Charlie C. Nicholson

Pesticides and habitat loss additively reduce wild bees in crop fields - Nature Ecology & Evolution The authors synthesize bee assemblage data from 681 crop fields across three continents, finding that local pesticide hazards and decreasing adjacent semi-natural habitats both negatively affected wil...

Our new paper, co-authored by Riho and Péter, titled "Pesticides and habitat loss additively reduce wild bees in crop fields", is published in Nature Ecology & Evolution. The study emphasizes the need to reduce pesticide impacts and restore habitats for promoting wild bees. doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Are you an relatively new to field ecology and data collection? Or are are you supervising students? Our guide for effective field data collection is now published in @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social! We also include a printable poster with a visual overview of the guide
doi.org/10.1111/2041...

Replication studies: a win-win for early-career training and behavioral ecology Replicating previous research builds confidence that results are real and meaningful. But close replications are rare due to limitations in resources and d

How do we know our research results are REAL? We replicate them! Most folks agree but lament on how hard it is to publish these replications.

My dearest gentle reader, lament no more! Delighted to unveil: Replication Studies, a new section of Behavioral Ecology 1/

academic.oup.com/beheco/artic...

With Christmas almost upon us, it's time to relax and enjoy yourself. Have you read this article about the random dispersal pattern of bumblebee queens after hibernation? www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Collaboration: @nonhoneybees

#PollinatorAcademy #nonhoneybees #insects #Pollinators #cartoon

Arthropod species loss underpins biomass declines - Nature Ecology & Evolution Insects are declining in many regions. Here the authors show that arthropod biomass losses in Jena Experiment and Biodiversity Exploratories time series are driven more by species loss than by species...

One more piece of evidence, on a growing pile, that insects are in decline.

"...the general species turnover and biomass trends emphasize ongoing arthropod community simplification, and that even common species may be increasingly under threat."

🪲🪳🧪🌍

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The UC Davis Ecology and Evolution in Working Landscapes REU provides undergrads with research experience in ecology and evolution in natural and managed landscapes. Apply now through Feb 15 via etap.nsf.gov

Contact me or @clhom.bsky.social for questions!

Nature’s greatest method actors: the insects that cosplay bumblebees When you’re an animal undercover, sometimes it’s not enough just to look like someone else

🚨New #behavioural #mimicry paper out in Proc B!🚨
In which we show that hoverflies have evolved to prefer the flower colour choices of their #bee models instead of their #fly relatives.
Conversation article here: theconversation.com/natures-grea...
Paper here: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

Prairie and edge habitats provide valuable nesting resources for bumble bees (Bombus) in the midwestern U.S - Apidologie Bumble bees use three main habitats to complete their life cycle: foraging habitat, overwintering habitat, and nesting habitat. Overall, the majority of bumble bee research has focused on the foraging...

So excited to see this paper out — determining bumblebee nesting preferences using standardized surveys led by Sami Dolan. We found 25 nests over two years in MN and WI and found that bumblebees prefer to nest in prairie and edge habitat rather than forests.

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Another really cool pest paper just came out in @esajournals.bsky.social! Led by Mia Lippey, we show how variable pest responses are to landscape context... even in the same cropping system!

esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

PhD position 'Does regenerative agriculture support pollinator populations?' at @bristolbiosci.bsky.social with myself, Prof Jane Memmott and Dr Richard Comont at @bumblebeetrust.bsky.social. Link below. Please RT 🐝🐝🐝

bpb-eu-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.bristo...

Pollinators like bees, bumblebees & butterflies have too few habitats, often of insufficient quality. A new international study, including Lund University, shows these insects can benefit from a much larger habitat than prescribed in the EU:s biodiversity strategy.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Picture of a speaker at a podium with a slide to his left, which includes a photo of a green and yellow bee on a bright purple-pink flower.

Picture of a speaker at a podium with a slide to his left, which includes text along the top and then a map with a zoomed in region and color coded

Excellent Lockwood Seminar today from @buzznicholson.bsky.social at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station! Shared with us his work on the landscape ecology approach to understanding pesticide driven decline of pollinators 🐝

Look at these beautiful pictures and charts 🤩👏

Thanks Meghan. It was a pleasure. Great questions from CAES

Pyrethroid insecticides implicated in mass mortality of monarch butterflies at an overwintering site in California Abstract. Since the 1980s, monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus plexippus) populations across North America have declined by 80–95%. Although several studie

In January 2024, 200 monarchs were found dead or dying on the ground at a CA overwintering site. The likely culprit? Nearby residential/commercial pesticide use. 1/ academic.oup.com/etc/advance-...

Pesticide outcomes in the wild are rarely straightforward. Some thoughts inspired by the stupendous work of @gbaucom.bsky.social and colleagues

The Global Ecology feed is growing — 20-30 posts/week on large-scale biodiversity science — 390 contributors! 🌍🧪🦤🦑🪴🍁

DM @global-ecology.bsky.social to join and tag 🌐 in your posts to see them on the feed

Let’s build a engaged community together ✨🌈💚

Pls share to spread!

👉 bsky.app/profile/nmou...

Out of site, out of mind? Considering pesticide drift and plant mutualisms Click on the article title to read more.

Very clear-eyed commentary on our recent New Phyt paper!

Thanks @buzznicholson.bsky.social for highlighting our work!

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Thank you. Thats very kind. It’s a great and timely study!

spAbundance package (Doser et al. doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.14332) was published this year at
@methodsinecoevol.bsky.social! It fits a variety of single/multispecies abundance models using Bayesian Inference allowing also for hierarchical frameworks. Let me show you a funny example 🧵👇(1/6) #rstats

A stingless bee guard showing off her defensive weapons: two blobs of resin to be smeared on any attacker. Frieseomelitta varia have extra wide hind legs for extra loads of resin 🇧🇷🐝😍

A Continuum From Positive to Negative Interactions Drives Plant Species' Performance in a Diverse Community We explored the patterns of species performance in a real-world community, dependent on pairwise and higher-order interactions with species belonging to the same and other trophic levels (plant, herb....

Yayy 🌱🪲🐝🐌- A list of stellar ecologists and myself showed that (1) species interactions can be summarised at the guild level, except for a few critical species, (2) they occur along a continuum from positive-to-negative, and (3) they have relatively weak strength except between plants!

Predicting landscape‐scale native bumble bee habitat use over space, time, and forage availability The distribution and abundance of foraging resources are key determinants of animal habitat use and persistence. Decades of agricultural expansion and intensification, along with the introduction of ...

A pandemic paper from my postdoc with the Williams Lab at @ucdavis.bsky.social is just out in @esajournals.bsky.social Ecology.

"Predicting landscape-scale native bumble bee habitat use over space, time, and forage availability" 🐝 🌼

doi.org/10.1002/ecy....

Postdoc Opportunity in #Pollination Research

The @uni-freiburg.de is hiring a Postdoc for the EU project VALOR, exploring the ecological and economic values of pollinators.

📅 Deadline: March 1, 2025
📅 Start date: June 1, 2025
💰 Salary: TV-L E13 (100%), 3 years

🔗 uni-freiburg.de/stellenangeb...

"Across the 1705 papers, the effect of new vs. old pesticides was similar [...] There was, therefore, limited evidence that the negative environmental impact of pesticides on wider biodiversity has been reduced by the development and authorisation of novel active ingredients and formulations".

Thanks!

A starter pack for those working or interested in agroecology. Lot of room for new folks. Comment below to be added.
go.bsky.app/VXdYJjQ

Could you add me please?

Doctoral student in evolutionary ecology Subject description Biology is a broad subject about all living things. It encompasses everything from processes at the molecular and cellular level to global processes at ecosystem level. The subject

Join us a Doctoral student in evolutionary ecology!
The PhD candidate will be part of the research group of @oysteinopedal.bsky.social and the Speciation, Adaptation and Co-Evolution (SPACE) research environment at Lund University. 
Please apply no later than 16 February
lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...

Crop diversification for pollinator conservation - Landscape Ecology Context Intensive agriculture drives insect decline impacting insect-mediated ecosystem services that support production. Crop diversification shows promise in increasing crop productivity and enhanci...

New study: #CropDiversification can help pollinators without taking land out of agricultural production, but only some #pollinator species may benefit. We highlight mechanisms on the spatial
and temporal #diversity of crops. Led by Thijs Fijen @w-u-r.bsky.social

Animal Ecologists!! Here’s an opportunity to help lead Journal of Animal Ecology and join a fun team of editors. Please share widely and consider applying yourself. I’m happy to answer any questions.