Congratulations, Doctor Ojascastro! James successfully defended his dissertation against wily attackers and earned massive Ph.D! James’s dissertation is truly interdisciplinary, combining community ecology, global change biology, and ethnography all to examine the long history and contemporary conservation needs of the practice of papermaking around the world. His main thesis advisor was Dr. Robbie Hart, but …
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Publication T-shirts are in!
Congratulations to everyone who led a publication–may you blind them with science! Beyond climate? Factors determining fruiting and flowering phenology across a genus over 117 years [open access]Bartlett KL, MA Austin, J Beck, A Zanne, and AB Smith. American Journal of Botany 110:e16188. Modeling the rarest of the rare: A comparison between multi-species distribution models, …
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Beyond climate? Factors determining fruiting and flowering phenology across a genus over 117 years
Kelsey is very happy to have published her article on flowering and fruiting phenology across the entire genus of Leavenworthia, a taxon with some very highly-endemic species! Moreover, her research has been highlighted by the American Journal of Botany, and featured in a mini-documentary and a press release by Washington University in Saint Louis! To …
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Adaptive capacity of small mammals of western North America
Climate change vulnerability assessments have to-date focused primarily on exposure and sensitivity, with adaptive capacity relatively overlooked. In a new paper, an army of mammalogists (and Adam) completed an assessment of the adaptive capacity of several iconic mammals of western North America. Of note, the American pika (Ochotona princeps) has reduced adaptive capacity at the …
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Biosphere 2 Biogeography!
This past week, past lab member Lauren and lab lead Adam attended the NSF-funded B2B Workshop at Biosphere 2, in Arizona! Intellectual stimulation and plans for research were had by all.
How should we model rare species’ niches and distributions?
Constructing species distribution models (SDMs) and ecological niche models (ENMs) for very rare species is a very hard challenge–and these are the species for which knowing their distributions and niches would help the most! Recently, Kelley Erickson and I completed an assessment of state-of-the-art methods for modeling rare species in community contexts. In this analysis, …
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Matthew Austin’s phenology work featured in multiple news outlets, including USA Today!
Matt’s findings that climate change has induced not only a change in phenology but also a change in reproductive strategy from more to less selfing in the common blue violet, Viola sororia, has been featured by not only USA Today, but also St. Louis’s FOX2 TV and Washington University in Saint Louis’s Climate Change Program! …
Continue reading Matthew Austin’s phenology work featured in multiple news outlets, including USA Today!
Call for grad student/postdoc applicants for expense-paid Biosphere2 Biogeography Workshop
Please note the deadline for this has passed. Are you a graduate student or postdoc interested in networking with biogeographers and writing synthesis papers? We will be convening the “Biosphere2 Biogeography” (B2) workshop to be held at Biosphere2, near Tucson, Arizona USA, from April 13-16th, 2023. We have funds to support up to 3 additional …
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Using imprecisely located presences in SDMs
We’ve developed a new, simple, common-sensical method for using imprecisely georeferenced occurrence data in species distribution modeling and other biogeographic analyses! Collectively, imprecise records reflect thousands of years of person-work in collection, curation, and digitization, and yet they are routinely discarded by biogeographers before analysis because of the fear that their error will propagate through …
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enmSdmX on CRAN
I’m pleased as punch to announce that enmSdmX, a set of tools in R for implementing species distribution models (SDMs) and ecological niche models (ENMs), is now available on CRAN! The package includes functions found (nearly?) nowhere else for bias correction, spatial cross-validation, model evaluation, raster interpolation, biotic “velocity” (speed and direction of movement of …
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Climate change: “Better than we fear, worse than we hope.” — An interview with St. Louis Magazine
How will climate change affect plants growing in Saint Louis? The Missouri Botanical Garden is already finding out using its “climate change gardens”. Adam contributed to the story! Photo by Mike Miller
Postdoc in urban pollination
Please note the deadline for this has passed. The Living Earth Collaborative at Washington University in Saint Louis sponsors a cohort of prestigious postdoc positions each year on ecology and conservation. This year, the program is inviting potential mentors to propose projects. Thus, we’re eager to hear for you if you’d like to apply for …
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Goodbye (for now) to our summer REUs!
We have been honored to serve as the summer home for three wonderful undergraduates in the Garden’s Research Experience for Undergraduates program! Marina, Catherine, and Evelyn explored illegal trade in vulnerable plants, the role of phenology in invasions, and how bees respond to urban environments, respectively. Thank you to all of you an engaging experience, …
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Climate change alters plant mating systems
Matthew Austin‘s new open access paper in the American Journal of Botany on how climate has affected plant mating systems is making waves! Using herbarium specimens, Matt found that over the last 100 years, the rate of cleistogamy (asexual flowering) has decreased among Viola sororia, the common blue violet. This change was predicted by increases …
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In search of refuge
From outlaw bandit Jesse James to microclimate–please enjoy a mini-documentary on our microrefugia project! Update: This mini-documentary won a Regional Emmy from the Mid-America Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, plus a Bronze in the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s Circle of Excellence competition!
Reconstructing species’ biogeographic histories through data integration
Watch Adam’s talk about combining species distribution models, pollen-density models, and demographic/genetic simulations to infer species’ biogeographic histories for the Modeling in Ecology and Evolution Meeting!
Overcoming the Hutchinsonian shortfall
Watch Adam’s talk on how we can overcome the Hutchinsonian shortfall, our critical lack of knowledge about species’ environmental tolerances!
Global Change & Conservation Lab of spring 2022!
This is us!
Climate-smart renewable energy siting!
We’re celebrating working with Rebecca Hernandez, Toni Lyn Morelli, Uzma Ashraf, Gwen Arnold, and Tyler Scott on a new project to reduce conflicts between renewable energy installations and biodiversity–funded by the Sloan Foundation!
Hand-made papermaking traditions in Viet Nam
Watch honorary lab member James Lucas’s well-attended talk about hand-made papermaking traditions in Viet Nam! As an economic botanist, James is interested in conserving and reviving this ancient art, and as a practicing origami artist, he’s personally vested!