Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Lucas Medeiros

Adam Clark @adamtclark.bsky.social · 1d

How can we identify #coexistence in #ecology? There are at least three common approaches (structural stability, eigenvalues, and invasion), and each investigates different aspects of community dynamics (equilibria, locally stable equilibria, and global stability). 1/2

A practical guide to characterising ecological coexistence

Coexistence is simultaneously one of the most fundamental concepts of ecology, and one of the most difficult to define. A particular challenge is that, despite a well-developed body of research, seve...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

1 7 23

Lucas Medeiros @lucaspdmedeiros.bsky.social · 24d

Awesome video of Heidi Sosik explaining the importance of the @nes-lter.bsky.social project

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution @whoi.edu · 24d

New England's famous fisheries rely on tiny but mighty plankton. 😋🎣

That's why scientists keep a close eye on the offshore food web that fuels the region's marine economy through the @nes-lter.bsky.social

📲 Find more reasons we need science—and science needs us: go.whoi.edu/together

3

Lucas Medeiros @lucaspdmedeiros.bsky.social · Aug 11

For those at #ESA2025 today, I’ll be presenting at 4:15pm at COS 019 - Ecosystem Stability And Resilience 2. Looking forward to a fun meeting with many great talks!

2 4 15

Reposted by Lucas Medeiros

Martina Dal Bello @martinadalbello.bsky.social · Jul 23

📢 We're seeking a postdoc to work on a project funded by HFSP @hfspo.bsky.social at the intersection of bacterial physiology, ecology and evolution. You can find more details about the project, the position, and how to apply here www.dalbellolab.com/hfsp-project! #bacteria #ecosky #MevoSky #microSky

HFSP project — dal bello lab

www.dalbellolab.com

1 45 41

Lucas Medeiros @lucaspdmedeiros.bsky.social · Jul 15

Very nice commentary on our recent @pnas.org paper that came out yesterday!

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

1 7

Lucas Medeiros @lucaspdmedeiros.bsky.social · Jun 17

This work resulted from a fantastic team effort and I owe many thanks to my collaborators, especially to Darian Sorenson and Steve Munch who did a lot of the heavy lifting.

1

Lucas Medeiros @lucaspdmedeiros.bsky.social · Jun 17

For a layperson summary of this work, check out this awesome @ucsantacruz.bsky.social press release by @collinblinder.bsky.social:
news.ucsc.edu/2025/06/ecos...

A data-driven model to help avoid ecosystem collapse

New study gives conservationists a simpler, general approach for predicting an ecosystem’s tipping point and what comes next

news.ucsc.edu

1 1

Lucas Medeiros @lucaspdmedeiros.bsky.social · Jun 17

Super excited to share our new study, where we introduce and apply a data-driven modeling approach to predict dynamical regimes of ecosystems at unseen environmental conditions (e.g. beyond a tipping point):
www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...

PNAS

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

www.pnas.org

1 5 26

Lucas Medeiros @lucaspdmedeiros.bsky.social · Jun 4

Awesome postdoc opportunity

Vadim Karatayev @lifenonlinear.bsky.social · Jun 2

Job in my lab: 3yr postdoc on how and when complexity promotes network stability.

Looking for physics, math, or theory folks who use analytical approaches, but there'll be great opportunities for data connections too.
docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Postdoc ad 2025

3yr Postdoc in complexity-stability theory Department of Biology, University of Maryland College Park Application window Open date: now Review date: August 10 2025, or until filled Start date: late 2...

docs.google.com

1

Reposted by Lucas Medeiros

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · Jun 2

Get the word out far and wide. New opportunity from the Simons Foundation in the Eco-Evo space.

2026 Simons Graduate Fellowship in Ecology and Evolution Awards, due July 31, 2025, only for incoming PhD students who plan to start their PhDs in Fall 2026.

www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons...

Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution

The purpose of these awards is to provide support for students entering U.S.-based Ph.D. programs with a plan to perform research in ecology and evolution. While we will consider all projects in ecolo...

www.simonsfoundation.org

2 77 52

Reposted by Lucas Medeiros

Frank Pennekamp @pennekampster.bsky.social · May 14

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.

PhD student in Ecology (up to 4 years)

The position is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation project “A mechanistic theory of functional responses: zooming into movement behaviour to understand and predict predator prey interacti...

euraxess.ec.europa.eu

2 16 14

Lucas Medeiros @lucaspdmedeiros.bsky.social · May 20

It was fun to work on this project with Mike, Heidi, and Steve and I thank them for the great guidance and collaboration! 7/7

1

Lucas Medeiros @lucaspdmedeiros.bsky.social · May 20

By relying only on a sequence of Jacobian matrices, these metrics can be computed from empirical data if we can accurately infer these matrices. Thus, our work creates new opportunities to analyze communities that are far from equilibrium using approaches such as Empirical Dynamic Modeling. 6/7

1 2

Lucas Medeiros @lucaspdmedeiros.bsky.social · May 20

A key insight is that perturbation amplification depends on community state in the short term, but not in the long term. For example, for seasonal population cycles, the outcome after a few weeks would depend on when the disturbance occurred but the outcome after an entire year would not. 5/7

1 1

Lucas Medeiros @lucaspdmedeiros.bsky.social · May 20

We performed several simulations to show that the metrics capture the entire range of perturbation amplification for different types of nonequilibrium dynamics (forced cycle, limit cycle, nonstationary cycle, and chaotic dynamics). The metrics work for both discrete- or continuous-time dynamics. 4/7

1 1

Lucas Medeiros @lucaspdmedeiros.bsky.social · May 20

We followed a similar approach to derive analytical metrics of how perturbations amplify over time under nonequilibrium population dynamics. The metrics quantify the minimum, typical, and maximum amplification of a distribution of perturbations for any time scale (short or long term response). 3/7

1 1

Lucas Medeiros @lucaspdmedeiros.bsky.social · May 20

Decades of research in ecology have led to a solid theory for responses to pulse perturbations for stable fixed points. In an important paper, Arnoldi et al (2018, JTB) have unified several metrics (e.g. resilience, reactivity) under a common framework. 2/7

1 3

Lucas Medeiros @lucaspdmedeiros.bsky.social · May 20

How do ecological communities respond to pulse perturbations (e.g. storms, wildfires)? We have a solid theory for stable fixed points, but what about cycles, transients, or chaos? In this preprint, we introduce a unified framework for these nonequilibrium cases. 1/7
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

1 12 39

Reposted by Lucas Medeiros

Helmut Hillebrand @hillebr1.bsky.social · Apr 15

We offer a 5-year research position in the #PlanktonEcology lab in Wilhelmshaven. Are you interested in empirically testing ecological concepts? We offer a stimulating scientific environment, experimental facilities & support to establish an independent research profile
uol.de/en/job/postd...

Postdoctoral researcher in Plankton Ecology // University of Oldenburg

uol.de

76 60

Reposted by Lucas Medeiros

Elena Litchman @elenalitchman.bsky.social · Mar 4

Rising Temperatures Are Scrambling the Base of the Ocean Food Web.
Scientists are gaining new insights into how plankton supports life on Earth — just as climate change is changing everything.

Rising Temperatures Are Scrambling the Base of the Ocean Food Web (Gift Article)

Scientists are gaining new insights into how plankton supports life on Earth — just as climate change is changing everything.

www.nytimes.com

7 25

Reposted by Lucas Medeiros

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution @whoi.edu · Jan 31

🧑🏽‍🔬Hey #undergrad juniors and seniors! Seeking paid, hands-on experience in #marinescience + #engineering? Spend the #summer doing research with a WHOI #SummerStudentFellowship!

📲 Applications are due Feb. 5 - get the details: go.whoi.edu/ssf-program

20 44

Reposted by Lucas Medeiros

Sebastian Schreiber @sebastianschreiber.bsky.social · Dec 27

Started a Theoretical Ecology starter pack. For from complete. Respond if you want to be added or removed.

go.bsky.app/PwpvZLb

37 51 120

Reposted by Lucas Medeiros

Elena Litchman @elenalitchman.bsky.social · Nov 26

I am looking for a PhD student to start in fall of 2025 at MSU. Potential topics include trait-based approaches to plankton community resilience, temperature effects on communities, harmful algal blooms and many others. Please get in touch if interested. More info: www.kl-lab.group.

Klausmeier-Litchman Lab

Welcome to the Klausmeier-Litchman lab! We study empirical and theoretical community ecology, biodiversity and climate change, focusing on phytoplankton, other microbes and general theory. We use obse...

www.kl-lab.group

1 100 82

Lucas Medeiros @lucaspdmedeiros.bsky.social · Nov 20

www.science.org/content/arti...

Like ‘old Twitter’: The scientific community finds a new home on Bluesky

After recent changes to Elon Musk’s X, a gradual migration turns into a stampede

www.science.org

Lucas Medeiros @lucaspdmedeiros.bsky.social · Nov 20

Pretty excited to be joining Bluesky to interact with the scientific community here! Bye Twitter!

1 12