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James Bullock

@jmbecologist.bsky.social

4K followers 380 following 810 posts

Applied ecologist working on the ecological emergency Studying ecosystem restoration, rewilding, dispersal, spatial ecology, ecosystem services, agro-ecology, global change. Views are my own & personal/unofficial

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Environmental science 56%

Agriculture 16%

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James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 2h

Worrying numbers

“Universities have collectively announced more than 12,000 job cuts in the last year”

“Four in 10 English universities are now believed to be in financial deficit”
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Thousands more university jobs cut as financial crisis deepens

University workers will vote on national strike action this month over a 1.4% pay offer made in the summer.

www.bbc.co.uk

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James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 1d

Again, it’s not the actuality of rewilding, but how some talk about rewilding as some sort of magic solution that will work just by invoking it

Reposted by James M. Bullock

Extinction Rebellion Wimborne @xrwimborne.bsky.social · 1d

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan subject of toadying interview on BBC Radio 4 Today despite JPM’s climate wrecking record.

Instead of wedging themselves up Dimon’s fundament, Amol Rajan why not tell the truth?

JPM is the largest fossil fuel funder, $192 billion in last 4 years

#r4today

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James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 2d

But more importantly just waving the magic rewilding wand, and assuming all will be well, is dangerous

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 2d

I agree

But I’m concerned when people confuse the metaphor with reality

And believe that just by invoking ‘rewilding’ or ‘regenerative agriculture’ the job is done

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 2d

And that is a bad thing…

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 2d

Rewilding & regenerative agriculture can be subject to semi-mystical musings

about nature healing itself, or suchlike

The only way they will help achieve nature recovery is by taking a hard-nosed approach to evidence about what works, in what circumstances

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James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 3d

Reintroductions of species are often framed around ‘hope’ in the media

In reality they are often the last resort after other conservation approaches have failed

But it is easier to get attention for reintroductions of charismatic animals rather than boring old habitat conservation

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James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 3d

“as the number of fascists was growing, so too was the opposition against them”

Almost exactly 89 years ago, the Battle of Cable Street - against fascists who were supported by the police & right-wing press
www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/Hi...

The Battle of Cable Street - Historic UK

On 4th October 1936 the people of the East End of London halted the march of Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts through Stepney, in what became known as The Battle of Cable Street...

www.historic-uk.com

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James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 3d

People just felt: ‘Who is this person who doesn’t follow the same rules?You know, the environment is a nice thing, we can all agree and talk’

But I saw it as a fight against racism, a fight for human rights … a deeply political fight”

- Asad Rehman
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Asad Rehman’s journey from antiracism campaigner in Burnley to head of Friends of the Earth

Climate crisis is ‘interconnected crisis of inequality’, says Rehman, who began organising at his school in the 1970s

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by James M. Bullock

Vincent Wildlife Trust @vincentwt.bsky.social · 3d

VWT is looking for a highly motivated person with proven leadership qualities, experience in charity governance and strong existing networks in the environment sector to lead its Board of Trustees and work in partnership with the CEO. More info + to apply by 21 Nov 2025, visit vwt.org.uk/vacancies

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James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 4d

Reintroductions can be sensible, especially under a rewilding ethos

But de-extinction is not!

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 5d

“It worries me that we humans prefer to be interested in shiny, high-tech projects as with the mammoth [‘de-extinction’]

rather than in pragmatic species conservation projects that, if managed well, can actually make a difference”
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

Scientists targeted by dark PR tactics: Several academic scientists critical of de-extinction projects have become the targets of anonymous smear articles and weaponized copyright infringement claims:...

EMBO Press is an editorially independent publishing platform for the development of EMBO scientific publications.

www.embopress.org

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James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 5d

Scientists for Extinction Rebellion staged a protest outside the Labour Party Conference,

warning that the Government’s climate strategy is a “high-risk gamble” that locks the UK into fossil fuels and delays urgent action

www.nationalworld.com/your-world/s...

Scientists Warn of “High-Risk Climate Gamble” at Labour Party Conference

Scientists for Extinction Rebellion staged a protest outside the Labour Party Conference, warning that the Government’s climate strategy is a “high-risk gamble” that locks the UK into fossil fuels and...

www.nationalworld.com

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Reposted by James M. Bullock

Dr Steven White @drstevenmwhite.bsky.social · 5d

It's taken a while, but our paper is finally published on Xylella fastidiosa spread and containment in Puglia, Italy.

journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...

Modelling plant disease spread and containment: Simulation and approximate Bayesian Computation for Xylella fastidiosa in Puglia, Italy

Author summary Mathematical and computational models are crucial role for understanding plant disease outbreaks and evaluating the effectiveness of disease management. A case in point is Xylella fasti...

journals.plos.org

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James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 5d

And so evidence alone will not bring change…

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James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 6d

Interesting paper on actions by governments, businesses, civil society that could bring about transformative change & nature recovery

But does not address how to shift society to do these actions

It is not sufficient for researchers to simply pass on evidence
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Transformative change to address biodiversity loss is urgent and possible

Transformative change for a just and sustainable world often appears overwhelming. This Perspective highlights the key messages from the IPBES Transformative Change Assessment and how everyone can be ...

journals.plos.org

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Reposted by Shannon Vallor, James M. Bullock, Hisham Zerriffi

Dr. Jens Foell @jensfoell.de · 6d

People are running stats on LLM-generated participants and think they’re being social scientists when in fact they’re technically just playing a very strange video game. This is like saying you’re doing math research because you’re playing sudoku.

www.science.org/content/arti...

AI-generated ‘participants’ can lead social science experiments astray, study finds

Data produced by “silicon samples” depends on researchers’ exact choice of models, prompts, and settings

www.science.org

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James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 6d

“The Confederation of British Industry estimates there are 1 million people in green jobs in the UK today,

and the green economy was the biggest success story of the last year, growing by 10%”
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

As Tories vow to scrap ‘failed targets’, how do their climate claims stack up?

We fact check Kemi Badenoch and her party after she promised to repeal Climate Change Act if they win power

www.theguardian.com

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James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 6d

That does relate to the idea of top down control, which is also debated. So those are the stories told, but it is rarely that simple - eg the Yellowstone wolves story

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 6d

Yup

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 6d

Technically that means they are ecosystem engineers

I’m saying that to illustrate the problem with such designations

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 6d

These are just animals that eat other animals or plants. An ecosystem is made up of a multiplicity of species’ interactions. So why choose particular ones?

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James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 6d

I think abundance has to mean biomass in this case or elephants get an unfair advantage

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 6d

I think many use the fact that a species has an impact on an ecosystem to say it is keystone

The paper says “we accepted the assertions the authors provided for keystone designation. We comment, however, on the criteria and associated evidence these authors brought to bear in such designations”

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 6d

My point is that many people use ‘keystone’ to describe their species of choice with little justification

In fact one could start asking, which species are *not* keystone if we use the term so loosely

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 6d

The analysis is rigorous but “we present here a comprehensive summary and descriptive analysis of keystones species, as *identified by others* in the relevant literature”

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 6d

“Identified as” doesn’t mean they are. The term is used very loosely, often applied to people’s favourite species!

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 6d

Disproportionate?

Reposted by James M. Bullock

National Emergency Briefing @nebriefing.bsky.social · 6d

Is your MP attending the definitive briefing on the climate and nature crisis?

Go to our bio, lookup your MP, email if they are not confirmed.

Then please SHARE this post 🔥

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