Fernando T. Maestre

Happy to share our new paper from the @erc.europa.eu funded #BIODESERT global survey! Brilliantly led by MSc student Imke Smit, we show that plant facilitation in drylands is driven by a consistent trait match between dominant and target species Out in Global Ecol Biog dx.doi.org/10.1111/geb....

📸 in the first tweet from Zoshua Colah
@unsplash.com

And let’s strive to be those reviewers and editors ourselves. A bit of kindness goes a long way—making the whole system better for everyone, but particularly for ECRs.

and genuinely encouraging. It was a reminder that peer review is not just gatekeeping; it’s a collaborative process that often improves our science. So let’s celebrate the many reviewers and editors who invest their time with rigor and kindness

Peer review in top journals is tough, and we often focus on its “dark side”: delays, rejections, and harsh reports. But there’s also a bright side we talk about far too little. Our recent acceptance came with exceptionally kind words from the handling editor—polite, thoughtful, ...

In the paper we discuss actions to transition to a much-needed and more sustainable food production system. Read the paper (#openaccess) for free here: www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/17...

In our new @mdpiopenaccess.bsky.social #Water paper, led by Jaime Martínez-Valderrama, we quantify the hidden & huge cost of food waste in #Spain Between 2014–2018, >480,000 tons of fruits & vegetables were discarded — wasting 36 hm³ of water and emitting >36,000 tCO₂-eq. A crisis that we must stop

The photographs show examples of cyanobacteria-dominated biocrusts in (a) the Al Ula region (Saudi Arabia) and (b) central Saudi Arabia. Photographs by
Corey Nelson

Our new review in @universitypress.cambridge.org
Cambridge Prisms: Drylands explores the ecology of biocrusts in the Arabian Peninsula, one of the most extreme and underexplored regions on Earth, their functions, knowledge gaps & potential for land restoration doi.org/10.1017/dry....

Thrilled to be one of the plenary speakers for the @iavs5.bsky.social 68th #IAVS Symposium (Gijón, Spain, 22-26 June 2026) along legends like @jcsvenning.bsky.social @gmendietal.bsky.social @ftmaestre.bsky.social et al!

Join us to discuss plants across taxonomic, spatial and temporal scales! 🌿

A new article in Biological Reviews by Islam et al. synthesizes current knowledge on C cycling and storage in desert ecosystems, highlighting the roles of precipitation patterns, vegetation dynamics & soil inorganic processes in regulating C sequestration onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Delighted to celebrate the first anniversary of this journal. As an editor, it’s been inspiring to see such a wide range of articles advancing our understanding of dryland ecosystems. If you work in #drylands please consider submitting your work to us www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Drought intensity and duration interact to magnify losses in primary productivity As droughts become longer and more intense, impacts on terrestrial primary productivity are expected to increase progressively. Yet, some ecosystems appear to acclimate to multiyear drought, with cons...

Although many ecosystems can weather several years of moderate drought, consecutive years of extreme dryness push them past a tipping point, resulting in dramatic declines in plant growth, researchers report in Science. https://scim.ag/4ogN9I8

Excited to give a plenary talk at the @iavs5.bsky.social Symposium 2026 in beautiful Gijón, Spain! Looking forward to share our latest research about #dryland plant diversity and to reconnecting with the global vegetation science community gijon2026.iavs-meetings.org Don´t miss it!

Our new article in @ejsoilscience.bsky.social highlights the key uncertainties limiting the use of nitrification inhibitors (NIs), a promising tool to curb N pollution and N₂O emissions. Better design & smarter use of NIs are key for sustainable N management onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/author...

#MultiyearDroughts, it is nice to see studies with distinct designs and used data converge to similar results — "25-30%" seems to be a key range, in this study about the measured reduction of primary production in grassland and in our previous study with kNDVI www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... .

Drought intensity and duration interact to magnify losses in primary productivity As droughts become longer and more intense, impacts on terrestrial primary productivity are expected to increase progressively. Yet, some ecosystems appear to acclimate to multiyear drought, with cons...

New paper out 🥳
Drought intensity and duration interact to magnify losses in primary productivity | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

@stockholm-uni.bsky.social

Excelente reportaje de Miguel Ángel Criado para @elpais.com elpais.com/ciencia/2025... sobre nuestro artículo en @science.org 👇

Kudos to Tim Ohlert & Melinda Smith for leading this work and congratulations to all authors and collaborators that made this study possible
📸 of the Ciempozuelos site by David Sánchez Pescador

This study shows the power of international collaboration to tackle global challenges like drought. Grateful to have served on the IDE Steering Committee and happy to see our @erc.europa.eu supported Ciempozuelos field site contributing to this global effort.

Using data from 74 grassland and shrubland sites on six continents from the @droughtnet.bsky.social International Drought Experiment (IDE), we found that productivity declines up to 2.5× more after four consecutive years of extreme drought

As droughts become longer and more intense, their toll on ecosystems could be far greater than we thought. Our new paper in @science.org shows how prolonged & extreme droughts cause dramatic, cumulative losses in ecosystem productivity across the globe www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

How money, politics and technology are redefining the PhD experience in 2025 Nature’s global survey of 3,785 doctoral students shows satisfaction has recovered from pandemic lows, but harassment and inadequate supervision remain widespread.

Nature’s global survey of 3,785 doctoral students shows satisfaction has recovered from pandemic lows, but harassment and inadequate supervision remain widespread. #Academicsky 🧪

@manudelbaq.bsky.social Miguel Berdugo. Many congratulations to all the authors for this outstanding interdisciplinary work that beautifully bridges ecology, physics, and mathematics to reveal the hidden order of nature.

In #drylands, plants don’t grow randomly — they self-organize into disordered hyperuniform patterns that help them use water wisely & endure extreme aridity. A beautiful hidden logic of nature, revealed in a new @pnas.org study doi.org/10.1073/pnas... including #Maestrelab alumni

New study in @universitypress.cambridge.org #CambridgePrismsDrylands reveals how landscape- & patch-scale processes shape the “fertile island effect” in the Chihuahuan Desert, illustrating the importance of spatial heterogeneity in drylands doi.org/10.1017/dry.... 📷by Patricia Zumsteg @unsplash.com

Equity in science is a beautiful lie — and I’m done pretending Science isn’t really moving towards equity; institutions are just perfecting the appearance of equity. We need to build an alternative system.

Powerful piece by @darmenteras.bsky.social in @natureportfolio.nature.com #Nature Global science won’t be equitable until it goes beyond diversity optics & truly shares power, credit & leadership. A must-read for anyone committed to promote a more fair and just science www.nature.com/articles/d41...

El calor que quedará después de los incendios El calor y los incendios no son una anomalía, son la consecuencia de un modelo económico que ha saqueado las entrañas de la tierra y ha quemado sistemáticamente su sangre y su piel.

🔥Más de 400.000 hectáreas han ardido solo este año, otro año más.

🗣️Nuestro compañero @migueldiazcarro.bsky.social echa la mirada hacia adelante en este problema y hacia el futuro, en la restauración, con la miranda en lo comunitario y escuchando a la ciencia

🔗 www.elsaltodiario.com/incendios-fo...

📸 by Johny Goerend @unsplash.com

🌍 We’re excited to host the Future Food Systems Conference (FFS2026) at #KAUST with #PlantACT!
📅 Apr 13–15, 2026 | Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
A global gathering to reimagine how to feed the world without eating the planet
👉 Free registration & info: kaust.edu.sa/events/ffs26/