Jens-Christian Svenning
LightNews LightNews
jcsvenning.bsky.social
Jens-Christian Svenning
@jcsvenning.bsky.social
6.4K followers 630 following 360 posts

Scientist: #biodiversity, #macroecology, #climatechange, #restoration & #rewilding, #novelecosystems, #plants & #vegetation, #megafauna, #human-#nature relations & #remotesensing. Director, https://econovo.au.dk/

Videos

Jens-Christian Svenning is a Danish ecologist, biogeographer and academic. He is a professor at the Department of Biology at Aarhus University, Denmark where he also serves as the director of DNRF Center for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere (ECONOVO), established in 2023. .. more

Environmental science 59%
Geography 16%
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
jcsvenning.bsky.social
Jens-Christian Svenning @jcsvenning.bsky.social · Jan 1
The evidence for Homo sapiens playing the dominant role in the global #megafauna #extinctions constitutes one of the clearest, well-supported patterns in #ecology. See our 2024 review www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #paleobiology #archeology #hunting #ecosystem #Pleistocene #defaunation #rewilding
The late-Quaternary megafauna extinctions: Patterns, causes, ecological consequences and implications for ecosystem management in the Anthropocene | Cambridge Prisms: Extinction | Cambridge Core
The late-Quaternary megafauna extinctions: Patterns, causes, ecological consequences and implications for ecosystem management in the Anthropocene - Volume 2
www.cambridge.org

Reposted by Jens‐Christian Svenning, Juli G. Pausas, Stephen D. Murphy

miguelbaraujo.bsky.social
Miguel Bastos Araújo, PhD @miguelbaraujo.bsky.social · 23h
Some argue protected areas in fire-prone landscapes can undermine forest carbon (fuel build-up → higher fire risk). This paper shows Spanish protected areas consistently outperform comparable unprotected lands, strongest in National Parks.

iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...

jcsvenning.bsky.social
Jens-Christian Svenning @jcsvenning.bsky.social · 2d
Importantly, the work also indicates even stronger environmental engineering (intended and unintended) by pre-agricultural hunter-gatherer people (Homo sapiens) in Europe🔥🏹Link to the scientific paper: journals.plos.org/plosone/arti... #mesolithic
On the ecological impact of prehistoric hunter-gatherers in Europe: Early Holocene (Mesolithic) and Last Interglacial (Neanderthal) foragers compared
Recent studies have highlighted evidence of human impact on landscapes dating back to the Late Pleistocene–long before the advent of agriculture. Quantifying the extent of vegetation transformations b...
journals.plos.org

Reposted by James M. Bullock

jcsvenning.bsky.social
Jens-Christian Svenning @jcsvenning.bsky.social · 2d
Nice feature on our recent work on neandertals (led by @nikulinaav.bsky.social) and their effects on their environment👣 deephistory.substack.com/p/the-neande... #neandertal #neanderthal #archaeology #anthropology #wilderness
The Neanderthal Garden: Landscape Engineering and the End of the "Pristine Wilderness" Myth
By Seth Chagi World of Paleoanthropology
deephistory.substack.com

Reposted by Jens‐Christian Svenning

adamwelz.bsky.social
Adam Welz @adamwelz.bsky.social · 2d
New study: Deforestation will exacerbate heatwaves under #climate change

"A hot spell that would have been tolerable under forest cover becomes a prolonged, hazardous heatwave."

theconversation.com/heat-with-no...
Heat with no end: climate model sets out an unbearable future for parts of Africa
By the end of this century, parts of Africa could face heatwaves for 250-300 days a year, which will make it difficult for people to survive.
theconversation.com

jcsvenning.bsky.social
Jens-Christian Svenning @jcsvenning.bsky.social · 4d
Big thx to @wbwu.bsky.social for the initiative :)

jcsvenning.bsky.social
Jens-Christian Svenning @jcsvenning.bsky.social · 4d
From our Chinese New Year celebration at @econovoau.bsky.social today (a little early)

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

jcsvenning.bsky.social
Jens-Christian Svenning @jcsvenning.bsky.social · 4d
🌍🌱 Constructed #wetlands as novel ecosystems. New paper led by #Sustainscapes PhD student Michael Straarup shows constructed #dune lakes host high plant diversity yet remain compositionally distinct —highlighting #restoration in the Anthropocene www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #novelecosystems
Digging diversity: Constructed dune lakes support high plant richness but differ compositionally from natural systems
Constructed dune lakes and slacks are increasingly used to restore wetland biodiversity in stabilized European dune landscapes, yet their ecological e…
www.sciencedirect.com

Reposted by Jens‐Christian Svenning, Aidan O’Sullivan

erleellis.bsky.social
Erle Ellis @erleellis.bsky.social · 4d
Neanderthals & Mesolithic foragers reshaped Europe’s ecology long before agriculture… 🌍 doi.org/10.1371/jour...
On the ecological impact of prehistoric hunter-gatherers in Europe: Early Holocene (Mesolithic) and Last Interglacial (Neanderthal) foragers compared
Recent studies have highlighted evidence of human impact on landscapes dating back to the Late Pleistocene–long before the advent of agriculture. Quantifying the extent of vegetation transformations b...
doi.org

jcsvenning.bsky.social
Jens-Christian Svenning @jcsvenning.bsky.social · 5d
Also good 🐍🐍

Reposted by Jens‐Christian Svenning

nordicjbotany.bsky.social
Nordic Journal of Botany @nordicjbotany.bsky.social · 5d
NEW PAPER: Lepidagathis konkanensis sp. nov. (Acanthaceae: Barlerieae) from Lateritic Plateaus of Konkan Region of Western Ghats based on morphological and molecular evidence by Patil et al. The new species is geographically isolated and threatened by fires, tourism and forestry.
vist.ly/4rfzn

jcsvenning.bsky.social
Jens-Christian Svenning @jcsvenning.bsky.social · 5d
Happy Chinese New Year to all my good Chinese colleagues and friends 🎉🐎 I just realized that I'm a Metal Dog (庚戌) in the Chinese zodiac — born in July 1970. Pretty cool name imo - and I'm quite happy with the connotations (see image below) - hope it fits! 🙂🐕⚙️

Reposted by Jens‐Christian Svenning, Simon Roux, Stephen D. Murphy , and 3 more

jotlovell.bsky.social
John Lovell @jotlovell.bsky.social · 5d
I'm super excited to share that this article was published today in Science! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

All made possible by the fantastic group of donors, volunteers and scientists at The American Chestnut Foundation (tacf.org), HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, and our collaborators.

Reposted by Jens‐Christian Svenning, Neil Pederson, Eric Higgs , and 2 more

mattkerr.bsky.social
Matt Kerr @mattkerr.bsky.social · 6d
Our new paper presents a framework for analysing the processes that generate novel ecosystems, discussing different conceptual and practical approaches across ecological disciplines. You can read it, open access, in @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The making of novel ecosystems: A process‐based framework for measurement, analysis and application
Ecological novelty is emerging rapidly due to global change drivers such as climate shifts, species introductions, defaunation, and land-use transformation. These changes challenge how we assess, ...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Reposted by Alejandro Ordóñez

jcsvenning.bsky.social
Jens-Christian Svenning @jcsvenning.bsky.social · 7d
🌍In a new @econovoau.bsky.social paper in Methods in Ecology & Evolution, led by @mattkerr.bsky.social, we present a process-based framework linking compositional, functional, abiotic & social dimensions of novel ecosystem trajectories♨️🌿 besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The making of novel ecosystems: A process‐based framework for measurement, analysis and application
Ecological novelty is emerging rapidly due to global change drivers such as climate shifts, species introductions, defaunation, and land-use transformation. These changes challenge how we assess, ...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Reposted by Jens‐Christian Svenning

amcell.bsky.social
Alan McElligott @amcell.bsky.social · 8d
Goats can play a role in multi-pronged restoration of buckthorn-invaded woodlands phys.org/news/2026-02...
Goats can play a role in multi-pronged restoration of buckthorn-invaded woodlands
Goats are increasingly being used in efforts to manage invasive common buckthorn in Midwestern woodlands. New research demonstrates when and how they are best used.
phys.org

jcsvenning.bsky.social
Jens-Christian Svenning @jcsvenning.bsky.social · 8d
Revealing names and faces of the victims of Iran's protest crackdown www.bbc.com/news/article... #middleeast
Revealing names and faces of the victims of Iran's protest crackdown
BBC News Persian uncovers the identities of the thousands of people killed during the recent crackdown on protests in Iran.
www.bbc.com

jcsvenning.bsky.social
Jens-Christian Svenning @jcsvenning.bsky.social · 8d
"This is the largest mass killing in contemporary Iranian history and one of the largest in the world," Payam Akhavan, an Iranian Canadian former UN prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, in The Hague, told BBC News Persian www.bbc.com/news/article... #iran
Machine guns to machetes: Weapons that massacred thousands in Iran
BBC News Persian Forensic has been able to confirm the security forces' deployment of a wide array of lethal and non-lethal weaponry.
www.bbc.com

jcsvenning.bsky.social
Jens-Christian Svenning @jcsvenning.bsky.social · 8d
A wisent-sized bison from Spain just 4000 years ago - with a metal arrowhead in its ribs...https://www.noticiasdenavarra.com/sociedad/2026/02/09/navarra-anuncia-hallazgo-esqueleto-bisonte-10677299.html #bison #wisent #megafauna

Reposted by Jens‐Christian Svenning

bsbibotany.bsky.social
BSBI Botany @bsbibotany.bsky.social · 9d
Looking to find out the differences between Cherry Plum, Blackthorn and Hawthorn?
Check out this helpful #WildFlowerID resource from top botanist Kevin Widdowson:
bsbi.org/learn/resour...

Reposted by Ingolf Kühn

jcsvenning.bsky.social
Jens-Christian Svenning @jcsvenning.bsky.social · 11d
We studied a long-term trophic #rewilding project where #horses 🐎 & #cattle🐂 live year-round under near-wild conditions. Their space use shapes #vegetation structure🌿& modulates #drought sensitivity, w/ clear differences bt horses & cattle 🐎🐂🌿♨️➡️ esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Space‐use by feral cattle and horses shapes vegetation structure in a trophic rewilding area
Feral cattle (Bos taurus) and horses (Equus ferus caballus) are commonly introduced to European rewilding areas to halt vegetation succession and to conserve light-demanding species. Yet, we still do....
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Reposted by Jens‐Christian Svenning

andrejpaleo.bsky.social
Andrej Spiridonov @andrejpaleo.bsky.social · 12d
Interesting case of recent human-modulated geodispersal which was enabled by the building and functioning of the Suez Canal. Interesting to think about this case as an analogue of ancient tectonic restructuring of seaways 👇
t.co/k6Qdu82nti
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #Geology #Macroecology #Biogeography
Visualization of the Lessepsian invasion as a human-induced partial reversal to the west (right panel) of the formerly eastward shift in species ranges and diversity hotspots that occurred in ostracod descendants of Tethys taxa (left panel). Symbols indicate climate cooling/warming, tectonic continent–continent collision and evolutionary diversification.

jcsvenning.bsky.social
Jens-Christian Svenning @jcsvenning.bsky.social · 12d
En kommentar om "konservative" vs. "sprinter"-træer fra min side, i Naturmonitor: Vi skal tænke i flere træarter, når vi planter skov naturmonitor.dk/nyheder/deba... 🌳🌿
#træer #skovrejsning #dkgreen
Forsker: Vi skal tænke i flere træarter, når vi planter skov
Det er afgørende, at vi er omhyggelige i valget af træarter, i den grønne arealomlægning. Men et enøjet fokus på hurtigtvoksende træarter har en slagside, vurderer dagens debattør.
naturmonitor.dk

Reposted by Jens‐Christian Svenning, Stephen D. Murphy

milanchytry.bsky.social
Milan Chytrý @milanchytry.bsky.social · 13d
New interactive global maps of 31 plant traits were prepared by Daniel Lusk, based on plant distribution data from GBIF and sPlot, plant trait data from TRY, and various satellite-based products.
Map viewer: global-traits.projects.earthengine.app/view/global-...
Article: doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Reposted by Jens‐Christian Svenning

adamwelz.bsky.social
Adam Welz @adamwelz.bsky.social · 14d
e360.yale.edu/digest/india...
India Says Its Grasslands Are 'Wastelands.' Medieval Folklore Suggests Otherwise
e360.yale.edu

Reposted by Jens‐Christian Svenning

joshlukedavis.com
Josh Luke Davis 🏳️‍🌈 @joshlukedavis.com · 16d
'He adds that... one of the world’s oldest steppe reserves, Askania-Nova, [is...] in that zone and [has] fallen under occupation. “This territory will be inaccessible to us for many decades, or maybe even centuries” because it has been heavily mined, he says.'

🧪🌱
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘Nothing is sacred to them’: the race to save rare plants as Russian troops advance
With some of Ukraine’s most valuable biodiversity sites and science facilities under occupation, experts at Sofiyivka Park in Uman are struggling to preserve the country’s natural history
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Jens‐Christian Svenning, Julie L. Lockwood

neobiota.pensoft.net
NeoBiota @neobiota.pensoft.net · 19d
🐍❄️ Can Florida’s #cold snaps stop #Burmese #pythons?

#Research published in NeoBiota, recently featured in @people.com by Gabrielle Rockson, suggest that these #invasivespecies are undergoing evolutionary change and show behavioral plasticity that helps them survive the cold #weather. 👇
Fla. Temperatures Dropped to Dangerous Numbers for Reptiles, But the State's Invasive Pythons Are Hanging On
While temperatures are dropping in Florida, invasive pythons have been adapting despite other reptiles dropping, according to new reports
people.com

jcsvenning.bsky.social
Jens-Christian Svenning @jcsvenning.bsky.social · 20d
Our press release: Fast-growing #trees are taking over the #forests of the #future and putting biodiversity and climate resilience under pressure bio.au.dk/en/about-bio...
Fast-growing trees are taking over the forests of the future and putting biodiversity and climate resilience under pressure
Climate change, deforestation, and habitat loss are promoting increasingly uniform forests, where fast-growing tree species displace native trees. This reduces biodiversity, makes trees less resilient...
bio.au.dk

Reposted by Brian J. Enquist, Tobias Kuemmerle, Hans Henrik Bruun , and 8 more

jcsvenning.bsky.social
Jens-Christian Svenning @jcsvenning.bsky.social · 20d
Fast-growing trees are set to dominate the #forests of the #future — but at a cost🌳
Our Nature Plants (@natplants.nature.com) study shows a global shift toward "sprinter" tree species, while slow-growing, functionally critical #trees face elevated #extinction risk. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Global functional shifts in trees driven by alien naturalization and native extinction - Nature Plants
This study finds that native tree extinctions and alien naturalizations are pushing forests towards fast-growing, resource-demanding species. This global shift could affect carbon storage and ecosyste...
www.nature.com

jcsvenning.bsky.social
Jens-Christian Svenning @jcsvenning.bsky.social · 20d
Likewise!

Reposted by Jens‐Christian Svenning, Irena Šímová

smurph.bsky.social
Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 20d
@jcsvenning.bsky.social is always a welcome listen (and even better to have some excellent food and beverages with)
jamierohu.bsky.social Jamie Rohu @jamierohu.bsky.social · 21d
The third Rewilding event at Trinity in association with @irishwildlifetrust.bsky.social during Autumn 2025.

In the final event, Professor @jcsvenning.bsky.social spoke, amongst other things, about the vital role of large herbivores in shaping natural ecosystems.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTts...
Rewilding in Europe | Past, Present, Future
YouTube video by Irish Wildlife Trust
www.youtube.com