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Graydon Gillies

@graydongillies.bsky.social
1.9K followers 694 following 45 posts

PhD student at MUNL in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Interested in plants, range limits, species distributions, & biogeography 🌱🏳️‍🌈

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Reposted by Graydon Gillies
Takuji Usui | 薄井拓路 @usuitakuji.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
For colonization success, should hosts 🌱 and microbes 🦠 travel alone, together, or swap partners along the way? Excited to share a new paper with Jerry Yu and @mfrederickson.bsky.social in which we test how microbial partners alter plant performance upon natural introductions: tinyurl.com/8u4268n6
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
For colonization success, should hosts and microbes travel alone, together, or swap partners along the way?
Experimental co-introduction of duckweeds (Lemna japonica) and their microbiome in a common pond.
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Congrats Takuji!! Amazing! :)
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Reposted by Graydon Gillies
Takuji Usui | 薄井拓路 @usuitakuji.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Excited to share our new paper in which we test how competition alters adaptation at a warming range edge @science.org We find that competition can increase adaptation to warming when there is a shared evolutionary response to both biotic and abiotic drivers of selection: tinyurl.com/3j8s9t8b
science.org
Competition enables rapid adaptation to a warming range edge in a model plant community
Most predictions of whether populations will adapt to warming range edges ignore species interactions. We experimentally tested whether range-edge populations can adapt to warming within a competitive...
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Reposted by Graydon Gillies
Aerin Jacob, PhD @aerinj.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
A running thread of articles, blog posts, and more about the Government of Canada’s proposal to fast-track “major projects” and weaken federal environmental laws and regulations.
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Jalene LaMontagne @jalene-lamontagne.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Very pleased to share this new paper from our lab, led by Jessica Barton! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... With co-authors Ivy Widick, Benjamin Zuckerberg, Courtenay Strong, and @majarzyna.bsky.social. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). #Macrosystems #NSFfunded #UMSLBiology
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
An Ecological Dipole in North American Mast‐Eating Small Mammal Dynamics
Ecological dipoles are patterns in plant and animal indices of opposite extremes, and many ecological dipoles may exist. We discovered a novel ecological dipole in seed-eating small mammals in North ...
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Reposted by Graydon Gillies
Rachel Germain @gerlame.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Five of us are headed to CSEE next week - come hang out with us!
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Antoine Perrier @perrierecoevo.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
New paper out in Evolution Letters! @evolletters.bsky.social We explore the legacy of past warming at the rear edge of Campanula americana. Spoiler alert: we did not find higher drift load as often expected at the rear edge, but strong local adaptation! doi.org/10.1093/evle...
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Jitka Polechová @polejit.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
New #ecoevo paper @pnas.org: Evolution of species’ range and niche in changing environments. I show that feedback between evolutionary and population dynamics can create a tipping point where genetic variance erodes, and species’ ranges contract or fragment www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... #popgen 🧬🧪 🌎
Drawing shows a group of chimeric species at the center, from which three spirals of diversity loss lead to a single form: a bird, a fish, or a fox. Image credit: Tereza Nekovarova.
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Lucas Eckert @lucaseckert.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Second preprint from my PhD! Using our whole lake transplant experiment in Alaska 🏔️ we test for assortative mating following secondary contact among divergent stickleback populations 🐟 and found the opposite of what we expected… 🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
A schematic of the experimental transplant designA beautiful male stickleback
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Carissa Brown @carissabrown.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
It might be #SCEECSEE20 anniversary, but it's also St. John's, NL 10th anniversary! We had rain, fog, a Newfoundlander dog at the mixer, a baby on a SWEEET panel, row houses, icebergs, gannets, screech ins, and more. It was a time! Photo credit to folks on that other app using the conf. hashtag.
CSEE 2016 tote bag with the logo "From windswept land to spindrift swirl"SWEEET 2016. Panel members are in discussion, one of which is a baby, while the audience listens. Watson the Newfoundlander dog at the welcome mixerOutdoor photo with a sign in the foreground reading "Wind and Fog" and dense fog in the background.
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
New preprint! Here, we use a multi-year survey of >4,200 random plots across ~1100 km of Pacific coast to show that habitat patch availability (suitability, size, connectivity, temporal stability) declines towards and beyond the range limit of a coastal dune endemic: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
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Reposted by Graydon Gillies
Natalie Cooper @nhcooper123.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
Excited to launch the new improved Reproducible Code guide from @britishecologicalsociety.org @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social FREE online here! www.britishecologicalsociety.org//wp-content/... Amazing work by some very talented ECRs. We hope it’s useful!
Book cover for Reproducible Code guide. The cover has a red background with a large yellow-bodied black-headed stag beetle.
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Andrew Hacket-Pain @andrewhacket-pain.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
🚨New paper!🚨 Models predict trees like beech will migrate north as climate warms, but rarely consider tree reproduction. Jessie shows these “refuges” are exactly where climate warming will disrupt seed production the most. They may not be such great climate refuges after all. doi.org/10.1111/ele....
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Rishona Vemulapalli @rishonavemulapalli.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
I am happy to share my first publication is out in the scientific world. Based on my undergraduate honours biology thesis research at Queen’s University (2024), we explore how urbanization and host-plant gardens impact the occupation of its specialist herbivores. You can check it out here! 🌿🐛
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Reposted by Graydon Gillies
Tess Grainger @tessgrainger.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
New paper out today in Ecology Letters! In this synthesis we dive into the equilibrium assumption in ecology - why it's everywhere in ecological theory, the evidence for it in nature, when meeting the assumption is important, how to achieve it in empirical research, and more! tinyurl.com/yh6kyysm
Drawing of a researcher looking out thoughtfully at mountains, grasslands and intertidal study systems
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
Thanks Tess!!! :)
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
Check out our paper here! 🐛
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
Huge shout-out to the co-lead on this project Rishona @rishonavemulapalli.bsky.social! This work arose from her undergraduate honours research work, and she was pivotal to the survey design, data collection, analysis, and writing. 🌱🐛 super proud of her and our team!
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
Taken at face value, our results point to the importance of ecological gardening. Gardening appears to be an effective form of habitat provisioning (for at least some species, including the monarch butterfly) that ought to be considered in urban areas.
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
Surprisingly, we found no negative effect of urbanization on the occupancy of milkweed patches for any of the herbivores. Instead, many of them became more common with urbanization - and high-quality garden habitat seemed largely responsible for this increasing occupancy.
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
Published now with @rishonavemulapalli.bsky.social! We investigated how urbanization might inhibit species interactions between common milkweed and specialized herbivores, and how milkweed in garden habitat might ameliorate these negative effects. resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Common milkweed gardens increase occupancy by monarch butterflies and other specialist herbivores towards an urban centre
We surveyed 119 stands of common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) across an urbanisation gradient to investigate how restored garden habitat might ameliorate the negative effects of urbanisation on spec...
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
Great to meet you too, looking forward to chatting more! Safe travels back!
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
Congrats Jalene!! 🌲
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Reposted by Graydon Gillies
Jalene LaMontagne @jalene-lamontagne.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
I'm very proud to receive the 2025 Robert P. McIntosh Award from the @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social Vegetation Section at #ESA2025 with an amazing group of colleagues, for our paper on Community #MastSeeding. 🥳 Paper: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1... Award info: esa.org/vegetation/a...
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Jalene LaMontagne @jalene-lamontagne.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
#ESA2025! We would love to fill this up with signatures. Let's show support to the folks at NSF. Find it Wednesday morning at the spot below, and it'll be at the NSF funding session at 10-11:30am.
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
If you’re at ESA @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social 2025 in Baltimore, come check out my talk about population dynamics and the geographic range limits of a coastal dune plant! Tomorrow (Wednesday) at 8:45am in Hilton 5!
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Reposted by Graydon Gillies
Jalene LaMontagne @jalene-lamontagne.bsky.social · 10/08/2025
I'm giving a talk on Monday at #ESA2025, in the OOS about #phenology "Beyond Budburst" (3:30-5:00pm), organized by Luke McCormack & Christy Rollinson. There's a great list of speakers. I'm presenting at 4:30pm. Room: Hilton Key 8 🚨 NOTE: Individual talk times within the session were updated today!
OOS 05 - Beyond Budburst–Connecting Phenological Transitions Among Tissues and Times in Woody Plants
Monday, August 11 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM EDT

Hilton Key 8
Session Type: Organized Oral SessionPresentations
OOS 05-01 - Seasonal underground phenology of ectomycorrhizal fungi varies by group and host tree traits
Monday, August 11, 2025 at 3:30 PM – 3:45 PM EDT
Presenting Author - Nicholas Medina

OOS 05-02 - Genetic structure across a poplar hybrid zone will cause variation in phenological responses to a warming climate
Monday, August 11, 2025 at 3:45 PM – 4:00 PM EDT
Presenting Author - Alayna MeadOOS 05-03 - Aridity decouples carbon assimilation and growth in temperate deciduous oaks
Monday, August 11, 2025 at 4:00 PM – 4:15 PM EDT
Presenting Author - Mukund Palat Rao

OOS 05-04 - Cold hardiness connects bud development in the summer and fall with budbreak in the spring
Monday, August 11, 2025 at 4:15 PM – 4:30 PM EDT
Presenting Author - Al KovaleskiOOS 05-05 - Phenology of tree reproduction; environmental cues and vetos
Monday, August 11, 2025 at 4:30 PM – 4:45 PM EDT
Presenting Author - Jalene LaMontagne

OOS 05-06 - Macrophenology: expanding the taxonomic and geographic scope of phenology research using volunteer- and network-collected observations
Monday, August 11, 2025 at 4:45 PM – 5:00 PM EDT
Presenting Author - Amanda Gallinat
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 03/08/2025
Undertook a side-quest during fieldwork to search out an alpine sorrel population in the Lewis Hills on the west coast of Newfoundland! One of the coolest and most beautiful overnight trips I’ve ever done.
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
Short media release about our latest paper in the Queen’s Gazette! 🌱 www.queensu.ca/gazette/stor...
queensu.ca
Rethinking conservation in a changing climate | Queen's Gazette
Queen’s researchers show what determines where species live, which could change how we protect them as the climate warms.
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Reposted by Graydon Gillies
Lucas Eckert @lucaseckert.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
This map ⬇️ is from a challenge I designed that encourages people to go out and observe the major group of taxa 🐟🍄🐍🪲🦫🪻 that is unusually under-represented in their county 🇨🇦
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Reposted by Graydon Gillies
Global Change Biology @globalchangebio.bsky.social · 17/05/2025
Mammals on the Margins: Identifying the Drivers and Limitations of Range Expansion 🔗 buff.ly/Dhmwwng @rolandkays.com
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
Thanks Takuji! 🍃
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Reposted by Graydon Gillies
biogeo_papers @biogeopapers.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Evidence That Metapopulation Dynamics Maintain a Species' Range Limit pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40326375
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
In all, this suggests that variation in patch dynamics (particularly inter-patch dispersal/establishment) may be responsible for dwindling occupancy towards the range limit, supporting the metapopulation hypothesis in this system. If you've made it to the end, here's some bonus dune pics: (9/9)
Wind-swept sand dunes with a large thicket of trees on the right.Two researchers walking across sand into the trees.A researcher walking across the beach.A large thicket of trees and shrubs standing starkly against the wind-swept sand devoid of vegetation.
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Lastly, we found measured occupancy of plots declined towards the range limit - as we would expect (left). Further, this decline in occupancy is closely matched by the decline predicted by incorporating our estimated rates of colonization and extinction into a metapopulation model (right). (8/9)
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Interestingly, each of these variables (suitable plot area, local abundance, and initial plot abundance) each exhibited variation towards the range limit in a manner that is consistent with declining colonization rates/increasing extinction rates. (7/9)
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Extinction, however, was more likely when there was little suitable habitat at the plot and when the initial plot abundance was smaller (in other words, smaller subpopulations were more likely to go extinct). (6/9)
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Second, we found the likelihood of colonization and extinction were predicted by habitat and population structure. Colonization was greater at plots with more suitable habitat and that had greater local abundance (i.e., abundance of nearby plots), possibly due to higher propagule pressure. (5/9)
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
First, we found that the likelihood of patch colonization declined substantially towards the species' northern range limit, while extinction of occupied patches increased non-significantly - changes that we might expect from the metapopulation hypothesis for range limits. (4/9)
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
To test this hypothesis, we looked at coastal dune endemic Camissoniopsis cheiranthifolia, and hiked the northern ~900 km of the species' distribution to visit several thousand plots across a multi-year survey. At each, we measured patch occupancy and abundance of this short-lived perennial. (3/9)
A small plant (Camissoniopsis cheiranthifolia) with fuzzy leaves and a lone yellow flower growing in the sand.A researcher hiking through the wind-swept coastal dunes in Oregon.
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
The metapopulation hypothesis posits that a range limit may be imposed by subtle variation in patch dynamics. If colonization of patches declines or extinction from patches increases across space, the metapopulation may collapse, consequently generating an abrupt range limit. (2/9)
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
So excited that one of my MSc chapters is out now! We used a large-scale, multi-year survey to empirically test the metapopulation hypothesis for range limits: doi.org/10.1111/ele.... (1/9)
doi.org
Evidence That Metapopulation Dynamics Maintain a Species' Range Limit
The metapopulation hypothesis for species range limits posits that a range limit may be imposed by subtle variation in rates of either patch colonisation or extinction. Using a multi-year survey acro...
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
Yesterday, I presented a poster at MUN’s Biology Symposium, where I chatted about our approach to understanding density-dependent fitness towards elevational range limits. I had a ton of fun, many valuable chats about field methods, and am grateful to have been awarded best poster presentation!
A person standing in front of a research poster.
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Methods in Ecology and Evolution @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
New Blog post alert 🚨 The photo that got away: Camera traps may monitor less space than we think 📸 🌎 🧪 Read Brendan Carswell's full post here 👇 buff.ly/R9j5xvi
methodsblog.com
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Brian Maitner @maitner.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
I'd like to encourage folks to publish their code. Not only does it make studies more transparent and reproducible, but it also increases citation rates! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Code sharing in ecology and evolution increases citation rates but remains uncommon
Biologists increasingly rely on computer code to collect and analyze their data, reinforcing the importance of published code for transparency, reproducibility, training, and a basis for further work...
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Faith Borak @borak-faith.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
A tiny Florida native sundew for your viewing pleasure. Our native carnivorous plants hold a very special place in my heart ❤️
A small sundew with red leaves that look like they’re covered in water droplets. It is sitting next to a pool of water among some moss
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Reposted by Graydon Gillies
Brian J. Enquist @bjenquist.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
An important review - The ecology of plant extinctions - "Recent warm-edge extirpations demonstrate the growing impact of anthropogenic climate change & show that predictions of massive climate-driven extinctions later this century are plausible" www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🌾🌎🧪🌐
Image of the first page and abstract of the paper "The ecology of plant extinctions
Author links open overlay panel
Richard T. Corlett 1 2

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2024.11.007
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Highlights
The fossil record suggests that climate change was the major driver of plant extinctions and regional extirpations from the Pliocene until recently, when anthropogenic habitat loss became dominant.
Known recent plant extinctions are disproportionately few in comparison with well-studied animal taxa, but many more species are probably committed to inevitable extinction unless given targeted support.
Recent warm-edge extirpations demonstrate the growing impact of anthropogenic climate change and show that predictions of massive climate-driven extinctions later this century are plausible.
The proximate causes for population extirpations are still rarely known but are likely to be highly varied and both species and location specific."
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
Spent a couple days this week scouting out potential field sites at Gros Morne National Park. The snow was magical!
A snowy valley with sparse vegetation.A snowy field with two people in the background.
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Jonathan Lenoir 🌳🌲🌴 @jonlen.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
There is still space left in the #biodiversity #redistribution starter pack ⬇️ If you are working on or interested in biodiversity responses, aka #species #range #shifts & #community #composition #changes, to global change drivers, I'd be happy to add you in the list 😀 go.bsky.app/6KqEpb9
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Graydon Gillies @graydongillies.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
Hi Jonathan! Could you please add me? Thanks!
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