Chuliang Song

Unifying Ecology Across Scales - Gordon Research Conference.

With @jennsunday.bsky.social as Chair

www.grc.org/unifying-eco...

Group photo of participants at conference held at Banff International Research Station

Had a great time at the “New mathematical theory in eco evolutionary modeling of host symbiont communities” workshop/conference at Banff International Research Station 🥳

I am seeking a postdoc to join my group at UCLA -- ideally the candidate would have some experience in either population genetics or microbes/microbiome (computational background needed). We have a range of projects and are happy to tailer to your interests. Please dm/email me if interested.

A great conference to go to this summer – who could oppose unifying ecology on multiple scales? I just finished attending a great conference (Island Biogeography Society), which reminded me how fun and intellectually stimulating a really good conference is. So here’s my recommendation f…

Attending the Unifying Ecology Across Scales GRC was one of the highlights of my PhD, and this year's edition is going to be excellent! All biologists interested in integrating diverse approaches to further our understanding of the natural world are welcome. Register early! shorturl.at/rIjWx

New paper out today in @royalsocietypublishing.org Biology Letters, led by undergrad superstar Laina Weiss! An experimental test of theory on the effects of temperature and resources on carrying capacity. So proud 🥹 tinyurl.com/yvmzmt9a @integrativebiology.bsky.social

Gene-specific selective sweeps are pervasive across human gut microbiomes - Nature Development and application of the integrated linkage disequilibrium score (iLDS) reveals both selective pressures impacting the human gut microbiome and the mechanisms by which gut bacteria adapt to ...

Grateful to share our paper on gene-specific selective sweeps in human gut microbiomes, now out in Nature! It has been a joy to work with @rwolff.bsky.social, whose insights and hard work made this possible.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

An impossibility theorem for biodiversity - Biology & Philosophy Biology & Philosophy - Biodiversity is commonly described as having multiple different facets, or aspects. However, there is no clear account of the sense in which these aspects fit together...

A fascinating application of social choice theory to ecology. It rigorously proves the suspicion that "biodiversity" has to be a loose, multi-faceted concept than a single scalar number.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

So proud of this paper 🥳 Could not have done it without the amazing team along side me: Lauren Shoemaker, Lauren Hallett, Peter Vesk, @oscar-godoy.bsky.social and @mmayfieldecology.bsky.social

Scaling Temperature Effects on Metabolism from Individuals to Ecosystems The effects of temperature on metabolic rates are a core component of ecological change, with surprisingly regular effects across diverse ecological systems. Metabolic scaling theories can provide qua...

Excited to share our fresh-off-the-press Annual Review on the role of temperature in metabolic scaling! We review the state of the field on this topic and unpack confusion about the various ways the term "scaling" is used in metabolic theories. www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

Biological modeling is organized inquiry, but how should we think about the process?

My new paper in #EcologyLetters argues that we should model like experimentalists: define treatments, measure responses, validate, perturb, repeat.

👉 doi.org/10.1111/ele....

Do you agree?

The Equilibrium Conundrum Although an assumption of equilibrium dynamics underlies most ecological theory, the evidence for this dynamic in nature and in empirical studies is scarce. This creates an unfortunate disconnect bet...

Most major theories in ecology assume some sort of equilibrium, but only ~half of empirical tests acknowledge it & even fewer observed it in their system. Does this matter? How did the idea become so pervasive in ecology anyway? Find out in our new paper! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

We take a deep dive into the equilibrium assumption in ecology—hope it's a useful synthesis for the community!

Very excited about this work led by Sergio

Rigorous validation of ecological models against empirical time series - Nature Ecology & Evolution Validating theoretical models against empirical data presents challenges. Here the authors present an assumption-light method to validate ecological models against time series data, along with a dedic...

Ecology faces an accumulation of models but not an accumulation of confidence. Our new paper w/ Jonathan Levine www.nature.com/articles/s41... in @natecoevo.nature.com introduces a rigorous test rooted in queueing theory to falsify inadequate models and build confidence in useful ones.

Really excited about launching the universe of "Grassy Trees" to diversify plant growth forms in forest ecology! Bamboo, palms, and bananas are nature-based solutions that have already been working for thousands of years in many cultures. We just need to SEE them now.

Fredston Lab: Postdoctoral Scholar University of California, Santa Cruz is hiring. Apply now!

POSTDOC JOB AD: I'm hiring a Bayesian ecologist to build a (IMO, extremely fun) model of humpback whale spatiotemporal dynamics in California

2-year position starting fall 2026. in-person in Santa Cruz; collab w with Mevin Hooten's lab at UT Austin.

ask me Qs or apply: recruit.ucsc.edu/JPF02003

Congrats 🎉

Excited to share that I’ll be starting my research group in Nov 2025 at the Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica in Taipei🎉

We study how eco & evo rules govern complex systems layered by hosts🌱& symbionts🦠 & mobile genes🧬

Recruiting soon at all levels!
🔗 chang-yu-chang.github.io/changlab/

Bridging the gap between individual specialization and species persistence in mutualistic communities Mutualistic interactions among organisms are fundamental to the origin and maintenance of biodiversity. Yet, the study of community dynamics often relies on values averaged at the species level, igno...

What sustains biodiversity? 🌿🌸🐝🐦‍⬛ It’s not just about species, it’s also about individuals.
 
Our new paper in @esajournals.bsky.social Ecol. Monogr. shows how the way individuals specialize on their mutualistic partners can scale up to shape species persistence.
 
🔗 doi.org/10.1002/ecm....

Using modern coexistence theory to understand community disassembly Community disassembly examines how species extinction alters ecological communities. Sometimes, the extinction of one species can trigger the loss of others, known as secondary extinction. These secon...

Excited to share a new pre-print in collaboration with @sebastianschreiber.bsky.social, "Using Modern Coexistence Theory to understand community disassembly"! We set out to understand how techniques used to study coexistence can be extended to understand community disassembly. (1/X)

Feel free to contact me for info about this open position and the project! Fully funded through @hfspo.bsky.social and in collaboration with @jacrickets.bsky.social and Shawn McGlynn

The blog and the comments are very thought-provoking statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2025/09/15/t...

Best Publishing Practices and Open Access Options at The American Naturalist | The American Naturalist: Vol 206, No 2

ICYMI: AmNat Editor-in-Chief Volker Rudolf speaks out: "Best Publishing Practices and Open Access Options at The American Naturalist"

Read now!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Figure 1A from the paper shows the distribution of black-headed (western) and rose-breasted grosbeaks (eastern) throughout North America. Small illustrations of males of each species are shown. Black-headed has a rusty orange breast and black head, while rose-breasted has a small reddish bib with a bright white belly. There is an inset map of South Dakota showing the transect across the hybrid zone

The first Aguillon Lab paper is officially out in early view at Evolution!! Led by postdoc @devonderaad.bsky.social, we’ve explored the hybrid zone between black-headed and rose-breasted grosbeaks in the Great Plains. #ornithology #hybridization #speciation #evolution doi.org/10.1093/evol...

The Study of Mutualism, Past, Present, and Future | The American Naturalist: Vol 0, No ja

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

A truly delightful read by Judith Bronstein reflecting on the state of mutualism studies. It's a thoughtful look at where the field has been and where it's going—and such beautiful writing as well!

In Defense of Type I Functional Responses: The Frequency and Population Dynamic Effects of Feeding on Multiple Prey at a Time | The American Naturalist Abstract Ecologists differ in the degree to which they consider the linear type I functional response to be an unrealistic versus sufficient representation of predator feeding rates. Empiricists tend ...

Novak et al. derive a functional response model that unifies Holling’s classical forms. The model clarifies when linearity can be a mechanistically-reasoned description of predator feeding rates and the impact it has on predator-prey dynamics.

Read now!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

We will be recruiting graduate researchers to start Fall 2026 in the Dallas lab at U South Carolina. We are a mix of population, community, and disease ecologists. Parasite macroecology!!!

Feel free to reach out to chat and see our webpage for more info on our science (taddallas.github.io).

Come work with us!! Great group and super cool work 😎

Amazing opportunity!

I am seeking a postdoc for my group at UCLA. We work at the intersection of population genetics x microbiome (garud.eeb.ucla.edu). If interested, please message me!