I wrote an explainer on Carney's pitch to radically alter environmental assessments of projects. It's a big deal and about more than economic zones. It would change rules for extinction of wildlife, fossil fuel and nuclear oversight, First Nations consultations and more thenarwhal.ca/canada-major...

Very nice review of phylogenetic mixed models doi.org/10.1111/brv.... #statspubs #ecopubs Includes tutorial code with {brms} and {MCMCglmm}

Habitat fragmentation can either increase or decrease with habitat loss link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Ottawa is really magical - here are some shots from the Canadian tulip festival.

Loving U of T's architecture and spaces

Heading to #CSEE2026 tomorrow - looking forward to connect with many old friends. Please reach out if you want to grab a coffee and chat about science!

Getting understudied taxonomic groups the conservation attention they need can be difficult. Luckily, our new paper shows that community occupancy modelling can reconstruct distribution trends for these species, and help with species-at-risk listing decisions www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

📅Next Tuesday, our online seminar speaker will be Lisa Buche @lili-buche.bsky.social (ETH Zürich), presenting: ⭐Moving beyond linear interactions in community ecology⭐ Zoom link: iite.info/seminar/ Global times: www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/f... Free and open to all - we hope to see you there!

Woodpeckers in Ottawa's arboretum

Humans understand the world through two things: principles and narratives. Principles and formulas alone can’t get at the significance of things and narratives alone can be deceptive. -Hiroichi Yansae

Our new website is online www.rivaecologylab.com! Please check the Contacts section for job openings, including a new PhD position on global biodiversity change.

Check out the new and improved newsletter from @biogeography.bsky.social. It's a great way to keep abreast of all the happenings in biogeography and beyond. And if you like what you see and are not yet subscribed, do so on their website! www.biogeography.org/news/news/ne...

Ecologists what are your favorite papers about scale and choosing an appropriate scale in ecological studies and spatial resolution. 🌎🗺️

Microbial communities can harbor many species that do not coexist in pairs, yet can coexist in the full community. Here we provide the mathematical foundations of emergent coexistence, and explain why it can't be predicted from pairwise tests journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...

8.7 million species on Earth? 🌎🌐 How about 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ Million or more⁉️🔥 🌳🌿🍄🦋🐞🐠🐘 Global biodiversity and the expanding Tree of Life @pnas.org doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

A short summary of our last paper on the first attempt at a global butterfly index of population trends theconversation.com/a-global-but...

I have finally added more documentation to my {vaultkeepr} R package. Specifically, a few articles which are showcasing the most common usage. The package is mostly used to access data from #VegVault ondrejmottl.github.io/vaultkeepr/i... #Rstats

People debating fragmentation effects are **not** questioning the negative effects of habitat loss. The challenge is understanding when an area of habitat existing aggregated is significantly better of the same total area of habitat existing fragmented (e.g., a 100ha patch vs. four 25ha patches).

Towards a global butterfly index! 🦋🌍 Despite data gaps in many regions, butterflies are among the best candidates to build a global indicator for insects Long-term monitoring —like CBMS— is key 👉📄 Check out the scientific article: conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

New data article out today in @consbiog.bsky.social presenting a set of new openly-available ecological units (or zoning) layers for Europe at 100 m spatial grain for a 18 year time series. @naturaconnect.bsky.social #lamasus doi.org/10.1111/ddi....

We’re missing a global indicator to track insects. By analyzing thousands of butterfly populations, we highlight both promising signals and key challenges—showing why these taxa are strong candidates for building a Global Index to support conservation. conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Insect conservation in the Global Biodiversity Framework: achieving targets can generate positive impacts on insect populations, but we still lack indicators to measure progress.

Really cool. PIVOT!!

Really looking forward to reading this

A subdivision is approved in a flood zone. A wetland is drained because it’s in the wrong place. An environmental policy is weakened to help promote development. Another hectare of rainforest is flattened to produce more palm oil.

Congratulations - prof. Fortin's impact on our field has been outstanding.

That's just completely insane.

New #OpenAccess work in #RESInsectConsDiv reports on how the warmest #spring on record in the UK was used to evalute how a specialist spring-flying #butterfly may respond to future #ClimateChange doi.org/10.1111/icad.70070 #Hamearis #Conservation @manusaunders.bsky.social @wileyecology.bsky.social

If you’re interested in modelling community turnover and/or community uniqueness (i.e. LCBD: local contribution to beta diversity), make sure you check it out. Paper: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Will do my best to be there

conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... resolving the fragmentation debate requires controlling for habitat loss. Biodiversity change in fragmented vs pristine landscapes is likely due to the signature of loss (deforestation), not of the spatial pattern in forest habitat (fragmentation).

Stoked about the new Replication Studies section in Behavioral Ecology? Me too! Jeremy Fox over at Dynamic Ecology interviewed me about our recent commentary on this topic and I'd love to hear the community's thoughts! dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2026/02/17/t...

Our second Masterclass in identifying European butterflies is coming up next Wednesday 17th Feb. This one covers the trickier species in the Atlantic region given by renowned expert Chris van Swaay. The Webinar zoom link: us06web.zoom.us/j/81934375118

We have opened two positions for PhD students at GLEL: csee-scee.ca/job/two-phd-... please share widely! Note that the positions are unfortunately not open to international applicants (only Canadian students are eligible).

When I need cheering up I look at the cards my kid's afterschool program made for a dead bug

🌍 New paper! A process-based framework for measuring & analyzing novel ecosystems across biotic, abiotic & social dimensions. Open access in @natmethods.nature.com, congrats to @mattkerr.bsky.social for leading this!! besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/2041-210x.70255

Miguel's MSc thesis is now available here sciencedirect.com/science/arti.... In disturbed regions and landscapes, across ~ 1700 sites and 45 studies, we found a lower butterfly biodiversity for the same plants diversity. @ecospat-ch.bsky.social @shawan-chowdhury.bsky.social @fcollart.bsky.social

My councillor posted on FB about this charity in Ottawa. Seems like an wonderful idea and a great way to recycle your unneeded furniture. www.matthewhouseottawa.org

Excited to share that I’m officially back in beautiful Ottawa! 🦋 This April I’ll rejoin @carleton.ca to launch a new lab focused on biodiversity conservation & spatial ecology. I’ll be recruiting Canadian students. Deep thanks to @ivm-vu-amsterdam.bsky.social and the EG Dept for 3 fundamental years.

📢 Join us for the INTEGRADIV ( @biodiversa.eu ) Stakeholders’ Final Event! We’ll share key project results + an interactive prioritization tool to support biodiversity decision-making. 🗓️ Jan 29, 2026 | 10:00–12:00 CET 💻 Online 📝Register: vuamsterdam.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Integradiv members are meeting in Ioannina, Greece 🇬🇷. This is our last general meeting before the project ends late this year. We are busy preparing the stakeholders workshop for next week. Would you like to take part in it next Thursday? Join here! vuamsterdam.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Thanks for the invitation, looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!

📢 Join our #EcologySeminar! Dr. Federico Riva will give a talk about why appreciating biodiversity change across scales is essential for optimizing conservation and environmental decisions 📅 Wed 14. Jan at 10:15 AM 📩 DM for webinar link @agrarunigoe.bsky.social

📢 Join us for the 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐕 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬’ 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭! We’ll present 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 & an 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘭 supporting biodiversity decision-making across taxa & facets. 🗓️ Jan 29, 2026 | 10:00–12:00 CET 💻 Online (MS Teams) 🔗 Register: vuamsterdam.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Here is a link around the paywall for my latest commentary in One Earth titled " A decade of bright spots in conservation and ecology: Lessons, limits, and future directions" authors.elsevier.com/a/1mIX89C%7E...

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... We found that (i) "the benefits of habitat restoration to increase total forest area could be enhanced by distributing a given amount of restored habitat across multiple patches" and (ii) "overarching importance of habitat amount for biodiversity"

Happy to see our paper out! 🎉 We assess the relative roles of past/present environmental & anthropogenic drivers shaping functional & phylogenetic diversity in Mediterranean forests, highlighting the key role of past climate stability 🌳 ➡️https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/geb.70177 (1/8)

New #INTEGRADIV paper shows #paleoclimate stability is major driver of functional & phylogenetic diversity in animals & plants across Mediterranean #forests🌿❄️ Important implications for impacts of #climatechange ♨️Thx to @cmlmagneville.bsky.social for leading! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Several small reserves hold more beetle, spider and bird species than a single large reserve of the same size in Central Europe, with habitat heterogeneity being an important driver. First PhD paper by Anne Huber (not on Bsky), w/ @sebseibold.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1016/j.bi...

📝 Help shape the future of ecosystem restoration! The BiodivRestore Knowledge Hub is surveying experts & practitioners to identify key gaps, barriers & solutions. Your input will guide research & action for the decade ahead. Take the survey: ecologic.limesurvey.net/197389