John D. Parker

7 basic science discoveries that changed the world Ozempic, MRI machines and flat screen televisions all emerged out of fundamental research decades earlier — the very types of study being slashed by the US government.

Ozempic, MRI machines and flat screen televisions all emerged out of fundamental research decades earlier — the very types of study being slashed by the US government

go.nature.com/47hn0n5

PhD applications are now open @treesdla.bsky.social for 2026 intake. Have a look at a project on effects of forest diversity on floral reward production for pollinators that we advertise with @philstevenson.bsky.social. Do apply/get in touch if you are interested! www.trees-dla.ac.uk/projects/eff...

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...

The latest DroughtNet paper is out in Science today! Using coordinated experiments across six continents and 74 sites, the International Drought Experiment found differences between the effects of extreme droughts and more typical droughts... (1/3) www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

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....

🗞️New study in @globalchangebio.bsky.social 🗞️

🌳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/...

Forests play a vital role in food, livelihoods & biodiversity and hold an intrinsic value of their own!

Let’s protect and restore them for people & planet! 🌍🌱

📹 Watch this video by @fao.org

Our new #TreeDivNet paper led by Hernán Serrano-León is out in @globalchangebio.bsky.social! Using data from 9 forest diversity experiments across Europe, we showed that tree diversity effects on tree growth responses strengthened during consecutive drought years dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb....

New study in @natcomms.nature.com co-authored by iDiv's @smartenwinter.bsky.social indicates that it could be the same characteristics that make plants successful both in their homelands and in foreign regions.⬇️

figure saying for the results section of a paper, text is 1 star. tables are two starts and figures are the best, 5 starts

Many people ask how they can support me as a new author

The best way right now: buy the book on Amazon and PLEASE leave a review

Reviews help the algorithm make the book visible to more early-career researchers
To reach ECRs, I need your reviews🙂

New maps help decision-makers factor albedo into tree-planting plans Albedo can cause large reductions to the climate benefit of tree planting – but new science helps identify locations with greatest climate-cooling potential

Tree-planting is always good, right? Well, it turns out that a tree planted in the wrong place can actually have a negative impact on the climate. That’s why a research team with scientists from The Nature Conservancy developed maps to help with strategic reforestation for maximum benefit!

Few weeks left to apply for a fully funded PhD studentship in my lab @rhulbiology.bsky.social as part of new EU project Trees4Adapt
🌲🌳 Fieldwork in forest diversity experiments in Finland www.sataforestdiversity.org
📆 Apply by Sept 8th, start date - Jan 2026
👉 www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
🍁🌍🧪

Happy to share our last study on #forest résistance to #pest insects.
We show that mixed forests are equally résistant to both native and invasive pests, whatever their feeding habits. Preprint available 👇🏻 www.authorea.com/users/948030...

The right mix and planting pattern of trees enhance forest productivity and services By modelling different planting design strategies and species mixtures, researchers offer insights for sustainable forest management, reforestation, and climate change mitigation in a new paper.

🌳 Tree placement matters! A new study shows forests with diverse, non-clustered species boost biomass (+11%), nutrient cycling and decomposition.

🛠️ Line planting = sweet spot between ecology and management. 🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

www.idiv.de/the-right-mi...

Our new OA paper with Juri Felix and @philstevenson.bsky.social is out in @ecol-evol.bsky.social! We explored the role of leaf traits in driving genotypic diversity-mediated associational effects in silver birch #TreeDivNet 🌳🍁🌍🧪https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.71768

Excited to see the next chapter of my PhD published in #PlantBiology:
doi.org/10.1111/plb....
Another piece in the puzzle of tree-water relations and mixed-species forests!

@plantsciencedbg.bsky.social
@enricounigoe.bsky.social

#openaccess #isotopes 🍁

“Why Are We Funding This?” Long-standing myths about “silly science” have contributed to the reckless slashing of government-supported research.

Wide-ranging, curiosity-driven research has led to enormous theoretical and practical benefits over the decades, ranging from anti-obesity drugs to the internet.

Coyotes are fairly new to the US east coast. Here's a curious one exploring a mixture plot in the #BiodiversiTREE tree diversity experiment in Edgewater MD (taken by Cathy Fahey). Will be interesting to see how these top predators affect food webs. #treedivnet

There are myriad examples of prey naivete, enemy release, biotic resistance, mutualisms etc, that demonstrate the importance of evolutionary context in species interactions.

This is why species origins matter. #bioinvasions

#Resistance tools from bsky.app/profile/whys... when asked “why are we funding this” from uncles & Senators alike.

www.americanscientist.org/article/%E2%...

Shoutout bsky.app/profile/amer... for keeping the lights on while we reclaim #Science from the privatizing dismantlers.

#StandUpForScience

📢 The @paqlab.bsky.social is recruiting a PhD (or MSc), and you don't want to miss that - best place ever to do you PhD! 😉 To work in IDENT, a network of experiments of the effects of diversity on forest functioning. Foreign student? It's gotten harder 😞 but we can help.
paqlab.uqam.ca

Native Plant Species Are More Resistant Than Invasive Aliens to Escalating Environmental Change Factors

🔗 buff.ly/Qp19wTu

Collection of tree discs for dendroecological analyses in the Sardinilla experiment. This is the 1st harvesting campaign in a planted tree diversity experiment. Now we are exited to share the results! Thx to amazing fieldworkers!!!

Interested in biomass production in diverse planted #forests?🌳🌲

In our new study led by Georgios Skiaderesis, we analyzed the effects of species- and structural diversity on woody biomass production in the #Sardinilla experiment.

#TreeDivNet @uni-freiburg.de

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Regional adaptation of integrated pest management to control invasive forest insects Globalization is increasing the threat of invasive forest insects to ecosystems. Control efforts against the same pest species progressively occur across distant jurisdictions as integrated pest mana...

And read Stastny et al.'s study: doi.org/10.1002/fee....

Chemically mediated plant–enemy interactions promote positive biodiversity effects on young tree growth A large-scale tree diversity experiment reveals that early growth of trees is influenced by phytochemically mediated trophic interactions. Specifically, foliar chemical diversity is higher for trees ...

led by Cathy Fahey, we used #metabolomics in the #BiodiversiTREE experiment to show that chemically mediated plant–enemy interactions promote positive biodiversity effects on young tree growth - Journal of Ecology #treedivnet besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

NSF, NASA and NIH budgets per year, inflation adjusted from 2000-2025 along with the proposed cuts. NSF includes research component only. Massive cuts across all sectors, well below support spanning 25 years.

The President's Budget request as released yesterday will gut scientific research. Why should you care?
1) Science is fundamentally a jobs program. Many 100,000s are employed to do science and work for you, the US taxpayer.

NSF, NASA and NIH budgets per year, inflation adjusted from 2000-2025 along with the proposed cuts. NSF includes research component only. Massive cuts across all sectors, well below support spanning 25 years.

How bad will it be? Catastrophic.

Proposed cuts to #NSF, #NIH, and #NASA will set the US R&D landscape back 25 yrs+, cause economic and job loss now, and undermine innovations to come.

But, this is the WH's *proposed* budget.

Speak up now before it is too late.

(inflation adjusted $-s below)

VOLF LAB Laboratory of Evolutionary Ecology has a broad conceptual focus on trying to understand how extant diversity has been driven through ecological interactions over evolutionary time.

Apply for a postdoctoral position in Plant Chemical Ecology at the Czech Academy of Science, focusing on phytochemical diversity and plant-insect interactions. Deadline: June 25, 2025. More info: https://www.volflab.com/ #postdoc

Allometric equations quantify accelerated growth and carbon fixation in trees of northeastern North America A tree’s basal area (BA) and wood volume scale exponentially with tree diameter in species-specific patterns. Recent observed increases in tree growth…

NEW ARTICLE OUT @forestecosyst.bsky.social
📰Https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2197562025000569

Unprecedented cuts to the National Science Foundation endanger research that improves economic growth, national security and your life The Trump administration has terminated hundreds of federal grants that support engineering, biology, geology, computer science, STEM education and much more.

"government-supported research from the NSF and other agencies has had a return on investment of 150% to 300% since 1950, meaning for every dollar U.S. taxpayers invested, they got back between $1.50 and $3"
theconversation.com/unprecedente...

GOOD NEWS - "Thank you to everyone who expressed their strong support for the Regional Climate Center program. Our funding has been restored by NOAA and the Department of Commerce." www.ncei.noaa.gov/regional/reg...

Non-native beetles are promoted in managed forests with low species richness of plants, compared to unmanaged forests 🪲

Across Europe, managed forests showed higher levels of beetle invasions facilitated by non-native plants 🌲🌏 🧪

🔗 doi.org/10.1111/1365...