📢 Abstract submission is OPEN for #NZES_SCBO2026 in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland! The theme this year is 'Changing the Conversation - Ecology in a Shifting Political Landscape.' Follow the link to submit your abstract! Submissions close 12th August. confer.eventsair.com/2026-nzes-sc...

📢 New research in NZJE! 🪶 Preliminary study of impacts of a large roosting bird congregation on a pest exclusion fenced area of Rotopiko wetland ecosystem 🪶 Lead author: Anna Matuszek (Wintech); author for comms: Nicolas Sandoval (Wintech) newzealandecology.org/nzje/3636

📢 More new research in NZJE! 🪶 Evaluating the dispersal of a translocated kakaruai (South Island robin; Petroica australis) population out of Orokonui Ecosanctuary 🪶 Lead author: Manaia Pearmain-Fenton (Uni of Otago) 📷 Bernard Spragg Link to full paper below! newzealandecology.org/nzje/3635

📢 More new research in NZJE! 🦎 Challenges in alpine lizard conservation: evaluating monitoring methods for cryptic alpine geckos 🦎 Lead author: Jo Monks (University of Otago) Link to full article below! newzealandecology.org/nzje/3634

📢 Check out the latest publication in NZJE! 🌿 Ephemeral wetlands in Aotearoa | New Zealand kettle holes: geographic range, botanical biodiversity values and underlying land tenures 🌿 Lead author: Jane Gosden (University of Canterbury) 📷 Jane Gosden. Link below! newzealandecology.org/nzje/3633

📢 Nominations and applications are open for the annual NZES awards. These are open until July 31st. We are also offering new student research grants in 2026, thanks to the generosity of donors to the Kauri Fund! See the poster and link below for more info! 👀 newzealandecology.org/awards-grants

TIL that mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia, native to the woods of the US east coast) has that weird inverted-umbrella shape to the flowers because they hold pockets of pollen under tension and LAUCH them at bees! Up to eight miles an hour! 🧪

A study in Nature Communications shows trees reduce half of the urban heat island effect but can offset only a small share of future climate warming, with cooling benefits unevenly distributed and lowest where heat risk is highest. go.nature.com/4u6wXN3 🌍🧪

📢 New publication hot off the press in NZJE! 🌿 A critical review of the inclusion of mātauranga Māori in published environmental research 🌿 Lead author: Tara McAllister (Te Manawahoukura, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, New Zealand) @taramcallister.bsky.social newzealandecology.org/nzje/3632

📢 Check out the latest publication in NZJE! 🐸 Small swabs, small frogs: buccal swabbing for minimally-invasive genetic sampling of Leiopelma species 🐸 Lead author: Hadley Muller University of Otago newzealandecology.org/nzje/3631

Huge congrats to Shanta Budha-Magar on another PhD paper being published! High Resprouting of Plants Within 16 Months of Wildfire in a Dry Grassland in Aotearoa New Zealand With @njday.bsky.social and @buckleyhannah.bsky.social rsnz.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

📰Published📰Do hummingbirds share more when resources are scarce?🐦️ buff.ly/bl1QKHy 🧪🌍️

If you had to design an efficient way to breathe, what might you do? Would you model after human lungs? Fish breathing? An iron lung??? Hands down, I would model after bird respiratory systems. Here’s why. 1/6 ⚛️🧪

📢 Check out the latest publication in NZJE! 🦇 High long-term survival of PIT-tagged pekapeka | lesser short-tailed bats (Mystacina tuberculata) through annual pest control operations. 🦇 Lead author: Tertia Thurley. (DOC Palmerston North). newzealandecology.org/nzje/3630

Emergent aquatic insects sustain riparian birds. Turns out freshwater restoration and conservation can help terrestrial ecosystems! www.nature.com/articles/s41... Christian Schürings and @oldenfish.bsky.social

The most fruitful area of kauri protection research to date. Get into it

📢 PhD opportunity @aucklanduni.bsky.social Exploring the role of phosphite for kauri dieback disease treatment Click the link to find out more about this exciting opportunity to make a difference for kauri conservation 🌱 @loraxcate.bsky.social newzealandecology.org/phd-explorin...

Once upon a time I just admired nudis and sea slugs. But it was not enough. Now apparently I'm creating an R package to celebrate their colour palettes? 😅 First up, my Sydney fave, Hypselodoris bennetti. #rstats #nudibranch #dataviz 🦑🐙🧪 #marinelife #invertebrates

📢 Are you an early-career researcher with a passion for plant ecology and data analytics? Lincoln University is offering a three year postdoc looking at online trade and plant invasions 🌱 Click the link for more info! newzealandecology.org/three-year-p...

📢 Have you seen the news about froggy backpacks? For a detailed look, you can read the full article here in NZJE! 🐸 Suitability of radio telemetry for Aotearoa | New Zealand's only extant semi-aquatic frog, Leiopelma hochstetteri 🐸 Lead author: Tobia Dale newzealandecology.org/nzje/3628

Quisqualis indica has white flowers that open in the evening, but by the next day, they turn dark red. Linnaeus, when he saw the dried specimen, supposedly didn’t know the direction of the color change. The genus name loosely translates to “What's what?” #Combretaceae #color #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

📢 The NZES mentoring scheme 2026 is open until April 13th - there is still time if you are keen to be a mentor or mentee! Mentees can be students or ECRs who are members, and mentors can be anyone working in ecology. Sign up below! forms.gle/uS2P5sLjAL7z...

Symposia submissions for #NZES_SCBO2026 are now open! If you would like to run a special themed session at our upcoming conference, submit your proposal now. @society4conbio.bsky.social @newzealandecology.bsky.social

📣 Call for Symposia! The combined NZES and SCBO conference is scheduled for the 30th Nov - 4 Dec this year. The theme is "Changing the Conversation - Ecology in a Shifting Political Landscape". Symposia submissions are closing Fri 10th April! Submit here: confer.eventsair.com/2026-nzes-sc...

Super happy for VUW PhD student Hana Ishii to have her first lead author paper published, based on her MSc work at the University of Hokkaido with Osamu Seki and Masanobu Yamamoto. Hana explored Antarctic core-top GDGTs to better understand how distributions change with water mass and temperature.

Please share far & wide - the bestest, most heart warming thing you’ll see all day. Kakapo-Cam - watch one of the fattest, greenest, least able to fly, most endangered parrots in the world care for her young. Thnx @digs.bsky.social #kakapo #wildlife 🧪🧪 www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts...

Fuel architecture drives shoot flammability link.springer.com/article/10.1... @azajmahmud.bsky.social @schwilk.org

📢 Check out the latest publication in NZJE! 👀 ▪︎ Ecology and taxonomic identification of āwheto | vegetable caterpillar in Hawke’s Bay, Aotearoa | New Zealand ▪︎ Lead author: Eva Biggs (Bioeconomy Science Institute) Link below! newzealandecology.org/nzje/3625

Three mallard ducks have been euthanised after being found eating pūteketeke chicks alive in the Mackenzie District, a behaviour so far unknown to DOC experts.

📢 New publication out today in NZJE! 🐀 Testing the efficacy of typical urban pest mammal control in two BACI experiments 🐀 Lead author: Christopher Woolley newzealandecology.org/nzje/3624

I want to talk about one of my previous PhD students and now collaborator, Erana Walker. Mostly to celebrate the release of a new paper out today 🧵🧪. royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/article...

📢 New publication in NZJE! The authors make an estimate of the amount of carbon stored in AoNZ's wetland vegetation and identify some key data gaps. 🌿 Vegetation carbon in New Zealand wetland ecosystems 🌿 Lead author: Olivia Burge (Bioeconomy Science Institute) newzealandecology.org/nzje/3623

New paper - Physiological Traits for Climate‐Ready Restoration We argue expanded trait coverage will enhance species selection and performance monitoring, improving restoration and species stabilization in a changing climate. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

I am teaching a GIS class this semester for undergrads. First time I’m teaching it and it’s all done in R. I’m super excited! I was wondering if you have any recs on papers that link GIS and geospatial science with ecology. I want to include readings and discussions for the lecture part. 🧪🌎#ratats

In 2025 we marked 30 years of the Kākāpō Recovery Programme. Kākāpō ranger and artist Sarah Little (www.instagram.com/sarahmaylittle) tells the story. Part 1 of 2: the history. #kakapo #conservation #parrots #birds

First mating of the 2026 #kakapo breeding season! True to form, it was Pearl and Boss on Whenua Hou, who mated on the night of 28th Dec. They were also the first two to mate in the last two breeding seasons. We're expecting a bumper year, so follow for updates! #conservation #parrots

"Stingless bees from the Amazon granted legal rights..." And now the work begins: Native stingless bees can't compete against European honey bees that have become "Africanized" hybrids. These aggressive "killer" bees must be controlled to allow native bees to survive. 🧪🌍🌱🐝 tinyurl.com/5epkbe8n

All @ijpsjournal.bsky.social authors are special to us, but it is a particular treat to publish undergraduate research. To celebrate our undergrad authors, we started making mock journal covers featuring pictures of undergrad researchers at work. A thread of mock covers from 2025. /1 #PlantScience

Domestic honeybees for mānuka production disrupt native insect behaviour and reduce species richness. Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) were noticeably less abundant at apiary sites, and mānuka flower visits by other insects were also lower. 🌏 www.scimex.org/newsfeed/man...

Our scientists have been busy this year! From dinosaurs to diatoms, they have helped to describe an amazing 262 new species from all around the world! 🪸🐠🦎🦋🪱 Read more about this year’s new species list 👇🏻 www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...

This was a fun chat with the Bioprotection Aotearoa team about everything weeds! What's the issue & what can we do about it? So many weeds & so little money! @bioprotection.bsky.social 🌏🧪🌐🌿#invasive #weeds

Here's a new PhD scholarship in ecology or taxonomy at Lincoln University, New Zealand. Open to domestic and international students with applications due on 28 Feb 2026. www.lincoln.ac.nz/study/schola... Best to chat to potential supervisors first. It honours an amazing life in science.

📢 New publication in NZJE! 🌿 Alpine skinks persist 12 months post-translocation with no initial evidence of weka predation 🌿 Lead author: Clare Gunton University of Otago newzealandecology.org/nzje/3620

For ‘an outstanding contribution to the study & application of ecological science with a focus on New Zealand ecology.' A nice guy who is very generous with his time. A common trait among the marine biologists I’ve had dealings with over the years🐟 #MarineBiology #MarineConservation #MarineEcology

🏅Winner of the Ecology in Action Award: Sian Crowley 👏 Sian has been involved in conservation education for over a decade and has engaged with students from all around the country. She has also recently established The Seed Pod, a social enterprise aimed at increasing our connection with nature.

🏅Winner of Te Tohu Taio Award: Professor Andrew Jeffs 👏 Andrew is one of Aotearoa’s eminent marine biologists. He has been responsible for establishing new marine protected areas around the country, has worked extensively on mussel reef restoration, and has a passion for science communication.

🏅Barlow Scholarship winners: - Justin Clause (PhD Student, University of Otago) Reptile responses to wildfire 🔥 - Esteban Fuentes (PhD Student, University of Auckland - Waipapa Taumata Rau) The ecology of raptors in pine plantations 🌲

🏅Winner of Best Publication by a New Researcher: Manaia Pearmain-Fenton Manaia Pearmain-Fenton, Ann-Kathrin V. Schlesselmann, Joanne M. Monks. (2024) Capturing the imminent extinction of a kakaruai/South Island robin population. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 48(1): 3571 Photo: Francesco Veronesi

🏅Winner of Outstanding Publication on New Zealand Ecology: Ni, S., McCulloch, G. A., Kroos, G. C., King, T. M., Dutoit, L., Foster, B. J., ... & Waters, J. M. (2024). Human-driven evolution of color in a stonefly mimic. Science, 386(6720), 453-458. Photo: Graham McCulloch, Jon Waters.

🏅 A huge congratulations to all our winners from yesterday's NZ Ecological Society Awards 2025!