William Hammond

We relaunch our seminar series!

Jordi Martinez-Vilalta will talk on the

‘Limits and opportunities in predicting drought-induced forest mortality’

24 March 2026 at 15:00 UTC

www.tree-mortality.net/seminars/

Manatees in the clear water of a springfed stream in Florida.

The University of Florida's School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences is looking for a Forest Hydrologist. This is a 9-month, tenure-track, 70% Research / 30% Teaching appointment.

Fifty shades of fade: linking transmittance loss to cellular death during leaf dehydration Drought-induced tree mortality is associated with hydraulic failure and subsequent cell death. Leaf vitality is a critical indicator of tree water stress; however, current methods for assessing ce...

Fifty shades of fade: linking #transmittance loss to #cellular death during leaf #dehydration

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#PlantScience @newphyt.bsky.social @maryloumantova.bsky.social @torresruizjm.bsky.social @irnase.bsky.social @hcochard.bsky.social @wmhammond.bsky.social

The science is clear. The stakes are real.

AGU condemns the repeal of the EPA Endangerment Finding — a decision that rejects the overwhelming evidence and undermines climate accountability.

We will continue to defend science and advocate for evidence-based policy.

buff.ly/wX1BQ2t

I'm super excited to share that this article was published today in Science! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

All made possible by the fantastic group of donors, volunteers and scientists at The American Chestnut Foundation (tacf.org), HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, and our collaborators.

Weak self-induced cooling of tropical cyclones amid fast sea surface warming - Nature Geoscience Tropical cyclones cool the ocean surface less than previously thought, indicating that current projections may underestimate their future intensity and frequency, according to an analysis of global se...

Hurricanes are getting stronger: This study found from 1992-2021, Cat 1+ hurricanes globally intensified by 1.74 m/s (3.9 mph) over the 30-year period, and that a cold bias in IPCC climate models "probably contributes to an underestimate in projections of major hurricane frequency.”

We are hiring a postdoctoral researcher!🌲 🌳 🌍

📍Interested in boreal and temperate forest productivity and respiration?
💻 Like to work with large datasets, remote sensing and models?
🏔️ Love an alpine setting in a small town?

Come and join us at KIT!

Application details: t1p.de/qctj7

Here is a working Starter Pack for Plant Ecophysiologists! Please let us know if you want to be added to this list in a comment or DM. #botany #plantecophys #PhysFam

go.bsky.app/Pbq39H7

Hypothesized trade-offs across vascular species illustrating a water use economics framework.

From growth potential to drought survival: a trait- and time-based framework for plant water economics across vascular species

Volaire et al.

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Spring drought could be more detrimental for tree regeneration than summer drought, particularly as climate warms and tree phenology shifts. Results from an experiment in walk-in climate chambers, investigting four contrasting tree species. Led by @munozmazon.bsky.social doi.org/10.1016/j.ag...

US science after a year of Trump: what has been lost and what remains A series of graphics reveals how the Trump administration has sought historic cuts to science and the research workforce.

Trump has been in office for one year. We at @nature.com did a deep dive looking at the administration's disruption of science in numbers.

Take a look—the numbers are staggering. By me, @dangaristo.bsky.social, Jeff Tollefson, @kimay.bsky.social, & help from @noamross.net @scott-delaney.bsky.social

Congress passes bill to fund U.S. science agencies, rebuffing Trump's requested cuts The Senate voted to provide billions more to NASA, NOAA and the National Science Foundation than the president had asked for.

Nice to see strong support in Congress: “In an 82-15 vote, the Senate approved a minibus budget bill to fund agencies involved in science and the environment, among other issues, through Sept. 30. The bill passed in the House last week by a vote of 397 to 28.” www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...

Relationships between stem and leaf hydraulic traits across species, derived from independent and overlapping datasets as well as their biome-specific variation.

Stems and leaves of angiosperms follow a convex trade‐off to optimise hydraulic safety and efficiency

Kreinert et al.

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Former Google CEO plans to singlehandedly fund a Hubble telescope replacement “This is a very significant contribution to the astronomical community."

This is great! Eric and Wendy Schmidt make a massive investment in astronomy research.

More of this please.

arstechnica.com/space/2026/0...

Loblolly pine cones.

Loblolly pine cones on a felled tree.

Loblolly pine (*Pinus taeda*) cones. 15-year-old tree in an experiment in north Florida.

PhD Position: Tree Physiological Responses to Atmospheric Drought We invite applications for a fully funded four-year PhD position at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, with a planned start date in June 2026. The selected candidate wil...

🌳PhD Opportunity in plant ecophysiology🌡️ Join EPFL (Switzerland) for fully-funded 4yr PhD on tree responses to air drought and heat. Climate chamber + long-term experiments to uncover physiological thresholds under climate change. www.epfl.ch/labs/perl/pe...

Pervasive increase in tree mortality across the Australian continent Nature Plants - Eight decades of forest plot monitoring show a pervasive increase in tree mortality across Australia’s forest biomes driven by climate change, jeopardizing their role as...

New research from our group: A pervasive increase in tree mortality across the Australian continent - driven by rising temperatures
rdcu.be/eXSa7

Yes, forest trees die of old age. But the warming climate is killing them faster The warming climate is killing Australia’s forest trees at a faster rate. This offers a glimpse of what may lie ahead for forests globally.

'Yes, forest trees die of old age. But the warming climate is killing them faster' #ClimateEmergency #Globalwarming #trees #eucalypts #plantscience #ecology 🪴🌳🌾🌱🌡️ theconversation.com/yes-forest-t...

As the world warms, more trees are dying in Australian forests From Tasmania to the Top End, Australia's forest trees are dying at higher rates due to climate change, according to new research.

www.abc.net.au/news/science...

Pervasive increase in tree mortality across the Australian continent - Nature Plants Eight decades of forest plot monitoring show a pervasive increase in tree mortality across Australia’s forest biomes driven by climate change, jeopardizing their role as enduring carbon sinks.

Pervasive increase in tree mortality across the Australian continent | Nature Plants share.google/RL9wdpMxxGRh...

Locating a control of plant and ecosystem water fluxes deep in the leaf | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...

blanket apology for all the emails I forgot to answer this year, and for all the emails I will forget to answer next year

The Stomatal Response to Temperature Is Enhanced by High Evaporative Demand, Consistent With a Partially Hydraulic Mechanism Leaf stomata respond to temperature even when the leaf-to-air vapor gradient is held constant, yet the mechanisms for this response are unknown, and may be mediated by increases in hydraulic conducta...

First PhD chapter from student Colleen Mills (not on Bluesky) just appeared in PCE:

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Vegetation flammability contributes to alternative stable states in arid Australia Background. Alternate stable state theory holds that disturbance thresholds can drive transitions between distinct vegetation types that exist under otherw

This was a nice little Christmas present, with Boyd Wright and Rod Fensham.

Vegetation flammability contributes to alternative stable states in arid Australia

#flammability #Triodia

connectsci.au/wf/article/d...

Recruiting a postdoc through Dartmouth's Society of Fellows Program co-mentored with Michael Cox with specialization in forest carbon dynamics, climate policy, and nature-based solutions

Apply by January 4th!
apply.interfolio.com/176741

🌳🌎🧪

Reposting this, to remind us that climate and weather models do not make themselves...

A new paper in @nature.com led by Jeff Chambers, finds evidence of climatic mortality thresholds combining heat and drought, & explores the emergence of 'hypertropical' climates in future climates. Amazing multi-decadal effort by the field teams involved 👏
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

You can do this right now:

Think of a person who wrote a paper you love, whose work influenced or helped you, or has made your professional life better.

Search up their email address. Shoot them a quick email of thanks. It means so, so much. This is a rough time of year, share some joy.

Reposting this as a reminder that we will continue to accept applicants for this postdoctoral position until December 23rd.