Michael Pirie
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piriemike.bsky.social
Michael Pirie
@piriemike.bsky.social
Systematic botanist, curator at the Bergen University Gardens. #EricaGCC
Reposted by Michael Pirie
As the world faces a biodiversity crisis, precise knowledge about specific species is more important than ever.
World Flora Online’s Taxonomic Expert Networks, or TENs, are collaborations of taxonomic experts who work together to agree upon a consensus classification for their plant groups.
November 12, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Chunk of work fed into this - grateful for feedback/interest/collaboration in the next steps:

Conservation gap analysis for Erica (Ericaceae) preprints.arphahub.com/articles.php...
Conservation gap analysis for Erica (Ericaceae)
The flowering plant genus Erica (Ericaceae) includes well over 800 species and numerous formally described subspecies and varieties. Many of these are threatened in the wild. The Global Conservation C...
preprints.arphahub.com
October 30, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by Michael Pirie
Our friends at the World Flora Online need your help!

They are asking all (potential) users to help them shape a useful plant identification feature to be added to WFO by answering a survey.

Please use the QR codes in the image below to access the survey.
October 10, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Reposted by Michael Pirie
Madrid Code online!! 🎉🪸🍄🌿

www.iaptglobal.org/_functions/code/madrid
September 4, 2025 at 7:44 PM
More new annons! Congrats @tlpcouvreur.bsky.social!
Passion and combat on a floral stage: a new species of Uvariopsis (Annonaceae) from Monts de Cristal, Gabon, with notes on its unique pollination ecology plecevo.eu/articles.php...
Passion and combat on a floral stage: a new species of Uvariopsis (Annonaceae) from Monts de Cristal, Gabon, with notes on its unique pollination ecology
Background and aims – Gabon is a major centre of biodiversity. We describe a new species from the tropical plant family Annonaceae: Uvariopsis niangadoumae sp. nov., known from a single population in ...
plecevo.eu
August 28, 2025 at 7:47 AM
Reposted by Michael Pirie
Am. Soc. of Plant Taxonomists @amsocplanttaxon.bsky.social is on Bsky! Follow for news, and join our community of naturalists working together to "foster, encourage, and promote education and research in the field of plant taxonomy."

@iaptglobal.bsky.social @botsocamerica.bsky.social

www.aspt.net
American Society of Plant Taxonomists
The American Society of Plant Taxonomists (ASPT) is a community of scientists that promotes research and education in the taxonomy, systematics, and phylogeny of all plants.
www.aspt.net
August 4, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Reposted by Michael Pirie
An integrative approach to alpha taxonomy in Erica L. (Ericaceae) with three new species from the Western Cape, South Afri…... by @piriemike.bsky.social published in @phytokeys.pensoft.net sharing data in @gbif.org:

#CiteTheDOI: ✅

#OpenAccess: ⭐️

https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.257.139457
An integrative approach to alpha taxonomy in Erica L. (Ericaceae) with three new species from the Western Cape, South Africa
The megagenus Erica L. (Ericaceae) comprises 851 species across its global distribution, with an extraordinary focus of diversity in the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) of South Africa where almost 700 sp...
phytokeys.pensoft.net
July 31, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Reposted by Michael Pirie
New paper by @piriemike.bsky.social in @phytokeys.pensoft.net using @gbif.org mediated data:

Heathers (Erica, Ericaceae) of Madagascar: taxonomy, evolution, ecology and uses 🇲🇬

#CiteTheDOI: ✅

#OpenAccess: ⭐️

https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.256.141375
Heathers (Erica, Ericaceae) of Madagascar: taxonomy, evolution, ecology and uses
The plant genus Erica L. (heathers; anjavidy in Malagasy) has 35 recognised species in Madagascar, but there has not been a taxonomic revision since 1927 and there are few identification resources. We...
phytokeys.pensoft.net
July 29, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Reposted by Michael Pirie
inaturalist•org
Update on June 11, 2025 9:15pm EDT
“We are not giving Google special access to your iNat data, and we have no obligation to use Google's infrastructure…If the demo… is not helpful, compromises data quality, has outsized environmental impacts, or is … too flawed, we will not keep it.”
June 12, 2025 at 3:23 AM
Reposted by Michael Pirie
This editorial introduces our latest topical collection: Systematics, natural history, and conservation of Erica (Ericaceae).

doi.org/10.3897/phyt...

@piriemike.bsky.social
Systematics, natural history, and conservation of Erica (Ericaceae)
Worldwide, many tens of thousands of plant species are threatened with extinction in the wild. Those that are naturally rare or have narrow distributions are particularly vulnerable. The flowering pla...
doi.org
June 9, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Reposted by Michael Pirie
A taxonomic study of the Erica genus identified three new species from South Africa’s Western Cape using morphology, DNA data, and a custom ID tool, while clarifying the status of two other taxa, including one natural hybrid.

🔗 doi.org/10.3897/phyt...
June 6, 2025 at 5:58 AM
Reposted by Michael Pirie
Mesquite 4 beta released! Many new features, esp. phylogenomic. Check out the trailer and longer video on the home page: www.mesquiteproject.org, and use the download link there to get a copy.

Feedback welcome! Ask and discuss on our new Google Group (groups.google.com/g/mesquite-p...).
May 23, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Reposted by Michael Pirie
Come postdoc in Oslo! 3 years. You design the project! Get in touch with me or others at our museum! Deadline 23 june www.jobbnorge.no/en/available... share and repost !
Postdoctoral Fellow: Self-Developed Project (280531) | University of Oslo
Job title: Postdoctoral Fellow: Self-Developed Project (280531), Employer: University of Oslo, Deadline: Monday, June 23, 2025
www.jobbnorge.no
May 20, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Reposted by Michael Pirie
The plant genus Erica has 35 recognised species in Madagascar. Their taxonomy, evolution, ecology, and local uses are reviewed in this paper to highlight research and conservation priorities.

doi.org/10.3897/phyt...

@janhackel.bsky.social @piriemike.bsky.social
May 21, 2025 at 6:14 AM
Reposted by Michael Pirie
The titan arum is a wonder of the natural world, with flowering structures that can reach three metres in height. My friends in Sumatra just sent me these photos of one in the wild - in bud - located today ✨
March 22, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Reposted by Michael Pirie
New paper open access in @plantspeopleplanet.bsky.social: nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Cit sci data quality is a hot topic, and assumptions about ID accuracy are often made without evidence. We decided to test identification accuracy for a WA plants @inaturalist.bsky.social dataset
Expert identification blitz: A rapid high value approach for assessing and improving iNaturalist identification accuracy and data precision and confidence
Citizen science data are increasingly used in research and conservation, so assessing and improving data accuracy is important. We recruited 50 experts to review a dataset of Western Australian plant....
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
March 17, 2025 at 4:42 AM
Reposted by Michael Pirie
Part of: Systematics, natural history, and conservation of Erica (Ericaceae)

doi.org/10.3897/phyt...
Systematics, natural history, and conservation of Erica (Ericaceae)
Worldwide, a sobering proportion of plant species are threatened with extinction in the wild, and those that are naturally rare or have narrow distributions are particularly vulnerable. The flowering ...
doi.org
March 17, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Reposted by Michael Pirie
Erica sicula, a disjunct Mediterranean heather, faces severe local threats despite a broad range and requires urgent conservation. Researchers provide an overview of the distribution, ecology, and conservation status of both subspecies.

doi.org/10.3897/phyt...
March 17, 2025 at 2:13 PM
📢 Chunky new article on Erica sicula just out from Salvatore Pasta and colleagues, an important contribution to our topical collection at @phytokeys.pensoft.net :
phytokeys.pensoft.net/articles.php...
Broad-ranged, highly disjunct, locally rare and severely endangered: the challenging risk assessment and a global conservation strategy for Erica sicula Guss. sensu lato (Ericaceae)
The distribution range of Erica sicula Guss. sensu lato spans the central and eastern Mediterranean Basin, but shows a significantly fragmented pattern, and its populations are locally subject to mult...
phytokeys.pensoft.net
March 17, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Reposted by Michael Pirie
Are you looking for academic papers on Rhododendron? Check out our rhododendron group on Zotero

We’ve gathered thousands of rhododendron articles, some as old as the 1600’s and many of which you won’t find in academic search engines

FREE TO JOIN!

www.zotero.org/groups/47355...
Zotero | Groups > Rhodo-research.net
Zotero is a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share research.
www.zotero.org
March 7, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Reposted by Michael Pirie
Rhododendron Research Network Rockin’ Around the Clock
May 29-30, 2025

A FREE virtual convention highlighting a global community of researchers, conservationists and members of the public working in genus Rhododendron 🪴🧪🌺

Convention schedule and registration:
medeiroslab.com/2025-virtual...
March 6, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Reposted by Michael Pirie
A tiny, unremarkable beetle hiding in the caves of Slovenia has an infamously unfortunate name—one that has sparked heated debates in the scientific world.
A Beetle By Any Other Name
In a limestone cave deep in Central Slovenia, an unremarkable insect lives in complete darkness. This tiny beetle, barely visible to the naked eye, has no eyes and a brownish-yellow coloration—adaptations to a life spent entirely underground. The beetle has survived for approximately two million years in this harsh environment, yet in the past century, it gained notoriety for reasons completely beyond its control: it was named after Adolf Hitler.
99percentinvisible.org
March 4, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Reposted by Michael Pirie
World Flora Online is now on Bluesky! Follow us for more updates and news from WFO.
February 10, 2025 at 6:48 PM