Adam Meyer

I would love to know more about how LLMs are shaping scientists' writing styles to boost persuasion. The way scientists tell the stories of their data (e.g., narrative style, verbs, adjectives) is an overlooked but meaningful element with information baked in. Uniformity does not eliminate bias.

Ecosystem size reverses the effect of the spatial coupling between autotrophic and heterotrophic ecosystems The flow of non-living resources between autotrophic and heterotrophic ecosystems can impact their ecosystem function. However, ecosystem size is similarly known to influence ecological properties an...

New paper in Oikos! 🎉

Ecosystems are connected by resource flows, and ecosystem size can mediate their effects. But how does size mediate the effects of resource flows between autotrophic and heterotrophic ecosystems—one of nature's most ubiquitous linkages?

A caribou standing on a rocky outcrop in a dense coniferous forest.

#UofG researchers studying caribou on Fogo Island, Newfoundland, found that female antler growth is occurring weeks earlier than expected, suggesting environmental changes may be affecting the Arctic mammal.

Learn more: uoguel.ph/3zyls

@uofgcbs.bsky.social @integrativebiology.bsky.social

Some interesting points from the article: doi.org/10.1093/bios...

- AI could help identify appropriate model complexity. Interesting, given this gets pretty philosophical

- AI could help researchers rapidly develop new ecosystem models for emergency response

Looking forward to listening!

🐗 Belowground effects of ground-dwelling large herbivores in forest ecosystems. "This study reviews how ground-dwelling large herbivores affect forest soil and litter globally"

📖 Read the full paper here ➡️ buff.ly/Sxq8XrB

Calls for grizzly hunts to return to Western Canada oversimplify a complex ecological issue Hunting advocacy organizations and politicians are inciting a moral panic about grizzly bears, oversimplifying an inherently complex ecological problem.

Calls for grizzly hunts to return to Western Canada oversimplify a complex ecological issue
theconversation.com/calls-for-gr...

"If ecosystems go, we go.” - Nathalie Pettorelli @pettorelli.bsky.social

Beautiful Sunset in Kaingo Private Game Reserve, one of our fieldsites

A white rhino in Dabchick Wildlife Reserve, one of our fieldsites

Woody savanna landscape in Swebeswebe Nature Reserve, on of our fieldsites

Overview of the reserves in our study sites. Shows the location of 10 included reserves with pictograms indicating the largest herbivore in each.

Excited to share that my first PhD chapter just got published in @animalecology.bsky.social! You can check it out here: doi.org/10.1111/1365.... Based on fieldwork in the beautiful Waterberg Biosphere Reserve in South Africa, we show that.. (1/3)

Eight small histograms in two columns compare mammal body mass with extinction outcomes. Left column: “Extinctions in the Pleistocene”; right: “Risk of extinction today”. Rows show North America, Australia, Africa, and South America. X-axes are log body mass from tiny to very large. In the past, most extinctions were among the largest mammals, while small species largely survived. Today, threat levels still rise with body size: many large mammals are threatened—especially by hunting—while habitat loss and other pressures increasingly affect small and mid-sized species. Australia and the Americas already lost many big mammals; Africa retains more but many are threatened. Takeaway: big mammals went first and remain at greatest risk. Source: Lyons et al. 2004; compiled by Our World in Data. Licensed CC BY (Our World in Data / Hannah Ritchie).

The largest mammals have always been at the greatest risk of extinction – this is still the case today. 🧵

The wipeout of the largest mammals is a global phenomenon that we see across many regions.

Grazing disrupts the trade-off between silica- and phenol-based plant defenses along an aridity gradient in grasslands Kaicun Yan, Wen Xia, Ketao Yu, Xiaoyu Yang, Xiaomin Wang, Jianmin Wang, Yi Zhou, Xin Jing, Haiyang Zhang, Yong Jiang, Xingguo Han, Lingfei Yu This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecolog…

📰Published📰Grazing disrupts the trade-off between silica- and phenol-based plant defenses along an aridity gradient in grasslands🌱

buff.ly/vl4Ia5W

🧪🌍

Different herbivores, different outcomes: how animals influence leaf breakdown M. Paz Tapella, Carolina Quintero, Mariano A. Rodriguez-Cabal, Yamila Sasal, M. Noelia Barrios-Garcia This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can be found he…

📰Published📰Different herbivores, different outcomes: how animals influence leaf breakdown 🍃

buff.ly/Dn1oyug

🧪🌍

Wonderful visit with Joseph Bump in Newfoundland at @memorialu.bsky.social last week!! Any guesses what Joseph, @gadammeyer.bsky.social, and I talked about??🌲🦌🌲

From science to storytelling: Madhur Anand on her leap into fiction | CBC News Madhur Anand is a scientist and poet making her fiction debut with To Place a Rabbit. The novel explores love, identity and the unexpected pull of storytelling.

Thanks to the CBC for their interest in my debut novel "To Place a Rabbit" www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

let me share a little story about a remarkable wasp that I encountered yesterday in our local deserts

I stumbled across her, and scrambled to get a few crappy photos .... but then realized that she had a burrow, perhaps a better photo op was possible ??

here she is at her burrow entrance.

Congrats Kilian!

Rewilding isn't just about restoring ecosystems—it's about building relationships. In our new paper, we highlight how considering the individual and collective relationships among animals and humans in (re)introduction efforts can lead to better rewilding of socio-ecological landscapes.

I’m very happy to share our new paper “Intensive feeding modifies nutrient patterns in a strictly protected area” (doi.org/10.1016/j.je...), just out in Journal of Environmental Management. We explore underestimated consequences of a common management practice: supplementary feeding of deer. (1/5)

Soil and microbial responses to wild ungulate trampling depend more on ecosystem type than trampling severity G. Adam Meyer, Shawn J. Leroux, Kathryn E. Hargan, Niels van Miltenburg This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can be found here. Physical trampling is a ub…

My dad (retired engineer, full-time legend) read our new @funecology.bsky.social paper about animal trampling and soil nitrogen. His review?

"I appreciated the plain language summary."

Wow!! 🏅

Here it is, glowingly endorsed by Linton Meyer, P. Eng.

fesummaries.wordpress.com/2025/07/17/s...

New #zoogeochemistry paper!

We know herbivores shape ecosystems through diet. But what about trampling? We disentangle how moose trampling affects soil environment, microbes, and N cycling in forest vs. heath ecosystems.

Come for the moose trails, stay for the non-trophic animal-ecosystem SEMs🤘

Stories and science, oh my!

Thanks @aibsbiology.bsky.social for hosting @gadammeyer.bsky.social and I to chat about our new paper in BioScience! We talk about narratives in science and provide tools for creative storytelling in ecology and conservation. Have a listen!

Beyond hero and villain narratives in ecology and conservation science Abstract. Storytelling is an essential part of science writing. To craft compelling stories, scientists are taught to think of their variables as character

And here's the paper: doi.org/10.1093/bios...

And it's out! I had an absolute blast chatting about the power of narrative in science reporting with @kristymferraro.bsky.social and James Verdier. We unpack the hero-villain trope in ecology and conservation and explore better narratives that build and resolve tension without creating a villain.

Outdated reproductive norms, the naturalistic fallacy, and misunderstandings of welfare in recent call for zoo breed-and-feed programs | PNAS Outdated reproductive norms, the naturalistic fallacy, and misunderstandings of welfare in recent call for zoo breed-and-feed programs

Worked with Dr. @kristymferraro.bsky.social, Tony Ferraro, and Dr. Julia Monk on animal welfare in zoos! Big takeaway for me in the process: interrogate whether we're talking individual care, or population care -- a critical difference when it comes to decision making.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Of all shapes and sizes: a theoretical framework for animal‐mediated terrestrial heterogeneity across scales Animals redistribute elements throughout their lives by depositing wastes and carcasses. Growing evidence shows that these zoogeochemical processes enhance landscape diversity and heterogeneity world...

We often ask how does a species affect an ecosystem.
But what about all of them—together?

Our new framework predicts how animals of all shapes and sizes act within their communities to influence elemental distribution on landscapes.

w/ Janey Lienau @ecography.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1002/ecog...

Check out the research priorities for our most northern herbivores! 🦌

Such a cool experience to get to contribute to this effort! Thanks @icbarrio.bsky.social for fearlessly leading.

🦌🦢🌿How do tundra herbivores shape nutrient cycles?

We developed the first multispecies NIRS-based open-source model to quantify nitrogen, phosphorus & carbon in faeces of tundra herbivores in Iceland (geese, reindeer, sheep).
doi.org/10.1016/j.sc...

🧵 (1/4)

Looking forward to reading this!

A theory for context‐dependent effects of mammalian trampling on ecosystem nitrogen cycling Trampling of vegetation and soil is ubiquitous among walking vertebrates, yet most models and empirical studies do not explicitly consider trampling impacts on ecosystem elemental cycling. With a new...

Starting here with some work I'm proud of!

All walking vertebrates 🦃🐘🐢 trample on plants🌱 and soil🪱🐜🦠. How does this non-trophic interaction impact terrestrial N cycling? It's context-dependent 🙄 but we show how 😃 with a new ecosystem model.

Blog: t.co/04dE1mrCve
Article: doi.org/10.1111/1365...