More shrubs in the mountains?! 😮 Why would this be a problem for the local biodiversity? Shrubs are tall and can form dense canopies, eventually outcompeting many of the smaller alpine flowers. 📃by Thomas Vanneste onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

📢New paper out by Isabelle van der Zanden & Lieke Moereels et al: Food forests support different — and often more — soil life than croplands & grasslands. Especially more organisms sensitive to disturbance or drought like fungi, woodlice & harvestmen. 🍄🪲🪱 🔗 doi.org/10.1038/s44185-026-00125-w

Discovered far from home: a new Medicago species (Medicago peregrina sp. nov.) associated with historical wool imports in Belgium plecevo.eu/articles.php... => "the value of continued botanical surveys"+"need to consider historical human activity when interpreting the presence of non-native plants."

When a colleagues' paper features for a couple of seconds in the late night show with Seth Meyer 🤩🤩 See 🧵below 👇

How come isopods end up in the late night show with @sethmeyerspencil.bsky.social ? First, enjoy the joke 😀👇 See below to get the story behind it 🧵 youtu.be/T58hOrsaGoI?...

Heel trots om aan dit rapport te hebben meegewerkt! 🌳

New Paper out in Nature Climate Change @natclimate.nature.com! 🌿 👇 Read the full paper from: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🌳 Weerstations tonen het regionale klimaat, maar in een bos gebeurt vaak iets heel anders. Daarom experimenteerden we binnen het MIRRA-project met sensoren en bouwden we een website om het microklimaat van het Aelmoeseneiebos live te volgen! 📄Ik schreef een blogpost voor @eoswetenschap.bsky.social

We published this open letter on #UrbanForests as essential(!!) infrastructure for climate resilience & biodiversity aimed at policymakers at #COP30. 4🗝️priorities🧵👇 @plantspeopleplanet.bsky.social @fornalab.bsky.social @fbwugent.bsky.social @meisebotanicgarden.bsky.social @westsyduhie.bsky.social

In their Open Letter, Manuel Esperon-Rodriguez, et al. highlight the importance of #UrbanForests as essential infrastructure to policy makers at #COP30, which begins today in Brazil 👇 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #NatureBasedSolutions #PlantScience 🧵

Prof Kris Verheyen in the news on the masting year of oaks! www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/20... #mastjaar #sciencecommunication

New Global Tipping Points Report out! Very worrying 😶

New paper out! @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social We test whether optical fibres can be used to measure microclimate temperatures in the forest, and investigate what we can learn from it. 🧵👇 The full article is published Open Access: besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#vacature Onderzoeker genenbronnen bomen en struiken: je ontwikkelt onderzoeksprojecten, beheert DNA-databanken en adviseert stakeholders over duurzaam bosbeheer. Je bouwt mee aan levende collecties, zaadboomgaarden en veldproeven, en krijgt de kans om internationaal te publiceren. bit.ly/4mUauym

🌳Week van het bos🌳 In het Aelmoeseneiebos onderzoeken we hoe bossen reageren op complexe uitdagingen zoals klimaatverandering, luchtvervuiling, ... Onze collega's namen @eoswetenschap.bsky.social journalist Kim Verhaeghe mee in dit levend openluchtlaboratorium. www.eoswetenschap.eu/natuur-milie...

The recent issue of the journal @eoswetenschap.bsky.social focusses on sustainable forests. Postdoc at our lab Pallieter De Smedt took an EOS reporter into the forest to discover the importance of litter dwelling fauna for ecosystem functioning. www.tijdschriftenwinkel.be/collections/...

📣 new paper! 🌳🌱 We present a novel experimental platform showing that light and post-agricultural soil promote graminoid growth more than tree seedlings & the interaction with graminoids significantly affects seedling growth. New platform to study understory grassification! doi.org/10.1016/j.fo...

Eerste Vlaamse Rode Lijst van wilde bijen gepubliceerd. Dat, en veel meer in de meest recente INBO-nieuwsbrief: www.vlaanderen.be/inbo/nieuwsb...

We are very happy to announce that the next Microclimate Ecology & Biogeography (MEB) conference will happen in Montpellier (FRANCE), 1 - 5 June 2026 ☀️ meb-network.com/meb-2026/ Microclimate scientists: save the date in your agenda!!

🌳🪲New paper out in Insect Conservation & Diversity!🪲🌳 Our new study explores how urbanisation affects the rusty click beetle (Elater ferrugineus) - a near-threatened saproxylic species related to old trees and deadwood-rich ecosystems. 📖 doi.org/10.1111/icad... @fbwugent.bsky.social

@nmbs-be.bsky.social Antwerpen Zuid smelt weg. Hier is geen schaduw behalve op de trap. 🫠🫠🫠

Onze Pieter Vangansbeke schreef samen met Pallieter De Smedt (UGent) een artikel en natuurbericht over de invloed van bosranden en open plekken in het bos op #nachtvlinders. www.natuurpunt.be/nieuws/nacht...

Western Europe is experiencing its second heatwave of the summer. For the continent as a whole, this June is likely to be one of the five warmest on record. Read the press release: climate.copernicus.eu/ecmwf-weathe... @ecmwf.int @oceanterra.org @carlobuontempo.bsky.social

Kim Verhaeghe, wetenschapsjournalist bij Eos, brengt hier kleine wonders naar boven die me nauw aan het hart liggen. Mossen zijn zo'n bijzondere plantjes: aanrader 👇 #mossen #wetenschapscommunicatie @eoswetenschap.bsky.social www.eoswetenschap.eu/natuur-milie...

Very proud to show the results and some beautiful pictures of @nerdland.be festival! What a rollercoaster ! The Oooh's and Aaaah's and Wauw's of so many when looking through the 🔬 or at small soil critters made this so worth it. Just wonderful! #citizenscience #burgerwetenschap #nerdlandfestival

Mooie blogpost over de digitalisatie van natuurhistorische collecties en de deuren die daarmee open gaan! @eoswetenschap.bsky.social Door Ann Van Baelen @kuleuvenuniversity.bsky.social www.eoswetenschap.eu/natuur-milie... 🌿🔍 #Natuurwetenschap #Digitalisering #Biodiversiteit

Today we had the first meeting of the CLOVER project focusing on Climate Overshoot. Inspiring discussions from the start: it will be an interesting two years to come! More 👇 @fornalab.bsky.social

Such a great experience to be interviewed and then read a very clear article about the science we're doing without having to write it ourselves. Kim did a fantastic job. Proud to be in @eoswetenschap.bsky.social magazine!!

More than 400 leaf impressions were made with clear nail polish and regular tape! @stephschelfhout.bsky.social

We were on @nerdland.be festival and it was FANTASTIC! ✨ Belgian Championship Worm Charming 🍂 Soil fauna safari's 🔬 Microclimate & stomata discovery Thanks everyone for sharing the science enthusiasm! @stephschelfhout.bsky.social @karen-depauw.bsky.social @wimds.bsky.social @fbwugent.bsky.social

We monitored air 🌡 & vapour pressure deficits below the crown of >200 large solitary trees #LSTs 🌳 along rural-to-urban gradients for 3 tree species (oak, ash, and lime) across 9 European cities 🏫 We found that #LSTs shape their own species-specific microclimate to host 🐝🦋🐿🦇🌾☘️🌻🌼 shorturl.at/3xPRd

Klimaat-trappers gezocht in Nationaal Park Brabantse wouden! 👇🚴 Vanuit UGent brengen wij voor dit project het microklimaat in kaart in >50 tuintjes in gemeenten in de Brusselse rand, in het Zoniënwoud en in hartje Brussel! @fornalab.bsky.social @fbwugent.bsky.social www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/20...

You'll find us in the jungle tent! 😍🌴 For me it will be the first year to be there not only to indulge in all the science of others but also share about the science we are doing ourselves at @fornalab.bsky.social. Looking forward to this A LOT! @nerdland.be

Yesterday, we were very proud to be present at university of Antwerp for this celebration! 😍✨

The Belgian Plant Science Community is kicked off at Meise Botanic Garden today, to spark integrative plant research in the many Belgian institutes. Timely initiative to battle climate change, biodiversity loss and foster food security. @kuleuvenplantinst.bsky.social @universitedeliege.bsky.social

Kick off of the Belgian Plant Science Community! Gathering all people working on plants across Belgium from molecular scientists to ecologists. Cool! #BPSC

We lanceren een citizen science oproep rond bosanemoon voor het FOURCAST project! 🌼 Deel jouw bosanemoon waarnemingen via waarnemingen.be 🌼 Help ons met een veldexperiment Schrijf je hier in: www.projectfourcast.be/citizen-scie... #citizenscience #burgerwetenschap www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/20...

This looks like a great option when nondestructive biomass measurements are required, e.g., in mesocosm experiments.

Having a great time at Ruhr University Bochum for my research stay at the Urban Ecology and Biodiversity lab of @valentinecology.bsky.social - Learning a lot - and the coffee breaks are pretty nice too! ☕😊 Big thanks to the team for the warm welcome! #UrbanEcology @fornalab.bsky.social

On the limited space in living plant collections and the pace at which more and more plant species are becoming threatened 👇

Our new @pnas.org paper shows a previously unrecognized mechanism by which climate warming reduces beech growth: more frequent seed production depletes tree resources, causing a 28% decline in radial growth. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... Funded by @ncngovpl.bsky.social

📯🌲| The last article from my thesis is now out in @peercomjournal.bsky.social ! We tackled how the different drivers of forest temperature determine plant communities. We found that shaded valley bottoms harbor 5 (30%) more cold-adapted species! doi.org/10.24072/pcj.... Will it lead to microrefugia?

Excited for 💗#LoveDataWeek!💗? At Ghent University, we’re exploring how you can share your research data responsibly and make it FAIR. 🗓️ Feb 10–14. Register here: ghentcorr.github.io/news/LoveDat...

Abstract submission is now open for the International Mountain Conference #IMC25 in Innsbruck in September: imc2025.info. If you're looking for an exciting session on the future of mountain forests, come join us for FS 3.206 (imc2025.info/imc25/sessio...). Looking forward to a great conference!

Ancient ginkgo trees, some over 600 years old, show no signs of aging, maintaining vitality similar to younger trees. A study shows that their stem cells and immune defenses remain robust over centuries, explaining their extraordinary lifespans. In @forbes.com: www.forbes.com/sites/scottt...

Getting a new idea about a really cool sensor is easy Building that idea into a usable sensor: something else entirely Great reflection by my colleague Eline about the process Beautifully written, pure honesty and many lessons learned 👇 #ecology #reflection #sensor #diy

How to balance gaining new insights & knowledge on precious ecosystems with the risk of damaging them with field experiments? Do we, as scientists, think deeply enough about the effects on ecosystems and how to reduce potential damage of scientific experiments? Was an interesting exercise! 👇

Hej Bluesky! We are ForNaLab: 🌼 a team of researchers passionate about Forest & Nature at Ghent university 📈 scientists delving deep into fundamental and applied questions We will be posting here on 🔭 the process of doing science ✨ new research results stay tuned! 🎉

Geweldig boeiend NatuurFocus Symposium bijgewoond. Thx @karen-depauw.bsky.social et al voor de smooth organisatie.

🌿 We need to raise the profile of #bryophyte ecological research 🌿 (and also a bryophyte emoji!) In this opinion piece, we as a group of #ECRs outline barriers in bryophyte research and provide recommendations to overcome them across institutional levels & disciplines. doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...