Basic and Applied Ecology

Fig. 1. Illustration of the experimental design with two hypothetical meadows stemming from the two different mowing regimes (WYRR and BYRR). Invertebrate sampling occurred in 2021 and only in the uncut refuge areas.

Fig. 2. Depiction of the different methods used to sample the vegetation and arthropods in an uncut refuge.

🌼 New #BAAE article: How often should meadow refuges rotate? 🌿

Rotating uncut grass after each cut boosts arthropod abundance, benefiting spiders & bees, but some taxa prefer yearly shifts. Smart rotation can maximize meadow biodiversity.

DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...
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Fig. 1. (A) Land cover and land use (LCLU) map of Belgium displaying the location of surveyed fields and reference weather stations from the WOW-BE platform (KMI, 2023) for three consecutive growing seasons (2021–2023). (B) Visualization of the spatial scales used for the calculation of landscape metrics. (C) Weather station assignment

Fig. 2. Cumulative abundance (CAb) and week of first observation (WFO) of (A) alate and (B) apterous M. persicae in sugar beet over three consecutive growing seasons. Each point represents an individual field observation, with color indicating the sowing week for the corresponding field.

🪲 New #BAAE article: What drives green peach aphid outbreaks in European sugar beet?

Warmer winters & early sowing boost Myzus persicae arrival and abundance, while landscape effects are scale-dependent. 🌡️

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2025.11.005
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Fig. 1. a) Map of managed and abandoned study sites within Estonia. b) Cross-section of a trap nest block with chewed leaf material and pollen provisions. c) Nest block mounted on a juniper tree at one of the study sites.

Fig. 2. Pie charts illustrating the percent of total relative abundance of sequences across all samples represented by a) each plant family and b) each Asteraceae genus. Those with percentages ≥ 0.5 % of total relative abundance among all samples are shown individually, while all others are grouped into the “Other” category.

🐝 New #BAAE article: Landscape context shapes pollen use of the specialist bee Osmia leaiana in Estonian alvar grasslands 🇪🇪

Semi-natural grasslands & Cichorioideae drive pollen composition, while cropland & forest reduce brood production. 🌿

DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...
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Fig. 1. a) Map of managed and abandoned study sites within Estonia. b) Cross-section of a trap nest block with chewed leaf material and pollen provisions. c) Nest block mounted on a juniper tree at one of the study sites.

Fig. 2. Pie charts illustrating the percent of total relative abundance of sequences across all samples represented by a) each plant family and b) each Asteraceae genus. Those with percentages ≥ 0.5 % of total relative abundance among all samples are shown individually, while all others are grouped into the “Other” category.

🐝 New #BAAE article: Landscape context shapes pollen use of the specialist bee Osmia leaiana in Estonian alvar grasslands 🇪🇪

Semi-natural grasslands & Cichorioideae drive pollen composition, while cropland & forest reduce brood production. 🌿

DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...
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Fig. 1. Conceptual view of the expected influence of the new littoral zones with recoupled habitats on primary producers, macroinvertebrate primary consumers and higher trophic levels in Lake Markermeer, The Netherlands. Primary production in the original lake in the pelagic zone (left food web) is mainly driven by pelagic phytoplankton. In the new littoral zones (right food web), additional contributions of benthic (macrophytes and periphyton) and terrestrial (shore plants) primary producers are expected, forming a broader base of consumers and higher trophic levels in a more complex food web. Food web based on Jin (2021).

Fig. 2. (a) Lake Markermeer in the Netherlands with the sampling locations of isotope and community data indicated. The rectangle shows the location of the Marker Wadden in Lake Markermeer further detailed in panel b. (b) The Marker Wadden archipelago with the isotope and community data sampling locations. Turquoise shading indicates water depths shallower than 1.5 m. (c) Light availability in the form of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) at different water depths in lake Markermeer. The approximate shore / littoral and sheltered limnetic areas are indicated with turquoise and pink shading, respectively, which illustrates that PAR at the sediment surface in the 4 m deep open water is very low.

🌊 New #BAAE article: Shoreline restoration boosts food web recovery in Markermeer

Creating shallow littoral habitats increased benthic production and carbon fluxes to pelagic zones, enhancing macroinvertebrate diversity in this restored lake. 🐟

DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...
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www.uni-goettingen.de/en/3240.html...
Hidden insect diversity in grass shoots threatened by mowing

Fig. 1. Abundance of a) diurnal and b) nocturnal ground beetles for the size classes <4 mm; 4–8 mm; 8–12 mm and >12 mm in extensively (EM, n = 112) and intensively managed (IM, n = 115) grasslands. Mean +-se.

Fig. 2. Rank abundance curves of extensively managed (EM) grasslands and intensively managed (IM) grasslands. Species names of the indicator species are shown.

🐞 New #BAAE article: Extensive grassland management boosts ground beetle diversity

Fields host more 4–12 mm diurnal beetles, the ideal prey for breeding farmland birds, supporting biodiversity-friendly farming. 🐦

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2025.11.006
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Fig. 1. Overview over the day and night light settings of the five treatment groups. All groups had the same settings during the day, starting with approximately 80 lx at 7 am and an increase every 15 min until 8 am (steps: 80.10 ± 3.40 lx, 161.35 ± 7.21 lx, 239.90 ± 11.50 lx, 316.65 ± 13.32 lx), followed by a daylight phase (392.41 ± 19.61 lx) and a step-wise decrease from 10 – 11 pm following the same levels as from 7 – 8 am in reversed order. During the night, the illuminance was < 0.01 lx in the dark group (D), while the other groups experienced artificial light a night of different durations (P = part-night, C = continuous) and intensities (L = low, H = high), with the following illuminances: LP 5.20 ± 0.29 lx (at 11 pm – 2 am and 5 – 7 am), HP 49.00 ± 2.53 lx (11 pm – 2 am, 5 – 7 am), LC 5.20 ± 0.29 lx during the whole night, HC 49.00 ± 2.53 lx, whole night. Illuminance values are means ± SD taken from n = 17–20 measurements at the height of the Petri dishes containing the insects.

🪲 New #BAAE article: Artificial light at night reshapes beetle development & chemistry 💡

High, continuous ALAN delays development and alters chemical profiles, while part-night or low light reduces impacts. 🌌

DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...
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Fig. 1. The relationship between mean shoot length per grass species to species richness of the endophytic insects found in these shoots. A The number of herbivore species, B the sum of herbivore and parasitoid species. The five points indicating no species at all indicate that no one insect species has been reared from the five annual grass species studied, despite intensive shoot sampling (see Table 1). The inquilines of P. australis are included (see Table 2, see also Fig. S2A and S2B for regressions without inquilines). Regression lines were fitted to the species richness found in the ten perennial grass species.

Fig. 2. Images illustrating the insect community of the shoot-inhabiting gall midge Giraudiella inclusa on Common Reed Phragmites australis. A Phragmites australis reedbelt with the ricegrain-like galls of Giraudiella inclusa inside internodes. B The gall midge Giraudiella inclusa: Oviposition, C Early Giraudiella gall development, D late Giraudiella gall development, E the Giraudiella parasitoid Torymus arundinis ovipositing, F the gregarious Giraudiella parasitoid Aprostocetus calamarius, G T. arundinis eggs on a dead 2nd instar host larva, H the conspicuously hairy, solitary T. arundinis larva, I midge skin filled with pupae of the gregarious Platygaster szelenii, J the solitary parasitoid Platygaster cf. quadrifarius (Tscharntke et al. 1991).

🌾🐛 New #BAAE article: Hidden insect food webs thrive inside perennial grass shoots 🌿

Longer shoots host richer herbivore–parasitoid communities. Unmown refuges are key to protecting these overlooked specialists. 🕷️

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2026.01.004
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Are you interested in Ecological Modelling?

Then don’t miss this amazing opportunity!

Apply now for the YoMos 2026 workshop!

@yomoseco.bsky.social
@gfoesoc.bsky.social

Our paper with Teja, Péter, and Stefan, "The hidden multitrophic diversity of specialized grass-shoot insects – neglected by grassland management," is published in @basicapplecol.bsky.social. It emphasizes the need for unmown refuges to support persistent insect populations.
doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...

Fig. 3. Percentage of reads attributed to carabid, prey and other for Nebria salina and Poecilus cupreus for samples from 2013 to 2019 and 2021. Colors distinguish between (a) prey reads (green), (b) carabid reads (blue) and (c) other reads (contaminants and not assigned – orange). Proportions are given as percentages of the total number per sample (after filtering the singletons).

Fig. 5. Prey diversity in the diet of Nebria salina (a) and Poecilus cupreus (b) through time. Each dot represents the diet of one carabid specimens, dots are jittered horizontally and vertically for more clarity. The curve corresponds to a linear regression with the grey area displaying the 95 % confidence interval.

🪲 New BAAE article:

Metabarcoding of stored carabid beetles reveals declining prey diversity over the last decade. Temporal diet shifts highlight long-term invertebrate declines and the value of historical collections for monitoring.

DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...
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Figure 2. (A) Globally threatened species richness in quarter-degree grid cells in Mozambique. Threatened species include those listed as ‘Critically Endangered’, ‘Endangered’, or ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List (IUCN, 2024). (B) Proportion of open-habitat species in quarter-degree grid cells. Open-habitat species are those primarily associated with deserts, grasslands, open water, low shrubs, rocky habitats, seashores, urban areas, or the forest canopy (Tobias et al., 2022). (C) Proportion of large-range species in quarter-degree grid cells. Large-range species are defined as those with distribution ranges exceeding 15 million km² (Tobias et al., 2022).

🦜 New BAAE article:

In Mozambique, bird diversity peaks at intermediate farmland in savannas but declines in rainforests. Farmland expansion favors widespread species, threatening biodiversity. Biome-specific strategies are needed for conservation.

DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...
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🌱🪱 New BAAE article:

Three pathways regulate soil micro-food webs under global change. Heavy metals cut nematodes by 76%, acid rain boosts them. Nematodes actively regulate ecosystem stress; soil acidification is a key driver.

DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...
@gfoesoc.bsky.social

Fig. 1. Analytical workflow from community data processing to LCBD and Boosted Regression Trees (BRTs) results.

Fig. 2. Maps for the U.S. showing the local contribution to beta diversity (sesLCBD). (a) Watersheds without nonnatives (sesLCBDhistorical); (b) with nonnatives in LCBD (sesLCBDpresent).

🌊New BAAE article:

High-altitude watersheds are vulnerable to invasion. Nonnative species strongly drive declines in Local Contributions to Beta Diversity. Prioritize high-LCBD, low-richness-distinct, and low-FOri communities for conservation.

DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...
@gfoesoc.bsky.social

New article led by Evan T. Sloan🐝

Pollen metabarcoding shows strong preference for Cichorioideae in the specialist bee Osmia leaiana.

Foraging patterns are driven by local flower abundance and nearby semi-natural grasslands.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

@basicapplecol.bsky.social

Fig. 1. Thinned Hooded Vulture occurrence records January 2015 – June 2024, land cover, annual mean temperature and precipitation across the study area (East Africa).

Fig. 5. Hooded Vulture response to (a) Annual Mean Temperature, (b) Annual Precipitation, (c) Precipitation Seasonality (CV: Coefficient of Variation), (d) Precipitation of Driest Quarter, (e) Precipitation of Warmest Quarter, (f) Isothermality, (g) Temperature Seasonality (SD × 100: Standard Deviation), (h) Temperature Annual Range, and (i) Elevation by GLM, Maxent, RF and eSDMs.

🦅🌍 New BAAE article:
Hooded Vultures in East Africa occupy only 12% of the landscape. Climate, elevation, and land cover shape their distribution. Conservation beyond protected areas is urgent to safeguard this declining species.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2025.12.010
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The slope of the red line shows the shift in the onset of flowering as a function of temperature over the spatial gradient and the slope of the blue line shows the shift over the temporal gradient in Vienna. The gray area represents the 95 % confidence interval for both linear regressions, overlapping across the entire possible range. The linear regressions run nearly parallel to each other, illustrating the similarity between both methods. The dots combine mean temperature (x-axis) and flowering time (y-axis) within a year. The boxes represent the temperature ranges of the respective gardens and years.

🌸 New #BAAE article: Flowering shifts response to temperature.

Early-flowering species advance ~7 days per 1°C increase & space-for-time substitutions work well for general patterns but species-specific caution is needed.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2025.10.007
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We are excited to present to you the keynote speakers of #NSO2026 and #gfoe2026! First off is @jessicakabbott.bsky.social, professor of evolutionary genetics at @lund-university.bsky.social, Sweden. She works on the evolution of sex differences and sex chromosomes.
@gfoesoc.bsky.social

Fig. 1. Distribution of the study sites in the municipalities of Jardín and Andes in Colombia. Red dots represent the sun coffee system, the yellow triangles the coffee-plantain intercropping, and the green squares the shade coffee system.

Fig. 2. A) Experimental block. Exclusion treatments from left to right: ant and bird exclosure, bird exclosure, ant exclosure, and open control. B) Exclosure treatments: B1) Grease applied on coffee shrubs to exclude ants. B2) Exclosure treatments and control. B3) Setting up exclosure treatments.

☕🐦 New BAAE article:

Birds and ants interact to control coffee berry borer in Colombian coffee farms. Shade coffee and crop diversification enhance natural pest control, showing biodiversity can boost pest management.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2025.11.002
@gfoesoc.bsky.social

Fig. 1. Estimated probability of fruit set for Pink Lady apples across different pollination treatments. Points represent model-predicted posterior means (±95% credible intervals). “Control” refers to open-pollinated flowers exposed to natural pollination, “Emasculation” to flowers with anthers removed to prevent self-pollen deposition, “Self-pollination” to hand-pollinated flowers using pollen from the same cultivar, and “Spontaneous” to flowers bagged throughout anthesis to test autonomous self-pollination. The other treatments represent the cultivar used to hand-pollinate the flowers. Fruit set was modelled as a binary response (1 = fruit set, 0 = no fruit set).

Fig. 2. Fruit weight and seed quality of Pink Lady apples. (A) Estimated fruit weight (g) and (B) estimated proportion of well-formed seeds for fruits that developed following different pollen-donor treatments: Control (open pollination), or hand-pollination with pollen from Fuji, Royal Gala, Granny Smith, or Kanzi. Dots represent individual fruit/seed measurements, while larger filled circles and error bars show model-predicted means ± 95% credible intervals from Bayesian mixed-effects models.

🍎🐝 New BAAE article:

In apples, pollen donor identity strongly affects fruit set, weight & seed quality. Choosing high-performing donors (beyond basic compatibility) can boost orchard productivity and fruit quality.

DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...
@gfoesoc.bsky.social

The first LUNCHBOX MODELS Event is happening next Wednesday 28th January at 12PM!!

Find out more about the Event: www.yomos.org/lunchbox-mod...
@yomoseco.bsky.social

Three funded PhD positions on Geo-Biosphere Interactions in the South African Fynbos biome @terra-cluster.org 🪴⛰️

Please RT and forward to suitable candidates.

Link: bwsyncandshare.kit.edu/s/67A6Kx7MLf...

Fig. 1. Conceptual diagram of the relationships among the social-ecological dimensions of urban soundscapes. Urban soundscape characteristics likely are influenced by urban green space vegetation structure, which in turn influences biodiversity. Furthermore, urban soundscapes relate to dimensions of acoustic comfort and human wellbeing (restoration). Key for urban planning is to identify places of high biodiversity, acoustic comfort and restoration with positive effects on human wellbeing that can be equitably promoted in planning and sound-based policies. Graphic by Sophie Arzberger.

Fig. 2. Research sites in the inner city of Munich, Germany (as delineated by black line) where sound recordings took place (circles, squares, diamonds) as well as soundwalk routes took place (colored lines). Graphic by Sophie Arzberger.

🌳🎶 New BAAE article:

The CitySoundscapes pilot links urban soundscapes, bird diversity, and human well-being. Methods combining ecology, psychology & planning show how green space structure supports biodiversity and acoustic comfort.

DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...
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Great news 🎉

The deadline for Thematic Session proposals for NSO-GFÖ-conference has been extended! Submit your proposals until 31. January!

We are excited to see all of you in Odense in September!

Guidelines: vist.ly/4nbus
Submit: vist.ly/4nbuv

Effect of tillage regime and distance from field margin on (a) overall ground beetle activity density and (b) Pterostichus melas activity density, with 95 % confidence intervals.

Effect of tillage regime on the number of ground beetle species by trap, with 95 % confidence intervals. Different letters indicate statistically significant differences according to post-hoc pairwise comparisons with Tukey adjustment.

🌾🐞 New #BAAE article: Conservation tillage boosts ground beetle abundance & richness.

But drought and seed-predator dynamics complicate weed control—highlighting smarter strategies for climate-ready farming. 🌱🌦️

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2025.11.001
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Fig. 1. Map of the city of Munich in Southern Germany consisting of over 10,300 blocks including built-up area (white areas) and urban green spaces such as parks, cemeteries, green belt or conservation areas (green areas). Black areas represent 90 residential blocks selected for sampling. Data on block geometries and green spaces were provided by the Municipal Department of the City of Munich.

Fig. 2. Partial effects of the percentage of total vegetation cover (left), vegetation of 1–5 m height (middle) and vegetation of > 10 m height (right) on bird diversity (A–I), based on mixed effect models, and on abundance (J–L) based on generalized linear models. Hill numbers were used as diversity measures, with order q = 0 equaling species richness and orders q = 1 and q = 2 being interpreted as the effective number of common and abundant species, respectively. Thin lines without confidence bands indicate non–significant effects. The percentages of vegetation of 1–5 m height and vegetation > 10 m height were square-root transformed, but their effects are shown on the original scales.

🌳🪶 New BAAE article:

Urban vegetation boosts bird diversity in Munich. Total vegetation cover, especially large trees, drives rare species, while distance to green spaces matters less. ≥10–20% cover benefits biodiversity and human well-being.

DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...
@gfoesoc.bsky.social

A framework of human-driven disturbance hypothesis illustrating the predicted relationships between species richness and island area and between species richness and available habitat area across different island groups in the context of human disturbances. (A) The distribution and diversity of species on small islands; (B) The relationship between species richness and island area on islands; (C) The distribution and diversity of species on large islands; (D) The relationship between species richness and available habitat area on islands.

Map of the 50 study islands in the Zhoushan Archipelago, China. The selected islands are labeled in green and ranked according to the decreasing areas from Island 1 to Island 50.

🌏🦌 New #BAAE article:

Mammal richness on small islands is driven more by people than area. Highlighting the need to protect low-disturbance islands and safeguard larger ones. 🌿

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2025.10.003
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Fig. 1. Genetic composition of rookeries and Foraging grounds of loggerhead sea turtle in the Northeast Atlantic. The pie charts represent the haplotype composition (776 bp) at nesting sites, indicated by a hatchling turtle, and foraging grounds in Macaronesia and ABJN-EA. The haplotype frequencies of the Northeast Atlantic FG used for time comparisons (380 bp) are shown in the barplot (H = Historical, C = Current). The arrows indicate the main source of juveniles to each FG. NRU = Northern Recovery Unit, FL-CE = Florida Central East, FL-SE = Florida Southeast, FL-SW = Florida Southwest, FL-CW = Florida Central West, FL-NW = Florida Northwest, DRT = Dry Tortugas, MEX = Mexico, CAV = Cape Verde, MED = Mediterranean, ABJN-EA = Area Beyond National Jurisdiction in the North-East Atlantic.

Fig. 2. Juvenile sea turtle rookery contributions to foraging grounds. Foraging-ground-centric estimates (cMSA1) showing the mean and SD contributions from rookeries to Macaronesia foraging areas using 776-bp mtDNA fragment. ABJN-EA = Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction in the Eastern Atlantic.

🐢🌊 New BAAE article:

Temporal shifts in juvenile turtle stocks detected. Florida is a major source for Azores & Madeira, Cape Verde for Canary Islands. Genetic differences highlight need for long-term monitoring.

DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...
@gfoesoc.bsky.social

Last chance to submit thematic session proposals is today!

@nordicjbotany.bsky.social @ecography.bsky.social @oikosjournal.bsky.social @wildlifebiology.bsky.social @avianbiology.bsky.social @basicapplecol.bsky.social

nordicsocietyoikos.glueup.com/event/nordic...