Valentin Journé

The DNA pioneer is Rosalind Franklin.

Emerging trend of increasing spring frost damage for beech at higher elevations in the Jura Mountains: evidence from tree‐ring data Late spring frost (LSF) severely impacts tree growth and forest productivity, with global warming potentially altering LSF risk due to asymmetric changes in vegetation onset and frost timing. Howeve.....

🚨 Check out our new study! 🌳🥶 Tree rings show that high-elevation beech forests are experiencing more spring frost damage in recent years
@newphyt.bsky.social @yannvit.bsky.social
#Phenology #Dendrochronology doi.org/10.1111/nph....

alt="Schematic of a graph of a population trajectory for blue tits that is known for half of the x-axis (time) and then forecasted with uncertainty. Above the population trajectory are some weather images (a sun and some rain) they have connections to the population size but the path is unknown. "

PhD advert alert!

Come work with me at Edinburgh.

I'm advertising a PhD on: "Predicting responses of birds to climate change", competition funded through the E5 DTP. Would suit those with an interest in predicting responses to climate change, birds, or both.

e5-dtp.ed.ac.uk/project?item...

À Rafah il y a deux jours : Israël continue de détruire des maisons palestiniennes bsky.app/profile/anti...

Thanks to people that contributed to this huge database, and my collaborator's! The two I have found here @andrewhacket-pain.bsky.social , @micbog.bsky.social and of course those that are missing , D. Kelly, J. Foest, I. Oberklammer, M. Pesendorfer, A. Satake, K. Kondrat, J. Szymkowiak, I Pearse

Of course this is the first step, more need to be done for example to understand how plants can perceive environmental cues. And this is what we are doing (:
For now, our study provides the first global synthesis of weather–reproduction relationships in perennial plants!

This means that climate change will affect better reproduction ! Warmer conditions in temperate areas mean that reproductions might be more constant . Whereas in the tropics, if cold weather is too rare then we could expect more failure of reproduction! 🚦

But temperature acts differently according to regions. Trees growing in boreal and temperate regions require warm summer and spring. Whereas in the tropics, plants need cold temperatures.

Temperature is the main dominant driver related to seed production. Other matters , but to a lower extent

🌳🌲So here is what we did, we look at important weather relationships to seed production using the largest open database , MASTREE+. We analysed more than 300 plant species, using moving windows analysis. And here is what we found:

For example in European beech trees , we know that previous summer temperatures are super important and can trigger reproduction. But what about the other species ?

In most perennial plants (like trees), we can observe years with heavy crops when many seeds will be produced. This phenomenon is called mast seeding or masting, and has huge implications ( food web, adaptation because without seeds no new generation etc). And it is related to weather

Picture of Japanese pine

Happy to share our last study published in @natcomms.nature.com

We asked

Can the weather tell trees when it’ is time to reproduce?

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

New PhD position in Plant Ecophysiology🌳 Study how atmospheric & soil drought shape tree carbon & water relations at the VPDrought experiment in Switzerland. Start Jan 2026. Apply here: m.refline.ch/273855/1759/... @wslresearch.bsky.social

A Causal Inference Framework for Climate Change Attribution in Ecology Accurately attributing ecological shifts to climate change remains a significant challenge. Here, we present an accessible causal inference framework designed for climate change attribution in observ...

Really excited to share our new paper on #causalinference & #climatechange attribution out in #EcologyLetters today!

Are you asking "how much" or "if" climate change has impacted your system, then this paper is for you!

🧪🌏🌐🍁🌺🌱🌿
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

🚨 Postdoc opening 🚨
Join us at Forest Biology Center (Poznań, Poland) to study forest ecology under climate change.

2-year contract (extendable), start Jan 2026 (flexible). Apply by Sept 30, 2025.

🔗 forestbiologycenter.amu.edu.pl/our-team/joi...

Ce que les soc-dem appellent "casseurs" sont fort probablement des manifestant.e.s comme les autres qui protègent des violences de la police, qui s'attaquent aux symboles d'un capitalisme qui nous tue collectivement et mettent hors d'état de nuire des activités destructrices.

Check out our latest blog post!!

Xiaojie Gao gives us the story behind their paper and the newly published pnetr R package, used for forest ecosystem modelling 🌳 Read the blog post here 👇

buff.ly/oKTtoJh

PhD candidate in Dendroecology and Ecophysiology The project involves fieldwork, lab analyses and manipulative experiments. The research sites are located in the Alps (Switzerland), Pyrenees (Spain), and Carpathians (Romania), and the experimental study will be conducted in Switzerland. You will apply dendroecological techniques to measure and analyse carbon and oxygen isotope ratios in the cellulose of tree rings as proxies of physiological changes. Additionally, you will participate in an experimental study on saplings growing along an elevational transect in the Alps, examining their morphological, physiological, and phenological responses to climate stressors (heat, drought, and frost). Ultimately, the goal is to rank species by their sensitivity to recent and future climatic stressors, helping forest managers select the most resilient species for each elevation zone. You hold a Master’s degree in forest ecology, ecology, plant physiology, environmental science, or a related field. Ideally, you already have experience with tree-ring analysis, ecophysiology, or climate data analysis. You have a good command of English, enjoy working collaboratively, and are comfortable using statistical software, preferably R. You are in good physical condition so that you can move safely over rough terrain. In addition, you are independent, self-motivated, and eager to take on a challenging project that will contribute to a deeper understanding of how climate change affects forest ecosystems. This position offers an exciting opportunity for those seeking a career in dendroecology, ecophysiology, or climate change science. You will work in an international research environment with access to cutting-edge methods and collaboration opportunities in Spain and Romania. Working place will be at WSL in Birmensdorf (approx. 20 min outside of Zurich); PhD enrolment will be at University of Bern.

🌲🖥️ #PhDAlert! MSc in a #natural #science & experience with #tree-ring analysis and statistical software (R)? Fluent in English and ready for #fieldwork? Our #forest dynamics #research unit is looking for a #PhD candidate in #dendroecology and #ecophysiology! apply.refline.ch/273855/1736/...

Global impoverishment of natural vegetation revealed by dark diversity - Nature A comparison of alpha diversity (number of plant species) and dark diversity (species that are currently absent from a site despite being ecologically suitable) demonstrates the negative effects of re...

Excited to announce our new paper, “Global impoverishment of natural vegetation revealed by dark diversity,” out today in Nature – and it’s open access! Huge global collaboration led by Meelis Pärtel 🌐@macroecologyut.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🌿 The first article of our DarkDivNet consortium, led by Meelis Pärtel, has been published in Nature. Our dataset from 5500 sites in 119 world regions, collected specially for this purpose, shows that plant diversity is negatively affected not only by direct human impact such as local disturbance.

Six-decade research bias towards fancy and familiar bird species | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Human implicit biases towards visually appealing and familiar stimuli are well documented and rooted in our brains’ reward systems. For example, humans are drawn to charismatic, familiar organisms, bu...

"from 1965 to 2020, nearly half the variation in publication trends among 293 North American male passerine & near-passerine birds was explained by 3 factors subject to human bias: aesthetic salience (visual appeal), range size (familiarity) & number of universities within ranges (accessibility)"

Shifting, expanding, or contracting? Range movement consequences for biodiversity Climate change is causing species ranges to shift, expand, and contract, with divergent and underappreciated consequences for local and global biodiversity. Widespread range shifts should increase local diversity in most areas but reduce it in the…

Online now: Shifting, expanding, or contracting? Range movement consequences for biodiversity

Branch of beech tree, Fagus sylvatica, with nuts and green leaves.

Warmer summers are causing European beeches to produce seed more often, depleting the trees’ stored resources—an indirect effect of climate change that is threatening the sustainability of Europe’s most widespread forest tree. In PNAS: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Paleorecords Reveal Biological Mechanisms Crucial for Reliable Species Range Shift Projections Amid Rapid Climate Change Climate change has created an urgent need for reliable projections of species distributions. By hindcasting forest tree range shifts across Europe over the last 12,000 years, we show that process-exp...

Interesting work by van der Meersch et al. out in Ecology Letters, nicely illustrating that process-based models are more robust than correlative models for predicting species distributions under novel climatic conditions doi.org/10.1111/ele....

Climate change aggravates bird mortality in pristine tropical forests Climate change threatens Amazon rainforest birds, with harsher dry seasons significantly affecting their survival over 27 years.

Papers like this really underscore the importance of long term monitoring datasets for understanding climate change impacts on biodiversity... And highlight the dire consequences of even modest temperature increases. 🧪🌍🦤🦜

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Our paper that showed alternations in masting patterns are leading to growth decline in European beech is now in @PNASNews, as a part of highlighted content; check out that summary! :)

Funded by @NCN_PL

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Interested by tree growth, resources allocation and climate change? Have a look in our last study! We showed how tree reproduction is impacting tree growth,. AND... not only drought is responsible of a growth reduction 🤯

My point was some harassment issues by W. Jetz, not you or your work.

Did Walter Jetz presented his own work or the work he had stolen? Did he presented his own work or the work from his postdoc and PhD that he was bullying? michaelbalter.substack.com/p/anatomy-of...