Author Archives: lembrechtsjonas

Proving extinction is hard. But we can do so now.

Posted on September 3, 2026 by lembrechtsjonas

For decades, climate change ecology has mostly been a story about shifts: species moving upslope, poleward, tracking the climate they’re adapted to as it slides out from under them. It’s one of the best-documented fingerprints of warming in nature. What … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged Biodiversity, climate change, Conservation, Environment, Mountains, Nature, Science | Leave a comment

How much hydrology hides in our microclimate sensors?

Posted on August 27, 2026 by lembrechtsjonas

I’ve spent over a decade now sticking small microclimate loggers into the ground, mostly to talk about temperature. Soil moisture has always been the awkward third wheel in that story: TOMST loggers measure it too, our CurieuzeNeuzen in de Tuin … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Tagged Citizen science, Climate, climate change, Environment, Microclimate, Nature, Sustainability | Leave a comment

The MIREN road survey database

Posted on August 22, 2026 by lembrechtsjonas

Can you imagine how many hours of roadside fieldwork went into this? We’ve just published the MIREN road survey database, and the accompanying paper led together with Sylvia Haider: 170,000 georeferenced plant records, covering 6,854 vascular plant species across 3,364 … Continue reading →

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Big, rocky canaries in the coalmine

Posted on August 14, 2026 by lembrechtsjonas

Mountain tops are big, rocky canaries in the coalmine that is our planet. Up there, above the last trees, change happens in real time and out in the open: plants, rock and climate, negotiating directly with each other. If you … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Tagged Biodiversity, Climate, climate change, Environment, Microclimate, Mountains, Nature, Thermophilisation | Leave a comment

MEB 2026

Posted on June 2, 2026 by lembrechtsjonas

Big week in Montpellier this week, as the world’s microclimate ecology and biogeography community has gathered for the third global MEB conference. After the first edition in Antwerp in 2022 and the second in Helsinki in 2024, this year’s conference … Continue reading →

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A beautiful birthday

Posted on May 24, 2026 by lembrechtsjonas

The MIREN network has turned twenty! Imagine: a global ecological network, built on friendship, enthusiasm, and a shared love for mountains, that has managed not only to survive, but to grow and thrive for two decades. In a scientific world … Continue reading →