Maxime Eeraerts

Four graphs comparing species richness at various taxonomic levels

A welcome research comparing the results of pollinator monitoring obtained by humans (so-called 'pollination ecologists') and concurrent time-lapse videos (so-called 'the future for lazy' 😜). Take a quick glance at this figure from the paper and judge for yourself

doi.org/10.1002/aps3...

We need much more semi-natural habitat (6-37%, depending on species group) in agricultural landscapes to effectively conserve pollinators. Large collaborative synthesis study looking at 59 studies in 1250 landscapes from 19 countries now published in Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Global synthesis of apple pollination research highlights general pollen limitation and positive contributions of wild bees compared to honeybees Our study highlights that pollen limitation is common in this global crop. While managed honeybees are dominant pollinators, a diverse community of wild bees contributes significantly to apple pollin...

Fresh global-analysis admirably lead by @eeraertsmaxime.bsky.social (+ @oliviabernauer.bsky.social PhD data) indicates native bee pollination services leads to higher-quality apples = improved weight & seed set.

How do you like them apples? 🍎

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

Five 3-year Postdoc positions open at @ebdonana.bsky.social. I am happy to sponsor and mentor good candidates working in my field, but note that these are quite independent positions aimed at helping stabilize new researchers in the system. www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/4nqkq...

🐞 🐝 I'm recruiting students to join my lab at the University of Minnesota! Hoping to bring on 2-3 MS or PhD students (MS a pre-req for PhD students). Take a peek at the opportunities available and feel free to reach out with questions. Please share widely!

jhemberger.github.io/ibug_lab_web...

Rapid butterfly declines across the United States during the 21st century Numerous declines have been documented across insect groups, and the potential consequences of insect losses are dire. Butterflies are the most surveyed insect taxa, yet analyses have been limited in ...

Our paper is out, and it is distressing.

Rapid butterfly declines across the United States during the 21st century | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

We hebben een #vacature voor 6 maanden voor een onderzoeksmedewerker bij het team Landschapsecologie en Natuurbeheer; je draait mee in de ploeg die de technische ondersteuning biedt aan het onderzoek.Solliciteer voor 13 juli: www.vlaanderen.be/werken-voor-...

We're hiring two PhD and two postdoc positions! Interested in pollinators, soils, agroecology, pesticides? Then come and work with us and with collaborators and all over Europe! stanleyecologylab.org/vacancies #findaphd Please share!

Plant composition, not richness, drives occurrence of specialist herbivores Contrary to expectation, richness and abundance of gall-inducing arthropods, which are highly specialised herbivores, do not increase with plant richness. Instead, the composition of gall species is...

For instance here we/people determined this efficiency using sample-based species accumulation curve and the species richness estimators. Arriving at efficiencies of around 70%.

resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
and
we.copernicus.org/articles/25/...

Does anyone have any good references for what a robust sampling efficiency is for field studies with pollinators?

Principles for area‐based biodiversity conservation How area-based biodiversity conservation should be implemented can be controversial. We identify three principles related to habitat geographic coverage, amount, and connectivity. These principles em...

these provide some concrete guidelines imo

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

📄 We just enriched our library with a new resource titled Crop Diversification for Pollinator Conservation. 🌿

It looks at the mechanisms and current evidence base of how increasing the diversity of crops can benefit pollinator biodiversity. Check it out here: wildposh.eu/library

#WildPoshResources

Here is the very first publication of the SCAPE joint special issue of JPE with @nordicjbotany.bsky.social (scheduled late 2025/early 2026) - an extremely well-thought editorial by James Thomson on how we should think about the pollination crisis: doi.org/10.26786/192...

Interested in #Biodiversity, #EcosystemServices and #Sustainable #Agriculture? We offer a postdoctoral researcher position on ecological synthesis in our lab🧪 @funcagroeco.bsky.social

📢 Viewpoint in New Phyt. on polyploid establishment!
Key take-homes🧵
1. In contrast to earlier hypotheses that pollinators can help new polyploids establish, we suggest that pollinators mainly prevent polyploid establishment because outcrossing increases the strength of minority cytotype exclusion.

Read while you still can.
www.usda.gov/about-usda/g...

Ik zal regenwormen determinatie workshop geven, anekoworm.be werkgroep in actie! 🤓🪱🔬

Biodiverse Management of Perennial Flower Margins in Farmland: Meandering Mowing by ‘Three-Strip Management’ to Boost Pollinators and Beneficial Insects Agricultural intensification has led to significant declines in beneficial insect populations, such as pollinators and natural enemies, along with their ecosystem services. The installation of perenni...

Here they call it "three strip management" :p
www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/15...
pollinationecology.org/index.php/jp...

Kombuchas are nice!

Examples of crop diversification practices.

Great collaboration between Thijs Fijen, Ola Lundin, @eeraertsmaxime.bsky.social, @juliaosterman.bsky.social, and a team at @funcagroeco.bsky.social, @agrarunigoe.bsky.social

Crop diversification for pollinator conservation - Landscape Ecology Context Intensive agriculture drives insect decline impacting insect-mediated ecosystem services that support production. Crop diversification shows promise in increasing crop productivity and enhanci...

Very interesting review article "Crop diversification for pollinator conservation" by Thijs Fijen, @eeraertsmaxime.bsky.social, @juliaosterman.bsky.social, @catrinwestphal.bsky.social and co-authors in Landscape Ecology!

Crop diversification for pollinator conservation - Landscape Ecology Context Intensive agriculture drives insect decline impacting insect-mediated ecosystem services that support production. Crop diversification shows promise in increasing crop productivity and enhanci...

New paper out! 🎉
We synthesise the mechanisms oh how crop diversification can benefit pollinators with a focus in Western Europe and North America.
@eeraertsmaxime.bsky.social @catrinwestphal.bsky.social
Led by @ThijsFijen

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Hej Bluesky!
We are ForNaLab:
🌼 a team of researchers passionate about Forest & Nature at Ghent university
📈 scientists delving deep into fundamental and applied questions

We will be posting here on
🔭 the process of doing science
✨ new research results

stay tuned! 🎉

De masterthesis van collega Jasper Olivier werd genomineerd voor de Future Proef award. Jasper onderzocht de bloembezoekerdata in het citizen science project FlowerPower De Tuin:
futureproef.gent/thesis/laat-...
Stem - stem - stem
futureproef.gent/stem/

Plasticity in plant mating systems Many plants are extremely plastic in their vegetative and life-history traits, allowing them to deal with a variety of environmental conditions during their lifetime. However, in our understanding of ...

Very interesting review paper by Suijkerbuijk and co-authors in Trends in Plant Science (@cellpressnews.bsky.social)! 🌺🌻