Jantar de Rainhas e Reis do FLOWer Lab na boa companhia de muitas das caras-metade dos membros do FLOWer Lab! Um 2026 cheio de ação, biodiversidade e interações planta-polinizador! Queens and Kings Dinner, wishing for a 2026 full of action, biodiversity, and plant–pollinator interactions!

[1/3] We’re closing out the year with THREE new tools for pollinator identification. 1) Bee image database: Explore over 8,000 macro images covering more than 2,000 European Wild Bee species. Search by family, genus, or country to see diagnostic features in vivid detail 🐝 pollinatoracademy.eu/images

Happy holidays and a 2026 full of nature! 🎄 From the FLOWer Lab we wish you happy days, many discoveries and time to appreciate the plants, pollinators and the whole natural world around us. 🌸🐝

Super excited to see the EU Delegation Act to monitor pollinators finally published: eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/...

The @ec.europa.eu approved the EU-PoMS, the new pollinator scheme that harmonises monitoring across the EU. The first period runs from 2027 to 2030. The PT-PoMS proposal developed in PolinizAÇÃO and submitted to ICNF is fully aligned with the Delegated Act. 🐝💛 📃 eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-conten...

A Comissão Europeia aprovou o EU-PoMS, o novo esquema que harmoniza a monitorização de polinizadores na UE. O primeiro período abrange 2027 a 2030. A proposta de PT-PoMS desenvolvida no PolinizAÇÃO e entregue ao ICNF está alinhada com o Ato Delegado aprovado. 🐝💛 📃 eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-conten...

Magusto 2025! Bonfire chestnut celebration 2025!

🐝 Os polinizadores valem milhões... Um novo estudo do FLOWer Lab revela que garantem mais de 2 mil milhões de €/ano à agricultura PT, sendo 1,1 mil milhões assegurados por polinizadores selvagens. Protegê-los é vital para a nossa alimentação, economia e futuro. Notícia: www.uc.pt/fctuc/notici...

🐝 Pollinators are worth billions. A new study from the FLOWer Lab shows they secure over €2B/year for PT agriculture, with €1.1B coming from wild pollinators. Protecting them is essential for our food, economy and future. Read it: link.springer.com/article/10.1... News: www.uc.pt/fctuc/notici...

O suspense acabou… 🤭 Já podemos revelar a data e o programa de inauguração da nova exposição do #PavilhaodoConhecimento: “SUPERBICHOS! Incríveis por Natureza”. 📢 Marquem na agenda: 24 de outubro, sexta-feira, a partir das 18.30. Entrada livre. Programa: www.pavconhecimento.pt/exposicoes/s...

#OpenAccess Flowering synchrony and cultivar compatibility as key factors for optimising sweet cherry pollination and production 🍒 doi.org/10.1111/aab.... 🌸 It's essential to include compatibility & regional flower phenology in orchard design 🌸 @catarinasiopa.bsky.social @jloureiro13.bsky.social

Very proud to hear this wonderful talk by #SilviaCastro from @pollinet.bsky.social. 👏 #SPECO has been very well represented at @sibecol.bsky.social #congress

The Dutch Grassland Butterfly indicator (www.clo.nl/indicatoren/...) shows a decline of more than 70%. It will be hard to achieve an increasing trend in 2030, as required in art 11 in the Nature Restoration Regulation (eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-conten...).

Las moscas florícolas (Syrphidae) son insectos altamente beneficiosos: mientras que los adultos polinizan, sus larvas contribuyen al reciclaje de la materia orgánica 🍂 o al control de plagas agrícolas. Os dejo aquí una lámina genial con las especies del género Eristalis de la península ibérica 😉👇

How to create a #nature-literate society. My latest article @theconversation.com Revaluing naturalists' skills is essential for a future where we work with, not against, nature. Notice Name Nurture #GreenJobs theconversation.com/heres-how-to... @uclnews.bsky.social @curlewaction.bsky.social

Ontem foi um dia muito bonito! Obrigado a todos os envolvidos! Visitem a exposição Pequenos Gigantes - Guardiões da Biodiversidade para ficarem a conhecer melhor alguns da diversidade de polinizadores que podem encontrar em Portugal através do olho e da lente do Albano Soares!

🌿 New publication with FLOWer Lab’s contribution! With Sílvia Castro, led by Catarina Gomes from Madeira Botanical Group, this study on Musschia wollastonii reveals its mixed reproductive system—self-pollination and insect pollinators, mostly hoverflies and butterflies. Many act as pollen robbers!

🐝 New publication! The chapter "Taxonomy of European Apoidea: Anthophila", by Hugo Gaspar (FLOWer Lab) & Simone Flaminio (Univ. of Mons), provides a practical guide to bee diversity & identification in Europe. 📖 Part of "Hidden and Wild: An Integrated Study of European Wild Bees". Read it 👇

Congratulations to Tiago Laranjo for successfully defending his MSc thesis in Ecology at UC! 🎓🌱 His research, "Contributions to the conservation of threatened plant species and their habitats in Serra do Caramulo", was supervised by Mariana Castro & António Gouveia! Wishing you all the best! 🚀

Congratulations Rafael Matos for the successful defense of your MSc in Ecology! His work "Reassessing changes in reproductive strategies and population structure of Oxalis pes-caprae in the invaded range" supervised by Sílvia Castro & Mariana Castro, brings new insights into invasive plant dynamics.

You complete my life-cycle 💕 One of the best ways to help moths thrive is by growing their favourite food plants. #MoonMeadows #MothsMatter

Huge congratulations @wilosterman.bsky.social for a very good viewpoint paper on @newphyt.bsky.social! 🎉 Dive into "The ecology of polyploid establishment and exclusion, with implications for polyploid biogeography" for a great read! 🔬📚👏 #polyploidy #plantsarefascinating

Sílvia Castro, co-PI of FLOWer Lab, participated yesterday in the round table organised by the Biology students association on the role of women in science, during the celebration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science! 👩‍🔬 #internationaldayofwomenandgirlsinscience

🐝 New data on Portugal’s bees! The Science Museum of the University of Coimbra holds the largest historical bee collection in Portugal. A new study by the FLOWer Lab reveals 13,374 records, 11,053 unpublished until now, covering 464 species, incl. 11 new to Portugal! 🔗 doi.org/10.3897/jhr....

The FLOWer Lab at #EcoFlor2025 (León, Spain, @ecoflor2025.bsky.social)! 🌱 Afonso Petronilho presented the oral communication: "Two congeneric Utricularia L. species with distinct reproductive strategies" Exploring plant reproductive diversity in the fascinating aquatic carnivorous species.

🎉Congratulations! The PolinizAÇÃO project wraps up its 7 participatory workshops, paving the way for an Action Plan to protect #pollinators in Portugal! A great collaboration between citizens & institutions. We’re proud to be part of it! Here's how it happened! 🐝🌿 @pollinet.bsky.social

🌿 @jloureiro13.bsky.social was one of the speakers at dcv.talks this week! He presented "Through the citizens’ lenses: Plant-Pollinator Interactions on iNaturalist", showcasing how citizen science helps unveil plant-pollinator interactions. This initiative was launched by the PolinizAÇÃO project 🐝📸

Até já @catarinasiopa.bsky.social! Estamos sempre aqui para o que necessitares e o @flowerlab.bsky.social estará sempre de portas abertas para ti. Boa sorte para esta nova etapa!

🌿🐝 New paper! Sílvia Castro, Sara Lopes, @catarinasiopa.bsky.social, @jloureiro13.bsky.social & Hugo Gaspar coauthored a study on EuPPollNet, Europe’s largest plant-pollinator network database! 🌍💡 Thanks @joseblanuza.bsky.social and @ibartomeus.bsky.social for the great coordination! 📖 Read it 👇

[new paper] EuPPollNet: A European Database of Plant-Pollinator Networks onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... Another wonderful paper of @joseblanuza.bsky.social making open more than >1500 networks and looking at their properties. Come for the data, stay for the cool figures!

🌿 Sílvia Castro was Feb’s speaker of Sociedade Broteriana Talks! Sílvia Castro presented “Nothing is permanent except change: O. pes-caprae on the Mediterranean Basin”. She shared progress from COST ConservePlants initiative studying floral morphotypes & ploidy levels of invasive Bermuda buttercup.

Sílvia Castro foi uma das palestrantes das dcv.talks da semana passada, onde apresentou os avanços da iniciativa à escala internacional de amostragem de Oxalis pes-caprae no âmbito da Ação COST ConservePlants, para o estudo dos morfotipos e níveis de ploidia desta espécie invasora no Mediterrâneo.

📚🐝 Discover the new book on the bees of Portugal! The book "Chaves Dicotómicas dos Genneros de Abelhas de Portugal" has been published by the UC Press. Coordinated by Hugo Gaspar from the FLOWer Lab, you can download the book in here (in PT): monographs.uc.pt/iuc/catalog/...

📚🐝 Descobre o novo livro sobre as abelhas de Portugal! Foi publicado pela Imprensa da UC o livro “Chaves Dicotómicas dos Géneros de Abelhas de Portugal. Hymenoptera: Anthophila”! Coordenado por Hugo Gaspar do @flowerlab.bsky.social descarreguem esta obra aqui: monographs.uc.pt/iuc/catalog/...

Our hoverflies have a new home! 🗄️🪰 As part of the #ARCADE project (tettris.eu/3rd-party-pr...), a 3PP of the @tettris.eu, we are transferring the hoverflies from the FLOWer Lab entomological collection to the new entomological boxes and cabinets! #nameittosaveit #tettriseu #arcade

No passado dia 14 de janeiro, decorreu o 4º workshop participativo do PolinizAÇÃO, dedicado às Práticas de Gestão em Áreas Produtivas e Classificadas no Instituto Superior de Agronomia. Foi uma manhã repleta de partilha de ideias, construção de soluções e um forte compromisso com a biodiversidade!

Very interesting review article "Crop diversification for pollinator conservation" by Thijs Fijen, @eeraertsmaxime.bsky.social, @juliaosterman.bsky.social, @catrinwestphal.bsky.social and co-authors in Landscape Ecology!

2025 starts with a methodology publication by Ștefan et al. on Utilising affordable smartphones and open-source time-lapse photography for pollinator image collection and annotation - Happy new year! doi.org/10.26786/192...

FLOWer Lab's King's Day Dinner! This time some people were missing! We'll have to repeat it soon!

Interesting short communication by Underwood and co-authors on Insect Conservation and Diversity!

Biodiversity loss, water & food insecurity, health risks & climate change – are all interconnected. They interact & compound each other in ways that make separate efforts to fix them ineffective & counterproductive. New report from IPBES on how we must address these interconnected global challenges

The great @isatxu.bsky.social was one of the speakers at today's DCV talks, presenting “Functional ecology in a changing world: understanding global change impacts on species interactions.” It was a fascinating talk!

🌼🐝 Join us to learn about the newly published paper ‘Global change aggravates drought, with consequences for plant reproduction’ in @annbot.bsky.social by Johanne Brunet and co-authors. 🧵 (1/7) 👉 doi.org/nxrr #AoBpapers #CklimateChange #Pollination #PlantScience

The #IMPETUS4CS third and final open call for #citizenscience projects starts TOMORROW!! We want to support and spotlight new and ongoing #citsci projects, through our 2025 Accelerator programme and the #EUprize for citizen science! Learn More Here! impetus4cs.eu/empowering-c...

I have a new PhD opportunity with @juliakoricheva.bsky.social at Royal Holloway University of London on the effect of tree diversity on nutritional and chemical diversity of pollen and nectar resources for bees in the forest understory - deadline 20th January 2025 www.trees-dla.ac.uk/projects/eff...

"A study of federally funded research projects in the United States estimated that principal investigators spend on average about 45% of their time on administrative activities related to applying for and managing projects rather than conducting active research" www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Narcissus bulbocodium in 4 acts!