Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Kadri Runnel @kadrirunnel.bsky.social · Aug 2

I wonder if AI could do the same?

Kadri Runnel @kadrirunnel.bsky.social · Jul 13

And here it comes — summer! A bit late with this post from our group’s pre-vacation gathering. Proud to lead this team of seven: Raul and I in senior roles, Vinna, Maret, and Ovidiu as PhD students, and Katariina and Boris providing irreplaceable technical expertise. #proudPI

6

Kadri Runnel @kadrirunnel.bsky.social · Jun 24

My long-waited first #sedaDNA conference in beautiful Tromsø.

3

Kadri Runnel @kadrirunnel.bsky.social · Jun 12

For the wood-inhabiting fungi, many of the arguments were based on my research from 6–7 years ago. Sometimes it takes time to make a difference! An honor to be part of the committee led by @cavity-silence.bsky.social on the Environmental Board side.

4

Kadri Runnel @kadrirunnel.bsky.social · Jun 12

Yesterday, we had the chance to present our proposal to the Estonian Environmental Board and Climate Ministry: 29 more fungal species for protection, in addition to the ~40 already listed. My favorite: Rigidoporus crocatus—locally common in wet alder forests, globally rare. Our responsibility!

1 3 15

Kadri Runnel @kadrirunnel.bsky.social · Jun 5

Paper out in Journal of Environmental Management: How we manage forests today shapes what is possible tomorrow. We show that thinning may undermine long-term goals for carbon and biodiversity in boreal spruce forests.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Balancing biodiversity, carbon, and profit with pathogen risk: Effects of felling age and thinning in spruce forests

Global forestry is balancing multiple societal needs, including carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation, in addition to timber production. …

www.sciencedirect.com

3 3

Kadri Runnel @kadrirunnel.bsky.social · Jun 2

Helping hands! This week, Lisa Collin and Enzo Lelandais—two interns from Lycée Agro-Viticole de Blanquefort—are assisting with our soil organic matter decomposition experiment. It is part of PhD student Vinna Cruz’s work (supervised by me and @ivikaostonen.bsky.social).

2

Reposted by Kadri Runnel

Martin A. Nuñez @martin-nunez.bsky.social · May 16

I see many people scared and confused about the "fact" that bananas are berries, and strawberries are not...

Keep calm and carry on

For botanist blackberries & raspberries are not berries, the sunflower is not a flower, palm trees are not trees, and apples are false fruits...

2 2 21

Reposted by Kadri Runnel

Anders N. Michaelsen @nature1st.bsky.social · May 15

Hvad æder ulve?
Et sted i Polen hvor man har undersøgt det, hvor Wartafloden løber ud i Oderfloden, er det 97% vilde (hjorte)dyr🦌, og meget få husdyr🐴🐮(3%), selvom der i princippet er nok at tage af:
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Low contribution of livestock in the grey wolf diet in the area with high availability of free-ranging cattle and horses - European Journal of Wildlife Research

The recovery of the wolf (Canis lupus) population in Europe is progressing, and predators settle in vast forests as well as in areas intensively used for agriculture, where interactions between wolves...

link.springer.com

3 9

Kadri Runnel @kadrirunnel.bsky.social · May 9

And congratulations to Paulina, of course! Well done!

1

Kadri Runnel @kadrirunnel.bsky.social · May 9

This week, I had the chance to serve as a committee member at the PhD defense of Paulina Bergmark at SLU Umeå, in northeast Sweden! I picked up many essential skills—among them, an effective Umeå-style way of saying "yes": a soundless inhaled "jhu’". Jhu’!

1 3

Kadri Runnel @kadrirunnel.bsky.social · May 2

Oh... When we set up this experiment on fungi and decomposition last autumn, we did not quite expect it to be swimming by spring. Looks like we will be offering a submerging test for Tomst data loggers 😂

1 3

Kadri Runnel @kadrirunnel.bsky.social · Apr 29

That happy moment when months of prep are done, you are ready to lead your team into the field… and still blissfully unaware that the protocol you designed is wildly beyond human capability 😂

6

Kadri Runnel @kadrirunnel.bsky.social · Apr 27

Extracting conservation-relevant signals from eDNA has followed me across studies. In this one led by Ovidiu Copot, we find that terrestrial fungal communities leave a blurred but detectable trace in running water — enough to distinguish catchments by drainage intensity!
doi.org/10.1007/s106...

3

Reposted by Kadri Runnel

Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Land Use aka FutureScapes @futurescapes-ee.bsky.social · Apr 24

Välitööd jätkuvad! 🌿

Oleme sel nädalal taas üles seadnud 4 püsiala, kus mõõdame kasvuhoonegaase, võtame mulla- ja juureproove ja määrame biomassi. Suvekuudel lisandub ka elurikkuse seire ja muud huvitavat. 🌱🔍

Pildinäiteid põllult 🌾, metsast 🌲 ja niidult 🌼

1 1

Kadri Runnel @kadrirunnel.bsky.social · Mar 28

When back in history did European forests look like that?

1

Kadri Runnel @kadrirunnel.bsky.social · Mar 22

"Keystone species" are those with a disproportionate impact on ecosystems, as @billsutherland.bsky.social nicely explains here tinyurl.com/2nps9abe.

But what are the keystone fungi? 🤔 Given their functional importance and complex entangled communities, we might expect many—yet barely know any.

Keystone species

YouTube video by Bill Sutherland's Conservation Concepts

www.youtube.com

2 2 15

Reposted by Kadri Runnel

William (Bill) Sutherland @billsutherland.bsky.social · Mar 22

Undergraduate studying ecology or conservation? Lecturer teaching these subjects? Here is a playlist of 27 three minute videos, each explaining a fundamental concept. Hope it is useful. Say if any gaps you would like filled youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Conservation concepts for undergraduates - YouTube

Key concepts underpinning undergraduate ecology and conservation courses

youtube.com

3 21 66

Kadri Runnel @kadrirunnel.bsky.social · Mar 19

Same observation!

2

Kadri Runnel @kadrirunnel.bsky.social · Mar 16

A well-executed study from the Swedish colleagues on the relationship between forest structure and soil fungal diversity. 60 soil cores from each of the 74 sites — what a dataset!

Louis Mielke @myconet.bsky.social · Mar 13

Can you see the forest for the fungi?

Check out our new research examining this in depth in Conservation Biology 💫

conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1523...

2 8

Kadri Runnel @kadrirunnel.bsky.social · Mar 14

Nothing less than legends at the @oikosfinland.bsky.social conference in Jyväskylä! Here is Matthew Leibold explaining the back-and-forth in our understanding of species metacommunities.

1 6

Kadri Runnel @kadrirunnel.bsky.social · Mar 10

Today we kicked off year two of our partnership with #biocomp project, led by @sebseibold.bsky.social by setting up audiorecorders and camera traps. About time! A few snow patches still there, but the forest is gearing up for a busy season!

1 1 8

Kadri Runnel @kadrirunnel.bsky.social · Jan 28

Method development today: From Archimedes' "water displacement" to a 3D scanner for measuring the volume of complicated structures! Testing with #JanPisek, our partner within @futurescapes-ee.bsky.social. This is a wood block from our #decomposition experiment.

2

Reposted by Kadri Runnel

Leho Tedersoo @tedersoo.bsky.social · Jan 23

Post-Doc position for 3 years available jointly between University of Tartu (Estonia) and University of Aarhus (Denmark) on soil microbiome and biogeography. Skills required: bioinformatics, metagenome analysis, microbiology
Contact: [email protected]

38 54

Kadri Runnel @kadrirunnel.bsky.social · Jan 23

Black alder: a widespread tree thriving in wet places where others can’t. Yet, alder fens like this are rare, covering little of #hemiborealia. Why? Alder wood has low value, but Frankia symbionts enrich the soil—drain the fens, and preferred forestry species grow fast. Biodiversity vs. industry?

3