Walter Andriuzzi

MPAs only partly offset decades of human impacts on tropical reefs

Protecting more while continuing business as usual will just slow the decline 🐟📉 !

Check our latest paper in @natecoevo.nature.com with @uflandrin.bsky.social on 2800+ reefs & ~1700 🐠 species

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🌐🧪🌍🦤🦑

Pace of ecology drives the tempo of visual perception across the animal kingdom Nature Ecology & Evolution - Using phylogenetic comparative methods across 237 species from disparate phyla, the authors show that species with fast-paced ecologies have higher temporal...

Our new paper is now out showing how time perception in animals is linked to their ecology. Using data from 237 species we show temporal perception is faster in species that fly and pursuit predators www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🌐

Big effort, exciting results - our paper on the constraints of thermal limits in tropical insects is now out in @nature.com! 🦋🐝🪰🪲🦗
@ecoresearchzoo3.bsky.social
@biologie-uniwue.bsky.social
@uni-wuerzburg.de

iDiv and @uni-jena.de are recruiting a Postdoctoral Researcher (f/m/d) in Trait-Based Community Ecology and Modelling.

Highlights:
🔺Full-time (100%, 40 h/week) with the option to reduce to 80%
🔺Fixed-term for 2 years
🔺Salary up to E13 TV‑L

📆 Apply by: 29 March 2026

www.idiv.de/career/job-o...

Convergent evolution of hexenal isomerases in Lepidoptera and plants - Nature Ecology & Evolution Phylogenetic and functional analyses across 34 Lepidoptera and 183 plant species show that hexenal isomerases found in Lepidoptera exhibit functional convergence with those found in plants despite hav...

Phylogenetic and functional analyses across 34 Lepidoptera and 183 plant species show that hexenal isomerases found in Lepidoptera exhibit functional convergence with those found in plants despite having evolved independently from unrelated enzyme families 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Pace of ecology drives the tempo of visual perception across the animal kingdom - Nature Ecology & Evolution Using phylogenetic comparative methods across 237 species from disparate phyla, the authors show that species with fast-paced ecologies have higher temporal resolution of perception.

Using phylogenetic comparative methods across 237 species from disparate phyla, the authors show that species with fast-paced ecologies have higher temporal resolution of perception 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Environment, taxonomy, and socioeconomics predict non-imperilment in freshwater fishes - Nature Communications Freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity are declining quickly. By integrating global environmental, socioeconomic, and biological data, this study identifies the key conditions associated with imperilm...

Proud of this paper just published in @natcomms.nature.com on predicting the conservation status of freshwater fishes. Led by @reservoirwebs.bsky.social @umaine.bsky.social and Andres Olivos @oregonstate.edu

doi.org/10.1038/s414...
#Biodiversity @univgirona.bsky.social @iea-udg.bsky.social

📣 Registration for the BE20 Conference is still open—the deadline has been extended to March 2, 2026!

Join us and secure your spot! 🗓️

Registration: www.biodiversity-exploratories.de/de/be20/
or scan the QR Code 📄

Please circulate this within your network 🌍🤝🌐

@dfg.de @sgn.one #BE20conference

From the Desk of Dr. James Gibbs: On the Return of the Floreana Giant Tortoise | Galápagos Conservancy For the first time in 180 years, Floreana lineage giant tortoises set foot on Floreana Island once again returning to their ancestral home.

Yes, the world can be bleak at times. But it really ain't all bad.

This story of tortoises returning to a Galapagos island after 180 yrs brought a smile to my face this morning. 🐢

Pretty interesting science behind this too 🧪
www.galapagos.org/newsroom/gib...

Cellular-level preservation of cutaneous spikes in an Early Cretaceous iguanodontian dinosaur - Nature Ecology & Evolution A juvenile iguanodontian from the Lower Cretaceous of China preserves both spikes and scales in its skin that are different from integumentary structures in either non-avian dinosaurs or extant squama...

Finally, another fuzzy ornithischian: www.nature.com/articles/s41.... This is a big deal for dinosaur #paleoart, confirming some of what we've been doing for a while now, but also showing that we've probably underestimated how weird the integuments of these animals could be.

Key lessons from 50 years of Germany’s impact mitigation regulation for biodiversity offsetting - Nature Ecology & Evolution As biodiversity net gain rises on the global agenda, Germany’s 50-year-old no-net-loss policy faces mounting resistance amid pressures to accelerate infrastructure development. We argue that the regul...

Comment:

Key lessons from 50 years of Germany’s impact mitigation regulation for biodiversity offsetting www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Piranesi read by Chiwetel Ejiofor

School of fish / by Toby Matthews, Ocean Image Bank

What happens when fish communities shift towards smaller species?🐟
Global study led by alumnus @juancarvq.bsky.social shows widespread changes in food webs across marine & freshwater systems. Even where species numbers stayed stable, interactions & body size changed.
🔗 www.idiv.de/smaller-fish...

Warming enhances soil carbon accumulation in boreal Sphagnum peatlands - Nature Ecology & Evolution Data from long-term experiments in Finnish peatlands shows that warming induces a metabolic response in boreal Sphagnum peatlands that enhances accumulation of soil carbon, in contrast to the carbon l...

Data from long-term experiments in Finnish peatlands shows that warming induces a metabolic response in boreal Sphagnum peatlands that enhances accumulation of soil carbon, in contrast to the carbon losses in response to warming in boreal forests and tundra 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Carboniferous recumbirostran elucidates the origins of terrestrial herbivory - Nature Ecology & Evolution A new species of pantylid microsaur from the Late Carboniferous of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, has teeth with dental occlusion consistent with herbivory, indicating an early transition to this co...

A new species of pantylid microsaur from the Late Carboniferous of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, has teeth with dental occlusion consistent with herbivory, indicating an early transition to this condition among terrestrial tetrapods 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Congrats! That's a rather impressive line-up of soil ecologists in this picture

This is figure 1, which shows palaeontological information in an Earth system context.

An analysis in Nature Ecology & Evolution surveys community palaeontological databases, documenting their contributions to science as well as their vulnerabilities, and provide recommendations for the future of open science databases. go.nature.com/3ZwTeGl #Paleosky 🧪

Abiotic and biotic controls of non-native perennial plant success in drylands - Nature Ecology & Evolution It is unclear whether the harsh abiotic conditions of drylands hinder biological invasions. This global analysis shows that drylands are vulnerable to non-native plants and are likely to become more s...

It is unclear whether harsh abiotic conditions in drylands hinder biological invasions. This global analysis shows that drylands are vulnerable to non-native plants and are likely to become more so as native plant diversity declines and grazing pressure intensifies 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Temperature variation and life history mediate nonlinearity in fluctuations of marine fish populations worldwide - Nature Ecology & Evolution A global analysis of marine fish populations involving 243 recruitment and 266 spawner time series across 143 species finds that nonlinear dynamics are widespread and that the degree of nonlinearity i...

A global analysis of marine fish populations involving 243 recruitment and 266 spawner time series across 143 species finds that nonlinear dynamics are widespread and that the degree of nonlinearity is amplified by temperature variation and in fast-lived species 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Commodity frontiers expand more slowly into tropical forests where forest smallholders are present – new paper out in PNAS led by Marie Pratzer

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

@tkuemmerle.bsky.social
@humboldtuni.bsky.social
@pnas.org

📢 Open PhD opportunity with us at Teagasc Johnstown Castle and University of Limerick on forestry soils #SoilCarbon #SoilMicrobiome #GreenHouseGases. Further details and application form teagasc.ie/about/resear... Closing date 18th March. Join our team 🤗

Cellular-level preservation of cutaneous spikes in an Early Cretaceous iguanodontian dinosaur - Nature Ecology & Evolution A juvenile iguanodontian from the Lower Cretaceous of China preserves both spikes and scales in its skin that are different from integumentary structures in either non-avian dinosaurs or extant squama...

Also in the 'Old Dead Things' section of @natecoevo.nature.com this week, we've got a spiky baby iguanodontian www.nature.com/articles/s41... rdcu.be/e3CZH ...

Già le stavo seguendo molto poco queste olimpiadi, con quest'ultimo sviluppo direi che chiudo e basta

The billion-dollar case for sustaining palaeontology’s digital databases - Nature Ecology & Evolution The authors survey community palaeontological databases, documenting their contributions to science as well as their vulnerabilities, and provide recommendations for the future of open science databas...

What do we want?
Fossil databases! 🐚🦕
When do we want them?
Forever! 🗓️
Nice new paper highlighting how academic funding systems and digital architecture need to change, to ensure we can protect and sustain our precious fossil data 📚
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Cover image for the February issue of Nature Ecology & Evolution showing a Darwin's frog sitting on a log, resting its front leg on a mushroom. The cover line reads "Hidden epidemics"

Our February issue is now live! www.nature.com/natecolevol/...

Featuring research on 🧪

🐙 Deep-sea mining impacts
🦖 Dinosaur skin spikes
🐒 Same-sex sexual behaviour in non-human primates

Cover image shows a Darwin's frog, from Valenzuela-Sánchez et al. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I invite you to check our paper entitled “Rebuilding Ukraine’s capacity for fundamental research in evolutionary biology” doi.org/10.1038/s415... in @natecoevo.nature.com about the Ukrainian School in Evolutionary Biology #USEB we organized in 2025.
#biology #evolution #school #science #Ukraine

📢 Postdoc opening in avian biogeography & macroecology (Olomouc, CZ)
Vladimír Remeš (excellent scientist and mentor) is hiring a postdoc to study bird diversity across biomes, linking species pools, traits, climate & history using big data, fieldwork, and modelling.
🔗 pracuj.upol.cz/nc/zprava/cl...

This is crazy. Maybe there should be a hybrid system with a lottery for projects scoring >90% or whatever.

NB this is in addition, not as an alternative, to increasing funds and cover more projects...

New Nature Ecology & Evolution paper out today @natecoevo.nature.com!

We find that models deviate from observations in the weighting of important soil processes. This mismatch has important implications for developing soil carbon models and improving predictions of soil carbon fate in the future 🌍

Biodiversity science and policy need more model intercomparisons Nature Reviews Biodiversity, Published online: 06 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s44358-026-00134-4Climate model intercomparison projects have been essential in identifying mechanisms of human-caused climate change, but similar efforts in biodiversity science have lagged behind. This Perspective discusses existing biodiversity model intercomparison projects and identifies opportunities for their advancement in the future.

New online! Biodiversity science and policy need more model intercomparisons