Congratulations to BES students Alex and Ross on their fabulous talks at the 2026 Iapetus conference 👏 (and a shout out to Sheena and Maria, who are supervised by Stirling researchers @zarahpattison.bsky.social, @kirstyjpark.bsky.social and Elisa Fuentes-Montemayor!)

📖 This study shows that ecological complexity is empirically measurable, and its development in restoration can be influenced by key variables 👇️ besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Deer 🦌 activity limits tree 🌳 recruitment in woodland creation sites - Journal of Applied Ecology besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Superb! “It sounds impressive but then it would, because it’s a press release” said Dr Louise Johnson “I look forward to reading more details when they’re published, but until there’s a peer-reviewed paper I might as well give expert commentary on a YouTube ad” www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

Where should I put my acoustic monitor? If you're looking to study #biodiversity using #ecoacoustics, #PhD researcher @ecologybarnett.bsky.social can advise! Here he is talking at the BES Symposium 🔊

Our new review highlights growing challenges for owls, from road mortality to sensory pollution. Understanding these impacts is essential for their conservation in rapidly changing landscapes link.springer.com/article/10.1... @dornitholges.bsky.social @dmdominoni.bsky.social @pesumas.bsky.social

“Drivers of complexity in ecosystem restoration” Waddell 2026 - Journal of Applied Ecology - besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Looking for a furnished room/flat near Kingussie, or Aviemore for 3 months (May-July). I'm starting a work placement at the Highland Wildlife Park, helping with their invertebrate reintroduction programme! Happy to discuss details. Please drop me a message if you know anything, or share this post 🙏

DucklingWatch The DucklingWatch citizen science project, led by Hannah Coburn at the University of Essex, returns for its second year. Submitting your records of Mallard ducklings will help improve understanding of duckling survival rates and drivers of population trends.

Ross @ecologybarnett.bsky.social gave a fantastic seminar last week about his #research into dawn chorus #soundscapes in #woodlands with different canopy structures and noise pollution levels 🌳🐦‍⬛ His use of audience members' pets to explain AI models was such a fun way to increase engagement!

Our new paper is out: "Acoustic differences persist in urban Parus major (Great Tit) over two decades of declining anthropogenic noise in Paris, France." A study of noise and bird song, by me and Hans Slabbekoorn, in Ornithological Applications @amornith.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1093/orni...

Thank you to everyone who brought and presented posters at #SNSC2026 - we were lucky to have such a wide range of fascinating topics and great engagement in great conversations about ongoing research!

I want to break tree! Sitka spruce colonisation of treeline environments in Scotland by Rory Abernethy 🌲 #SNSC2026 @naturescot.bsky.social @stir.ac.uk

We are getting ready for #SNSC2026 Scotland's Nature Student Conference - welcome and arrival tomorrow at the Pathfoot Building, University of Stirling, from 10am! View the programme on our website: scotnsconference.wixsite.com/2026 We look forward to welcoming you to our event!

Our research on Tawny Owls at @sbohvm.gla.ac.uk was featured on this episode of BBC Radio Scotland - listen at: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... We discuss how we track Tawnies' movements and the way they are adapting to noisy and light-polluted areas @dmdominoni.bsky.social @iapetusdtp.bsky.social

Congratulations to BES members Thiago Silva, Kirsty Park, Kevin Watts and Elisa Fuentes-Montemayor and colleagues for a new article in #Forest Ecology and Management on the use of #LiDAR to measure #woodland complexity! 🌳

📣 Calling fish biologists & conservation scientists! We’re convening a session at #ICBF2026 (UBC, Vancouver): Bridging experimental biology & conservation If your research connects mechanism to real-world application- from lab to field- we want your abstract! Apply by March 3rd! 🐟🌎 icbf2026.com

🚨New paper out now! Excited to see this commentary, led by @shaunkillen.bsky.social, showing that social context is key in comparative physiology and must be integrated! Read more here: doi.org/10.1242/jeb.... #ComparativePhysiology #Behaviour #Ecophysiology @sbohvm.gla.ac.uk @jexpbiol.bsky.social

Scotland's Natural Environment Bill has passed!🎉 The bill will contribute to achieving Scotland's ambitious commitment to becoming a nature-positive country by 2030, and have substantially restored nature by 2045.

Just the smell of predators, like lynx, is enough to limit sapling damage from deer overbrowsing, according to new research in @jappliedecology.bsky.social 

In our new paper, we show that native trees, particularly oaks, are crucial to support blue tits reproduction, likely via increasing preferred insect prey. Very relevant for urban planning. Leveraging 9 years of data from our Glasgow Urban Gradient study system. Led by @clairebranston.bsky.social!

Last week, a group of BES #PhD students attended a @iapetusdtp.bsky.social doctoral training residential at The Sill in #Northumberland 👩‍🏫

The University of #Stirling is excited to be hosting #SNSC2026 😀 The registration deadline for attendance, posters and talks is Wednesday 11th February - can't wait to see you all there! 🏞️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🦫🐜🦌🌿

Great to attend #BES2025 this week, and meet colleagues. Exciting to share the first findings from my PhD, and the Restoring Resilient Ecosystems project! @britishecologicalsociety.org

Tawny owls normally rely on sound to hunt, but new research being presented today at #BES2025 finds that owls in Glasgow are adapting to noisy roads by using street lights to hunt. www.britishecologicalsociety.org/tawny-owls-a...

Looking forward to #BES2025 this week! If you're interested in restoration, complexity and ecoacoustics you should definitely check out my talk on Thursday 🌳🌲🌳🐦🐦‍⬛

The world is upside down. The Natural Environment Bill could be a turning point for Scotland’s nature. But Part 2 of the Bill threatens our most important wildlife protections. A Bill meant to help nature should not put it at risk! Email your MSPs 👉 action.rspb.org.uk/page/181323/...

The cover art is finished for my new book and I LOVE IT! This safari tour of the life in soil and what is means to us, is now available for pre-order as ebook, soft and hardcover in the UK and Commonwealth. Published in August next year (US date soon), I hope it'll entice everyone to love soil! 🧪🪱

Check out the summary of our new research in @jappliedecology.bsky.social led by Patrick Cook with @nigelwillby.bsky.social @dralanlaw.bsky.social @stir.ac.uk phys.org/news/2025-11...

Our new paper in @ecol-evol.bsky.social shows that noise reduces owl prey detectability and it generates adverse effects already at an early life stage, with potential carry-over effects on adulthood. Paper: doi.org/10.1002/ece3... @dmdominoni.bsky.social #owls #RaptorResearch #ecology #noise

Fisheries can drive selection, but what about small-scale ornamental fisheries? Our new study shows Amazonian fishes interact w/ traps in species- & environment-specific ways, hinting at overlooked selective potential. Led by @marpineda.bsky.social Read here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

📣 CALL FOR PAPERS 📣 Special issue: FROM CHIRPS TO INSIGHTS: PASSIVE ACOUSTIC MONITORING FOR APPLIED ORNITHOLOGY More info: vist.ly/43vfp Guest editors: Jan O. Engler, Jenn Foote, @silvereyedom.bsky.social Simon Thorn #ornithology #birds 🪶🧪

🔉🐸🐟🦐🪲 Got freshwater sounds? Consider contributing to the Freshwater Sounds Archive! We're accepting submissions until the end of this year, and all contributors can co-author the resulting data paper. Learn more at fishsounds.net/freshwater.js and www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...!

My first paper!! If you wanna know about woodland creation 🌳, beetles 🪲, and the effects of agriculture 🚜 - go here! doi.org/10.1016/j.fo... #BeetleEcology #WoodlandCreation #Conservation #Research #FirstAuthor #Ecology

🎧 What if tracking biodiversity was like mixing music? In #RESTOREID, we use sound to study restored landscapes. Check out our latest blog by @kirstyjpark.bsky.social (@stir.ac.uk) on #SoundscapeEcology 👉 bit.ly/4jGaAZz #Nature #Biodiversity #Ecology

🚨 BREAKING: From September 1st peak rail fares will be scrapped for good in Scotland! 🟢2023: Greens scrap peak rail fares. 🟡2024: SNP bring them back 🟡2024: thousands join Green and trade union calls for the SNP to reverse their decision 🟢2025: SNP reverse their decision

A healthy ash holding out from dieback in the middle of Glasgow. Fascinating piece in The Scotsman. 👉 buff.ly/IwFI8d8

It's spring again and Tawny Owls have started breeding in Glasgow! 🦉 The first adult owls of the season have been captured, ringed and tagged with biologgers, aiming to understand how they cope with roads, light & noise pollution in the urban environment. #GlasgowTawnyOwlProject #tawnyowls

HULK ADAM SMASHES DIRE WOLVES. Man alive this vexes me, and I am a bit sweary and irritable in this. Enjoy. arutherford.substack.com/p/dire-wolve...

Adjusting her red cap, “I never thought Leopard Seals would eat my face,” says a sullen Petrel who voted for the Leopard Seal Face Eating Party.

Stop. Admire the bee fly. Look at how it flies with absolutely no grace whatsoever. Observe how it unites bee and fly lovers everywhere without effort. Where is it going? What has it seen? With no honey to make, it has a lot of free time. #Invert #Invertebrate #Bee? #Fly #Insects

Are you running a long-term passive acoustic study or thinking about establishing one? If yes then have a quick look at our recent paper on mitigating long-term biases in acoustic studies. Inc. a direct comparison of AudioMoth and Song Meter Micro 2 using BirdNET & more...

Doing my MRes @sceneuog.bsky.social was a great experience - really motivated me to stay on in ecological research 🌳🐦🌲🐦‍⬛

I've started an ecoacoustics starter pack! Very aware that there are many more people in the field than are currently on this list, so please reach out if you'd like to be added/have colleagues who should be! 🐦🐸🎙️ go.bsky.app/NekQiFj

Mitigating bias in long-term terrestrial ecoacoustic studies🎶 Recommends 👉effective documentation of environmental & hardware-related variables📑 👉a long-term data storage strategy for reanalysis🌏 👉regular calibration tests to measure variation in the acoustic detection space🧪 🔗 buff.ly/Lu6rXz5

A friend included this anti-acknowledgement section on her PhD thesis. She also added the proposition: “Systematic bullying and undermining of girls and women in STEM starts early on and is the reason why they do not stay in science and related fields.” Absurd we still need to go through this 🧪👩‍🔬

The WrEN project is now on bluesky! We are a collaboration of academics, policy makers and practitioners interested in ecological restoration. You can find out more at: www.wren-project.com. @kirstyjpark.bsky.social @watts-km.bsky.social

A mammoth circus of macabre fantasy and moral bankruptcy. I got my views on mammoths down. Enjoy. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Sample coverage affects diversity measures of bird communities along a natural recovery gradient of abandoned agriculture in tropical lowland forests 🐦 Stresses the importance of standardizing biodiversity measures and incorporating beta diversity 🌏 🧪 🔗 https://buff.ly/3Enrht6