Kirsten Krüger

My day in a nutshell …

#xkcd

Carbon dioxide removal is not a current climate solution — we need to change the narrative Drastically reduce emissions first, or carbon dioxide removal will be next to useless.

In recognition of us doing fuck all to reduce emissions, let me remind y'all that carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is useless unless we decarbonize drastically.

rdcu.be/dbFbB

Figure 1 in this paper is both informative and hillarious. The collider on self-perceived causal inference skill is too real

I was priviliged enough to be part of this amazing study led by @mariapotterf.bsky.social!

We see strong signs of post-distrubance regeneration across disturbance hotspots in central Europe 🌱🏆

BUT the species composition of the regeneration is not well adapted to future climate change 🌍🌡️

Huge thanks to my fantastic co-authors Fabian J. Fischer (not on bluesky), @anastritih.bsky.social , Hans-Joachim Klemmt (not on bluesky) and @rupertseidl.bsky.social !

We developed an approach that integrates a biologically grounded theoretical model of post-disturbance development with a remotely sensed height model and forest disturbance map to evaluate forest canopy recovery in a bayesian modelling framework 💚

Further we found that removing/homogenizing legacies can reduce canopy height variation across forest stand development, potentially reducing the resistance and resilience to future disturbances.

In Central Europe, forest management shapes post-disturbance recovery mostly through what’s left behind (disturbance legacies 🪵🌱) than impacting forest growth rates 📈

+ Set-aside forests regrow canopy height as fast as managed forests

New paper out in ForEcolMngt 🌳 doi.org/10.1016/j.fo...

I knew global remote-sensing products—especially forest maps—could differ, but I didn’t realize just how much. 🌍🌲🛰️

When comparing 10 different global forest cover datasets, they overlapped in only 26% of the area. 🤯 doi.org/10.1016/j.on...

-> Choose your forest map wisely I say!

PhD defense traditions need to start at some point. We kicked off some new ones at the @edfm-tum.bsky.social chair 😉

First in line -> the one and only @christinadollinger.bsky.social 🥳

Congrats to this amazing defence Dr.Dollinger 💪🚀

Super cool database compiled by Fabian J. Fischer (Uni Bristol/TUM)!

Photo credits: Asunción Semper Pascual

Edge effects from deforestation in the Chaco!

-> New paper out in @globalchangebio.bsky.social with Seba Torrella
& @matthiasbaumann.bsky.social Marie Pratzer @aguiarse86.bsky.social @mariapiquerr.bsky.social Ruben Ginzburg Gregorio Gavier Pizarro @tkuemmerle.bsky.social

tinyurl.com/2nh7kjkj

Killer tortoises! I showed this in my island biology lecture yesterday and it shocked the students 😱 Here's the paper describing the behaviour: www.cell.com/current-biol... 🧪🌏

Found an additional graphic that gets even more of these quotes together.

I've kept "I hate myself, I hate clover, and I hate bees" pinned above my desk since I first started studying evolutionary biology as an undergraduate. So relatable to get extremely frustrated with your study system.

Forests need to change to keep or take in more carbon! Fantastic and insightful paper led by the genius @christinadollinger.bsky.social

As climate and disturbance regimes change, forest reorganization is key to maintain the forest carbon sink. Great new work led by @christinadollinger.bsky.social w/ @monicagturner.bsky.social, @akkym.bsky.social and many others. dx.doi.org/10.1029/2025...

Forest interactions Explore plant interactions in forest environments at all levels from micro- to macro-scales and across the whole spectrum of plant biology.

Save the date!

48th New Phytologist Symposium: Forest interactions

📅 13–16 October 2026
📍 Leysin, Switzerland

www.newphytologist.org/events/48-nps

#PlantScience

Future restoration should enhance ecological complexity and emergent properties at multiple scales Ecological restoration has a paradigm of re-establishing ‘indigenous reference' communities. One resulting concern is that focussing on target communities may not necessarily create systems which fun...

The mainstream aim to restore “native reference ecosystems”

Reminds me of people of my age who go to see touring bands from their youth

Trying to recreate something that never quite existed

And has limited relevance in a changing world
doi.org/10.1111/ecog...

Variation in Tree Growth Increases With Global Warming In recent decades, considerable research has focused on the long-term trend of tree growth rates under global warming, yet little attention has been paid to trends in high-frequency tree growth varia...

Climate warming is generally making trees grow faster, but the greater effect is that tree growth is becoming more unpredictable, creating a threat to the stability of forests. New paper by Li & He (2026). 🧪🌏🌐🌲🌳

Can “Closer-to-Nature” Forest Management Sustain Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in an Uncertain Future? Lessons from Central Europe - Current Forestry Reports Purpose of Review Forests produce timber, mitigate climate change and provide important habitats; yet their capacity to provide these services under rapid global change is uncertain. “Closer-to-nature...

"Closer-to-nature" forest management has been proposed as a way to reconcile biodiversity and ecosystem services, especially under a changing climate. But can it work? And how strong is the evidence?
In this paper, we synthesized knowledge from Central Europe:
doi.org/10.1007/s407...

One fire might not be a problem for forests - multiple fires can become a problem - super important and insightful paper by @albavianasoto.bsky.social on mapping and analyzing reburn occurence in the forests of southern Europe 🌲🔥🌳🔥

I feel extremely privileged to do a PhD in the first place and even more with such an amazing and fun crowd 💫

Thanks to everyone for this amazing writing retreat with the @edfm-tum.bsky.social PhDs!

For a change some good news, as a lot of people are working on this world to get better 💨 ☀️💪

-> electricity is Germany is getter cleaner and cheaper

With @rohith-haritatsa.bsky.social , @at-erhardt.bsky.social , @christinadollinger.bsky.social , @johannesmohr.bsky.social , @kilianf.bsky.social

The @edfm-tum.bsky.social PhDs visited the Šumava Nationalpark today 🇨🇿🌲

Thank you a lot to Pavel Becka for guiding us through this beautiful forest in winter coating ❄️🌲❄️ and answering all our curious questions!

We talked about regeneration, disturbances and the park‘s (landuse) history

3-panel comic. (1) [Three small arthropods on ocean floor.] ARTHROPOD 1: Now that we’re multicellular, what are your plans? I’m gonna evolve little legs and swim around with them! ARTHROPOD 2: I’m gonna evolve sharp pincers and use them to crunch stuff! ARTHROPOD 3: I’m gonna evolve glands to make string from my butt and use it to construct elaborate geometric nets hundreds of times my size to catch other animals. (2) [Silence] (3) ARTHROPOD 1: *Dude.* ARTHROPOD 2: Can you *please* just be normal about this? ARTHROPOD 3: *What??!*

Early Arthropods

xkcd.com/3199/

Post-disturbance recovery is not the same across the alps: Warmer temperatures support recovery in the Central and Eastern Alps but hinder it in the Southwest Alps.

Amazing work led by @lisa-mandl.bsky.social et al.

doi.org/10.1016/j.ag...

Spring drought is likely more problematic for tree regeneration than summer drought 🌱🔅

Super insightful paper led by @munozmazon.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1016/j.ag...

How long would you survive with no DNA? YouTube video by xkcd's What If?

How long would you survive with no DNA?

What the latest What If? video in collaboration with
@minuteearth.bsky.social!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3oL...

HIRING! We are looking for a new PhD student to work on insects in deadwood, effects of microclimate and land use. This is part of the Biodiversity Exploratories @bexplo.bsky.social and will use a new experiment using rain-out shelters in different regions of Germany. EU driver´s licence required.