Functional Ecology Lab at Uni. York, UK's Avatar

Functional Ecology Lab at Uni. York, UK

@func-ecol-lab

Research group at the University of York, UK, focussing on functional ecology of terrestrial systems. Working on soil microbial and mesofaunal ecology, biogeochemistry, and the ecology of cryptogams, mainly in alpine, wetland, and forest ecosystems

227
Followers
221
Following
82
Posts
10.12.2024
Joined
Posts Following

Latest posts by Functional Ecology Lab at Uni. York, UK @func-ecol-lab

Very cool! I’ll be road testing this with my first year students

04.10.2025 08:34 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Video thumbnail

πŸ“… 9 Oct 6pm 🎟️ FREE tinyurl.com/ysht3h25
πŸ“Œ@york.ac.uk @ciscstudies.bsky.social
🎞️ 19th Native Spirit Festival 🌟#INDIGENOUS #firstnations
πŸ“½οΈ SINGING BACK THE BUFFALO + Q&A Dir. Tasha Hubbard
Richly visualised deeply upliftingβ€”an epic reimagining of North America through the lens of buffalo consciousness

02.10.2025 10:55 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image Post image Post image

Beauty and complexity in the forests of the Jura

18.09.2025 04:31 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image Post image Post image

Micro topography inducing thermal variation at the landscape scale. How will this influence the thermal sensitivity of soil enzymes?

18.09.2025 04:29 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Landscape view of peatlands on a cloudy day.

Landscape view of peatlands on a cloudy day.

There are 3 new papers from the Peatland team:

Using testate amoebae to monitor #peatlands & #restoration bit.ly/47CeW0X

How an LED torch monitoring #carbon exchange can be used in dark conditions bit.ly/4lQN0K8

Different management types affect the #vegetation composition bit.ly/47Rhs3e
🌏

01.09.2025 09:17 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Not attending, but interested. Do you want some European alpine biocrust sites to add to the network? This theme will grow over the next years for us, so happy to be involved.

13.08.2025 05:10 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

The final version of the book should be available late next week (probably Aug 14th).
I will let you know here when you can get the final paperback hardcover and eBook version!

07.08.2025 19:03 πŸ‘ 12 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Never tire of that view.

28.07.2025 11:02 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Image of a big with water and red moss in the foreground and conifer trees in the background.

Image of a big with water and red moss in the foreground and conifer trees in the background.

Photo of sundews on moss.

Photo of sundews on moss.

Happy #BogDay. The most misunderstood ecosystems on our planet have been ridiculed, drained, burned, and destroyed throughout modern history. These water purifiers, carbon keepers, storytellers, and beautiful places deserve our respect, today and every day.

27.07.2025 16:30 πŸ‘ 317 πŸ” 110 πŸ’¬ 7 πŸ“Œ 5

@dmrippin.bsky.social yikes!!

25.07.2025 20:40 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Video thumbnail

Beautiful bog woodlands of the Cairngorms. New surveys and experiments to reveal the functional diversity of these special places is now under way. We urgently need to better value these habitats and understand their sensitivity to climate change.

25.07.2025 05:35 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Remnants of woodland in NW Lancs offer calm and cool in the recent extreme heat. More connectivity and open access would benefit all

16.07.2025 14:35 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Drop me a line Robert.mills@york.ac.uk if you want a natter sometime.

16.07.2025 11:00 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

@blindboyboatclub.bsky.social enjoyed the petrichor session… if you ever want to chat on soil ecology, and why soil organic matter is the most precious thing on Earth, drop me a line

16.07.2025 09:11 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Do you know what time of year this photo was taken?

02.07.2025 14:46 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Thrilled to announce our webinar series:

πŸŒ±πŸ“ˆΒ Quantifying Ecology πŸ“ˆπŸŒ±

We are collaborating with our SIG friends to bring you quantitative methods in different ecological contexts.

Kicking off with Dr @jamesaorr.bsky.social and @bes-aquaticgroup.bsky.social on 5th August. More details to come!

24.06.2025 12:31 πŸ‘ 35 πŸ” 15 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Judging by the amount of Rumex, I think you’d have company too ☺️

19.06.2025 20:01 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Exactly that, conserving and protecting those places is key. Good old rough edges and mixed systems (wood pasture being an excellent option) are a way to start to bringing in diversity into the agri-landscape too alongside putting land to woodland regeneration

19.06.2025 16:52 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Whilst there is no doubt that conversion of forest to intensive grazing is an ecological catastrophe, it’s important to nuance this perspective: some of the most species-rich ecosystems on the planet are low-intensity pasture and meadow systems. Not all livestock agri is the same.

19.06.2025 16:35 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1

This is lush… where be this?

18.06.2025 06:05 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Oooh, Woodstock decomp? Also will be doing that this year.

17.06.2025 08:23 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Oooh, would be very keen to learn more about this!

13.06.2025 16:36 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Congrats to Zheng Fang on his latest PhD paper. This one shows that #microplastics can reduce the toxicity of salinity to #earthworms and that salinity is a more significant environmental challenge to earthworms than microplastics.

authors.elsevier.com/c/1lEy415DSl...

10.06.2025 20:11 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
PhD Scholarship - Microbial Communities and Soil Health in Restoring Grasslands at Edge Hill University on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - PhD Scholarship - Microbial Communities and Soil Health in Restoring Grasslands at Edge Hill University, listed on FindAPhD.com

Deadline extended. Funded PhD studentship at Edge Hill University with a wonderful Cumbrian field site. Please share.
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

09.06.2025 10:31 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Can do! Drop me an email Robert.mills(at)york.ac.uk

09.06.2025 11:45 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image Post image Post image Post image

Some alpine delights from obergurgl this week @bsbibotany.bsky.social

08.06.2025 20:09 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Open top chambers (OTCs) are small glasshouses without roofs that are extensively used in climate change research to warm Arctic and alpine vegetation to experimentally assess climate change impacts. In this picture we see a bunch of them newly set up in a mountain grassland

Open top chambers (OTCs) are small glasshouses without roofs that are extensively used in climate change research to warm Arctic and alpine vegetation to experimentally assess climate change impacts. In this picture we see a bunch of them newly set up in a mountain grassland

An Open Top Chamber (OTC( in a grassland, seen from above, with some plots inside. The plots are 50% vegetarion, 50% bare soil. 

 OTCs are small glasshouses without roofs that are extensively used in climate change research to warm Arctic and alpine vegetation to experimentally Assessment climate change impacts.

An Open Top Chamber (OTC( in a grassland, seen from above, with some plots inside. The plots are 50% vegetarion, 50% bare soil. OTCs are small glasshouses without roofs that are extensively used in climate change research to warm Arctic and alpine vegetation to experimentally Assessment climate change impacts.

Msc student Silje Steine has her ducks in a row! πŸ˜‰. She is sitting at a table sorting many many little bags into neat stacks, in a candle-lit mountain cabin. The bags contain seeds to be sown as part of a field experiment.

Msc student Silje Steine has her ducks in a row! πŸ˜‰. She is sitting at a table sorting many many little bags into neat stacks, in a candle-lit mountain cabin. The bags contain seeds to be sown as part of a field experiment.

MSc Student Silje Steine sitting in a meadow, bent over a vegetation plot, sowing some seeds. Lots of bags, equipment, recording sheets in the foreground.

MSc Student Silje Steine sitting in a meadow, bent over a vegetation plot, sowing some seeds. Lots of bags, equipment, recording sheets in the foreground.

Update! @nadi-mi-ar.bsky.social & MSc Silje Steine @btwnthefjords-uib.bsky.social have now set up plots & OTCs, prepared and sowed seeds of 8 lowland species into the alpine, with/without warming & neighbours. Excited to see results over the summer!! #ITEX #ProudSupervisor #ProfLife #PhDLife πŸƒπŸ”οΈπŸŒπŸŒπŸͺπŸ“πŸ§ͺ

07.06.2025 07:59 πŸ‘ 15 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Exciting! What species and why?

07.06.2025 09:31 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image Post image Post image Post image

Students from the Department of Environment and Geography at the University of York, hanging out in the amazing forests that surround Obergurgl, learing all about alpine ecology.

@uoyenvironment.bsky.social #Obergurgl #Austria #PhotoRippin

05.06.2025 19:47 πŸ‘ 12 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Morgen!

04.06.2025 06:25 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0