Dr. Mariana García Criado

Robert you're a superstar! 🌟

Här kryper växterna upp på kalfjället – unik studie pekar ut Grövelsjön Växter som inte tidigare har trivts på kalfjället börjar sakta sprida sig uppåt. Det visar en stor internationell studie som gjorts i fjällmiljön kring hela Arktis. Forskarna förvånas av att de sett s...

Great to speak on @svtnyheter.bsky.social Dalarna 📺 about our latest Ecology Letters paper🌿!
Local data from this region (Grövelsjön and Fulufjäll) showed some of the strongest responses in our entire dataset 💥🌍 #Ecology #ScienceCommunication

www.svt.se/nyheter/loka...

The Greenlandification of Antarctica Nature Geoscience - Climate and ice sheet processes in Antarctica increasingly reflect those observed earlier in Greenland. Applying process insights from Greenland can improve projections of...

🚨New paper 🚨@natgeosci.nature.com Greenlandification of Antarctica - comment by me + colleagues @dmidk.bsky.social @eo4cryo.bsky.social + @universityofleeds.bsky.social showing how Antarctica increasingly resembles Greenland- drawing on a mass of work from @esaclimate.bsky.social

rdcu.be/eJiqJ

Intraindividual Variability as a Large Source of Trait Variation in Clonal Tundra Dwarf Shrubs Along Elevation and Latitude Gradients Aim Intraindividual trait variability (iITV), which is the variability among repeated architectural units within an individual, may represent a crucial dimension of functional diversity in plant eco.....

Our paper on #intraindividual trait variability is out!
We studied #clonal #tundra #shrubs along elevation and latitude gradients to explore the sources of trait variability
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

🌱 New ecology paper:
A large team led by Mariana García Criado (U Edinburgh) analyzed 1,100+ plots in the Arctic (40 years of data) to look in detail at how boreal plants are increasing on the tundra as the climate warms. Sarah Elmendorf (INSTAAR+EBIO) is a co-author. Read the thread ⬇️

Excited to welcome a passionate group of Arctic scientists to the 22nd International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) meeting at Nordens Ark, on Sweden’s stunning west coast!

I can't help it, I just think they are so cute.
Living in Scotland means I'm constantly lagging behind on our walks as I stop to get a closer look.
Does everyone react that way when they see a bryophyte? 💚
Nice work here 👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Bryophyte gene family space

Charlotte Walshaw & Dr. Gabriel Stefanelli-Silva report on their 2025 Science-Policy Fellowships.

From turning long-term monitoring into policy insights to guiding Southern Ocean governance, their work linked science & decision-making.

🌱🛰️ Charlotte: bit.ly/4pZOiWz
🌊🧴 Gabriel: bit.ly/4nk71tT

We are calling for abstracts for the @worldbioforum.bsky.social session 'Understanding and caring for Arctic biodiversity together'. This will be an interdisciplinary, free-form session open to all taxa, regions and forms of knowledge. Submission deadline 18 Nov. Looking forward to hearing from you!

Amazing work led by @nanitundra.bsky.social on plant borealization across the Arctic - where, why and by whom using the ITEX+ database 🌱
dx.doi.org/10.1111/ele....

Thank you Luise for the great data from Torngats (and everything else)!

@icarex.bsky.social the artist is @asbillustration.bsky.social - this is acknowledged in the image description of the illustration and in the last post of the thread :)

Excellent work by Mariana and team! Wonderful to have such an incredible database that's shared to understand tundra dynamics.

Thank you as always for all your great input, Robert! Looking forward to toasting to this next week!

Absolutely thrilled 🎉 to have contributed to this exciting paper, brilliantly led by @nanitundra.bsky.social 🌟 Such a joy to be part of this inspiring team! 🚀🙌

Persicaria bistorta, common bistort in the swiss alps. Credit_ Mariana Garcia Criado

Boreal plants are moving into the #Arctic and reshaping #tundra landscapes 🌱❄️

A 🟢NEW STUDY🟢 led by @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social and @creaf.cat reveals shrubs and grasses from boreal forests are expanding north.

So what? 👇

@ragnhildgya.bsky.social @elinakaarlej.bsky.social @riikkarinnan.bsky.social @nmschmidt.bsky.social @annetolvanen.bsky.social @vvandvik.bsky.social. Illustration by @asbillustration.bsky.social (6/6)

A close-up of a young branch of Betula nana (Dwarf birch) growing in an alpine area in Finnish Lapland. Credit Mariana García Criado.

A photo of a researcher conducting plant surveys in Kilpisjärvi, Finnish Lapland, next to a stream and with snowy mountains in the background. Credit Jiri Subrt.

This work was based on the amazing International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) and funded by @ec.europa.eu @nordborn.bsky.social & others. Thanks to my 38 wonderful coauthors, including @icbarrio.bsky.social @annebeejay.bsky.social @robertgbjork.bsky.social @matsbjorkman.bsky.social (5/6)

A landscape photo of birch trees growing on the sides of a ridge in Kilpisjärvi, Finland, with snowy mountains and a lake in the background. Credit Mariana García Criado.

Our findings indicate that tundra borealization might not involve rapid displacement of tundra by boreal species, but rather an overall increase in the abundance of boreal species with already established presence in the Arctic. (4/6)

A close-up of the shrub Vaccinium myrtillus (European blueberry). Credit Mariana García Criado.

Figure with two subplots indicating that boreal plants that colonised Arctic plants more often were usually shorter, and more likely shrubs and graminoids.

At the species level, boreal-tundra species colonised Arctic plots more often than boreal specialists. Boreal species that colonised more often were shorter, and more likely to be shrubs and graminoids. (3/6)

Figure with 4 subplots: two maps and two plots, showing that rates of borealization were highly variable across Arctic plots.

ALT TEXT: A close up of a sapling of Betula pubescens (Downy birch) growing among Phyllodoce caerulea (Blue heath) in the Swedish tundra. Credit Anne Bjorkman (@annebeejay.bsky.social).

Half of our studied plots (1137) experienced colonisations by or increases in abundance of boreal species. At the community level, borealization was greater at sites in Eurasia, alpine zones, closer to treeline, and at warmer and wetter sites. (2/6)

Illustration of a branch of Betula glandulosa (Resin birch). Illustration by Alberto S. Ballesteros (@asbillustration.bsky.social).

🌲 Boreal-tundra species drive Arctic plant borealization 🌲

Our new study in #EcologyLetters quantifies tundra plant borealization, assesses its main drivers and identifies the species & traits contributing to borealization.

doi.org/10.1111/ele....

🧵 (1/6) 🌐🧪🌱🌍

Characterizing the functional trait space of boreal and tundra plants - The Nordic Borealization Network Last week, Beatrice Trascau and James Speed visited Mariana García Criado at the Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF) in sunny Barcelona, Spain. Mariana reports back from a...

Can we identify #functional traits that characterize #boreal and #tundra plants? Last week #NordBorN researchers met at @creaf.cat in Barcelona to address this question. Stay tuned for results! nordborn.lbhi.is?p=422 🌱 @nanitundra.bsky.social

Come work with us!

In two week's time, application deadlines close for eight fully funded #PhD positions who will be working together on understanding and mitigating global change impacts and feedbacks from mountains:

cmt.w.uib.no/open-positio...

Evolutionary age correlates with range size across plants and animals - Nature Communications Why are some species widespread while others are found only in small, isolated areas? This study shows that species with narrow ranges, and thus higher extinction risk, are often island-restricted, poor dispersers, and have evolved relatively recently.

Why are some species widespread while others are found only in small, isolated areas? A study in Nature Communications shows that species with narrow ranges, and thus higher extinction risk, are often island-restricted, poor dispersers, and have evolved relatively recently. #evosky 🧪

Psicogeografía: los mapas de nuestras emociones La psicogeografía se vincula al descubrimiento de las emociones de la persona al desplazarse.

Los mapas no siempre están hechos de calles y coordenadas: también de recuerdos, emociones y experiencias. La psicogeografía lo estudia.

PhD fellowship in collection-based Natural History Research Natural History Museum Denmark Faculty of SCIENCE University of Copenhagen   Natural History Museum Denmark invites applicants for a PhD fellowship in coll

Please share widely! The Natural History Museum Denmark @nhmdk.bsky.social is offering a PhD fellowship in collection-based Natural History Research, focused on dark taxa & unknown species, pref. including representatives of Danish flora, fauna or geology.

candidate.hr-manager.net/ApplicationI...

Check out the Polar Early Career World Summit Synthesis Report, a summary of the input from 238 early career researchers. We were invited to co-create shared priorities relating to polar research planning, generating ideas leading up to the Fifth International Polar Year.

zenodo.org/records/1699...

Un delicado macho de abeja silvestre del género Andrena sobrevolando pequeñas flores amarillas de crucíferas en el Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid.

Hilo de los géneros de abejas silvestres que pueden verse en el Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid (RJB - @csic.es )

Cuando sea posible iré indicando las zonas y plantas donde es más fácil observarlas. Los iré poniendo en el orden en el que los "descubrí" para recuperar fotos de la cuenta de Twitter.

DAGs showing confounding, mediator and collider variables

Super awesome new paper in #MEE describing #causal #detection of shifts in #biodiversity! So many great insights here—a must read for those interested in #causalinference

And love Fig 3! Congrats team! @lsantinieco.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1111/2041...