Megan K Sullivan
@meganaceae.bsky.social
conservation scientist in tropical ecology
dynamics 🌾🌱🌳 & disturbance 🪚🪵
with a passion for plant-animal interactions 🐘🍈
currently: HMEI Postdoc @Princeton
alum: @Fulbright @Yale
she/her
https://meganksullivan.weebly.com/ ..
more
conservation scientist in tropical ecology
dynamics 🌾🌱🌳 & disturbance 🪚🪵
with a passion for plant-animal interactions 🐘🍈
currently: HMEI Postdoc @Princeton
alum: @Fulbright @Yale
she/her
https://meganksullivan.weebly.com/
Environmental science
70%
Geography
17%
Imagine what we could achieve with equitable investment in Africa’s rainforests: better science, stronger conservation, and support for the communities who protect these ecosystems. Without major investment in the Congo Basin, we cannot meet climate, biodiversity, or development targets.
The rainforest the world forgot.
The Congo basin is the second largest rainforest on Earth, and a critical defence against climate breakdown and species loss.
Why then, is it so neglected?
share.google/HrPOEJxfATQX...
The Congo basin is the second largest rainforest on Earth, and a critical defence against climate breakdown and species loss.
Why then, is it so neglected?
share.google/HrPOEJxfATQX...
The rainforest the world forgot: the Congo basin is the second largest on Earth, so why is it being neglected?
It is one of the world’s most vital carbon sinks, but this tropical rainforest is losing out when it comes to climate policy and funding
share.google
There is almost 5x as much research coming out of the Amazon as the Congo Basin, and the Amazon receives more than 6x the international funding that the Congo Basin does.
Reposted by Megan K. Sullivan
The rainforest the world forgot: the Congo basin is the second largest on Earth, so why is it being neglected?
It is one of the world’s most vital carbon sinks, but this tropical rainforest is losing out when it comes to climate policy and funding
share.google
The rainforest the world forgot.
The Congo basin is the second largest rainforest on Earth, and a critical defence against climate breakdown and species loss.
Why then, is it so neglected?
share.google/HrPOEJxfATQX...
The Congo basin is the second largest rainforest on Earth, and a critical defence against climate breakdown and species loss.
Why then, is it so neglected?
share.google/HrPOEJxfATQX...
Elephants Shape African Forests By Eating - and Excreting - Seeded Fruits - High Meadows Environmental Institute
It’s no surprise that elephants rely on their ecosystems to thrive. But a new study finds that the relationship is reciprocal. The study—Context-dependent forest elephant seed dispersal: implications ...
environment.princeton.edu
Our research was featured in a Princeton news article from the High Meadows Environmental Institute! 🐘🌱
environment.princeton.edu/news/elephan...
environment.princeton.edu/news/elephan...
Megan K Sullivan
@meganaceae.bsky.social
· Oct 27
Context‐dependent forest elephant seed dispersal: implications for pathways of elephant‐driven patterns of biodiversity and carbon storage
Seed dispersal by frugivores facilitates plant reproduction, enhancing germination and seedling survival by reducing risks like diseases and predation under parent trees and potentially directing see...
doi.org
Megan K Sullivan
@meganaceae.bsky.social
· Oct 27
[4/5] If we want to model or quantify the ecological value of #forestElephants accurately, especially in contexts like #rewilding, #carbonOffset markets, or #biodiversityMonitoring, we need to better account for this context-dependency!
Megan K Sullivan
@meganaceae.bsky.social
· Oct 27
[3/5] What's the takeaway?
🌟Context matters!🌟
Models that inform nature-based climate solutions and biodiversity crediting schemes often assume that elephants have consistent, generalizable ecological roles. Our results challenge that assumption.
🌟Context matters!🌟
Models that inform nature-based climate solutions and biodiversity crediting schemes often assume that elephants have consistent, generalizable ecological roles. Our results challenge that assumption.
Megan K Sullivan
@meganaceae.bsky.social
· Oct 27
[2/5] Our new Oikos study found that:
1. Forest elephants disperse fewer seeds than in past studies
2. Species + traits of dispersed seeds vary strongly among sites
3. Elephants often disperse plants with high carbon storage potential, but the magnitude of this effect varies by site.
1. Forest elephants disperse fewer seeds than in past studies
2. Species + traits of dispersed seeds vary strongly among sites
3. Elephants often disperse plants with high carbon storage potential, but the magnitude of this effect varies by site.
Megan K Sullivan
@meganaceae.bsky.social
· Oct 27
[1/5] Elephants shape forests by moving seeds, and carbon, across landscapes. 🌳🐘
But how consistent are their impacts across sites?
📸 : Liam Jasperse-Sjolander
But how consistent are their impacts across sites?
📸 : Liam Jasperse-Sjolander
Forest conservation has an unlikely ally: Faith
Sacred forests have long been shielded from destruction by their communities. Recognition of that reality is growing in conservation circles.
www.csmonitor.com
Excited to see our meta-analysis on sacred forests & biodiversity conservation featured in the Christian Science Monitor! 🌿✨
Sacred natural sites play a powerful role in protecting species, check out the article to learn more.
@csmonitor.bsky.social @yalee360.bsky.social @yaleforestry.bsky.social
Sacred natural sites play a powerful role in protecting species, check out the article to learn more.
@csmonitor.bsky.social @yalee360.bsky.social @yaleforestry.bsky.social
Megan K Sullivan
@meganaceae.bsky.social
· Apr 15
Research on Low-Intensity Logging in Gabon Forests Wins 2025 Bormann Prize
Megan Sullivan’s study, conducted while a doctoral student at the Yale School of the Environment, offers insights on forest management that supports both conservation goals and local livelihoods.
environment.yale.edu
Honored to be invited to speak at YSE's research day this year! Our GEC paper was the winner of this year's Bormann Prize 🌳 🪵
environment.yale.edu/news/article...
environment.yale.edu/news/article...
Belated life update: I recently started a new postdoc position at HMEI at Princeton! My project involves collaborating with multiple institutions across several countries in Central and East Africa to explore how elephants impact plant dynamics.
environment.princeton.edu/people/megan...
environment.princeton.edu/people/megan...
Megan K Sullivan
@meganaceae.bsky.social
· Aug 27
Tune in Weds, Sept 4th! 🍈🌳🦧
meet.google.com/tvt-ipnp-wyr
meet.google.com/tvt-ipnp-wyr
Megan K Sullivan
@meganaceae.bsky.social
· Aug 23
Logging done sustainably doesn’t have to harm ecosystem services, study finds
Researchers have found that low-intensity logging of a tropical forest has no negative impacts on key ecosystem services such as the carbon storage and food availability for wildlife. But even at a sm...
news.mongabay.com
Coverage from @mongabay.bsky.social on our most recent article on sustainble logging & ecosystem services impacts in Gabon! 🪵🌳🇬🇦
news.mongabay.com/2024/08/logg...
news.mongabay.com/2024/08/logg...
Megan K Sullivan
@meganaceae.bsky.social
· Apr 20
The puzzling ecology of African Marantaceae forests
Marantaceae forests are tropical rainforests characterized by a continuous understory layer of perennial giant herbs and a near absence of tree regeneration. Although widespread in West-Central Afric....
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Marantaceae forests as alternative stable states in tropical forests... very cool paper!! 🌿🌳🤓
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
TL;DR -
🪵 We found negative impacts of very-low intensity selective logging on seedling dynamics up to 4 years post-logging, and most of those impacts disappeared 14 years post-logging.
🐘 Elephant trails had both negative impacts on seedling survival and positive impacts on seedling recruitment.
🪵 We found negative impacts of very-low intensity selective logging on seedling dynamics up to 4 years post-logging, and most of those impacts disappeared 14 years post-logging.
🐘 Elephant trails had both negative impacts on seedling survival and positive impacts on seedling recruitment.
I will be giving a webinar talk tomorrow on some of my PhD work on understory forest dynamics in Gabon. Please join in at the link below if you're interested! @CoEBrwanda
Megan K Sullivan
@meganaceae.bsky.social
· Feb 27
Call for Sessions| ATBC2024
conta.cc
Deadline extended! Celebrate ATBC's 60th Annual Meeting! #ATBCKigali2024 🌿 🌍 🇷🇼
Join us in Kigali! Submit your session proposals! Session Types: Symposia, Open Format Sessions, Workshops, and Short Courses. NEW DEADLINE to submit proposals: March 6th, 2024! Submit: conta.cc/3O9Hxjn
Join us in Kigali! Submit your session proposals! Session Types: Symposia, Open Format Sessions, Workshops, and Short Courses. NEW DEADLINE to submit proposals: March 6th, 2024! Submit: conta.cc/3O9Hxjn
Megan K Sullivan
@meganaceae.bsky.social
· Nov 28
I will be giving a webinar talk tomorrow on some of my PhD work on understory forest dynamics in Gabon. Please join in at the link below if you're interested! @CoEBrwanda
Megan K Sullivan
@meganaceae.bsky.social
· Nov 15
Forest elephants are the ‘glue’ holding Congo rainforests together, experts say
The African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) makes the Congo Basin rainforest what it is today. As a key seed disperser, its dietary habits help construct the giant carbon-sequestering tree commun...
news.mongabay.com
Thanks!
#HiSciSky 👋 I'm a postdoc / research affiliate at the University of Rwanda studying how climate change affects flower🌸 and fruit🍈 phenology in a montane tropical forest⛰🌳. Passionate about vegetation dynamics 🌾🌱🌳 & natural🐘 and human🪚🪵 disturbance.
Let's chat!!
#AcademicSky #WomenInSTEM
Let's chat!!
#AcademicSky #WomenInSTEM