Adam Meyer

Soil and microbial responses to wild ungulate trampling depend more on ecosystem type than trampling severity G. Adam Meyer, Shawn J. Leroux, Kathryn E. Hargan, Niels van Miltenburg This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can be found here. Physical trampling is a ub…

My dad (retired engineer, full-time legend) read our new @funecology.bsky.social paper about animal trampling and soil nitrogen. His review?

"I appreciated the plain language summary."

Wow!! 🏅

Here it is, glowingly endorsed by Linton Meyer, P. Eng.

fesummaries.wordpress.com/2025/07/17/s...

New #zoogeochemistry paper!

We know herbivores shape ecosystems through diet. But what about trampling? We disentangle how moose trampling affects soil environment, microbes, and N cycling in forest vs. heath ecosystems.

Come for the moose trails, stay for the non-trophic animal-ecosystem SEMs🤘

Stories and science, oh my!

Thanks @aibsbiology.bsky.social for hosting @gadammeyer.bsky.social and I to chat about our new paper in BioScience! We talk about narratives in science and provide tools for creative storytelling in ecology and conservation. Have a listen!

Beyond hero and villain narratives in ecology and conservation science Abstract. Storytelling is an essential part of science writing. To craft compelling stories, scientists are taught to think of their variables as character

And here's the paper: doi.org/10.1093/bios...

And it's out! I had an absolute blast chatting about the power of narrative in science reporting with @kristymferraro.bsky.social and James Verdier. We unpack the hero-villain trope in ecology and conservation and explore better narratives that build and resolve tension without creating a villain.

Outdated reproductive norms, the naturalistic fallacy, and misunderstandings of welfare in recent call for zoo breed-and-feed programs | PNAS Outdated reproductive norms, the naturalistic fallacy, and misunderstandings of welfare in recent call for zoo breed-and-feed programs

Worked with Dr. @kristymferraro.bsky.social, Tony Ferraro, and Dr. Julia Monk on animal welfare in zoos! Big takeaway for me in the process: interrogate whether we're talking individual care, or population care -- a critical difference when it comes to decision making.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Of all shapes and sizes: a theoretical framework for animal‐mediated terrestrial heterogeneity across scales Animals redistribute elements throughout their lives by depositing wastes and carcasses. Growing evidence shows that these zoogeochemical processes enhance landscape diversity and heterogeneity world...

We often ask how does a species affect an ecosystem.
But what about all of them—together?

Our new framework predicts how animals of all shapes and sizes act within their communities to influence elemental distribution on landscapes.

w/ Janey Lienau @ecography.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1002/ecog...

Check out the research priorities for our most northern herbivores! 🦌

Such a cool experience to get to contribute to this effort! Thanks @icbarrio.bsky.social for fearlessly leading.

🦌🦢🌿How do tundra herbivores shape nutrient cycles?

We developed the first multispecies NIRS-based open-source model to quantify nitrogen, phosphorus & carbon in faeces of tundra herbivores in Iceland (geese, reindeer, sheep).
doi.org/10.1016/j.sc...

🧵 (1/4)

Looking forward to reading this!

A theory for context‐dependent effects of mammalian trampling on ecosystem nitrogen cycling Trampling of vegetation and soil is ubiquitous among walking vertebrates, yet most models and empirical studies do not explicitly consider trampling impacts on ecosystem elemental cycling. With a new...

Starting here with some work I'm proud of!

All walking vertebrates 🦃🐘🐢 trample on plants🌱 and soil🪱🐜🦠. How does this non-trophic interaction impact terrestrial N cycling? It's context-dependent 🙄 but we show how 😃 with a new ecosystem model.

Blog: t.co/04dE1mrCve
Article: doi.org/10.1111/1365...