Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Morgan Morrison

IUSSI-NWES @iussi-nwes.bsky.social · 26d

We are delighted that our Winter Meeting 2025 in Leuven 🇧🇪 is approaching!

Abstract submissions now open: www.iussi-nweurope.org/meetings

Date: December 18-19
Abstract deadline: October 15
Host: Laboratory of Socioecology and Social Evolution at KU Leuven
Plenary: Ido Pen & @rmash.bsky.social

1 15 16

Morgan Morrison @morganmorrison73.bsky.social · 26d

And if you want proof I now know every single flower in all our 32 project gardens ...

Morgan Morrison @morganmorrison73.bsky.social · 26d

Find out more about my research and the Pollinator Pathmaker Constantine Network on Gardeners' World this week.

A great overview of the Pollinator Pathmaker and the great community on which our research is based.

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002j9sh

Gardeners' World - 2025: Episode 24

As summer starts to make way for autumn, Monty is harvesting sweetcorn, taking stock of his plants in pots and pruning summer-fruiting raspberries.

www.bbc.co.uk

Reposted by Morgan Morrison

Butterfly Conservation @savebutterflies.bsky.social · Sep 9

The #BigButterflyCount results are in and it's official...

2025 was an average year for butterflies.

See the full results and what can be done to help butterflies and moths 👇
https://butterfly-conservation.org/big-butterfly-count-results-2025

4 33 60

Reposted by Morgan Morrison

UKBMS @ukbms.bsky.social · Aug 20

UK Butterfly abundance Indicators for 1976-2024 have been released, showing an 18% decline in overall butterfly abundance for the UK. Habitat specialists have fared worse, declining by over a third.

Check out the full statistics here ⬇️

buff.ly/1AIDB3J

2 17 19

Reposted by Morgan Morrison

Dave Goulson @davegoulson.bsky.social · Aug 19

New Europe-wide study finds that efforts to provide pollinator habitat in urban areas - such as sowing wildflower mixes - really do work, boosting numbers of bees and butterflies: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Pollinator‐Promoting Interventions in European Urban Habitats—A Synthesis

Syntheses of urban pollinator-friendly management are lacking, hindering policy implementation compared to farmland. Addressing this gap, our re-analytical data synthesis demonstrates the generally p...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

3 79 170

Reposted by Morgan Morrison

Mark Brown @markjfbrown.bsky.social · Aug 13

Thank you! And what an honour to be appointed Director of the amazing @zoologymuseum.bsky.social Sad to leave @rhulbiology.bsky.social after a wonderful 16.5 years, but very excited by this new challenge and amazing opportunity. I can’t wait to get started!

Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge @camzoology.bsky.social · Aug 13

📢We’re delighted to announce that the Vice Chancellor has appointed @markjfbrown.bsky.social as Director of the University @zoologymuseum.bsky.social and Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology.

Congratulations Mark! We look forward to welcoming you in Jan 2026.

Read more: bit.ly/3UVHmey

7 6 34

Morgan Morrison @morganmorrison73.bsky.social · May 29

Hardly any down in Cornwall but it also seems a bit quiet across the board this year. We're hoping it's just still early...

1

Morgan Morrison @morganmorrison73.bsky.social · May 23

One of our tagged bees spotted foraging

1

Morgan Morrison @morganmorrison73.bsky.social · May 23

After a bit of trouble shooting glue types, our mass bee tagging was under way in the village of Constantine

1 2

Morgan Morrison @morganmorrison73.bsky.social · May 20

Field work has begun ... Here's to a camera roll full of insects 🦋🐝

For my sanity, please pray for enough rain to keep gardens growing but not so much that our large sampling plan fails

3

Reposted by Morgan Morrison

Butterfly @butterfly-project.bsky.social · May 16

Find out what pollinators are, why they are important and why they are declining:
www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/ar...

What’s behind the decline in bees and other pollinators? (infographic) | Topics | European Parliament

Find out what pollinators are, why they are important and why they are declining.

www.europarl.europa.eu

3 5

Reposted by Morgan Morrison

Rosybeeplants @rosybeeplants.bsky.social · Mar 23

We are have updated our research into which garden plants attract the most pollinators. Our original research included 5 years of data. We then moved house so this is now 9 years of data over 2 different locations.
www.rosybee.com/research-study

10 60 160

Morgan Morrison @morganmorrison73.bsky.social · Apr 4

A brilliant week of citizen scientist pollinator identification training on for the participants of the Pollinator Pathmaker Constantine Network

Shout out to these hairy footed flower bees for being the tricky candidate for is it a solitary bee or bumblebee

2

Reposted by Morgan Morrison

Prof. Jeff Ollerton @jeffollerton.bsky.social · Mar 28

In a new paper that I co-authored we suggest that #Biodiversity Net Gain may be falling short for some of the most vital, yet overlooked, members of our ecosystems: invertebrates.

Read more about it here, with a link to download the open-access paper:

jeffollerton.co.uk/2025/03/28/i...

Is Biodiversity Net Gain a missed opportunity for invertebrate conservation? A new open access study suggest ways to improve it

The UK has set ambitious targets under the Global Biodiversity Framework 2030, aiming to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. One of the key policies designed to help achieve this is Biodiversity Ne…

jeffollerton.co.uk

18 40

Morgan Morrison @morganmorrison73.bsky.social · Mar 7

First pollinator spotted (and chased with a camera) on our Pollinator Pathmaker Constantine Network living artworks!!

Prepare yourself for a flurry of photos of pollinators this summer 🌸🐝

5

Morgan Morrison @morganmorrison73.bsky.social · Feb 12

A few snapshots of the prep for the Pollinator #PathmakerProject in Constantine over the last few weeks

It's been great to get the plants in the ground over the last few days 🧑‍🌾

Stay tuned for when these are in full bloom!! 🌼🌸🪻

5

Reposted by Morgan Morrison

Julia Osterman @juliaosterman.bsky.social · Feb 10

📢 New study: Insect Biomasse & abundance were similar in protected areas & urban wastelands, but 🐝wild bee diversity was higher in urban areas! Protected areas (Natura 2000) may need targeted management to support pollinators.
👇
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

@wilosterman.bsky.social

2 7 29

Reposted by Morgan Morrison

iBartomeus @ibartomeus.bsky.social · Feb 4

[new paper] EuPPollNet: A European Database of Plant-Pollinator Networks
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... Another wonderful paper of @joseblanuza.bsky.social making open more than >1500 networks and looking at their properties. Come for the data, stay for the cool figures!

EuPPollNet: A European Database of Plant‐Pollinator Networks

Motivation Pollinators play a crucial role in maintaining Earth's terrestrial biodiversity. However, rapid human-induced environmental changes are compromising the long-term persistence of plant-pol...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

7 52 100

Morgan Morrison @morganmorrison73.bsky.social · Jan 31

📢 New paper from #poshbee on effects of repeated sulfoxaflor exposure during key stages of bumblebee queen life cycle

We found no effects of single or repeated exposure on 👑🐝

We urge future studies to consider repeated exposure when assessing impacts of pesticides

doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.70011

Examining the effects of repeated pesticide exposure on bumblebee queen survival and reproduction

Here, we look at the effects of an unstudied, yet biologically likely exposure regime, on bumblebee queens. We found that neither exposure to sulfoxaflor pre- or post-hibernation, nor their combinati....

doi.org

1 1

Morgan Morrison @morganmorrison73.bsky.social · Jan 21

A great day yesterday to round off my time at Royal Holloway! A massive shout out to my panel who made the viva a thoroughly enjoyable experience and to @markjfbrown.bsky.social and the bee labs for the support over the last few years 🐝🦋🌼

Also LOOK AT THIS CAKE

Mark Brown @markjfbrown.bsky.social · Jan 20

Congratulations Dr Morrison @morganmorrison73.bsky.social

6

Morgan Morrison @morganmorrison73.bsky.social · Jan 16

Spent today getting my hands dirty prepping for the Pollinator Pathmaker Project in Constantine

Huge shout out to the rest of the team for doing most of the prep. Can't wait to finish the prep and start the planting!!

Enjoy the before and after of one garden and more on the project to follow 🦋🐝🌼🌸

2

Reposted by Morgan Morrison

Marek Kwiek I Social Stratification in Science @marek-kwiek.bsky.social · Jan 11

Thank you @nature.com for covering our research on women again today!

Study of biologists quitting academia reveals hidden gender gaps.

Even in fields in which women are well represented, they are up to 40% more likely than men to leave research within 20 years.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Who’s quitting academia? Data reveal gender gaps in surprising fields

Even in scientific areas in which women are well represented, they are up to 40% more likely than men to leave research within 20 years.

www.nature.com

2 14 44

Morgan Morrison @morganmorrison73.bsky.social · Jan 9

Work completed with the #safeguard project and @royalholloway.bsky.social

2

Morgan Morrison @morganmorrison73.bsky.social · Jan 9

New paper🚨

Using the UK MoJ prison sites as a case study, we show that reducing lawn mowing frequencies to between 6-12 weeks increases pollinator abundance by 170% 🐝🦋 in urban and suburban building complexes
doi.org/10.52201/CEJ22/YGEL5296

A simple message to help #pollinators

- Conservation Evidence

doi.org

1 4 9