iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

🍁Please welcome Heather Whalen Smith, an MPS student in Ecological Restoration! After a career in academic libraries, Heather brings experience in conservation, land-use planning, & environmental review, & she helped with our research on forested wetlands affected by emerald ash borer this summer.

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

🍁Please welcome Jana Shakarian, a new MS student in our lab. After a successful tech career & a BS in Ecology & Conservation at Arizona State, Jana is now developing a thesis on complex systems, ecological networks, & plant communities across temperate–boreal ecotones of US Northeast. Welcome, Jana!

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

🍁New lab member alert! Please welcome PhD student Henry Joniak. Henry brings experience studying forest plant invasions & plant responses to environmental variability. At SUNY ESF, he will explore how forest plant communities respond to a changing climate. We’re excited to have him join the team!

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

🍁🌎🌐 First lab meeting of the semester! 🌲🪻The Dovciak Forest Ecology Lab is back in action — welcoming new members & preparing for another year of research on forests, plant communities, & global change. Looking forward to the questions we will ask, the data we will collect, & the discoveries ahead.

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

🌿 New paper! The forest herb layer can account for up to 80% of plant diversity, yet remains understudied. I’m glad to have contributed to this Yale-led collaboration identifying 100 questions to advance forest herb-layer ecology. What did we miss? 🔗 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

🍁🌎 Congrats to Dany Wehner on his presentations on the potential for plants associated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) to facilitate the establishment of AMF-associated sugar maple in boreal forests dominated by ectomycorrhizal fungi @botsocamerica.bsky.social @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

🌎🌐🍁 New paper! Our study, led by Dr. Joanna Lumsden-Pinto, shows how forest structure & understory plant communities in Long Island's pine barrens change with time since last fire to help us understand long-term wildfire effects. iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1... #ForestEcology #FireEcology

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

🍁🌎🌐As non-native species increasingly alter ecosystems worldwide, understanding their impacts grows in importance. Our team is studying how emerald ash borer–driven ash mortality is reshaping forested wetlands—from understory plants & microbes to forest regeneration, soils, & hydrology. Stay tuned!🌿

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

🍁🌎🌐Field season in full swing! Our team is surveying microclimate, seed banks, & forest plant communities across the temperate-boreal forest ecotone in four Northeastern US states. Excited to see what we learn! @sunyesf.bsky.social @sunyofficial.bsky.social #ForestEcology #ClimateChange #FieldWork

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

#bloomscrolling: Botanizing in Slovakia’s Western Carpathians again—an incredible mosaic of flower-rich mountains, forests, meadows, & narrow gorges. Spring is bursting with color here! 🌿🌸 You can meet the plants that I met too - on my iNaturalist page here: www.inaturalist.org/projects/flo...

inaturalist.org

Flora of the Western Carpathians, Slovakia.

Species observed during botanical explorations in Slovakia, particularly in the Western Carpathian Mountains (for now focusing mainly on Slovak Paradise and Central Slovakia). To be continued…

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

#bloomscrolling A wonderful trip to Scotland w/hiking & botanizing on the Isle of Skye done. Check out these Scottish early bloomers! More about plants that call this rugged landscape home is in my iNaturalist Project "Flora of the Scottish Highlands & Islands": www.inaturalist.org/projects/flo... 🍁

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Azure blue meets emerald green. Unassuming yet unforgettable, the woodland forget-me-not (Myosotis sylvatica), an Eurasian native naturalized in North America. Its Greek name translates to 'mouse’s ear' because of its fuzzy, ear-shaped leaves. An early bloomer & a symbol of true love & remembrance.

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

🍁🌎🌐 Happy to receive the most-cited 2024 paper distinction for our Ecological Monographs paper "Mycorrhizal fungi as critical biotic filters for tree seedling establishment during species range expansions" lead by my doctoral student Jordon Tourville w/advice by Tom Horton @sunyesf.bsky.social

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

🍁Spring is in full swing but early-flowering forest plants—“spring ephemerals”—like skunk cabbage, trout lily, & Dutchman’s breeches are facing warming climate & high deer pressure as I & others discuss in this new piece👇 #EARTHWEEK2026 @sunyesf.bsky.social greatmountainforest.org/the-understu...

greatmountainforest.org

The Understudied Understory: Spring Ephemerals and the Changing Forest

A walk in the woods in April can feel confusing. The twiggy canopy and leaf-brown forest floor look like November, while the bright sun seems to indicate summer has arrived. During this brief window ...

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

Spring is going strong in Upstate New York forest understories. 🍁

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

Eastern skunk cabbage blooms early as it melts its way out of winter. Its fleshy inflorescence generates heat, melts snow, & releases a pungent odor that attracts flies & beetles when little else is available. Often called a “famine food,” it’s toxic & required repeated boiling to become palatable.

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

🌎🌐🍁It’s been a pleasure to work with @pablolopezbust.bsky.social @nybg.bsky.social! The data on dry tropical forest seed traits that he assembled @hulshof.bsky.social lab @ VCU with the help of our undergrads @sunyesf.bsky.social is invaluable. What a great experience for the students too!

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

🌎🌐🍁Exciting experiment completed! 🌱 Our lab helped MS student Daniel Wehner wrap up a greenhouse study on how arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculum from understory plants may aid sugar maple seedling establishment in high-elevation ectomycorrhizal forests under climate warming. Stay tuned for results!

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

Another amazing Tropical Ecology course in Panamá 🇵🇦! From rainforests to reefs, students experienced incredible ecosystems & learned from Embera & Kuna communities. Always inspiring to see ecology come alive. Thanks to Chuck Kroll, our partners & @sunyesf.bsky.social —can’t wait for the next one!

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

🍁🌎 Nice article by Danny Wehner on his research “An Uphill Battle: Seed dispersal & mycorrhizal constraints on the climate-driven upslope migration of tree species…” in Mitchelliana, The New York Flora Association Newsletter 37(1) 2026. Congrats Danny! @sunyesf.bsky.social nyflora.org/mitchelliana/

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

Please welcome Noah Capello-MPS student in our group. Noah came to @sunyesf.bsky.social from @binghamtonu.bsky.social where he graduated summa cum laude w/Excellence Award for his capstone on transitional housing. He is now taking courses in ecology & management of invasive species & wetlands.

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

🌐🌎 Conspecific adult trees interact w/microsites to affect forest regeneration across climate-sensitive temperate-to-boreal forest biome transitions as shown by @nathankiel.bsky.social in an insightful analysis of our extensive forest demography data @sunyesf.bsky.social. Link in comments.

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

🌎Welcome our new PhD student-Wendy Owens Rios @wendyhaeco.bsky.social. Wendy is a lecturer at SUNY Geneseo developing her PhD @sunyesf.bsky.social on soil biogeochemistry, microbial ecology, & plant–soil interactions in forested wetlands impacted by ash decline due to non-native emerald ash borer.

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Nathan Kiel @nathankiel.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

New article with @dovciak-lab.bsky.social, Jordon Tourville, and Jay Wason out in Journal of Biogeography: “Conspecific adult dominance interacts with microsite factors to influence forest regeneration patterns across elevation” doi.org/10.1111/jbi....

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

Excited to share a short, behind-the-scenes video 🎥 interview highlighting my research & teaching in plant ecology @sunyesf.bsky.social—along with a look inside our greenhouses. Thanks to @tylerdorholt.bsky.social, Gavin Ellis, & Jason Kohlbrenner for the opportunity & support. youtu.be/66tkQacmqAY

youtu.be

Martin Dovciak Believes in the Power of Botany | Meet the Faculty

YouTube video by SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

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Rachel Carson Center for Environment & Society @carsoncenter.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

New 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘢 article by Nathan Kiel. Read about how land conservation initiatives underwent rapid change in early twentieth-century Wisconsin, culminating in the protection of hundreds of local natural areas scattered across the state. @nathankiel.bsky.social #envhist #wisconsin #conservation

environmentandsociety.org

State Natural Areas and the Evolution of Land Conservation in Twentieth-Century Wisconsin

Land conservation initiatives underwent rapid change in early twentieth-century Wisconsin, culminating in the protection of hundreds of local natural areas scattered across the state.

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

youtu.be

Martin Dovciak Believes in the Power of Botany | Meet the Faculty

YouTube video by SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

Have you ever wondered if temperate🌳 & boreal🌲 tree seedlings🌱germinate & grow best in their own leaf litter, heterospecific litter, on moss, or on bare soil? If so stay tuned for more from Tee Atwater’s honors thesis experiment completed this Fall! @sunyesf.bsky.social @sunyofficial.bsky.social

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Excellent talk today on abrupt vs. slow forest 🌳🌲 change by @nathankiel.bsky.social @sunyesf.bsky.social given @syracuseup.bsky.social biology seminar series. It was super interesting to think of forest change drivers spanning climate zones & disturbance regimes from Yellowstone to the US Northeast

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

Welcome our new lab member & MS student, Jenna Meyer! Jenna comes from Binghamton University where she studied how plant diversity affects ecological functions in lawns for her honors thesis. She is now switching to study plant communities at temperate-boreal forest ecotones @sunyesf.bsky.social

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

🥁New paper on microclimate vulnerability under changing climate 🌦️ & forest structure 🌳. Forest structure can buffer or amplify climate warming! Congrats to Joanna Lumbsden-Pinto @sunyesf.bsky.social, @brookhavenlab.bsky.social, @sunyofficial.bsky.social. 🌐🌍 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

sciencedirect.com

Microclimate vulnerability under coupled effects of changing climate and forest structure

Understanding how forest structure affects microclimate is crucial amidst global warming, especially in biodiversity hotspots such as the North Americ…

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

I enjoyed hosting Dr. Juan Corley, Ecological Applications Editor-in-Chief @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social & learning about novel insect-tree interactions of non-native North American trees & European insects in Argentina. Thanks Juan for great talk @sunyesf.bsky.social @sunyofficial.bsky.social❗️🌐🌎

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

Done! ✅ A new experiment now set up on our mountain 🏔️ forest 🌳🌲 site network in 4 Northeastern US states to test how seed rain, microsites, & herbivory interact to affect early stages of climate-induced tree migrations. Led by @nathankiel.bsky.social, a post-doc in our group @sunyesf.bsky.social 🌎🌐🧪

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

A lovely visit to Baltimore @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social meeting last week. So many great talks! Also great to see many colleagues+meeting new ones. A splendid day in the woods @ #SERC w/great info on #NEON. Our lab had 4 presentations & we are now ready for a new semester @sunyesf.bsky.social

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bald-botanist.bsky.social @bald-botanist.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

It’s time to abandon pyrrhic victories against wildfires and embrace pyric- management that utilizes fire to improve the health of plants, animals, people, and their shared environments. Special thanks to all of my coauthors for their assistance with this work! academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...

academic.oup.com

Pyrohealth synchrony: integrating wildland fire into One Health to benefit plants, animals, ecosystems, and people

Abstract. One Health's interdisciplinary approach has been effective at the nexus of human and animal health but often overlooks environmental health, incl

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

Adding the 4th neat presentation @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social by our lab, lead by our former PhD student, amazing Jordon Tourville, now research ecologist @appmtnclub.bsky.social. Come check out his talk on the non-climatic controls of climate-driven tree migrations: Thu, COS-168, 4:15pm 🌎🌐🧪

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Martin Dovciak🌳🌱🌻 @dovciak-lab.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

Check out our lab’s presentations @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social meeting in Baltimore if you are interested in vegetation change over space or time under changing climate or disturbance regime. Lumbsden-Pinto: Tue, COS 046 (10:15am); Dovciak: Wed, COS 118 (3:45pm); Kiel: Wed, PS-29-046 (5pm) 🌎🌐🧪

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