Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Dario Martin-Benito

Neil Pederson @yellowbuckeye.bsky.social · 1d

I am teaching a course on ancient trees and tree rings at the NY Botanical Garden on Sunday, October 26th and Sunday, November 2nd.

We will learn about past environments, the amazing lives of trees, and what old trees tend to look like.

Sign up at this link: www.enrole.com/nybg/jsp/ses...

11 48

Reposted by Dario Martin-Benito

Osbert Sun @osbertsun.bsky.social · 1d

NEW ARTICLE PUBLISHED @forestecosyst.bsky.social
📰Adding a storage pool improves 3-PG tree-ring simulations www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

2 4

Reposted by Dario Martin-Benito

Temporal Ecology Lab @temporalecology.bsky.social · 1d

Our department at UBC is hiring for a professor of forest ecophysiology, including "tree ecophysiology; plant abiotic or biotic stress physiology; forest mortality and climate change responses; forest carbon balance; tree water relations; or nutrient use." Learn more at: tinyurl.com/5da56f5c

33 32

Reposted by Dario Martin-Benito

Sally Aitken 🇨🇦 @sallyaitken.bsky.social · 12d

We are searching for a Forest Ecophysiologist (tenure track Assistant or Associate Professor) to join the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, University of British Columbia Faculty of Forestry. Please share! Details are here: ubc.wd10.myworkdayjobs.com/ubcfacultyjobs

1 160 210

Reposted by Dario Martin-Benito

Kevin Anchukaitis @thirstygecko.bsky.social · 13d

Nice article talking about our new NSF-funded radiocarbon and stable isotope facility (The TIME Lab - Tree-Ring Innovations in Mass Spectrometry of Earth Systems) in the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona! science.arizona.edu/news/univers...

University of Arizona opens groundbreaking TIME Lab to link past and present

Run by a team of distinguished researchers, the lab aims to “date the undateable,” linking natural events like eruptions or droughts to human history. With a focus on student training and public outre...

science.arizona.edu

1 12 35

Reposted by Dario Martin-Benito

Aliénor Lavergne @alielave.bsky.social · 14d

🌍🌡️I'm excited to share my latest editorial for @commsearth.nature.com on how to avoid Earth System tipping points and trigger more positive change.

Thanks to @exeter.ac.uk for organising two vibrant events on the topic

Read more 👉 www.nature.com/articles/s43...

Pathways for prevention of cascading tipping points - Communications Earth & Environment

Strong governance, accelerated action, and empowered communities are essential to avoid cascading Earth system tipping points and achieve lasting, transformative change.

www.nature.com

1 6 13

Dario Martin-Benito @dendroecologist.bsky.social · 15d

Climate change is reshaping forest growth 🌳🌡️💧
Water and temperature control growth timing.
Warmer winters make some species start growing earlier.
Hot, dry summers may shorten growing seasons.

New paper out @globalchangebio.bsky.social led by a former PhD student @csic.es shorturl.at/5Gn8a

Long‐Term Cambial Phenology Reveals Diverging Growth Responses of Two Tree Species in a Mixed Forest Under Climate Change

We studied how climate change affects tree growth by monitoring wood formation in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and Pyrenean oak (Quercus pyrenaica) over 11 years. We found that warmer winters lead t...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

1 9 29

Reposted by Dario Martin-Benito

Pieter De Frenne @pieterdefrenne.bsky.social · 16d

Fibre-optic cables (also used for internet) can be used as a novel means of continuous measurements of #forest #microclimate in space and over time, at 25-cm spatial and 1-minute temporal resolution

New paper @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social:
doi.org/10.1111/2041...

10 27

Dario Martin-Benito @dendroecologist.bsky.social · 16d

Beautiful day for an early Fall walk @harvardforest.bsky.social

5

Reposted by Dario Martin-Benito

Neil Pederson @yellowbuckeye.bsky.social · 17d

Was just sent this photo: the oldest-documented Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda) is still kicking.

First scientifically aged in 1992, this lovely is now rapping up its 260 year (260 years at being 1/2 m or so tall; phot by J. Scheff)

A photo of the base of the oldest documented Loblolly Pine, with long, reddish-purple blocky, platy bark, burls and root curls. A roughly 5 foot tall person stands next to it, showing off the tree’s stem that is likely a good bit greater than 1 m diameter. Living in the Congaree National Park, the area around the base of the stem is now open. In 1992, Switch Cane (Arundinaria tecta) surround the tree

3 4 44

Reposted by Dario Martin-Benito

New Phytologist @newphyt.bsky.social · 27d

✨ Paper spotlight ✨

(🧵 1/5) Distal to proximal: a continuum of drivers shaping tree growth and carbon partitioning
doi.org/10.1111/nph....

Fig. 3 Resource (here C and water) uptake, transport, and consumption shape resource distribution along the leaf-to-root axis, influencing C partitioning and plant functional traits under changing environmental conditions.

1 10 21

Reposted by Dario Martin-Benito

Belinda Medlyn @bmedlyn.bsky.social · 29d

Postdoctoral position in Forest Monitoring available. Know your way around spatial datasets? Join us to help monitor changes in Australia's precious forest estate! @westsyduhie.bsky.social
jobs.smartrecruiters.com/WesternSydne...

Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Forest Monitoring

Company Description: Western Sydney University is a modern, forward-thinking, research-led institution at the heart of Australia’s fastest-growing and most economically significant region. With 11 cam...

jobs.smartrecruiters.com

1 24 21

Reposted by Dario Martin-Benito

Global Change Biology @globalchangebio.bsky.social · Sep 5

Substantial Deep‐Soil Carbon Losses Outweigh Topsoil Gains in European Beech Forests Since the 1980s

🔗 buff.ly/7cUShZ5

3 4

Reposted by Dario Martin-Benito

Fabian Schneider @fabdanis.bsky.social · Sep 2

🎓 Please join us for a PhD in Remote Sensing of Vegetation Structure at Aarhus University. It's a great place to live and work, and an inspiring university to do research 😊

phd.nat.au.dk/for-applican...

1 11 12

Reposted by Dario Martin-Benito

Luiz Galizia @lgalizia.bsky.social · Aug 26

While southern Europe is used to summer fires, this year’s unusually dry/warm conditions from consecutive heatwaves are the main cause of the severe season.

Bellow 2025 FWI anomalies, a key indicator of fire-prone climate conditions and fire hotspots, largely overlapping with the anomalies.

4 12

Reposted by Dario Martin-Benito

Elisabet Martínez-Sancho @elimartinezs.bsky.social · Aug 21

🚨 Check out our new study! 🌳🥶 Tree rings show that high-elevation beech forests are experiencing more spring frost damage in recent years
@newphyt.bsky.social @yannvit.bsky.social
#Phenology #Dendrochronology doi.org/10.1111/nph....

Emerging trend of increasing spring frost damage for beech at higher elevations in the Jura Mountains: evidence from tree‐ring data

Late spring frost (LSF) severely impacts tree growth and forest productivity, with global warming potentially altering LSF risk due to asymmetric changes in vegetation onset and frost timing. Howeve.....

doi.org

1 7 22

Reposted by Dario Martin-Benito

WSL Umweltforschung @wslresearch.bsky.social · Aug 26

🌲 #JobAlert! MSc in #Environmental Sciences or a related field? Experience in preparing wood samples for #StableIsotope and #radiocarbon analysis? Our #Dendrosciences group offers a position for a #technician: apply.refline.ch/273855/1763/... #ScienceJobs #dendrochronology

Job offer: Technician in Palaeoclimatology/-ecology 80% (f/m/d)
As part of the SNSF-project Signatures of Global Late Glacial Climate Change in TreeRing Records (SiGnaL), co-led by the Dendrosciences Group at WSL and the Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics (LIP) at ETH Zurich, you will support research on the nature and drivers of abrupt climate changes during the Late Glacial period (approximately 11’000-15’000 years ago).

You will assist three PhD researchers in dating, measuring, and synchronizing tree-ring samples from preserved subfossil wood across several regions. This will help refine our understanding of Late Glacial climate dynamics and contribute to improvements of the global radiocarbon calibration curve.Your main tasks will involve surface preparation and high-resolution scanning of subfossil tree-ring material, sample preparation for stable isotope analysis (δ¹³C / δ¹⁸O / δ²H) including image-based tree-ring width measurements, cutting of individual tree rings, cellulose extraction and homogenization, and packing of samples for isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS). In addition, you will contribute to the production of quantitative wood anatomical (QWA) data by preparing wood microsections and image-based measurements of cell structures using the software ROXAS.
You preferably hold a Master's degree in Environmental Sciences, Earth Sciences, or a related field and have demonstrated experience in preparing wood samples for stable isotope, QWA, and/or radiocarbon analysis. ldeally, you are familiar with dendrochronology and laboratory work, enjoy contributing to methodological advancements, and have interest in interdisciplinary and international research. You work independently, structured and accurate, are communicative and team-oriented, and have very good spoken and written English language skills.

4 4

Reposted by Dario Martin-Benito

Nature Ecology & Evolution @natecoevo.nature.com · Aug 21

Global analysis of forest ageing trends and stand-replacing disturbances reveals substantial losses in aboveground carbon stocks

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Global covariation of forest age transitions with the net carbon balance - Nature Ecology & Evolution

A global analysis reveals regional trends of net forest ageing but also that widespread stand-replacing disturbances, such as fire and harvest, are driving declining forest age in many areas, often ac...

www.nature.com

2 11

Reposted by Dario Martin-Benito

WSL Umweltforschung @wslresearch.bsky.social · Aug 22

🪵🌲 #PhD Alert! MSc in #Environmental Sciences or a related field? Interested in #wood anatomy and experience with #tree-ring data? Our Dendrosciences group is offering a 4-year PhD position in #Palaeoecology: apply.refline.ch/273855/1761/... #ScienceJobs #dendrology #radiocarbon

Job offer: The Research Group Dendrosciences uses tree rings to investigate and understand environmental impacts on tree growth and to reconstruct past environmental changes at scales ranging from minutes to millennia and from cells to ecosystems around the globe. From 1 November 2025, we offer a 4-year position as a
PhD in Palaeoecology 100% (f/m/d)
As part of the Signatures of Global Late Glacial Climate Change in Tree-Ring Records (SiGnaL) project — co-led by the Dendrosciences group at WSL and the Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics (LIP) at ETH Zurich — you will contribute to understanding the nature and drivers of abrupt climate changes that occurred during the Late Glacial period, approximately 11 - 15 kyrs BP. Your work will focus on the collection, measurement, and integration of fossil wood and tree-ring material from various global sites. Through a multi-proxy approach — combining radiocarbon dating, stable isotope ratios, and quantitative wood anatomy — you will help to date and synchronize records across regions and reconstruct regional to global climate dynamics. This work will support the project's goal of improving our understanding of the Late Glacial climate system and enhancing the global radiocarbon calibration curve. You will be part of an enthusiastic and ambitious team that includes leading researchers in dendro-chronology, palaeoclimate research, and radiocarbon dating, along with two other PhD students and technicians. The position is based at WSL within the Dendrosciences group, a globally recognised centre for tree-ring science. Collaboration with international researchers from related institutions is also expected. Among the three PhD students involved in the project, you will have a special emphasis on wood anatomy and on the climatic interpretation of the tree-ring proxies.

7 6

Reposted by Dario Martin-Benito

Rupert Seidl @rupertseidl.bsky.social · Aug 25

Protected areas safeguard old-growth forests against human land use, but not against the impacts of anthropogenic climate change. Here we show that a climate-mediated increase in disturbances could cause a decline in old-growth forests in a national park in C Europe. doi.org/10.1088/1748...

2 9 28

Reposted by Dario Martin-Benito

Sean Michaletz @seanmichaletz.bsky.social · Aug 20

Looking for a postdoc in #Ecophysiology, #ThermalEcology, #GlobalChange, or #ForestEcology,? Apply for a #Killam Postdoctoral Fellowship to work with my group at #UBC in beautiful #Vancouver! Proposals are due Oct 20 - get in touch if interested! www.postdocs.ubc.ca/award/killam...

1 27 30

Reposted by Dario Martin-Benito

Michal Bogdziewicz @micbog.bsky.social · Aug 19

🚨 Postdoc opening 🚨
Join us at Forest Biology Center (Poznań, Poland) to study forest ecology under climate change.

2-year contract (extendable), start Jan 2026 (flexible). Apply by Sept 30, 2025.

🔗 forestbiologycenter.amu.edu.pl/our-team/joi...

Forest Biology Center - Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland

Centrum Biologii Lasu Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu

forestbiologycenter.amu.edu.pl

13 10

Dario Martin-Benito @dendroecologist.bsky.social · Aug 16

Red skies in Brittany last night most likely caused by smoke from wildfires in the Iberian Peninsula

1 3

Reposted by Dario Martin-Benito

Kevin Anchukaitis @thirstygecko.bsky.social · Aug 14

The University of Arizona is hiring a tenure-track Assistant/Associate Professor in Physical Geography! Research specialities could include wildfire, climate and water resources, and/or natural hazards, amongst others. Please apply and join us! arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...

Assistant or Associate Professor, Physical Geography (T/TE) (Updated)

Develop and maintain an active research program.Teach undergraduate and graduate courses.Develop advanced courses at the graduate level.Mentor and adv...

arizona.csod.com

1 51 46

Reposted by Dario Martin-Benito

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · Aug 5

Fine work that both extends our knowledge of the past and has implications for today. Ndee (Western Apache) land management did a remarkable job controlling forest fires, even in drought-heavy eras like ours. It defies belief to think today's fire-torn SW has nothing to learn from those guys.

Tree rings reveal persistent Western Apache (Ndee) fire stewardship and niche construction in the American Southwest | PNAS

Identifying the influence of low-density Indigenous populations in paleofire records has been methodologically challenging. In the Southwest United...

www.pnas.org

1 15 49