Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Graeme Cumming @gscumming.bsky.social · 21h

Now watch humanity embed the minimum levels in policy… rather than maximising this important habitat. 🤡

Science Magazine @science.org · 3d

A new study in Science evaluating published data from 19 countries has pinpointed the minimum habitat levels needed to sustain pollinators in agricultural landscapes. https://scim.ag/3VIq4Cg

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Reposted by Graeme Cumming

Dr Tom Harris @drtomharris.bsky.social · 22h

A new review study examines four of the most dangerous climate tipping elements, confirming that they are destabilising. Risks are increasing that they will flip and not just in isolation.

drtomharris.substack.com/p/are-we-hea...

#tippingpoint #climatechange #feedback #greenland #AMOC #Amazon

Are we heading for cascading tipping points?

A new review study examines four of the most dangerous climate tipping elements, confirming that they are destabilising. Risks are increasing that they will flip and not just in isolation.

drtomharris.substack.com

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Reposted by Graeme Cumming

Infopoint #Klimawandel #Artensterben @infopointa.bsky.social · Aug 3

"Overfishing the largest species in nearshore and pelagic habitats risks loss of ecomorphotypes and a 5 to 22% erosion of functional diversity."

Ecological erosion and expanding extinction risk of sharks and rays
Dulvy @nickdulvy.bsky.social et al 2024

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Graeme Cumming @gscumming.bsky.social · 5d

This is very cool. Ornithological archaeology 🕺🏻🧪

Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 5d

super cool study found human artifacts in Bearded vulture nests, incl. "weaponry like a crossbow bolt and wooden lance, decorated sheep leather, and parts of a slingshot....a shoe made from twigs and grass is ~675-years-old." link to paper: doi.org/10.1002/ecy..... www.popsci.com/environment/... 🧪🌍🦉

Multi-generational vulture nests hold 700 years of human artifacts

Crossbow bolts, sandals, slingshots, and more.

www.popsci.com

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Reposted by Graeme Cumming

Dr. Crystal A. Kolden @pyrogeog.bsky.social · 6d

Published today: our new paper showing a 44-year trend of increasing global wildfire disasters (fatalities and economic losses) due to climate change-induced extreme weather. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Climate-linked escalation of societally disastrous wildfires

Climate change and land mismanagement are creating increasingly fire-prone built and natural environments. However, despite worsening fire seasons, evidence is lacking globally for trends in socially ...

www.science.org

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Reposted by Graeme Cumming

Conservation Biology Informatics Group @c-big.bsky.social · 13d

Our study comparing target-based and flexible ranking approaches used in conservation planning tools has been published

www.helsinki.fi/en/news/rese...

New study reveals major trade-offs in global nature conservation strategies | University of Helsinki

Recent research shows that conservation strategies aiming to protect as much habitat as possible can nearly double species protection compared to fixed-target approaches.

www.helsinki.fi

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Reposted by Graeme Cumming

Adrift Lab (Marine Science) @adriftlab.bsky.social · 10d

Multiple species of #shearwater have begun arriving in Australian waters after completing their southward migration. We need your help recording if/when #seabirds start washing up on your local beaches #citizenscience

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Reposted by Graeme Cumming

Patrick Goymer @patrickgoymer.bsky.social · 12d

A new study in @plosone.org reports Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever antibodies in cattle and wildlife across southern France, highlighting the need for enhanced surveillance and prevention of this emerging zoonotic disease.

First detection of Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever antibodies in cattle and wildlife of southern continental France: Investigation of explanatory factors

Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) is a tick-borne zoonosis of major public health concern, not only because of its potential for severe outcomes in humans, but also due to its endemic presence…

journals.plos.org

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Graeme Cumming @gscumming.bsky.social · 13d

www.umces.edu/robert-hilde...

Robert Hilderbrand

Bob Hilderbrand is an associate professor at the Appalachian Laboratory. While he has very broad interests in both basic and applied science, most of his research comes back to actionable science invo...

www.umces.edu

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Reposted by Graeme Cumming

Rebecca R Helm @rebeccarhelm.bsky.social · 14d

I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA

10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)

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Graeme Cumming @gscumming.bsky.social · 14d

In conservation science people are terrible at ‘define’. So we either have many different objects of study (systems) being treated as equivalent, or many case studies of the same thing being treated as different.

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Graeme Cumming @gscumming.bsky.social · 14d

My latest paper, just published in #ESA's Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, focuses on the need to think about spatial patterns and sampling design when attempting to measure ecological #spillovers from protected areas. 🌍🦑🧪
doi.org/10.1002/fee....

Conceptualizing and measuring ecological spillover effects from protected areas

Protected areas influence their surroundings in a variety of ways. These “spillover effects” can change an area's conservation value and affect its social license. Advanced statistical tools for quan...

doi.org

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Graeme Cumming @gscumming.bsky.social · 15d

Coincidentally someone else thinks they’re smart

Grace Blackburn @gblackburn.bsky.social · 15d

The media release for our recent article on magpie quantity discrimination is out now! Check it out below 🐦⬇️ www.uwa.edu.au/news/article...

Magpies can identify quantities of food and intruder calls

New research has shown for the first time that magpies can distinguish between the number of callers when played recordings of intruder magpies.

www.uwa.edu.au

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Graeme Cumming @gscumming.bsky.social · 15d

Got swooped by a murderous death bird on my ride home today (aka Australian Magpie). Spring has arrived!

[illustrative gif only, that’s not me]

a person is riding a bike down a street with the words viralhog on the bottom right

ALT: a person is riding a bike down a street with the words viralhog on the bottom right

media.tenor.com

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Reposted by Graeme Cumming

Sal Keith (she/her) @salkeith.bsky.social · 16d

PAPER hints at ecological traps for damselfish settlement - dead corals chosen for settlement if an adult is present, could cascade to bad ends! besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... Led by @lisabe.bsky.social @lec-reefs.bsky.social @animalecology.bsky.social

Density dependent habitat selection in response to habitat loss in a coral reef fish

Habitat loss triggers a social chain reaction: adult reef fish crowd onto remaining coral, then spill over onto dead coral—and juveniles follow. This study reveals a novel, socially driven ‘bandwagon...

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Reposted by Graeme Cumming

Project Seagrass @projectseagrass.bsky.social · 22d

Do you work with seagrass? 🌱

We're often asked by the public: “What can I do to reduce seagrass loss?”

We’re running a survey to identify the everyday actions people can take to support seagrass conservation and we’d love your insights!

Take the survey: ow.ly/ZQgp50WXlzN

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Graeme Cumming @gscumming.bsky.social · 19d

Leafal Weapon

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Reposted by Graeme Cumming

Nature Portfolio @natureportfolio.nature.com · 20d

Over 70% of coral reefs in the tropical western Atlantic Ocean are projected to be in a state of erosion by 2040, increasing to nearly all reefs in 2100 if warming exceeds 2 °C above preindustrial levels, a study in Nature suggests. go.nature.com/48m9Y8F 🌊 🧪

This is figure 2, which shows reef accretion potential across western Atlantic reefs.

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Graeme Cumming @gscumming.bsky.social · 20d

Friday evening wind-down: tankers in the sunset off the Fremantle coast

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Graeme Cumming @gscumming.bsky.social · 21d

Good to see the big important questions are still being debated on BlueSky 😂

Nick Stroustrup @nstroustrup.bsky.social · 22d

Do we know whether LLMs do a better job impersonating a statistician or a dean?

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Reposted by Graeme Cumming

Haneul Jang @haneuljang.bsky.social · 24d

💙New paper!💙

How is knowledge transmitted across generations in a foraging society?

With @danielredhead.bsky.social
we found: In BaYaka foragers, long-term skills pass in smaller, sparser networks, while short-term food info circulates broadly & reciprocally

academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...

Transmission networks of long-term and short-term knowledge in a foraging society

Abstract. Cultural transmission across generations is key to cumulative cultural evolution. While several mechanisms—such as vertical, horizontal, and obli

academic.oup.com

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Reposted by Graeme Cumming

Tom Fairman @itsnotfairman.bsky.social · 25d

"Mr Dimopoulos said Parks Victoria had the funding required to maintain the new national parks.

"Parks Victoria are well funded and have all the resources they need," he said."

The same old story: more National Parks, and no new funding to actually manage them.

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

Victoria set to have first new national parks in more than a decade

Conservation groups are celebrating proposed legislation for three new national parks in Victoria but not all bush users are happy.

www.abc.net.au

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Reposted by Graeme Cumming

Inside Climate News @insideclimatenews.org · 27d

Amazonian Indigenous territories help reduce fire-related diseases and disease spread through animals and insects, a new study says.

Deforestation Threatens Public Health. Securing Indigenous Land Rights Can Help, Researchers Find - Inside Climate News

A new peer-reviewed study examined the impact Indigenous territories have on human health in two categories of diseases, finding that municipalities located close to Indigenous lands with intact fores...

insideclimatenews.org

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Reposted by Graeme Cumming

Dr. Joan Dudney @dudney-joan.bsky.social · 27d

Super awesome new paper in #MEE describing #causal #detection of shifts in #biodiversity! So many great insights here—a must read for those interested in #causalinference

And love Fig 3! Congrats team! @lsantinieco.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1111/2041...

DAGs showing confounding, mediator and collider variables

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Graeme Cumming @gscumming.bsky.social · 28d

Keeping in mind that some bats are louder than the Howler
Monkey… Greater Bulldog Bat >140 Db