Does body size predict abundance the same way in all environments, as predicted by the Metabolic theory of Ecology? Our new study challenges this assumption. Read it here: 📄 doi.org/10.1111/ele....

This work reframes how we think about the diversity–stability relationship and highlights the power of response diversity as a stabilizing force.
With: Til Hämmig, @owpet.bsky.social & @pennekampster.bsky.social

Structural equation models showed that asynchrony and population stability—both shaped by imbalance—explained most of the variation in community stability.
This suggests that in our system species’ fundamental responses (measured in monocultures) determine stability, not interactions.

Key finding:
A new metric—imbalance—captures how unevenly species respond to the environment.
→ Lower imbalance = higher community stability
→ Richness alone had no effect!

We show that it’s not richness, but how differently species respond to the environment.
🔬 Using protist microcosms, we manipulated:

🌡️ Temperature fluctuations
🧪 Nutrient levels
🌱 Species richness
📈 Distribution of species’ thermal performance curves

New paper out in Ecology Letters!
“The Imbalance of Nature: The Role of Species Environmental Responses for Community Stability”
📖 Read it here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

We tried to answer the question: What drives community stability in fluctuating environments?

AI in research, tips and tricks from the retreat of my and Frank Pennekamp's research groups. Nothing too revolutionary, but we found it useful to share. Happy to hear any of your tips and tricks!
@pennekampster.bsky.social @fancescopolazzo.bsky.social

thetrophiclink.org/posts/2025-0...

Are you interested in predator-prey interactions and movement ecology?

I am looking for a PhD student to work on the project "A mechanistic theory of functional responses: zooming into movement behaviour to understand and predict predator-prey interactions"
euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/342402.

swissuniversities and Wiley are in a no-deal situation. Suggestions include to consider alternatives to Wiley, and to reconsider review activities for Wiley. Very sad---some great ecology and evolution journals are with Wiley. www.swissuniversities.ch/en/topics/op...

Happy to announce that JF Arnoldi (Theoretical and Experimental Ecology Station, CNRS, France) will present the next #ResponseDiversityNetwork Seminar, Wednesday 26th Feb 15.00 CET.
"Linear functional ecology: Rethinking species contributions to ecosystem functions"
Zoom link via rb.gy/3pf8dh

All are invited to sign this petition in support of saving the free-flowing Tagliamento—the King of Alpine rivers—from fragmentation by two proposed barriers
www.freetagliamento.org/it_IT/home-e...

Read our new paper in EcologicalMonographs esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
We introduce a framework on how to partition species contributions to ecological stability in disturbed communities based on species absolute change in biomass and relative change in proportion.

Very exciting and fun collaboration with @pennekampster.bsky.social, @gsimpson.bsky.social, Romana Limberger, Sam Ross, and Owen Petchey

We then used simulated species responses to investigate what determines response diversity in a multifarious environmental change context.

We propose a new way of calculating response diversity that is unrelated to the environmental change a community experiences, and that describes the insurance capacity of a community to all possible environmental changes.

Starting here in the best way: presenting a new paper.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Have a look at our new proposed way of calculating response diversity when multiple environmental drivers change simultaneously.