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drdave.bsky.social
Professor of Ecology, educator, maker | ecology, mistletoe, acoustics, conservation | updates on research, family & other beasts. Living on unceded Wiradjuri country #AwesomeBirds #WildOz
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Best thing today happened yesterday with @judykirk.bsky.social - very curious #Rakali #BillabongCk #UpperBillabong

Hopetoun Falls in the Otways is gorgeous! So nice to see water flowing after a long dry spell.

Evening all. Sound right up if the jesus lizard is your jam.

We're delighted to announce the reappointment of @jwmorganecology.bsky.social and @markooiecol.bsky.social as Co-Editors-in-Chief of Australian Journal of Botany! Their continued leadership ensures the journal remains at the forefront of botanical research in Australia and beyond 🌱 📖

Getting there now. Companion paper now shaping up too. Evolutionary ecology of mistletoe fruit specialists over the last 30 million years lets goooooooooooooooooooo.

I see some people posting their strawberry moon photos from last night, so here is my humble contribution. Micrathena clypeata, sometimes referred to as the strawberry spider, is seen here spinning her moon-like egg sac. This is one of the photos from WildSumaco that I am most proud of.

So excited to share this paper, lead-authored by newly-minted Dr. Andrew Dreelin from my lab and @andyjboyce.bsky.social's with you all! 🧪 There's this paradox about prairie dog towns - many birds seem to love them, but they attract a lot of predators. 1/n authors.elsevier.com/c/1lFifmjMA3tq

Check out this issue of Phil Trans Roy Soc B called "Acoustic monitoring for tropical ecology and conservation." Several cool papers on different systems royalsocietypublishing.org/toc/rstb/202...

Good morning.

Here's a hot tip! Long term studies and monitoring of #threatenedspecies is a must to support decision making on adaptive #fire management strategies Something to remember this #WorldEnvironmentDay Read more here buff.ly/PfrEzQX @PacificConsBio.bsky.social

Nice analysis of the longest phenological record available, 1200+ years of cherry blossom (Sakura) in Kyoto. Showing blossom times have been shifting for 137 years in response to warming

Top of my list of missing native species we should be looking at reintroducing to Ireland? Lynx!! • Never attack people • Rarely attack livestock • Aren't pack animals • Help regulate deer • Help regulate smaller predators, like fox • Are a huge tourist draw • Are just GORGEOUS!!

The fish tank is a big hit with Pepper!

maybe my favorite paper I've written, I have a synthesis out today early access in @asn-amnat.bsky.social today that attempts to answer a simple but slippery question: what is an elevational range? doi.org/10.1086/737130

Huge congratulations to @antarcticsciaus.bsky.social Deputy Director and Chief Investigator, Professor of Climate Science Nerilie Abram (@scienceanu.bsky.social) 🧊 New Chief Scientist for the Australian Antarctic Program! @climatenerilie.bsky.social www.antarctica.gov.au/news/2025/au...

Here's a treat. Beautiful music by an Indigenous artist featuring the call of the butcherbird. Great video clip as well ... www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pdi...

3 paddocks west of Melbourne could be Australia's "most important" property. While it's worth millions to developers, it's also home to the only known population of Victorian grassland earless dragons. Experts are worried it's not adequately protected. au.news.yahoo.com/secret-hidde...

A monumental taxonomy unification effort has just been published - thanks to all those who've collaborated for years to make this happen! birdsoftheworld.org/bow/news/avi...

Do you have any papers that you keep coming back to, not because they are groundbreaking or revolutionary, but because they are so cool, so well-written and so well-done, basically examples of the kind of science we can all aspire to? I'll start with this one. doi.org/10.1111/1365...

Our paper about the flow of nocturnal bird migration through Colombia is finally out today in #ProcB! Using weather radars operated by the #IDEAM, we found that low variability in wind underlies a pace of migration that is far more gradual than at temperate latitudes. #Ornithology 📡🪶🇨🇴 🧵1/10

NEW SCIENCE! 🚨🚨🚨🧪🪶🌐 Our paper is now online at @natecoevo.nature.com! “Geographic redistributions are insufficient to mitigate exposure to climate change in North American birds”. We know birds are moving north with climate change, but what are the consequences? www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Morning all.

Rutaceae phytochemistry: The interesting numbing sensation of Sichuan pepper (Zanthoxylum spp.) is caused by hydroxy-α-sanshool, a fatty acid amide similar in structure to capsaicin from chili pepper. The chemical is found in the fruits (follicles). 📷: Ibán CCBYNCSA2 #Rutaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

There are only 242 #kakapo today, but they were once one of #NZ's most common birds and lived in all mainland forests. Lessons from fossils in a new study by @manaakiwhenua.bsky.social can help us find new habitat. #conservation www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379125001076 📸 S.Latimer

New species of Mn and Ni hyperaccumulating Virotia (Proteaceae) from New Caledonia's ultramafics. Like xkcd's influence in the taxonomic illustration plate /jk openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/TEL/article/...

What can 🧬 from 👻🦇💩 tell us about this Vulnerable species in the Pilbara? They generally have high gene flow but also show restricted dispersal for females within 10-20 km from the roost. Read the paper to find out more academic.oup.com/jhered/advan...

A day of meetings, but managed to snag an hour here and there to work on the big* paper on the evolution of mistletoe specialist frugivores. Discussion really taking shape—now I know what I want to say, the rest will be easy peasy squeeze the lemon. *not very big, but first treatment since 1991

good morning friends!! #wildoz 🪶🪶👩‍🔬🌿🌏

I never cease to be amazed by the "Queen of the Night" - the Sonoran Desert's night-blooming #cereus (Peniocereus greggii) - and how nearly all the desert's plants orchestrate a synchronous bloom. The whole deserts' worth of naturally growing cacti all bloomed last night!

Morning all.

Heard of "Darwin's paradox"? It refers to Charles Darwin's observation that coral reefs are wildly productive despite occurring in nutrient-poor tropical oceans. Reefs are, so the story goes, oases in marine deserts 🏝️... Turns out that 2/3 of these assertions are very wrong... 🌐 🦑🧪 🧵⬇️

Along with essential oils, limes have furanocoumarins in their rind that cause photodermatitis. When exposed to UV, the chemicals crosslink with the DNA of our skin cells, causing cell death. Occupational hazard of poolside bartenders! 📷: Neil Staeck CCBYNC2 #Citrus #Rutaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

“observed patterns of island biodiversity … demonstrate that neutral models can make accurate predictions of higher-order diversity statistics. “ onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1... 🧪🌐

arboreus.earth gives you an opportunity to travel the world without leaving home thanks to the efforts of our amazing field recording contributors. This virtual, global forest now has 22 trees and 2 forests from 8 countries. There's plenty of room for more trees! arboreus.earth/trees/

Gorgeous little superb parrot in a grassland - it’s winter and their flocks are getting ready to migrate out of Canberra 💚💛💚

#Dunnarty #WildOz

"Lose 3 pounds a week easily with this one unexpected ingredient!" Traditional headlines summarize the information in a news story as succinctly as possible. Forward-references headlines drive clicks by teasing but not revealing the key point of the story, Anyway, now in the gray lady.