Gesellschaft für Ökologie e.V.

www.uni-goettingen.de/en/3240.html...
Hidden insect diversity in grass shoots threatened by mowing

Programme highlights: keynote on sustainable agriculture & scientific networks, exchange on current agroecology research, election of the AK Agrarökologie head & planning of future activities.

👉🏻 www.gfoe.org/de/ueber-uns...

@uni-wuerzburg.de
@utefricke.bsky.social
@sarahredlich.bsky.social

Target group:

Scientists in the field of agroecology, particularly those interested in joining the AK Agrarökologie or who are already members.

👉🏻 www.gfoe.org/de/ueber-uns...

@uni-wuerzburg.de
@utefricke.bsky.social
@sarahredlich.bsky.social

🌱 Specialist Group Agroecology is back!

Join us 20–21 April 2026 at the Biocentre, Uni Würzburg to reconnect, exchange and hear a keynote on sustainable agriculture & shape future activities.

👉🏻 short-url.org/1pJLe

@uni-wuerzburg.de
@utefricke.bsky.social
@sarahredlich.bsky.social

Fig. 1. Abundance of a) diurnal and b) nocturnal ground beetles for the size classes <4 mm; 4–8 mm; 8–12 mm and >12 mm in extensively (EM, n = 112) and intensively managed (IM, n = 115) grasslands. Mean +-se.

Fig. 2. Rank abundance curves of extensively managed (EM) grasslands and intensively managed (IM) grasslands. Species names of the indicator species are shown.

🐞 New #BAAE article: Extensive grassland management boosts ground beetle diversity

Fields host more 4–12 mm diurnal beetles, the ideal prey for breeding farmland birds, supporting biodiversity-friendly farming. 🐦

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2025.11.006
@gfoesoc.bsky.social

❓️How can we environmental scientists & our professional societies be more impactful❓️

READ OUR PAPER👇‼️🎉

@gfoesoc.bsky.social @biogeography.bsky.social @entsocamerica.bsky.social @scbeurope.bsky.social @ecolsocaus.bsky.social @esajournals.bsky.social

Fig. 1. Overview over the day and night light settings of the five treatment groups. All groups had the same settings during the day, starting with approximately 80 lx at 7 am and an increase every 15 min until 8 am (steps: 80.10 ± 3.40 lx, 161.35 ± 7.21 lx, 239.90 ± 11.50 lx, 316.65 ± 13.32 lx), followed by a daylight phase (392.41 ± 19.61 lx) and a step-wise decrease from 10 – 11 pm following the same levels as from 7 – 8 am in reversed order. During the night, the illuminance was < 0.01 lx in the dark group (D), while the other groups experienced artificial light a night of different durations (P = part-night, C = continuous) and intensities (L = low, H = high), with the following illuminances: LP 5.20 ± 0.29 lx (at 11 pm – 2 am and 5 – 7 am), HP 49.00 ± 2.53 lx (11 pm – 2 am, 5 – 7 am), LC 5.20 ± 0.29 lx during the whole night, HC 49.00 ± 2.53 lx, whole night. Illuminance values are means ± SD taken from n = 17–20 measurements at the height of the Petri dishes containing the insects.

🪲 New #BAAE article: Artificial light at night reshapes beetle development & chemistry 💡

High, continuous ALAN delays development and alters chemical profiles, while part-night or low light reduces impacts. 🌌

DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...
@gfoesoc.bsky.social

Strengthening responsibilities to face global crises: A call to ecologists, environmental scientists and their societies Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

This is a publication I believe all ecologists should read and discuss.

How often have you asked yourself: Are we impactful enough in times of multiple environmental crises?

A collaborative effort of #ANdiNa

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Fig. 1. The relationship between mean shoot length per grass species to species richness of the endophytic insects found in these shoots. A The number of herbivore species, B the sum of herbivore and parasitoid species. The five points indicating no species at all indicate that no one insect species has been reared from the five annual grass species studied, despite intensive shoot sampling (see Table 1). The inquilines of P. australis are included (see Table 2, see also Fig. S2A and S2B for regressions without inquilines). Regression lines were fitted to the species richness found in the ten perennial grass species.

Fig. 2. Images illustrating the insect community of the shoot-inhabiting gall midge Giraudiella inclusa on Common Reed Phragmites australis. A Phragmites australis reedbelt with the ricegrain-like galls of Giraudiella inclusa inside internodes. B The gall midge Giraudiella inclusa: Oviposition, C Early Giraudiella gall development, D late Giraudiella gall development, E the Giraudiella parasitoid Torymus arundinis ovipositing, F the gregarious Giraudiella parasitoid Aprostocetus calamarius, G T. arundinis eggs on a dead 2nd instar host larva, H the conspicuously hairy, solitary T. arundinis larva, I midge skin filled with pupae of the gregarious Platygaster szelenii, J the solitary parasitoid Platygaster cf. quadrifarius (Tscharntke et al. 1991).

🌾🐛 New #BAAE article: Hidden insect food webs thrive inside perennial grass shoots 🌿

Longer shoots host richer herbivore–parasitoid communities. Unmown refuges are key to protecting these overlooked specialists. 🕷️

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2026.01.004
@gfoesoc.bsky.social

Applications are now open for the 2026 YoMos workshop!!!

Don’t miss this amazing chance !

@yomoseco.bsky.social

Our paper with Teja, Péter, and Stefan, "The hidden multitrophic diversity of specialized grass-shoot insects – neglected by grassland management," is published in @basicapplecol.bsky.social. It emphasizes the need for unmown refuges to support persistent insect populations.
doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...

Fig. 3. Percentage of reads attributed to carabid, prey and other for Nebria salina and Poecilus cupreus for samples from 2013 to 2019 and 2021. Colors distinguish between (a) prey reads (green), (b) carabid reads (blue) and (c) other reads (contaminants and not assigned – orange). Proportions are given as percentages of the total number per sample (after filtering the singletons).

Fig. 5. Prey diversity in the diet of Nebria salina (a) and Poecilus cupreus (b) through time. Each dot represents the diet of one carabid specimens, dots are jittered horizontally and vertically for more clarity. The curve corresponds to a linear regression with the grey area displaying the 95 % confidence interval.

🪲 New BAAE article:

Metabarcoding of stored carabid beetles reveals declining prey diversity over the last decade. Temporal diet shifts highlight long-term invertebrate declines and the value of historical collections for monitoring.

DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...
@gfoesoc.bsky.social

Fig. 1. Analytical workflow from community data processing to LCBD and Boosted Regression Trees (BRTs) results.

Fig. 2. Maps for the U.S. showing the local contribution to beta diversity (sesLCBD). (a) Watersheds without nonnatives (sesLCBDhistorical); (b) with nonnatives in LCBD (sesLCBDpresent).

🌊New BAAE article:

High-altitude watersheds are vulnerable to invasion. Nonnative species strongly drive declines in Local Contributions to Beta Diversity. Prioritize high-LCBD, low-richness-distinct, and low-FOri communities for conservation.

DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...
@gfoesoc.bsky.social

Presenting #NSO2026 #gfoe2026 keynote Riikka Rinnan, prof. in Ecosystem-Atmosphere interactions and director of the VOLT CoE, University of Copenhagen. Her current research focuses on the abiotic and biotic controls of VOC production.
vist.ly/4qb4d @gfoesoc.bsky.social @riikkarinnan.bsky.social

🌱🪱 New BAAE article:

Three pathways regulate soil micro-food webs under global change. Heavy metals cut nematodes by 76%, acid rain boosts them. Nematodes actively regulate ecosystem stress; soil acidification is a key driver.

DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...
@gfoesoc.bsky.social

From the @ncbsbangalore.bsky.social India, we welcome Prof. Mahesh Sankaran to #NSO2026 #gfoe2026! He is a community + ecosystem ecologist focusing on understanding how climate change impacts the distribution,structure and functioning of tropical ecosystems. vist.ly/4qkmc @gfoesoc.bsky.social

Figure 2. (A) Globally threatened species richness in quarter-degree grid cells in Mozambique. Threatened species include those listed as ‘Critically Endangered’, ‘Endangered’, or ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List (IUCN, 2024). (B) Proportion of open-habitat species in quarter-degree grid cells. Open-habitat species are those primarily associated with deserts, grasslands, open water, low shrubs, rocky habitats, seashores, urban areas, or the forest canopy (Tobias et al., 2022). (C) Proportion of large-range species in quarter-degree grid cells. Large-range species are defined as those with distribution ranges exceeding 15 million km² (Tobias et al., 2022).

🦜 New BAAE article:

In Mozambique, bird diversity peaks at intermediate farmland in savannas but declines in rainforests. Farmland expansion favors widespread species, threatening biodiversity. Biome-specific strategies are needed for conservation.

DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...
@gfoesoc.bsky.social

Our 3rd keynote at #NSO2026 #gfoe2026 is Matthias Rillig, Professor of Plant Ecology at @freieuniversitaet.bsky.social. He is a leading soil ecologist working at the interface of belowground biodiversity and global change.
vist.ly/4p26h @gfoesoc.bsky.social @mrillig.bsky.social

Fig. 1. Thinned Hooded Vulture occurrence records January 2015 – June 2024, land cover, annual mean temperature and precipitation across the study area (East Africa).

Fig. 5. Hooded Vulture response to (a) Annual Mean Temperature, (b) Annual Precipitation, (c) Precipitation Seasonality (CV: Coefficient of Variation), (d) Precipitation of Driest Quarter, (e) Precipitation of Warmest Quarter, (f) Isothermality, (g) Temperature Seasonality (SD × 100: Standard Deviation), (h) Temperature Annual Range, and (i) Elevation by GLM, Maxent, RF and eSDMs.

🦅🌍 New BAAE article:
Hooded Vultures in East Africa occupy only 12% of the landscape. Climate, elevation, and land cover shape their distribution. Conservation beyond protected areas is urgent to safeguard this declining species.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2025.12.010
@gfoesoc.bsky.social

The slope of the red line shows the shift in the onset of flowering as a function of temperature over the spatial gradient and the slope of the blue line shows the shift over the temporal gradient in Vienna. The gray area represents the 95 % confidence interval for both linear regressions, overlapping across the entire possible range. The linear regressions run nearly parallel to each other, illustrating the similarity between both methods. The dots combine mean temperature (x-axis) and flowering time (y-axis) within a year. The boxes represent the temperature ranges of the respective gardens and years.

🌸 New #BAAE article: Flowering shifts response to temperature.

Early-flowering species advance ~7 days per 1°C increase & space-for-time substitutions work well for general patterns but species-specific caution is needed.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2025.10.007
@gfoesoc.bsky.social

Introducing #NSO2026 and #gfoe2026 keynote speaker Céline Boisvenue, research scientist at the Canadian Forest Service in Victoria BC. She works at the interface of management and policy for Canada's greenhouse gas balance.
vist.ly/4prbr
@gfoesoc.bsky.social

Fig. 1. Distribution of the study sites in the municipalities of Jardín and Andes in Colombia. Red dots represent the sun coffee system, the yellow triangles the coffee-plantain intercropping, and the green squares the shade coffee system.

Fig. 2. A) Experimental block. Exclusion treatments from left to right: ant and bird exclosure, bird exclosure, ant exclosure, and open control. B) Exclosure treatments: B1) Grease applied on coffee shrubs to exclude ants. B2) Exclosure treatments and control. B3) Setting up exclosure treatments.

☕🐦 New BAAE article:

Birds and ants interact to control coffee berry borer in Colombian coffee farms. Shade coffee and crop diversification enhance natural pest control, showing biodiversity can boost pest management.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2025.11.002
@gfoesoc.bsky.social

We are excited to present to you the keynote speakers of #NSO2026 and #gfoe2026! First off is @jessicakabbott.bsky.social, professor of evolutionary genetics at @lund-university.bsky.social, Sweden. She works on the evolution of sex differences and sex chromosomes.
@gfoesoc.bsky.social

Fig. 1. Estimated probability of fruit set for Pink Lady apples across different pollination treatments. Points represent model-predicted posterior means (±95% credible intervals). “Control” refers to open-pollinated flowers exposed to natural pollination, “Emasculation” to flowers with anthers removed to prevent self-pollen deposition, “Self-pollination” to hand-pollinated flowers using pollen from the same cultivar, and “Spontaneous” to flowers bagged throughout anthesis to test autonomous self-pollination. The other treatments represent the cultivar used to hand-pollinate the flowers. Fruit set was modelled as a binary response (1 = fruit set, 0 = no fruit set).

Fig. 2. Fruit weight and seed quality of Pink Lady apples. (A) Estimated fruit weight (g) and (B) estimated proportion of well-formed seeds for fruits that developed following different pollen-donor treatments: Control (open pollination), or hand-pollination with pollen from Fuji, Royal Gala, Granny Smith, or Kanzi. Dots represent individual fruit/seed measurements, while larger filled circles and error bars show model-predicted means ± 95% credible intervals from Bayesian mixed-effects models.

🍎🐝 New BAAE article:

In apples, pollen donor identity strongly affects fruit set, weight & seed quality. Choosing high-performing donors (beyond basic compatibility) can boost orchard productivity and fruit quality.

DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...
@gfoesoc.bsky.social

Three funded PhD positions on Geo-Biosphere Interactions in the South African Fynbos biome @terra-cluster.org 🪴⛰️

Please RT and forward to suitable candidates.

Link: bwsyncandshare.kit.edu/s/67A6Kx7MLf...

The first LUNCHBOX MODELS Event is happening next Wednesday 28th January at 12PM!!

Find out more about the Event: www.yomos.org/lunchbox-mod...
@yomoseco.bsky.social

Fig. 1. Conceptual diagram of the relationships among the social-ecological dimensions of urban soundscapes. Urban soundscape characteristics likely are influenced by urban green space vegetation structure, which in turn influences biodiversity. Furthermore, urban soundscapes relate to dimensions of acoustic comfort and human wellbeing (restoration). Key for urban planning is to identify places of high biodiversity, acoustic comfort and restoration with positive effects on human wellbeing that can be equitably promoted in planning and sound-based policies. Graphic by Sophie Arzberger.

Fig. 2. Research sites in the inner city of Munich, Germany (as delineated by black line) where sound recordings took place (circles, squares, diamonds) as well as soundwalk routes took place (colored lines). Graphic by Sophie Arzberger.

🌳🎶 New BAAE article:

The CitySoundscapes pilot links urban soundscapes, bird diversity, and human well-being. Methods combining ecology, psychology & planning show how green space structure supports biodiversity and acoustic comfort.

DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...
@gfoesoc.bsky.social

@nordicjbotany.bsky.social

@avianbiology.bsky.social

@oikosjournal.bsky.social

@wildlifebiology.bsky.social

@ecography.bsky.social

@basicapplecol.bsky.social

Great news 🎉

The deadline for Thematic Session proposals for NSO-GFÖ-conference has been extended! Submit your proposals until 31. January!

We are excited to see all of you in Odense in September!

Guidelines: vist.ly/4nbus
Submit: vist.ly/4nbuv

Effect of tillage regime and distance from field margin on (a) overall ground beetle activity density and (b) Pterostichus melas activity density, with 95 % confidence intervals.

Effect of tillage regime on the number of ground beetle species by trap, with 95 % confidence intervals. Different letters indicate statistically significant differences according to post-hoc pairwise comparisons with Tukey adjustment.

🌾🐞 New #BAAE article: Conservation tillage boosts ground beetle abundance & richness.

But drought and seed-predator dynamics complicate weed control—highlighting smarter strategies for climate-ready farming. 🌱🌦️

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2025.11.001
@gfoesoc.bsky.social