Tag Archives: Conservation

500 species

Posted on May 13, 2026 by lembrechtsjonas

Last week, I spent a few days just outside of Barcelona for a PhD defence. Perfect timing, I thought, to finally cross the magical boundary of 500 unique species on iNaturalist. I had been hovering just below it for a … Continue reading →

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Finding refuge on the Canaries

Posted on April 16, 2026 by lembrechtsjonas

Microrefugia. It’s a tempting concept, and one that has quickly moved from theory to the frontline of conservation. As climates warm, these small, buffered places may allow species to persist where they otherwise couldn’t. So, that’s simple enough: find the … Continue reading →

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A tale of homogenisation

Posted on October 22, 2025 by lembrechtsjonas

I’ve always been intrigued by ecological scaling – it’s literally in my title: Assistant Professor in Ecological Scaling. One of the main reasons we care so much about scaling is that ecological theories don’t always hold up when we change … Continue reading →

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Mapping the past to predict the future

Posted on September 30, 2025 by lembrechtsjonas

Long-term followers of this blog know I’ve always been fascinated by species distribution changes. We’ve tracked non-native species moving into mountains and cities, studied how mountain plants travel up and down slopes along roads, and explored how microclimate – and … Continue reading →

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An army of scientists

Posted on June 17, 2025 by lembrechtsjonas

This year, I had the joy (and challenge) of teaching Ecology to first-year biology students at Utrecht University for the very first time. Nearly 400 students, fresh into their academic journey, dipping their toes into the fascinating, complex, and urgently … Continue reading →

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SoilTemp is now MEB!

Posted on May 31, 2025 by lembrechtsjonas

Over the past six years, I’ve poured my heart into SoilTemp. What started as a vision for a global soil temperature database quickly grew into something much more: a living, breathing community of researchers passionate about microclimate ecology. From the … Continue reading →

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