Ferran Sayol

New paper! 🚨

Nice collaboration with @predator-smarts.bsky.social and other colleagues on the role of predatory-prey interactions in shaping animals cognition 🧠

#cognition #brain #animals #macroevolution

The political effects of X's feed algorithm https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10098-2 Received: 16 December 2024 Accepted: 4 January 2026 Published online: 18 February 2026 Open access • Check for updates Germain Gauthier,5, Roland Hodler?5, Philine Widmer35 & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya3,4,5 m Feed algorithms are widely suspected to influence political attitudes. However, previous evidence from switching off the algorithm on Meta platforms found no political effects'. Here we present results from a 2023 field experiment on Elon Musk's platform X shedding light on this puzzle. We assigned active US-based users randomly to either an algorithmic or a chronological feed for 7 weeks, measuring political attitudes and online behaviour. Switching from a chronological to an algorithmic feed increased engagement and shifted political opinion towards more conservative positions, particularly regarding policy priorities, perceptions of criminal investigations into Donald Trump and views on the war in Ukraine. In contrast, switching from the algorithmic to the chronological feed had no comparable effects. Neither switching the algorithm on nor switching it off significantly affected affective polarization or self-reported partisanship. To investigate the mechanism, we analysed users' feed content and behaviour. We found that the algorithm promotes conservative content and demotes posts by traditional media. Exposure to algorithmic content leads users to follow conservative political activist accounts, which they continue to follow even after switching off the algorithm, helping explain the asymmetry in effects. These results suggest that initial exposure to X's algorithm has persistent effects on users' current political attitudes and account-following behaviour, even in the absence of a detectable effect on partisanship.

A new paper shows that less than 2 months of exposure to Twitter’s algorithmic feed significantly shifts people’s political views to the right.

Moving from chronological feed to the algorithmic feed also increases engagement.

This is one of the most concerning papers I’ve read in awhile.

Halting predicted vertebrate declines requires tackling multiple drivers of biodiversity loss Global vertebrate populations decline faster in the presence of multiple threats compared to single threats.

🚨Paper alert🚨
Very happy to see our paper published in @science.org #ScienceAdv.

Very greatful to have worked with such a great team @duncanobrien.bsky.social #tomJohnson @robinfreeman.bsky.social #ValentinaMarconi #LouiseMcRae @expecocons.bsky.social

👇Check the main findings below!

OTD 217 year ago, Charles #Darwin was born. Not only one of the most brilliant scientists and thinkers, but an inspiration on the power of knowledge and intellectual bravery. Values that are now more important to cherish than ever. Happy #DarwinDay!!!

It's MSCA results day. Congrats to all the successful applicants! Commiserations to those (including those I supported) who didn't make the cut. It was so competitive this year, even more than usual (>96.8% cut-off!). Be proud of your work and treat yourself to consolation cake/beverage/walk.

@hoyporhoy.bsky.social, la anguila europea es una especie En Peligro Crítico de Extinción, la misma categoría de amenaza que tenía el lince ibérico en su peor momento. El lince, en recuperación, pasó a En Peligro y ahora se considera Vulnerable
El peor momento de la anguila es ahora. Y empeorando

So now it seems birds are not animals anymore? 🧐

A fun fact, the initial idea from this came during the conference dinner of @biogeography.bsky.social in Prague 2024. The results where presented two years later at @tibsaarhus2026.bsky.social, and the paper was published online on the exact day of the conference dinner!

📷 Søren talk at TIBS 2026

🔎 Major findings:

🐦 The unrecorded avian extinctions seem to had a lower PD compared to the recorded extinctions.

🏝️ Why? A disproportionate number of unrecorded extinctions are predicted to have been from islands in the eastern Pacific, which tend to have lower PD compared to other regions.

Quantifying the unrecorded loss of avian phylogenetic diversity Humans have drastically reduced avian diversity, with the majority of extinctions occurring on islands. Previous studies have quantified various aspects of this decline, including both taxonomic and ...

🚨 New paper out in @ecography.bsky.social ! 📝

Led by Dr. Søren Faurby, we built upon the estimated unrecorded bird extinctions by @r-cooke.bsky.social et al. 2023 and try to estimate the corresponding unrecorded loss of phylogenetic diversity. 🦤🧬

Check the full paper here:
doi.org/10.1002/ecog...

It was an amazing week in Aarhus for @tibsaarhus2026.bsky.social, attending so many great talks and catching up with colleagues and collaborators. A big congrats to the local organizers! Long live to @biogeography.bsky.social 🌍🌐

This database was initiated by @josephtobias.bsky.social @alexpigot.bsky.social @mhcneateclegg.bsky.social @sheardcat.bsky.social whom I am grateful to have invited me to join the project and lead the paper.

#Birds #Macroecology #FunctionalTraits #Niche #OpenData

We hope this dataset will spur macroecology & macroevolution research to move beyond simplified diets to behaviour-aware niches, opening new doors for understanding ecosystem roles, trait evolution, and vulnerability to global change.

New paper out! 🐦📊

We realease AVONICHE, a global dataset with detailed information on the proportional use of 32 foraging niches, combining dietary categories with the behaviours and substrates used to access resources.

Openly access the paper and data in GEB: doi.org/10.1111/geb....

@ferransayol.bsky.social presents exciting results on the loss of functional diversity of birds on islands via extinctions. Check out their amazing Avotrex database on extinct birds and their traits datadryad.org/dataset/doi:... #TIBS2026

Point of no returns: researchers are crossing a threshold in the fight for funding With so little money to go round, the costs of competing for grants can exceed what the grants are worth. When that happens, nobody wins.

Point of no return: academic #funding is at a tipping point. When the effort and money spent applying for grants equals or exceeds the funding awarded, the system stops serving science and starts draining it. Time to rethink how we fund #research.
🧪🌐🌍
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

First day in Aarhus, joining the @tibsaarhus2026.bsky.social biennal conference of TIBS @biogeography.bsky.social. Very nice to meet many colleagues and collaborators, looking forward to three days of talks on spatial patterns of biodiversity 🦏🐅🐊🐟🦆🦀🐙🌲🌴🌹🌻🍄
#science #conferences #biogeography

Best breeding season for Kakapo since 1977 New data from New Zealand’s conservation authorities show one of the world’s rarest parrots, Kakapo, has produced a record number of chicks in 2025-26 – its best season since 1977 and a major conservation success story.

Kakapo, the world's only flightless parrot, has enjoyed its most productive breeding season since 1977:

Congratulations Tim!

An illustration of people writing on papers, with text: Academic writing was a struggle—until I formed a peer group with other graduate students

"Having someone beside me changed everything. It was a means to ensure accountability." #ScienceWorkingLife https://scim.ag/4rFa7LM

OTD 166 years ago (1859), Charles #Darwin published the first edition of "On the Origin of Species", the beginning of modern biology and one of the most fundamental books in human history.

darwin-online.org.uk/contents.htm...

Excited to start the workshop on the potential link between animal and plant traits to ecosystem functioning, taking place in Frankfurt, Germany. 🇩🇪🌳🐦‍⬛🦌🌎
#science #biodiversity #ecosystems #resilience

Please pass along, I’m recruiting PhD students to join our Macroecology Lab @uofa-eeb.bsky.social We study phys ecology, macroecology, biodiversity - spanning scaling, trait-based ecology, theory, comparative biology & ecoinformatics. Several avenues for funding. Please reach out if interested🧪🌐🌾

PhD offer on island extinctions. Last week to apply! 👇🏼

Interesting talks on the Living Planet Index applied to the catalan territory (LPI-Cat) at @biologiaub.bsky.social. Amazing work to document biodiversity changes in the last decades, and many more to be done! 🦊🦌🦇🐦‍⬛🦋🐸🐟

Extinct megafauna dominated human subsistence in southern South America before 11,600 years ago The high position of megafauna among the hunting prey of humans in South America reinforces their central role in extinctions.

Extinct megafauna dominated human subsistence in southern South America before 11,600 years ago
Science Advances
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

🏝️4-year funded PhD opportunity to study biodiversity change on islands

Work with datasets of mammals, birds & plants 🐦‍⬛🦌🌳

Supervisors: @sandranogue.bsky.social & myself

👉 Apply by 27 Oct 2025

More info:
🔗 creaf.factorialhr.com/job_posting/...

#PhD #Ecology #Palaeoecology #Biodiversity

Jane Goodall, Eminent Primatologist Who Chronicled the Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91

Sad news: Jane Goodall has died. She did more than any other human for our understanding and appreciation of our closest relatives, the chimpanzees.

That chimpanzees are Endangered tells you everything about our species and about what made her so exceptional.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/o...

🌴 Want to work at the intersection of ecology, palaeoecology & global change biology?

This is your chance to uncover how humans + nature shaped island life over millennia.

👉 Apply by 27 Oct 2025

🔗 creaf.factorialhr.com/job_posting/...

#PhDposition #Ecology #Palaeoecology #Biodiversity

👩‍🏫Supervision:
· Dr. Sandra Nogué @sandranogue.bsky.social at @creaf.cat
· Dr. Ferran Sayol (BETA-UVic-UCC)
+ a network of international collaborators!

📝 To apply, submit via CREAF job board:
1. CVA form
2. Motivation letter
3. Academic transcripts
4. Contact info of 2 referees