Tag Archives: Travel

500 species

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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Mountain road microclimate

This is a massively important paper. At least for me. It brings together the work I’ve been doing in the Mountain Invasion Research Network and the Microclimate Ecology & Biogeography Network. And it finally answers one of the key research … Continue reading

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Finding refuge on the Canaries

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 hell of a nuisance

Non-native species can be, pardon my words, a hell of a nuisance sometimes. Case in point: invasive pine species in the Southern Hemisphere. Did you know that there are no (none!) native pine species south of the equator? Given how … Continue reading

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Cliffhanger: Am I, as a climber, a threat or a treasure for plant diversity on rock cliffs?

Translation of  the submission for the pop-sci writing competition ‘Vlaamse Scriptiepijs’ by team member Sarane Coen With the River Meuse flowing far below, I search for the way up to the top. With fingers and toes, I follow a route … Continue reading

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How to set up your own microclimate network

Back in 2021, we had an important thought: maybe we should start treating microclimate the same way we treat macroclimate. Weather and climate are monitored by national governments through organized, standardized networks – so why not microclimate too? We wrote … Continue reading

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