Quantitative Science Consulting

Management inputs, site conditions, and fire history shape outcomes of invasive plant control and native recovery Millions of dollars and countless hours are spent on invasive plant management, and the field of invasion ecology has gained increasing attention in recent decades. Yet, despite these efforts to cont....

🌱 From Ecological Applications: Long-term data show invasive plant control works best when infestations are small and treatments are persistent, guiding smarter use of limited restoration funds. (Justin Valliere, Olivia Parra)

▶️ esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

#PlantScience

I’ve been working with data for about 20 years and I wish I’d learned these tips when I was a PhD student.

A few simple changes to how you store your data can save you hours later. Future you will be thankful you read this post.

Anyone else learn this the hard way?

Simple Data Storage Best Practices | QSC Blog Learn practical habits for cleaner, reusable data with examples of better table structure, naming, and formatting.

Good data storage is crucial for anyone working with spreadsheets or tables, not just scientists.

We put together a short guide with 7 simple habits that save hours later by making data easier to understand, share, and reuse. No special tools required.

👉 www.qsc.earth/blog_posts/2...
#DataScience

Neanderthal dad, human mum: study reveals ancient procreation pattern Genomic analysis shows that interbreeding between female Neanderthals and human males was less common than the opposite combination.

Genomic analysis shows that interbreeding between female Neanderthals and human males was less common than the opposite combination go.nature.com/4qYL44M

This image depicts a nematode with fluorescently labeled bacteria in its intestine (left), illustrating microbial metabolic input. On the right, fluorescently marked epidermal lysosomes (top), intestinal lysosomes (middle), and lipid droplets (bottom) highlight the organelles engaged in lysosome-dependent lipid degradation. Together, the image visualizes a microbiota–lysosome axis through which bacterial tryptophan metabolism reprograms host lipid homeostasis. Image Credit: Kenan Zhang

Microbial metabolites can influence host physiology. This study shows that #microbial production of #indole from #bacterial #tryptophan catabolism enhances #lysosomal acidification & lipase activity in nematodes & mammalian hepatocytes @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/3ZZAsaI

Blood test holds promise for predicting when Alzheimer's symptoms will start The Alzheimer’s ‘clock’ could make it easier to treat the disease early, before memory problems appear.

A simple blood test might one day serve as a molecular ‘clock’ that predicts not only whether someone will develop Alzheimer’s disease — but when

go.nature.com/4kHqfsV

Assessment of forest fragmentation in the REDD+ priority zones using two land use/land cover (LULC) sources in the tropical Andean landscape of Ecuador Human-driven deforestation and fragmentation are major threats to global biodiversity and climate stability, particularly in the Amazon rainforest. Ecuador, located in the Andes–Amazon transition…

A new study from Paredes et al uses both statistical analysis and spatial modeling to assess forest fragmentation in the REDD+ priority zones in Ecuador's tropical Andean landscape.

plos.io/4aCnLYu

The loss of a supergene in obligately polygynous Formica wood ant species Abstract. Some of the most striking examples of phenotypic variation within species are controlled by supergenes. However, most research on supergenes has

Sigeman et al. used comparative population genomics of 264 individuals from all seven European wood ant species, proposing that selection to escape fitness costs underlies haplotype loss in obligately polygynous wood ants.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf320

#evobio #molbio

A postcard advertising the Plant Growth Substances special issue displaying an image of actin filaments (green) in a living epidermal cell of Nicotiana benthamiana. Also visible are peroxisomes (blue) and Golgi stacks (faint red spots) and chloroplasts (chlorophyll autofluorescence, large red structures). The ring of bright red chloroplasts on the left marks a pair of guard cells that define a stoma for gas exchange. The image is a maximal intensity projection of a confocal stack captured on the Leica SP8 laser scanning confocal microscope at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville Advanced Microscopy and Imaging Center by Kylie Smith.

🔬 UPCOMING SPECIAL ISSUE 🔬

🌱 Plant Growth Substances 🌱

✍️ Guest edited by Brad Binder, Jennifer Nemhauser, Mark Estelle & Junko Kyozuka

📅 Deadline 30 April 2026

📄 We welcome contributions! Got a manuscript? Contact JXB office 👉 bit.ly/JXBissues

#JXBspecialissues #PlantScience 🧪

Why have so many different eyes evolved? Gamelike simulation could provide answers “Powerful” method for studying evolution could help researchers understand how species developed specialized eyes

Why have so many different eyes evolved? Gamelike simulation could provide answers | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

📖Published📖

IN this review, Zhuang et al explore the different indices used to quantify resistance ad recovery in response to anthropogenic disturbances. They recommend the identified standardized index of resistance and recovery (NIntA)🌍 🧪 🌿

Read more:

More Than an Emission: How Rising Energy Demands Are Cooking North America This blog post and the “Deep Dive” podcast, created by NotebookLM, are based on “Energy‐Consumption‐Induced Anthropogenic Heat Release Intensifies Heatwaves and Wildfire Threats in North America: A…

The greenhouse effect is not the only mechanism by which human activity heats the planet. This study evaluates how our increasing energy demand may fuel future climate extremes in North America: 🌊🧪 ocean2climate.org/2025/12/14/m...

Mandeville Lab Fish are so delightfully weird. We study the evolutionary genetics and ecology of freshwater fishes, plus a few more things, at Northern Michigan University

I'm recruiting a new master's student for fall 2026 in my lab at Northern Michigan University @bionmu.bsky.social ! Students with interests in evolution of freshwater fish are encouraged to apply. Please see our lab website lizmandeville.github.io and the attached advertisement for more information.

Intestinal TGR5-targeted carrier-drug conjugate improves glycemic control in mice and pigs A nonabsorbable, intestinal TGR5-targeted conjugate was designed to improve glycemic control while reducing systemic toxicity in mice and pigs.

A new carrier-drug conjugate fuses a TGR5-targeting compound for type 2 #diabetes to silicon particles to limit intestinal absorption, enabling safe and extended blood sugar control in mice and pigs without typical systemic toxicity. #ScienceTranslationalMedicine https://scim.ag/48opIrf

A page spread on six of the most common bird species seen on beaches of the Mid-Atlantic Coast of the U.S. Brown Pelican, Double-Crested Cormorant, and four of the common gull species.

Common birds of Mid-Atlantic Coast beaches. From my book A Field Guide to The Mid-Atlantic Coast, Yale University Press, a.co/d/6rKgbMQ
🧪🌿🌎🪶🐡 #wildlife #scicomm #sciviz #wildlifeart #illustration #scientificillustration #natureart #visualscicomm #sciviz #scicomm #birds #beaches

"Climate change reduces the efficiency of the sinks, particularly on land, contributing 8.3 ± 1.4 ppm to the atmospheric CO2 increase since 1960" climate + deforestation turn SE Asian & large parts of South American tropical forests from CO2 sinks to sources 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Cradles, museums, and disequilibria: reconciling biodiversity dynamics using equilibrium theory Historical nonequilibrium processes are often considered the main drivers of global biodiversity patterns. We argue that while biodiversity is often out of equilibrium, the concept of equilibrium is still crucial for interpreting macroecological diversity patterns, and current confusion in the literature stems from misunderstandings concerning equilibrium dynamics. We demonstrate how an equilibrium-based framework, such as the ‘Equilibrium Theory of Biodiversity Dynamics’ (ETBD), illuminates diversity patterns in space and time, including the latitudinal diversity gradient, even in the out-of-equilibrium context. This framework has profound implications for understanding diversity dynamics during historical, current, and future climate changes, suggesting that while temperate diversity is probably below its equilibrium level, tropical biodiversity could be above its equilibrium, elevating extinction risk in tropical biomes.

Online now: Cradles, museums, and disequilibria: reconciling biodiversity dynamics using equilibrium theory

Lottery before peer review is associated with increased female representation and reduced estimated economic cost in a German funding line - Nature Communications The authors show evidence from a German funding line that a lottery-first approach followed by peer review is accompanied by increased female representation both at the submission stage and among fund...

A potential solution to peer review issues in science funding. Really interesting. 🧪

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

Cross and longitudinal sections of Trematoceras, a straight-shelled cephalopod. Each section also shown under cathodoluminescence, showing yellow, blue and red colours.

New paper out on the formation mechanism of cameral deposits in orthoceratoid cephalopds! This topic has been debated for more than 150 years and we now finally have a satisfying solution 🥳

https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.70032

#palaeontology #cephalopods […]

[Original post on ecoevo.social]

Connecting detailed photosynthetic kinetics to crop growth and yield: a coupled modelling framework by Yufeng He, Yu Wang, Douglas Friedel, Meagan Lang, and Megan L Matthews
doi.org/10.1093/insi... #PlantScience

Fig. 8 (shortened, full legend in paper): ZmMAPK7-mediated phosphorylation of ZmWRKY104 can increase the ability to bind to the ZmSOD4 promoter. (A) Transactivation activity assays. Sequences of ZmWRKY104 and its S142A mutation were fused to the GAL4 DNA-binding domain. ZmWRKY104 and ZmWRKY104S142A were transformed into yeast strain AH109 grown on SD/−Trp medium and screened on SD/−Trp−His−Ade medium. Empty vector pGBKT7 was used as a negative control. (B) β-Galactosidase activity in yeast transformed with ZmWRKY104 and ZmWRKY104S142A. The yeast activity was measured when the OD600 reached 0.5. (C) Y1H assays showing ZmWRKY104 and ZmWRKY104S142A binding to the ZmSOD4 promoter. pB42AD-ZmWRKY104 or pB42AD-ZmWRKY104S142A was co-transformed with pLacZi-proZmSOD4 constructs into yeast strain EGY48, respectively.

🌽🧂RESEARCH🧂🌽

Phosphorylation of ZmWRKY104 by ZmMAPK7 enhances its ability to bind to DNA of the ZmSOD4 promoter and increases SOD activity, thereby improving salt tolerance in maize - Li et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪

The emerging role of apoplastic H+ in plant signaling Protons (H+), commonly measured as pH, represent a fundamental physiological parameter in cellular systems. In plants, cytoplasmic H+ levels are tightly regulated to maintain homeostasis, whereas apoplastic H+ concentrations fluctuate dynamically in response to stress and developmental cues. This review discusses and scrutinizes the roles of apoplastic H+ fluctuations in transmitting stress and developmental cues, focusing on their interactions with established regulatory elements, such as phytohormones, H2O2, and peptide–receptor complexes, as well as other functional proteins, within stress and developmental signaling networks. Recent advances in understanding the mechanisms underlying apoplastic H+ as a pivotal regulator of plant adaptation and development open promising avenues for future research to enhance plant resilience and productivity under diverse environmental challenges.

The emerging role of apoplastic H+ in plant signaling #plantscience

We are excited to announce the winners of the 2025 BES Awards, honouring 11 distinguished ecologists whose contributions have greatly benefited the scientific community and the Society as a whole. 

Huge congratulations to all the winners 👏

phylo2vec adds Rust‑based vector tools for phylogenetic trees

The phylo2vec library implements vector-based phylogenetic trees with a Rust core and offers thin wrappers for R and Python, reducing memory use enough for desktop analysis. Read more: https://getnews.me/phylo2vec-adds-rust-based-vector-tools-for-phylogenetic-trees/ #phylogenetics #rust

CRISPR activation for SCN2A-related neurodevelopmental disorders - Nature Using SCN2A haploinsufficiency as a proof-of-concept, upregulation of the existing functional gene copy through CRISPR activation was able to rescue neurological-associated phenotypes in Scn2a haploin...

CRISPR activation restores expression of a haploinsufficient neuronal sodium channel, rescuing neuronal deficits associated with multiple neurodevelopmental disorders. #NBThighlight www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Overview of the considerations for creating biological specimen images suited for computer vision tasks. Topics are grouped into two functional categories by colour: Blue for optimizing image capture and orange for data quality and usability. Ornithoptera aesacus (Ney, 1903) butterfly image adapted from Denver Museum of Nature & Science—Entomology, ZE.131439, under CC BY-NC from DMNS (2024).

📖Published📖

Our new review article by East et al. provides the first comprehensive practical framework for optimizing biological specimen imaging for computer vision applications 🦋 🌍 🧪 Find out more here 👇

buff.ly/TjRPrvD

In high-elevation Utah, near 9,000 feet, snow should accumulate and stick all winter. Researcher McKenzie Skiles and her team dig a pit to track shifts in snow depth and the volume of water stored there. Image credit: Otto Lang and McKenzie Skiles/The University of Utah, Salt Lake City.

Future #winters promise less #snow in the #mountains and more #rain. That shift could have major implications for #WaterSupplies in regions around the world. In PNAS Front Matter: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

#snowpack #flood #ClimateChange #SNOTEL #floodplains

A new IUCN assessment has officially recognised four distinct giraffe species, overturning previous classifications of the world’s tallest land mammal as a single species with nine sub-species. 🌏🧪

Learn more ➡️http://bit.ly/4mVVGji

Taxon‐specific BLAST percent identity thresholds for identification of unknown sequences using metabarcoding The identification of organisms in environmental samples using metabarcoding relies on factors such as taxonomic assignment methods, genetic markers, reference databases and confidence thresholds ...

📖Published📖

Pappalardo et al. developed taxon-specific confidence thresholds for eukaryotes at different taxonomic levels to optimize the accuracy of BLAST-based taxonomic assignments for metabarcoding 🧬 🌍 🧪 Read more here 👇

Genetic variation at transcription factor binding sites largely explains phenotypic heritability in maize - Nature Genetics Pan-cistrome of the maize leaf under well-watered and drought conditions profiled by haplotype-specific MOA-seq highlights the relevance of transcription factor binding QTLs for understanding phenotypic diversity in maize.

A paper published in Nature Genetics presents a comprehensive pan-cistrome of maize leaves, revealing over 200,000 variants linked to transcription factor binding sites under both well-watered and drought conditions. go.nature.com/4785q5p 🧪🌾#plantscience