Sara Mendes

A screenshot of some text of a paper, with the following sentence highlighted: "One July evening last summer, while engaged in wheeling the baby (another one this time) through some tall grass in the corner of my yard, I noticed..." It continues "an Ammophila attached to a grass-stem in the peculiar..."

I love the way science used to be written. Is it necessary to know that the author was pushing his baby in a pram while making observations of insects? Perhaps not, but it provides delightful context, while assuming the reader is familiar with his previously published baby-wheeling-related work.

What is the cost of wildfire, windthrow and bark beetles for Europe’s forestry? We estimate that disturbances reduce Europe’s forest value by €115 bn, more than doubling to €247 bn under severe climate change. Led by @johannesmohr.bsky.social, out in @natclimate.nature.com doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Had a wonderful time at #EcoNet2025 in Newcastle 🇬🇧! It was a pleasure to share my work, reconnect with friends and colleagues, and meet so many new people. ✨ Already looking forward to the next meeting in Brazil 🇧🇷🪻🌱🫐🐜🐝🦊🐦‍⬛

New R-package alert! 🚨

With tabs it has never been easier to reconstruct altitudinal shifts of biogeographical systems over time. Whether in the ocean 🏝️, shallow seas 🪸 or mountains ⛰️; tabs can project spatial configurations shaped by climatic conditions.
➡️ doi.org/10.21425/fob...

‘Almost unimaginable’: these ants are different species but share a mother Ant queens of one species clone ants of another to create hybrid workers that do their bidding.

A common type of ant in Europe breaks a fundamental rule in biology: its queens can produce male offspring that are a whole different species

go.nature.com/4mOb5T9

Looks like #EcoNet2025 has started early at the City Tavern. Welcome to the Toon @sciencesncl.bsky.social

El Teide arrastra veinte siglos de 'enfermedad' ecológica tras la desaparición del bosque de cedros ancestrales La deforestación aborigen ha provocado la pérdida progresiva de grandes dispersores de semillas, como el petirrojo o el mirlo, lo que ha llevado a varias especies endémicas al borde de la extinción

www.eldia.es/canarias/202...

The final version of this paper is now published @newphyt.bsky.social
The onset of phenological plant response to climate warming
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Long-term databases as an antidote to the shifting baseline syndrome in global change.

🧪🌎🌿🌐🌳 🍁 #PlantBiology

🌱 New paper out!
In Teide National Park (Tenerife), ~69% of seed dispersal interactions have been lost after centuries of human impact.🐦‍⬛🫐
But there’s hope: 90% of those interactions involve extant species, making ecological restoration an achievable long-term goal!
doi.org/10.1016/j.ge...
🌍🌐🧪

Really hot days of fieldwork 🔥🥾🎒, searching for some of the rarest and most endangered endemic plant species 🌿🌱 on La Gomera island 🏝️

🌎🌐🧪

It’s a wrap on the @newphyt.bsky.social Next Generation Scientists meeting! 🌳🪻
I loved having the opportunity to share my work on seed dispersal and to hear incredible talks on plant science from all around the world. It was a lot of fun, and we even wrapped it up with a funfair! 🎡✨
#npnextgen

It was a great week 🤗🤗

🌳🌷Day 1 of the New Phytologist Next Generation Scientists in Birmingham has been filled with amazing talks on plant science and thought-provoking panel discussions!
So grateful for the opportunity to be here ✨
#npnextgen
#NGS2025

I’m deeply thankful to my supervisors, Ruben Heleno and Jens Olesen (@jensolesen1.bsky.social‬), for their unwavering support and guidance throughout this beautiful journey. 😊 🪻

Prémio de Doutoramento em Ecologia - Fundação Amadeu Dias: Vencedores da Edição 2025 Comunicado de imprensa revela quem foram os vencedores da edição de 2025 do Prémio de Doutoramento em Ecologia - Fundação Amadeu Dias.

✨ I’m very grateful to have been awarded 2nd place in the 2025 National Award for the best PhD Thesis in Ecology promoted by SPECO. 🤗
This award holds a special place in my heart as it represents the culmination of over four years of hard work, learning and doing what I truly love. 🐦‍⬛ 🌳 🥾 🎒 💻

Qué bien, suena súper interesante! Si quieres, hablamos. Me encantaría un montón estudiar la de dispersión de semillas en varias ciudades del continente. 😊

Todavía no hay papers en zonas altamente urbanizadas (el único paper que hay en medio de ciudades, aparte de este, es el de Mubamba et al. 2020 en Oecologia, y es más bien un entorno rural, creo). Molaría mucho hacer un estudio en zonas del continente que sean grandes ciudades 😊

Moreover, many frugivores (42%) move between cities and forests 🌆🌴🐦, potentially spreading non-native plant species into forests.
But 🚫 32% of the frugivores completely avoided cities!!

Our findings highlight the need for sustainable urban planning to protect the seed dispersal service. 🏙️🌿🐦

New paper out! 🏙️ We found that urbanisation simplifies and homogenises seed dispersal networks. 🪴🐦‍⬛ Non-native plants dominate in cities, accounting for 61% 😔 of interactions in the urban network vs just 15% in forests! 🪻🌿🌴
Check it out: doi.org/10.1111/cobi...
🌐🧪🌍🍁

Happy to share that I’ve won the UC-Life Sciences Award 2025 for best scientific article of 2024 in Biology!🧪👩🏻‍💻🪻🌿🐦‍⬛🦊
This national award recognizes top papers published by master’s or PhD students in Portugal.
Huge thanks to everyone who’s been part of this journey, especially my amazing co-authors! 🙌

Parque Natural** (not Parque Nacional)

It’s a privilege to work in a place like Parque Nacional de Tamadaba, in Gran Canaria! Surrounded by beautiful pine forests 🌲🌲, rich biodiversity with endemic species 🐦🌿, and , on clear days, a stunning view of Tenerife’s Teide volcano 🌋. (If you look closely, you might spot Teide in the photo!)🌎🌐🧪

The beautiful Semele gayae, endemic to Gran Canaria island 🥰🏝️🌿

Come and join us in Newcastle for a wonderful gathering of network ecologists! This year our theme is 'Network Ecology in the Anthropocene' and our plenary speakers include Jane Memmott and Paulo Guimarães. Symposium tickets are an absolute bargain, especially for students.

Office view of the week in Gran Canaria island 🥾🎒🏝️

🧪🌎🌐

I'm happy to share that I've started a new position as a Postdoctoral Researcher at CSIC 🇪🇸!

Excited to dive into some cool science on seed dispersal 🌴🐦‍⬛ and island colonisation 🏝️ and work with great people.

Looking forward to the journey ahead! 🤗

🧪🌐🌍

Back from the 3rd CONNECT meeting in France last week! 🥐 It was a fruitful meeting with exciting progress on seed dispersal research! 🫐🍓🐦‍⬛🐜🦊
#seeddispersal

🧪🌎🌐

@drandygreen.bsky.social

Drivers and impacts of global seed disperser decline Nature Reviews Biodiversity - Many plants rely on animals to disperse their seeds, but some groups of these seed-dispersing animals are facing severe declines. This Review summarizes evidence of...

Pollinator decline has captured global attention, but another plant-animal mutualism is quietly unraveling.

Our new Nature Reviews Biodiversity article synthesizes global evidence on seed disperser decline and what it means for plant biodiversity, ecosystem recovery, and climate adaptation. 🧵

Finally in the field again! After almost three years of mostly desk work, it feels good to be doing field work once more 🎒🥾 this time exploring some of the wildest parts of Gran Canaria in search of rare and endangered plant species. 🌱🌿🌳

🌐🌍🧪🍁

What I wish I knew: 33 thoughts for early career researchers Thirty three reflections I wish someone had shared with me early in my research career.

What I wish I knew: 33 thoughts for early career researchers
Reflections I wish someone had shared with me early in my research career.

predirections.substack.com/p/what-i-wis...