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John Finn

@johnfinn310.bsky.social
136 followers 128 following 31 posts

Ecologist, biodiversity and ecosystem function in agricultural grasslands and High Nature Value farming systems. Ireland☘️. Art & sports. Kerryman.

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John Finn @johnfinn310.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
#phdchat
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences @pnas.org · 27/08/2026
Old-growth grasslands are slow to recover once destroyed. Characteristic plants of such grasslands are shorter and have smaller leaves with less nitrogen than plants in secondary grasslands, which are resource-acquisitive and more competitive. In PNAS: ow.ly/zOl950ZFVFu
A remnant of an old-growth prairie in Ohio. Stock photo.
CREDIT: Jim Palus
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Janet 🇨🇦 @jansplanet.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
“Rather than focusing solely on local drought conditions, the approach examines what happens when several major agricultural regions are affected simultaneously or in quick succession. These compound drought events are expected to become more common” #Climate #FoodSecurity #Wheat #SWS
m.farms.com
Climate Change Could Triple the Price of Wheat | Farms.com
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Project Drawdown @projectdrawdown.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
A new study coauthored by Sr. Scientist @paul-west.bsky.social across 146 countries shows how smart planning can conserve biodiversity, mitigate climate change, and boost the economy. The secret: being strategic about what to do, where, for the best combined benefit. 👉 bit.ly/4xhNY8S
bit.ly
Better land use and management could improve biodiversity, climate and economic development
In a first-of-its-kind analysis done for 146 countries around the world, an interdisciplinary research team led by researchers at the University of Minnesota found large potential gains in biodiversit...
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Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
For those about to submit a semester’s worth of travel expense reports so we can leave for vacation free from the burden of anxiety, pray for us.
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David Benedict @eggsbened.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
There are days when I miss being an editor. I loved writing headlines. Whoever did this, I hope they took the rest of the day off.
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Linda K Sienkiewicz @lindaksienkiewicz.com · 17/05/2026
The writing life.
meagan_the_writer:
“Don't let anyone discourage you from setting aside 12 months to write a novel. Those 2 years could be the most incredible 5 years of your life.”
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Alan Matthews @alanmatthews.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
The European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change has just published its advice on climate adaptation and mitigation in the agri-food system. At 359 pages it will take some digesting, read it here climate-advisory-board.europa.eu/reports-and-...
climate-advisory-board.europa.eu
Climate adaptation and mitigation in the agri-food system – Recommendations for coherent EU policies
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Jon M. Sweeney @jonmsweeney.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
I’m skeptical.
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DCU Institute for Climate and Society @dcuclimate.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
In 2019, Ireland formally declared a climate emergency. Since then, the transformative change required either didn't happen, or it was too slow and too small. These were the words of Ireland’s President, Catherine Connolly, for the DCU Institute for Climate and Society’s Sixth Annual Conference.
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Agroecology-Transect @agtransect.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
🌱 How do we measure the real impact of #Agroecology? Join this practical session on 28 May to explore simple, on‑the‑ground ways to monitor performance – beyond yield alone, with practical tools that support learning and stronger evidence for funders👇 soilassociation-org.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
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Wylie Horn @wyliehorn.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Biological Data and GIS Officer - Plantlife International - environmentjob.co.uk/jobs/110085-...
environmentjob.co.uk
Biological Data and GIS Officer
An opportunity to join the busy GIS and Data Team servicing an ambitious and evidence driven conservation organisation. Working with the Senior Biological Data and GIS Officer you will work on ...
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Dr Pierre Mariotte @pierremariotte.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
🌱 Our blog post discussing our recently published paper in @journalofecology.bsky.social is out! #Drought #SubordinateSpecies @albertocanarini.bsky.social Here is also the full paper in open access: shorturl.at/Gsilo
jecologyblog.com
Subordinate grasses invest more underground during drought — and it makes all the difference
Alberto Canarini (University of Bologna, Italy), Pierre Mariotte (Agroscope, Switzerland), Yolima Carrillo (Western Sydney University, Australia), Raúl Ochoa-Hueso (University of Cádiz, Spain), and…
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TheBossRoss 🧶 @thebossross.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Meme:

I used to think the top global environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse, and climate change. I thought that with 30 years of good science we could address these problems.

But I was wrong.

The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy, and to deal with these we need a spiritual and cultural transformation, and we scientists don't know how to do that.

Gus Speth

Shared Planet: Religion and Nature, BBC Radio 4 (1 October 2013)
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Markus Wagner @wagnermarkus.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
This looks like a great opportunity w/ @bsbibotany.bsky.social @bsbiireland.bsky.social, for someone based in the Republic of Ireland: BSBI Project Manager (part time) for the Targeted Aquatic Plant Project & the Irish Grassland Project Info: bsbi.org/about/people... Closing date: 25 May 2026.
bsbi.org
BSBI Project Manager
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MFCarter @mfcarter.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
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Hannah Daly @hannahdaly.ie · 02/04/2026
My latest column: Ireland’s data centre policy will drive significantly greater fossil fuel use, contradicting multiple statutory and policy targets which require rapid reductions instead. www.irishtimes.com/environment/...
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Frank Ashwood @frankashwood.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Want to start doing soil animal macrophotography? Or fancy a rare glimpse into mine and @mesofauna.bsky.social's minds? An article has just dropped in @soilorganismsj.bsky.social, showcasing mine and Andy's love for documenting soil biodiversity! 🧪🪱 Open Access: soil-organisms.org/SO/article/v...
A screenshot of the title and abstract page of an article in Soil Organisms journal, entitled 'Advocating for the lobe and protection of soil animals through photography: the work of Frank Ashwood and Andy Murray'.A photograph of a round, hard-bodied mite walking among a cluster of lollipop-shaped slime mold fruiting bodies.
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John Finn @johnfinn310.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
#soil #jobfairy #jobs #biodiversity
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SoilMicroBio @soilmicrobio.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
📢 We're recruiting a contract technologist for the soil and environmental microbiology programme @teagasc.bsky.social Johnstown Castle, Wexford, Ireland. Join our team 🤗 #SoilMicrobiome topjobs-teagasc.thehirelab.com/LiveJobs/Job...
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iDiv Biodiversity Research @idiv-research.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
High‑resolution global maps revealing the expansion risk of thousands of non-native plant species under today’s conditions and future climate and land‑use scenarios have been produced for the first time. 🗺️ @natecoevo.nature.com @univie.ac.at @smartenwinter.bsky.social www.idiv.de/global-model...
idiv.de
Models project future global shifts in non‑native plant expansions
Calculations show that expansion patterns could move from subtropical regions into temperate zones, accompanied by substantial changes in species composition.
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Markus Wagner @wagnermarkus.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
This looks interesting: Grassland plant diversity and ecosystem condition assessment in the hen harrier programme, Ireland, a results-based agri-environment scheme | McMorrow et al. www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...
tandfonline.com
Grassland plant diversity and ecosystem condition assessment in the hen harrier programme, Ireland, a results-based agri-environment scheme
High Nature Value farmland (HNVf) supports biodiverse, semi-natural habitats through extensive farming but is increasingly threatened in Ireland by land intensification and abandonment. Results-bas...
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John Finn @johnfinn310.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Congrats Frank! 🥳
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John Gibbons 🇵🇸 🇺🇦 🇪🇺 @thinkorswim.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
So, any other news yesterday? Anything important?
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ARK Rewilding Nederland @ark-rewildingnl.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
"Scientists no Longer Find Twitter Professionally Useful, and have Switched to Bluesky. Changes to Twitter have made the social media platform no longer professionally useful or pleasant, and that many scientists have abandoned it in favor of Bluesky." academic.oup.com/icb/article-...
academic.oup.com
Scientists no Longer Find Twitter Professionally Useful, and have Switched to Bluesky
Synopsis. Social media has become widely used by the scientific community for a variety of professional uses, including networking and public outreach. For
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SoilMicroBio @soilmicrobio.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
m.independent.ie/farming/soil...
m.independent.ie
Soil, science and stories – Johnstown Castle launches new permanent exhibition
The Irish Heritage Trust have unveiled a new permanent exhibition, in the first stage of transforming the visitor experience at the Irish Agricultural Museum, at Johnstown Castle Estate, Museum & ...
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Journal of Ecology @journalofecology.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
📖 Published! Warming, elevated CO2 and drought in combination accelerates plant phenological shifts in managed montane grassland🌱 🌿 🔎 Find out more buff.ly/VgghbUv
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Functional Agrobiodiversity & Agroecology @funcagroeco.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
📢 Join our team: Are you interested in the synthesis of ecological data? We are offering a postdoctoral researcher position on the effects of collaborative agri-environment measures on multiple taxa and ecosystem services. See #job advert www.uni-goettingen.de/en/vacancy+f...
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Bertrand Dumont @bdumontae.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Interested in a cross-analysis of how Romanian and French farmers are adapting to climate change? Watch Agroecology-TRANSECT webinar to find out more: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu4m... 🌱 Necula et al 2024 👉 link.springer.com/article/10.1... 🐮 Allart et al 2024 👉 doi.org/10.1017/S174... #agroecology
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John Finn @johnfinn310.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
📢Special bonus, check out the *amazing* interactive visualisation by @rishvish07 where you can manipulate i) relative importance of the functions, and ii) relative proportions of the species and functional groups, and see effects on the functions, and trangressive overyielding
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John Finn @johnfinn310.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
A wide range of higher-diversity, lower-nitrogen (150N) mixtures typically had higher multifunctionality than a low-diversity, higher-nitrogen (300N) grass monoculture. (Fig. 1).
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John Finn @johnfinn310.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Drought reduced multifunctionality, but not as much as changes in diversity. For productive forage grassland plots with lower diversity, increasing diversity enhanced multifunctionality -> drought adaptation option. Rainfed control, top panel; drought treatment, bottom.
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John Finn @johnfinn310.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Plant diversity in mixtures increased mean levels of multifunctionality (MF, x-axis) *and* reduced variation in MF (y-axis), leading to higher multifunctional stability (which is highest in the lower right quadrant in the figure) nature.com/articles/s4159…
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John Finn @johnfinn310.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Multifunctionality across a range of mixture diversity exceeded that of the best monoculture, under both rainfed and drought conditions (transgressive overperformance). (See Fig. 4)
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John Finn @johnfinn310.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
No single community was best across each of the six individual functions; there was no ‘super-species’ that was best at everything. Thus, there are trade-offs among communities when comparing across single functions. (drought only shown here)
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John Finn @johnfinn310.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
🚨 Plant diversity in 6-species #multispecies mixtures generally increased multifunctionality (MF) (measured as 6 ecosystem functions related to agronomy). We also looked at effect of drought on MF. short🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Effects of experimental drought and plant diversity on multifunctionality of a model system for crop rotation - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Effects of experimental drought and plant diversity on multifunctionality of a model system for crop rotation
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John Finn @johnfinn310.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
It’s more complex to choose best mixture(s) for multiple responses (yield, forage quality, weed suppression, nutrient use etc.). If same species’ mixtures are the best at everything, then it’s easy (but this is unusual!). If not, one needs to manage the trade-offs.
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John Finn @johnfinn310.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
3: choose (or breed) species that are able to persist in mixtures at reasonable proportions (or have adaptive strategies to achieve this). No matter how high-performing and synergistically interactive a species is, it will not contribute much with a relative abundance of 2%.
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John Finn @johnfinn310.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
'more species is better' is not necessarily correct to maximise a response. Species' identity, richness and relative abundance ALL affect the response. Even at richness = 6 in our example (see scatterplot), these diversity aspects completely determine which community is best.
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John Finn @johnfinn310.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
2: choose species' with traits that maximise synergistic interactions. Positive mixing effects will push the mixture responses higher up the x-axis. When interactions are ++ positive, at least some mixtures can out-perform the best monoculture (or other reference point).
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John Finn @johnfinn310.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
1: choose the best-performing agronomic species (for the response of interest) based on their performance in monoculture = higher starting point on the x-axis. This ensures high performance with fewer species.
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John Finn @johnfinn310.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
ICYMI 2024 publication How can we ‘best’ design multi-species grassland mixtures? How can we better predict the effect of diversity on mixture performance? Demonstration of principles and practical examples from Mini Review in J of Ecology besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Design principles for multi‐species productive grasslands: Quantifying effects of diversity beyond richness
We describe approaches that separate plant diversity into its underlying components: species richness, composition and relative abundance. Disentangling these three components facilitates a more nuan....
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 30/01/2026
Rare butterflies bounce back after landowners in Wales cut back on flailing hedges
theguardian.com
Rare butterflies bounce back after landowners in Wales cut back on flailing hedges
More than 300 brown hairstreak butterfly eggs discovered near Llandeilo this winter after decade of decline Record numbers of eggs of the rare brown hairstreak butterfly have been found in south-west Wales after landowners stopped flailing hedges every year. The butterfly lays its eggs on blackthorn every summer. But when land managers and farmers mechanically cut hedges every autumn, thousands of the eggs are unknowingly destroyed. Continue reading...
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Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Network (BES-Net) @besnet.world · 30/01/2026
📌 Carbon has a common unit, biodiversity doesn’t; and that makes progress harder to compare. The upcoming IPBES #BizBiodiversity Assessment arrives at exactly the right moment for clearer methods and signals.
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Shauna Corr @shaunacorr.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
Months of work finally unveiled as a major investigation I worked on with the @independent.ie launches. Every council in Ireland was asked to write a Climate Action Plan identifying local risks and what they plan to do to reduce emissions causing those risks. We read them all... bit.ly/3Mf9h8x
bit.ly
How your county is weighing in on fighting climate change
.
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Katharine Hayhoe @katharinehayhoe.com · 28/01/2026
As a climate scientist I am quite sure I could use this reply at least two dozen times per week.
A screenshot of what looks like a tweet but I got it off Instagram saying, “don’t let my knowledge get in the way of your confidence.”
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Pádraic Fogarty @whittledaway.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Last week a UK national security assessment warned that collapsing ecosystems around the world will trigger conflict and food shortages
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John Finn @johnfinn310.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
After being online for about 5 weeks, over 8,500 downloads already! Multispecies grasslands produce more yield from lower nitrogen inputs across a climatic gradient | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #legacynet
science.org
Multispecies grasslands produce more yield from lower nitrogen inputs across a climatic gradient
High-yielding forage grasslands frequently contain low species diversity and receive high inputs of nitrogen fertilizer. To investigate multispecies mixtures as an alternative strategy, the 26-site in...
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Veronika Meduna @veronikameduna.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Not a single day in 2025 was cooler than the 1991-2020 average, on a global scale. @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social
A graph showing daily temperature anomalies since the 1940s
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Rupert Seidl @rupertseidl.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
Calling on all forest disturbance experts: Please consider contributing to our study on global forest disturbance change, and help resolve the nuances of changing forest disturbance regimes. More details and survey here: www.lss.ls.tum.de/edfm/disturb...
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