put species and habitats in jeopardy, and set back efforts to halt decline in nature
theguardian.com
UK’s growing green economy worth more than £100bn a year, research finds Net zero industry accounts for more than a million jobs and benefits whole country, according to CBI Economics www.theguardian.com/environment/...
UK’s growing green economy worth more than £100bn a year, research finds
Net zero industry accounts for more than a million jobs and benefits whole country, according to CBI Economics
theguardian.com
‘It’s a great healer’: why being outdoors in nature means so much to us Many of those who love spending time in Britain’s green places say it is awe-inspiring, calming and therapeutic www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘It’s a great healer’: why being outdoors in nature means so much to us
Many of those who love spending time in Britain’s green places say it is awe-inspiring, calming and therapeutic
theguardian.com
BBC news says UKs hottest location was Kew Gardens at 34.8C. So how does this paper make sense? Kumar et al. 2024. Urban heat mitigation by green and blue infrastructure: drivers, effectiveness &future needs, The Innovation. Botanic Gardens reduce temp by 5C. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Urban heat mitigation by green and blue infrastructure: Drivers, effectiveness, and future needs
The combination of urbanization and global warming leads to urban overheating and compounds the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events due to …
sciencedirect.com
Half of UK adults say they spend less than three hours a week outside in nature www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Half of UK adults say they spend less than three hours a week outside in nature
Most people have joyful memories of playing outside as children – and now wildlife charities are urging people to ‘rewild their inner child’
theguardian.com
My garden in South west London is full of Digitalis foxgloves ready and waiting for bumble bees but there are zero. My nest box is already full of red masons and the hairy footed flower bees were as usual out in force - males and then females - anyone have any ideas? Barely seen any sign this year.
Trade-offs between nature and people in Ethiopia’s protected areas demonstrate challenges in translating global conservation targets into national realities. Conservation costs and often the least able to pay. Great work from James Borrell at RBG Kew. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Trade-offs between nature and people in Ethiopia’s protected areas demonstrate challenges in translating global conservation targets into national realities - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Quasi-experimental analysis of the effects of Ethiopia’s protected areas on environmental and human wellbeing is combined with surveys of conservation professionals to explore why improving protected ...
nature.com
People with cognitive decline or early-stage dementia saw their symptoms improve when given bespoke treatment plans that targeted their personal nutritional deficiencies, ongoing infections and environmental exposures
Symptoms of early dementia reversed by bespoke treatment plans
People with cognitive decline or early-stage dementia saw their symptoms improve when given bespoke treatment plans that targeted their personal nutritional deficiencies, ongoing infections and environmental exposures
newscientist.com
A chapter from Juri Felix's thesis (co-supervised with @philstevenson.bsky.social) on effects of tree species diversity on growth and leaf traits in Scots pine and Norway spruce is now published #OA in @oikosjournal.bsky.social May issue dx.doi.org/10.1002/oik....
Brood-site pollination mutualisms are plant–insect interactions where plants provide brood sites for insects that pollinate flowers but imposes conflicting fitness costs as larvae feed on floral tissues, while the plant gains pollination. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Single-compound floral signaling stabilizes cooperation in an obligate brood-site pollination mutualism
How conflict-prone brood-site pollination mutualisms persist remains a central question in evolutionary ecology.1,2,3,4 We demonstrate that a single, …
sciencedirect.com
US spending on ‘reckless’ Iran war could have saved 87m lives, says UN Head of UN’s humanitarian agency frustrated that $2bn weekly cost of conflict comes amid big cuts to aid budgets www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...
US spending on ‘reckless’ Iran war could have saved 87m lives, says UN
Head of UN’s humanitarian agency frustrated that $2bn weekly cost of conflict comes amid big cuts to aid budgets
theguardian.com
Once lost, now found: Five “missing” bird species rediscovered in 2025, offering hope news.mongabay.com/2026/04/once...
Once lost, now found: Five "missing" bird species rediscovered in 2025, offering hope
Five “missing” bird species — not seen, heard or documented in the wild for a decade or more — were “found” in 2025, according to the 2026 annual update to the Lost Birds List. It’s a tally of species...
news.mongabay.com
JD Vance says “I think it’s very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology.” 🤣🤣🤣 The “Christian right” is neither. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Is the pope Catholic? JD Vance thinks he has an answer | Marina Hyde
When it comes to theology, Donald Trump’s vice-president clearly knows best. Are we about to see an American break with Rome, asks Guardian columnist Marina Hyde
theguardian.com
Four benefits of going out in the rain and why rain smells. www.bbc.co.uk/future/artic...
Four benefits of going out in the rain
Humans are more sensitive to the smell of rain than sharks are to blood. And rain has some surprising benefits for our bodies too – especially when it comes to our mood.
bbc.co.uk
Lovely people, these Reform UK candidates for the upcoming election, and great to know they're on our side.
The UK government will invest £60 million over the next three years – more than double the previous round of funding – into the Species Recovery Programme, marking the largest ever government investment in directly supporting threatened species. www.gov.uk/government/n...
Largest ever Government investment in threatened species recovery
A total £90 million funding for species recovery across England
gov.uk
Also the Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Biosustainability at Technical University of Denmark; the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, and Natural Resources Institute at University of Greenwich @philstevenson.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Engineered yeast provides rare but essential pollen sterols for honeybees - Nature
Genetic engineering of a yeast strain provides rare but essential pollen sterols for honeybee colonies.
nature.com
“Half of calories produced on croplands are available for people to eat. The calories ‘lost’ to inefficiency of the food system (49.9%) is enough to support 7.2 billion people [pa] Beef production is the largest source of calories lost by converting feed to food” iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
Only half of the calories produced on croplands are available as food for human consumption
Only half of the calories produced on croplands are available as food for human consumption, West, Paul C, Gerber, James S, Cassidy, Emily S, Stiffman, Samuel
iopscience.iop.org
Specialization & adaptation in pollen sterol use by wild bees - our new paper in iScience. 56 bee species analyzed to determine which pollen sterols they use. The data suggest an ecological rather than phylogenetic driver of bee sterol composition @rbgkew.bsky.social www.cell.com/iscience/pdf...
Specialization and adaptation in pollen sterol use by wild bees
Sterols are stabilizing components of membranes and hormone precursors in eukaryotes. Honeybees incorporate a subset of pollen-derived sterols into th…
sciencedirect.com
Rightwing narrative fuelling false belief UK public oppose net zero, study finds Reform, Tory and some media rhetoric runs contrary to poll showing far more voters for net zero than against it. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Rightwing narrative fuelling false belief UK public oppose net zero, study finds
Reform, Tory and some media rhetoric runs contrary to poll showing far more voters for net zero than against it
theguardian.com
Plantwatch: the Natal crocus co-opts fire, bees and ants to reproduce Perhaps the biggest surprise is that it tricks ants into moving its seeds with a scent that mimics their larvae. www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
Plantwatch: the Natal crocus co-opts fire, bees and ants to reproduce
Perhaps the biggest surprise is that it tricks ants into moving its seeds with a scent that mimics their larvae
theguardian.com
Fantastic opportunity @nhmdk.bsky.social for 3 tenured positions.
Nina Rønsted@ninaronsted.bsky.social · 5mo agoDeadlines approaching. NHM Denmark @nhmdk.bsky.social in Copenhagen seeks 3 new Tenure Track Assistant Professor & Curator's to help develop our 14 million global collections dating back 400 years. Lepidoptera 22/3 lnkd.in/eTUk9iA5 Bryophytes 23/3 lnkd.in/eEaXnNnb Mollusca 30/3 lnkd.in/eScSZYBq
Deadlines approaching. NHM Denmark @nhmdk.bsky.social in Copenhagen seeks 3 new Tenure Track Assistant Professor & Curator's to help develop our 14 million global collections dating back 400 years. Lepidoptera 22/3 lnkd.in/eTUk9iA5 Bryophytes 23/3 lnkd.in/eEaXnNnb Mollusca 30/3 lnkd.in/eScSZYBq
The age of extinction ‘We cannot replace USAID, but we can do big things’: conservation plots a future without America. Trump cuts to biodiversity funding have imperiled species, habitats & the people who defend both. Now the world is seeking a new way forward www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘We cannot replace USAID, but we can do big things’: conservation plots a future without American money
The Trump administration’s cuts to biodiversity funding have imperiled species, habitats and the people who defend both. Now the world is seeking a new way forward
theguardian.com
