Massimo Martini's Avatar

Massimo Martini

@entomassi.bsky.social

Entomologist | PhD @ Uni Freiburg 🐝 Insect ecology & multitrophic interactions 🌿 Food web dynamics in growing forests πŸ“Έ Macrophotography

152 Followers  |  195 Following  |  64 Posts  |  Joined: 26.01.2025  |  1.7724

Latest posts by entomassi.bsky.social on Bluesky

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How scientists can contribute to the social movements essential to protecting climate and nature - npj Climate Action Scientists have much to contribute to the growing social movements pushing for urgent and transformative change to address the climate and biodiversity crises. Depending on their skills, interests and...

There is much to be done, at all levels.

www.nature.com/articles/s44...

18.01.2026 12:14 β€” πŸ‘ 89    πŸ” 49    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 2
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Ecological insights from three decades of forest biodiversity experiments - Nature Reviews Biodiversity Experiments manipulating tree species diversity and measuring effects on ecosystem function have been important tools for assessing how biodiverse forests can accumulate biomass, store carbon and help...

Ecological insights from three decades of forest biodiversity experiments @natrevbiodiv.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s44...

03.01.2026 07:11 β€” πŸ‘ 58    πŸ” 18    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Rapid Global Deforestation Leaves Forest‐Dependent Raptors With Half of Their Suitable Habitat Remaining

πŸ“„ buff.ly/g0CHFXG

22.12.2025 17:59 β€” πŸ‘ 19    πŸ” 12    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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Our new @nature.com shows that energy flows mediated by mammals and birds across sub-Saharan Africa have declined by >30% unevenly across functional groups, with major consequences ecosystem functions
shorturl.at/AD0Yb

29.10.2025 18:18 β€” πŸ‘ 33    πŸ” 17    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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The global biomass of mammals since 1850 - Nature Communications Here, the authors estimate mammalian biomass from the 1850’s to today, tracking an increase of over five-fold in human and domesticated mammal biomass and a two-fold decrease in wild mammal biomass. R...

Check this out: the global biomass of mammals since 1850
just out in @natcomms.nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🌐

28.10.2025 10:49 β€” πŸ‘ 24    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
text with a picuture of gabreil rabinovich saying "Gabriel Rabinovich, immunologist, tumor biologist, and glycobiologist

 Writing has played a key role in my career as a researcher. I firmly believe that one does not simply write up results sequentially; instead, one tells a story. I've always enjoyed storytelling. After completing the experiments, I try to craft a narrative that appeals to an interdisciplinary audience, not just to specialists in my field. My goal is always for people from other disciplines to be able to understand my papers. Writing in a linear, step-by-step way can feel monotonous and dull. I try to construct a compelling story. Sometimes, it's not the question I asked at the beginning, but the one that emerges from all the results taken together. This approach has had a big impact on how my papers are received. When editors read something that tackles a meaningful question in the field, they're more likely to be positive with it. That’s why I put a lot of effort into the cover letters. They’re the first thing editors see, and I structure them point-by-point with clear logic to show that the paper addresses an open question in the literature.

"

text with a picuture of gabreil rabinovich saying "Gabriel Rabinovich, immunologist, tumor biologist, and glycobiologist Writing has played a key role in my career as a researcher. I firmly believe that one does not simply write up results sequentially; instead, one tells a story. I've always enjoyed storytelling. After completing the experiments, I try to craft a narrative that appeals to an interdisciplinary audience, not just to specialists in my field. My goal is always for people from other disciplines to be able to understand my papers. Writing in a linear, step-by-step way can feel monotonous and dull. I try to construct a compelling story. Sometimes, it's not the question I asked at the beginning, but the one that emerges from all the results taken together. This approach has had a big impact on how my papers are received. When editors read something that tackles a meaningful question in the field, they're more likely to be positive with it. That’s why I put a lot of effort into the cover letters. They’re the first thing editors see, and I structure them point-by-point with clear logic to show that the paper addresses an open question in the literature. "

β€œYou don’t just write results, you tell a story”
Gaby Rabinovich reminds us to write for an interdisciplinary audience, be honest about limits, and keep the big question clear
Read more in A Pocket Guide to Scientific Writing & Publishing!
mybook.to/ScienceGuide πŸ§ͺπŸŒπŸ“–

24.10.2025 11:20 β€” πŸ‘ 27    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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What makes leaf litter attractive to decomposers? πŸ‚
As Christian Wirth noted at ARBOfun last week, nutrient resorption varies among tree species - leaving litter feeders with a diverse buffet to choose from. #TreeDi-MultiTroph conference #Ecology #SoilLife #Biodiversity

21.10.2025 21:19 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Joint conference between @treedi.bsky.social and @multitroph.bsky.social has begun in Leipzig! Good way to start my last year of PhD πŸ•·πŸ›πŸπŸŒΏ

14.10.2025 11:20 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Number of wild bee species at risk of extinction in Europe doubles in 10 years Number of endangered butterfly species also surging amid habitat destruction and global heating, finds study

Scary title for sure.. questionable picture πŸ€”πŸ

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

11.10.2025 17:19 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
A sweat bee resting on a flower.

A sweat bee resting on a flower.

A new study in Science evaluating published data from 19 countries has pinpointed the minimum habitat levels needed to sustain pollinators in agricultural landscapes. https://scim.ag/3VIq4Cg

05.10.2025 20:01 β€” πŸ‘ 77    πŸ” 21    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1
Syrphid fly pointing face first towards camera, big red eyes, perched on my finger

Syrphid fly pointing face first towards camera, big red eyes, perched on my finger

Syrphid fly perched on my finger, lateral view shows abdomen with its orange and black stripes resembling a bee

Syrphid fly perched on my finger, lateral view shows abdomen with its orange and black stripes resembling a bee

It's not only bees. Syrphid flies are also very important pollinators and are so gosh darn cute 😍

Episyrphus balteatus,☝️ for scale

06.10.2025 14:35 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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πŸ“’Check out our latest BE-publication on #invertebrate 🐞abundance in #grasslands 🌱 published in @basicapplecol.bsky.social.

Reducing land use (single late #mowing) increased #insects by +41% after 1 yr and +99% after 3 yrs.
Species diversity, however, remained unchanged.

πŸ”— doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...

30.09.2025 08:29 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Diversity in Resource Use Strategies Promotes Productivity in Young Planted Tree Species Mixtures By analyzing data from over 83,000 trees in 21 experiments across five continents, we found that forests with more species were more productive and had more stable growth. Productivity was driven mai....

πŸ—žοΈNew study in @globalchangebio.bsky.social πŸ—žοΈ

🌳Diversity in resource use strategies promotes productivity across a global network of tree #diversity experiments?🌲

Read our new study led by Joel Jensen together with #TreeDivNet here:

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

29.09.2025 06:43 β€” πŸ‘ 24    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
A white-fronted bee-eater (Merops bullockoides) decides whether to consume a warningly colored white-barred acraea butterfly (Telchinia encedon). Photo (c) Mike Rowe

A white-fronted bee-eater (Merops bullockoides) decides whether to consume a warningly colored white-barred acraea butterfly (Telchinia encedon). Photo (c) Mike Rowe

πŸ“’πŸ¦‹ Our paper β€˜Global selection on insect antipredator coloration’ is out and featured on the cover of @science.org

We ran a huge experiment to find out how ecological context favours camouflage and warning colouration as antipredator strategies. 1/6

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

25.09.2025 18:25 β€” πŸ‘ 132    πŸ” 53    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 6
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Species and trait abundance distributions as tools for understanding disturbance effects and community assembly in applied ecology Further insight into the links between disturbance and species abundance may come from the recognition that the species abundance distribution (SAD) is a special case of a broader concept, the trait ...

Our paper on species and trait abundance distributions in @jappliedecology.bsky.social is now out in an issue:

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Led by Werner Ulrich and many other great colleagues.

07.09.2025 23:45 β€” πŸ‘ 19    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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The german+austian+swiss conference of #ecology (gfΓΆ) just wrapped up, and I was stoked to present results from a long-term biodiversity study - a huge combined effort involving a decade of insect population monitoring.

I also managed to check out some entomological collections in Würzburg! 🐝

05.09.2025 16:39 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Pollinator‐Promoting Interventions in European Urban Habitatsβ€”A Synthesis Syntheses of urban pollinator-friendly management are lacking, hindering policy implementation compared to farmland. Addressing this gap, our re-analytical data synthesis demonstrates the generally p...

New Europe-wide study finds that efforts to provide pollinator habitat in urban areas - such as sowing wildflower mixes - really do work, boosting numbers of bees and butterflies: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

19.08.2025 09:51 β€” πŸ‘ 173    πŸ” 80    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 4
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And that's #labwork also wrapped up! For the next year my PhD will exclusively exclusively involve writing manuscripts... I have mixed feelings about that πŸ˜…

This here is just a small part of the insects that we sampled. Some very cool bees and wasps, including potentially new species.

11.08.2025 23:24 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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ITV-net: a dataset of intraspecific leaf traits data across major Italian habitats Over the last decades plant ecology has greatly benefited from open data on functional traits. Nowadays, several national and international trait databases are available, but trait data from Southe...

πŸ“’ ITV-net: the first Italian database on #PlantFunctionalTraits with #IntraspecificTraitVariability 🌱

ITV-net includes over 8,500 leaf trait records (LA/SLA) for 709 plant species across 8 Italian habitats, from coastal dunes to alpine grasslands.

#EnviXLab

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

28.07.2025 10:24 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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Here is a picture from above, showing the skull on the thorax and the gorgeous wing pattern

24.07.2025 06:38 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Ever seen a moth do some #pushups? πŸ’ͺπŸ’ͺπŸ’ͺπŸ’ͺπŸ’ͺπŸ’ͺ

This big guy came flying to our light trap! We handled him carefully and let him go shortly later. Here he's showing some defensive mechanism to scare us off.

Species: Greater death's head hawkmoth

24.07.2025 06:37 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Back in Jiangxi for one last PhD field trip. Couldn't help but immediately set up a light trap to see what's flying. Fingers crossed for some big beetles πŸͺ²

20.07.2025 15:29 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Beetle grows β€˜termite’ on back to steal food Puppet helps insect trick real termites into feeding it

In what may be one of Earth’s craziest forms of mimicry, researchers in 2023 reported a species of rove beetle that grows a termite puppet on its back to fool real termites into feeding it.

Learn more during #InsectWeek: scim.ag/40mj1S8

25.06.2025 19:38 β€” πŸ‘ 319    πŸ” 119    πŸ’¬ 8    πŸ“Œ 19
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Every country is warming.

Every country is experiencing more extreme weather events because of climate change, mainly caused by burning fossil fuels. www.ShowYourStripes.info

Time to #ShowYourStripes and start climate conversations to prompt actions to reduce emissions, personally & collectively.

21.06.2025 16:23 β€” πŸ‘ 603    πŸ” 341    πŸ’¬ 12    πŸ“Œ 22
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A black-striped orchard spider (Leucage celebesiana) waiting on a leaf for insect to fly into its web. Notice the single strand of silk holding the leaf in tension! Like so she'll be able to detect any minute vibration.
πŸ“Dexing, Jiangxi China
#macromonday πŸ•Έ

16.06.2025 06:04 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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Postdoc Job offer for Arthropod Ecologists πŸͺ²πŸ•·οΈ

Michael Staab @leuphana.bsky.social offers a 3 year postdoc starting in October latest.
Arthropod diversity, interactions & functions in different research programs, e.g. @bexplo.bsky.social

Apply by June 19th

www.leuphana.de/en/universit...

08.06.2025 10:07 β€” πŸ‘ 16    πŸ” 22    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Tiny grasshopper nymph, brown with some lighter coloured bands. Very tiny antennae a long face. Resting on a leaf, surrounded by blurred-out green

Tiny grasshopper nymph, brown with some lighter coloured bands. Very tiny antennae a long face. Resting on a leaf, surrounded by blurred-out green

Hopping into #macromonday with this Monkey grasshopper nymph! Wishing all a good week filled with scientific reading and perhaps writing πŸ“šπŸ–‹

Eumastacidae sp.

26.05.2025 05:41 β€” πŸ‘ 11    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Our study β€˜The #global #human impact on #biodiversity’ is out in @nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🌍🌐🐟🌿πŸͺ²

Unprecedented synthesis of >2000 studies led by @francoiskeck.bsky.social shows humans are not only shrinking species numbersβ€”but reshaping entire communities across the planet.
🧡1/5

26.03.2025 21:19 β€” πŸ‘ 174    πŸ” 92    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 7
Apple orchard with flowerstrip between rows of trees. Texts says "Would you by bee-friendly food?"

Apple orchard with flowerstrip between rows of trees. Texts says "Would you by bee-friendly food?"

πŸ’¬ Would you buy bee-friendly food? Then help us with your opinion and take part in our survey (approx. 20 min).

πŸ‘‰Your answers will help to make our food system more sustainable and promote the protection of pollinators.

Available in 7 different languages!
agreconlab.limesurvey.net/328536?lang=en

23.05.2025 07:03 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1

Great news today at Uni Freiburg! #FutureForests in coming to town 🌳🌳

23.05.2025 07:25 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

@entomassi is following 20 prominent accounts