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Benjamin Wildermuth

@bmwildermuth.bsky.social
3.2K followers 1K following 357 posts

Arthropod ecology in different ecosystems. (Functional) diversity, community composition, trophic niches, plant-animal interactions, temporal & spatial patterns www.idiv.de/staff/benjamin-wildermu…

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Reposted by Benjamin Wildermuth
Robert Tropek @robtrop.bsky.social · 13h
New study published in @natecoevo.nature.com ! We assembled the largest global dataset of plant–pollinator networks to ask a simple question: do interactions become more specialised towards the tropics? doi.org/10.1038/s415... Study led by @saileesakhalkar.bsky.social and myself ☺️ 1/8
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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 17h
Insect declines threaten wildlife far beyond insect world. Apart from being food, insects provide other species with homes, protection, chemical defence and sanitation - to name a few things. Great review article by @r-cooke.bsky.social with BEAUTIFUL visuals. 🧪🪳 www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Visuals demonstrating the following:

Many freshwater fish eat insects
Parrots nest in termite mounds
Chimpanzees use insects on wounds
Poisonous frogs get toxins from ants and beetles.

73% of studied vertebrate species eat invertebrates
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Ingolf Kühn @ingolfkuehn.eurosky.social · 29/09/2026
Are you an experimental plant ecologist? Keen on working with great colleagues in a thriving scientific environment and a unique global change experiment? Join us! recruitingapp-5128.de.umantis.com/V… #ecology #ecologyjob #ecoevojob
recruitingapp-5128.de.umantis.com
Leading Scientist (f/m/x) in Biodiversity Research
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Experimental Interaction Ecology @eisenhauerlab.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
New study by Wang et al. in @pnas.org shows that nematode α- and γ-diversity were significantly and positively associated with plant β-diversity, but nematode β-diversity was primarily shaped by their functional traits and environmental heterogeneity. doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
doi.org
Soil nematode diversity is structured by vegetation turnover and trait-mediated dispersal limitation | PNAS
Soils support substantial biodiversity that is crucial for ecosystem functioning. Nematodes represent one of the most abundant and diverse groups o...
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Brian J. Enquist @bjenquist.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Please pass along: I’m recruiting PhD students to join our Macroecology Lab. We study physical ecology, macroecology, and biodiversity — spanning scaling, trait-based ecology, theory, comparative biology & ecoinformatics. Several avenues for funding. Please reach out if interested 🧪🌐🌾
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Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery @naturerecovery.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
How are tropical insect communities responding to rapid environmental change? In this talk @louiseaashton.bsky.social explores what long-term data on tropical insects can tell us about the impacts of climate change, habitat loss & other pressures & what this means for tropical forest ecosystems.
youtu.be
Tropical insects in the Anthropocene
YouTube video by Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery
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Stephanie Schelfhout @stephschelfhout.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
🥳 Paper alert: Food forestry can enhance nectar resources and support wild pollinator biodiversity in temperate agricultural landscapes -> More wild bees (species) in food forests (for syrphids, forests are better) @fornalab.bsky.social @niooknaw.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Experimental setup to compare nectar resources and pollinators in food forests vs cropland, intensive grassland and forests in 14 locations in Belgium and The Netherlands. Wild bee and syrphid abundance and diversity per land use type.
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Experimental Interaction Ecology @eisenhauerlab.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
New paper by Lettenmaier er al. on how canopy openness and deer interactively shape earthworm biomass in @esajournals.bsky.social Ecology: "Native earthworms and roe deer in temperate forests: Friends in the sun, foes in the shade" 🪱🦌🌳🌞 doi.org/10.1002/ecy.... @christianristok.bsky.social
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Research Centre For Ecological Change @rececochange.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
📢 Open position in Biodiversity Science The 2-year position focuses on how patterns of species co-occurrence are shifting under global change, using long-term biodiversity datasets and advanced statistics. 📍 Helsinki, Finland | ~€3,700/month 📅 Apply by 19 Oct. jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki...
jobs.helsinki.fi
Postdoctoral Researcher in Biodiversity Science
Postdoctoral Researcher in Biodiversity Science
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Ecography @ecography.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Rising, falling, stalling: complex biodiversity trajectories in English rivers vist.ly/5k4yz #Biodiversity #Macro #Invertebrates
Three charts showing cluster analysis: (a) ASPT trends from 2002 to 2022, (b) NMDS plot, (c) LDA plot with clusters.Bar graphs displaying percentage of sites by ClusterID for ASPT, Richness, and Abundance. Below, maps show geographic data points in England categorized by these metrics.
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RES Publications @respublications.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
New research in #RESInsectConsDiv Does #topography matter in the canopy? Spatial variation of #ant assemblages across vertical and horizontal gradients doi.org/10.1111/icad... #SpeciesAssemblages #Biodiversity #Formicidae @manusaunders.bsky.social @wileyecology.bsky.social
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Shawan Chowdhury @shawan-chowdhury.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
📢 PhD opportunity at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia 🦋 We are looking for a motivated domestic/international PhD student to work on citizen science and insect conservation. Please share with anyone interested! 🌐 shawanchowdhurylab.com #PhD #Ecology #Conservation #CitizenScience #Insects
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Fons van der Plas @fonsvanderplas.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
New paper out, on a grassland experiment in which we manipulated plant alpha and beta diversity, and found that both affect plant productivity: esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/.... Thanks to @henneckejustus.bsky.social @agwirthweigelt.bsky.social Katie Barry and Lea von Sivers.
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Effects of biotic homogenization on community assembly and biomass production in an α × β‐diversity grassland experiment
Various studies have shown that local loss of plant species within patches (i.e., α-diversity loss) hampers plant biomass production, raising concerns about the consequences of biodiversity loss. How....
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Journal of Applied Ecology @jappliedecology.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
📖 These findings advocate mosaic debushing strategies that preserve vegetation complexity and edaphic mosaics, reconciling bush control with arthropod conservation to ensure long-term savannah ecosystem resilience 🪳 🌏️ 🌾 🔎 Find out more: buff.ly/PQW58ZF
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Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity @anthropocenebio.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
We're looking for a postdoc to work on biodiversity and land use modelling. You will adapt and develop an existing land use and food system modelling and decision-support tool to incorporate biodiversity and land use. Find out more and apply by 14 Oct: jobs.york.ac.uk/vacancy/post...
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Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
#Riparian land use reduces multitrophic #community #stability in #rivers 🐟🐠🌍🌐. In #GlobalChangeBiology by Feilong Li et al. dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.... 🚜 🏙️ We combined #eDNA 🧬 metabarcoding across a river network to analyze land use intensification on biodiversity and community stability.📈 🧵1/5
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Global Change Biology @globalchangebio.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
RESEARCH ARTICLE Climate Warming Drives the Breakdown of Plant–Pollinator Mutualisms Despite Phenological Synchrony 🔗 buff.ly/rElLWEE
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RES Publications @respublications.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
New #OpenAccess work in #RESEcolEnt #Honeybees directly outcompete other flower visitors through interference competition on shared resource doi.org/10.1111/een.... @sheborg.bsky.social @robwilsonmncn.bsky.social @callomac.bsky.social @wileyecology.bsky.social Photos courtesy of article authors
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Nature Communications @natcomms.nature.com · 04/09/2026
This study shows that functionally similar and specialized interactions play a crucial role in enhancing #ecosystem #multifunctionality and moderating #biodiversity effects. www.nature.com/articles/s41... @multitroph.bsky.social
nature.com
Multitrophic interaction networks mediate biodiversity effects on ecosystem multifunctionality - Nature Communications
Biodiversity loss alters the functioning of ecosystems by modifying how species interact. This study shows that functionally similar and specialized interactions play a crucial role in enhancing ecosy...
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Nature Communications @natcomms.nature.com · 04/09/2026
#Biodiversity can stabilize ecosystems, but how stability scales across trophic levels is unclear. Using a forest biodiversity experiment, this study shows that herbivore diversity stabilizes plant populations, communities, and metacommunities via top-down effects. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Scaling biodiversity-stability relationships from populations to meta-communities across trophic levels - Nature Communications
Biodiversity can stabilize ecosystems, but how stability scales across trophic levels is unclear. Using a forest biodiversity experiment, this study shows that herbivore diversity stabilizes plant pop...
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Rupert Seidl @rupertseidl.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Is there generality in decomposition across substrates? We tested this in an experiment across elevation, studying carrion, dung, leaves & wood. We found idiosynchratic patterns of decomp, with local conditions being more important than macroclimate @sebseibold.bsky.social doi.org/10.1002/ecm....
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Experimental Interaction Ecology @eisenhauerlab.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
New study from our myDiv tree diversity experiment out in @natecoevo.nature.com 🌳🍄 Harnessing the crossed design of mycorrhizal type x tree diversity, Yi et. al show that both factors drive multitrophic biodiversity, especially belowground 🦠🪱🪲
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Benjamin Wildermuth @bmwildermuth.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Final sampling of the year, and it did feel like it 🌫️ 🪵 Last 4 weeks yielded impressive numbers of beetles on first glance although a different community, while spiders seemed to have retreated overall 🪲 🕷️ @mrakklara.bsky.social @fboetzl.bsky.social
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Benjamin Wildermuth @bmwildermuth.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Most of my review invites arrive the weekend, so I guess most editors do their free work for scientific publishers in their free time. It's just overall a tragic system :D
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Basic and Applied Ecology @basicapplecol.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
🦋🏔️ New article: How do arthropod traits shift with elevation? Across four groups in Italy's Vinschgau Valley, orthopterans and butterflies lose trait diversity higher up, while ants gain it. 🐜 DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba... @gfoesoc.bsky.social
Fig. 1. The distribution of the traits body length, feeding type, wing development, and hibernation type of carabid beetles along Alpine elevation sites in Matsch/Mazia, South Tyrol (Italy). Numerical variables show mean CWM values of the variable per elevation and were tested with Kruskal Wallis rank-sum test (added in legend) followed by pairwise-Wilcoxon test. Categorical variables were also tested with Kruskal Wallis rank-sum test followed by pairwise Dunn test (significant results are shown with small letters). Credits for the icon: Eurac Research.Fig. 6. Overlap of pairs of hypervolumes indicated by the Sørensen index (0–1, where 1 is maximal similarity and 0 is no similarity). (A) The graph shows three comparisons on the X-axis of adjacent elevations, and (B) shows three comparisons along elevation starting always from the lowest elevation (1000 m) to all other elevations. (C) The photograph shows the silhouette of the actual sampled elevation sites in the LT(S)ER area "Matsch/Mazia". Please note: the lower part of the 1000 m was artificially extended due to perspectival reasons, and the locations of the sampling plots on this silhouette (yellow squares) are symbolic and do not represent their real location.
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iDiv Biodiversity Research @idiv-research.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
🌍 iDiv and the @uni-jena.de are hiring a Postdoctoral Researcher (f/m/d) in Macroevolution & Macroecology. 🕒 Full-time (40h/week) or part-time (minimum 75%) 📅 Start: 1 Dec 2026 💼 Fixed-term: 3 years 💶 Salary: up to E13 (TV‑L) ⏳ Deadline: 30 Sept 2026 www.idiv.de/career/job-o...
idiv.de
Job Openings
Explore exciting career opportunities at iDiv. Join a modern, international, and innovative research centre in the heart of Germany.
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Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in a Changing Climate - BECC @beccsweden.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Open position: Assistant professor in ecology and evolution of terrestrial arthropods Application deadline: 30 October 2026 Learn more: web103.reachmee.com/ext/I005/103...
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Benjamin Wildermuth @bmwildermuth.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Got the hattrick of first decisions during my vacation. One reject, one major revision, one minor revision. Not exactly a triple crown, but ok 🙃
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Benjamin Wildermuth @bmwildermuth.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
"Accounting for observer count changed the reported statistically significant 2.10% decline in Shannon index to a nonsignificant 0.58% increase (P = 0.288)" Not an expert, but isn't observer effort the most basic thing that needs to be considered in citizen science? 😮
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Hengxing Zou @hengxingzou.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
You might have seen the paper @science.org last week on the solar panels decreasing bird biodiversity. Our reanalysis, led by the talented Yangkang Chen, found fundamental, retraction-worthy flaws in their results, especially from the citizen science data and their models… (1/6)
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Journal of Applied Ecology @jappliedecology.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
New research👇️ Higher and more stable biological control of multiple herbivore species in diversified strip cropping systems 🐛 🌾 🪴 🔎 Find out more: besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
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ReDiLEEP @redileep.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Meet ReDiLEEP – a new Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Network! We bring together 13 doctoral researchers to explore response diversity – how different responses to environmental change can make ecosystems more resilient. Recruitment is now underway! redileep.eu
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Helmut Hillebrand @hillebr1.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Get to know @redileep.bsky.social a European doctoral network on response diversity which asks how biodiversity is linked to ecosystem resilience. See partners and program on redileep.eu, doctoral candidate positions are or will be announced on euraxess.ec.europe.eu
redileep.eu
ReDiLEEP
A funded MSCA Doctoral Network using response diversity knowledge to leverage efficient ecosystem preservation and restoration.
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WSL Umweltforschung @wslresearch.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
🌿🌳 #OpenPosition! PhD in #Biology, #EnvironmentalSciences or #SocialSciences? Expertise in #BiodiversityConservation and its implementation in practice? We are looking for a Manager for our Translational Centre Biodiversity Conservation: apply.refline.ch/273855/1894/... 🌿🌳
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EnriCo - Uni Goettingen @enricounigoe.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
#forestecol 🍁 #Poster wanted! Don't miss the chance to present your work at our interdisciplinary forest research #Symposium on mixed forests et al. 🌲🌳 *Deadline for submission: Sept 8 *Participation free of charge 📍Göttingen University 🗓 6-7 Oct 2026 www.uni-goettingen.de/en/final+sym...
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Pável Matos @pavelmatosm.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Please share: Full-time PhD position on Butterfly Evolution at High Elevations 🦋⛰️ The project aims to understand the evolution and adaptation of Andean white butterflies using genomics. DEADLINE: September 11, 2026 More info: pavelmatos.wordpress.com/join-us/
pavelmatos.wordpress.com
Join us
Opportunities Below are the positions currently open in our lab. Open PhD position (full time) Comparative and Population Genomics of Butterflies at High Elevations. The project aims to understand …
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Ainsley S @americanbeetles.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Unrelatedly, 🚨🚨COOL BUG JOB ALERT🚨🚨 arthropod biodiversity at good ol’ Cal! I think lepidopterists are encouraged (in the Jerry Powell tradition) but for sheer “biodiversity” we can all admit beetles deserve this aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05523
aprecruit.berkeley.edu
Assistant Professor - Arthropod Biodiversity - Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management
University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!
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Informationsdienst Wissenschaft - idw @idw-online.de · 26/08/2026
Buried Underwear Shows Land Use Is Key to Soil Health Five years ago, 1,000 volunteers across Switzerland buried more than 2,000 pairs of cotton underwear. The unconventional citizen science project, led by the University of Zurich and Agroscope... weiterlesen
After being buried in the ground for two months and broken down by soil organisms, a new pair of cotton underwear (left) shows clear signs of decomposition (right).  - Copyright Nicolas Zonvi
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Julian Lunow @julian-lunow.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Now published in Ecosphere (@esajournals.bsky.social): Led by K. Wehner, we found that microclimatic changes following tree dieback influence the decomposer belowground fauna (oribatid mites, earthworms and isopods). doi.org/10.1002/ecs2...
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Chuliang Song @clsong.com · 25/08/2026
Larger islands supported more persistent plant–animal mutualistic networks. Happy to have made a tiny contribution to this great study from Thousand Island Lake! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Larger habitat islands maintain more persistent mutualistic assemblages - Nature Communications
Habitat loss can disrupt mutualistic interactions that sustain biodiversity. This study shows that larger habitat islands support more persistent plant-frugivore and plant-pollinator assemblages, link...
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Journal of Applied Ecology @jappliedecology.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Trophic rewilding restructure the insect communities according to their functional traits: Insights from a multitaxa study🌳 🐛 🐞 🔎 Read more: besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
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David Kleijn @davidkleijn.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Effectiveness of biodiversity interventions increases with farmer attitude towards biodiversity for bees, but not for plants and spiders. Really nice paper by Jeroen Scheper and colleagues 😄. Significant output of EU H2020 Showcase project. doi.org/10.1016/j.bi...
doi.org
Redirecting
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James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
What drives invertebrate community assembly during restoration? We asked whether top-down or bottom-up processes were important & found that top-down predation explained richness of invert communities in restoring grasslands & woodlands thru predator-mediated coexistence doi.org/10.1111/rec....
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Journal of Applied Ecology @jappliedecology.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Check out this research article 📖 👇️ Artificial light at night (ALAN) is a stronger inhibitor of overwintering dormancy than urban warming in mosquitoes 🦟 💡 🔎 besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
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MTA-SZTE Applied Ecology Research Group @appecolab.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
New publication!🐝 🌸A #pan-European study across 10 countries and 639 sites explores #pollinator-friendly management in protected areas. 📝Results: Mostly neutral/positive effects, but it's trickier than in farms/cities! Link below👇 conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
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Florian Altermatt @florianaltermatt.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
A functional-trophic pathway links #riparian #land use intensification to #riverine #community stability: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🐟 🦠🦟📈 Intensive land use is transforming 🔄 #river 🌊 corridors #worldwide 🌍 🌐, with agricultural 🚜 and urban 🏙️ land use intensification being most prominent. 🧵1/4
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Benjamin Wildermuth @bmwildermuth.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Review invites suddenly piling up, guess academia is back from vacation. Leaving next Friday for vacation myself though. Accepted one, sorry to the others 🌞
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Global Change Biology @globalchangebio.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Climate‐Driven Changes in Resources Shift Reproductive Season and Effort of Insectivorous Montane Bird Species 🔗
buff.ly
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Benjamin Wildermuth @bmwildermuth.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
www.sciencedirect.com/journal/scie... This is currently a ridiculously long list of retractions. Wouldn't be surprised if some more journals have to do such cleaning up soon
sciencedirect.com
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Ricardo J Pereira @biodiversitysmns.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
🪰🦗🪲 At SMNS, we draw on historical & monitoring collections to understand & conserve biodiversity at all its levels! 🌍 Join our inter-disciplinary team 🤝 in Stuttgart 🇩🇪 as Research Group Leader on Diptera 🪰, Hemiptera 🪵, or Orthoptera 🦗. 📌 tenure potential 🧬🔬 High-tech labs ⏰Apply by Oct 11 🔁share
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