James M. Bullock | Lightnews

James Bullock

@jmbecologist.bsky.social

4.3K followers 400 following 1.1K posts

Applied ecologist working on the ecological emergency

Studying ecosystem restoration, rewilding, dispersal, spatial ecology, ecosystem services, agro-ecology, global change. Views are my own & personal/unofficial

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Environmental science 56%

Agriculture 16%

Posts Replies Media Videos

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 1d

“writes Woolfson: ‘Biology now stands at the threshold of transitioning from a largely descriptive science into a generative one. In the future, we won’t just catalogue species, we will create them’”

Tech bros take on the natural world

www.theguardian.com/books/2026/f...

On the Future of Species by Adrian Woolfson review – are we on the verge of creating synthetic life?

A genomic entrepreneur’s guide to the coming revolution in biology raises troubling questions about ethics and safety

www.theguardian.com

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 1d

The new political focus on nature security

Looks a lot like Survival Ecology, in essence

Although Government still needs to make the leap in their thinking to the acknowledge the radical action needed
www.frontiersin.org/journals/con...

Frontiers | In the Climate Emergency, Conservation Must Become Survival Ecology

•Earth faces a climate emergency which renders conservation goals largely obsolete.•Current conservation actions are inadequate because they i) underplay bio...

www.frontiersin.org

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 1d

You often hear how scientists need to learn how to communicate better with the media, with politicians, & with businesses

How about these also try to become more science literate

& don’t push for complex findings to be boiled down to a sound bite?

They don’t ask for Shakespeare to be made simple

Reposted by James M. Bullock, Els Torreele

Greenpeace EU @greenpeace.eu · 1d

📍HAPPENING NOW

@xrbelgium.bsky.social and activists from Greenpeace Belgium are blocking the offices of CEFIC, the European chemicals lobby group

‼️ 50 activists have declared the area a climate crime scene!

Extinction Rebellion activists block the entrance to CEFIC in Brussels with signs reading "CEFIC = TOXIC LOBBY", "AREA CLOSED", "CEFIC, COUNCIL FOR ECOCIDE, FAMINE AND IRREVERSIBLE COLLAPSE"

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 1d

Answers to my query whether we need spatially coordinated conservation or should it remain idiosyncratic?

Lead me to say that yes, some coordination would be good

But we also need some idiosyncrasy

Especially as climate change means we need to act under huge uncertainty about nature futures

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 1d

Nature recovery in the UK is a ‘rich’ mix of reintroductions of certain species, traditional conservation management, rewilding, restoration

Done by many different people & organisations

I’m trying to work out if this is good or if it could be more effective if coordinated at, say, regional scale

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, I’d wondered if LNRS might pop up. What do people think of them?

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 1d

Agree. And TBH, with an uncertain climate future we’re not quite sure what will work best, apart from more land for nature

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 1d

Reposted by James M. Bullock, Benjamin Wildermuth

Reassembly Research Unit @reassemblynet.bsky.social · 2d

The Biodiversity Exploratories @bexplo.bsky.social warmly invite *all* #biodiversity #researchers worldwide to join (celebrating the 20th anniversary).
ABSTRACT SUBMISSION AND EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO MARCH 2, 2026

www.biodiversity-exploratories.de/en/be20/

BE20 - Emerging Topics in Long-Term and Large-Scale Biodiversity Research

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 3d

“the air pollution becomes apparent. It appears as tiny black dots stuck to [my] red blood cells

These are pieces of carbon and other chemicals, like a miniature lump of coal, that come from the incomplete burning of fuel

They're known as PM 2.5”

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I inhaled traffic fumes to find out where air pollution goes in my body

BBC health correspondent James Gallagher gets his blood analysed to understand how air pollution is killing us.

www.bbc.co.uk

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 3d

Thanks Jamie - expert hydrologist!

Reposted by James M. Bullock, Zen Faulkes, Larry W. Hunter

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 3d

Science EIC Thorp would like to have it both ways:

1) Credited for being reasonable in acknowledging the importance of (i) quiet insiders & (ii) activists in confronting cuts to science.

2) Clear on who he thinks really deserves the credit for the wins: insiders.

🧵
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A tale of many twos

For the American scientific enterprise, the past year has seemed awash in contradiction. On the one hand, it has produced great upheavals and losses for US science. Many universities experienced some ...

www.science.org

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy, Ricardo Rocha

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 3d

Of course, the main problem that is holding back effective conservation is not the lack of evidence

It’s vested interests preventing the transformative change needed in the scale & ambition of conservation actions

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

Biodiversity conservation has an evidence problem — it’s time to fix it

Globally, more than one million species are threatened with extinction, but often interventions intended to protect biodiversity are not rooted in robust research. The field has an opportunity to chan...

www.nature.com

Reposted by James M. Bullock

The Green Party of England & Wales @greenparty.org.uk · 3d

Preventable deaths in the channel.

Increasing refugee homelessness.

All the result of cruel political decisions by the old parties.

The 99% have more in common with someone seeking safety and community than with the billionaires pointing the finger.

Refugees welcome.

REAL HOPE. REAL CHANCE
REFUGEES WELCOME
Green Party
Promoted by Chris Williams on behalf of The Green Party, both at PO Box 78066, London SE16 9GQ

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 3d

Old academics don’t die

They become fossilised in their own opinions

Reposted by Katharine Hayhoe, Richard S.J. Tol, Dorothy Bishop , and 46 more Katharine Hayhoe, Richard S.J. Tol, Dorothy Bishop, Richard F. Catalano, Kimberly A. Prather, Keith Jones, Stephan Lewandowsky, David N. Thomas, Louis Moresi, James M. Bullock, Nancy Knowlton, Jonathan A. Foley, Karen R. Lips, Steve Peers, Steven French, Evelyne de Leeuw, David Johnson, Joanna Bourke, Caroline Krafft, Martin Tomko, Jeremy T. Kerr, Joseph Schafer, Peter Holmes, Sabine Pahl, Kate Lancaster, Alan Richardson, R. M. Wilson, Laura Huenneke, Ailsa Cameron, Carlos Nunes Silva, Stephen D. Murphy, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Juan Rocha, Nikolay Marinov, David Murakami Wood, Kent Johnson, Ann Bartow, Pauline Stafford, Raúl Pacheco-Vega, Nikki Fairchild, Hisham Zerriffi, Meredith Farkas, Nancy M. Wingfield, Maksym Polyakov, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Lorna Hughes, Susan D. Blum, David Spurrett, David Darmofal

jennifer uncoolidge @histoftech.bsky.social · 3d

No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.

Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology

She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.

www.nature.com

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 4d

Please note that the report is about ecosystem collapse & biodiversity loss, not climate change itself - Adrian Ramsey has got it right

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 4d

Our new synthesis shows that increased plant richness promotes performance & suppresses antagonists* in agro-ecosystems, grasslands & forests

Suggesting that diversified planting can increase productivity while reducing pesticide use

*inverts, diseases, weeds, etc
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Global evidence that plant diversity suppresses pests and promotes plant performance and crop production - Nature Ecology & Evolution

A global synthesis of >600 studies finds that across agro-ecosystems, grasslands and forests in temperate and tropical zones, increasing plant diversity has a consistently positive effect on plant ...

www.nature.com

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 4d

“What is groundwater flooding and why Dorset is seeing historic highs?”

See how the BBC answers this question without mentioning climate change - remarkable!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

What is groundwater flooding and why Dorset is seeing 'historic highs'

With a Met Office yellow warning for rain in effect people are being warned about the dangers of groundwater flooding.

www.bbc.co.uk

Reposted by Stephanie Schelfhout

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 4d

Can we use practically ecological complexity as a target for ecosystem restoration?

Yes, in this paper we consider pollination & herbivory networks
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Restoration of ecological interactions: The influence of site and landscape factors

Restoration has been extensively used in agricultural landscapes as a mitigation measure to reduce biodiversity loss in response to historic habitat d…

www.sciencedirect.com

Reposted by Joseph A. Tobias, James M. Bullock, Lesley A. Hall

Clare Kelly @clarekelly.bsky.social · 4d

Chatbots offer a magnificent bribe - a fast, frictionless route to information that bypasses the discomfort of learning. In this op-ed, we describe this as a Faustian bargain, in which we trade away what it means to be human & universities trade away their value
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

Learning is complex, messy, emotional: AI can’t replicate that

ChatGPT and other AI tools may seem irresistible. But educators should beware, as they could end up trading away the thing that gives them value — the rich experience of slow learning

www.irishexaminer.com

Reposted by James M. Bullock

UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) @ukceh.bsky.social · 4d

We need to talk about drought. Yes, that's right, drought! Our weather is experiencing extremes – from flooding to drought – so on the next episode of Counting the Earth, we'll be delving deeper into this whiplash weather.

🎧 Subscribe now and never miss an episode: www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med...

Reposted by Mathias Disney

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 5d

The mainstream aim to restore “native reference ecosystems”

Reminds me of people of my age who go to see touring bands from their youth

Trying to recreate something that never quite existed

And has limited relevance in a changing world
doi.org/10.1111/ecog...

Future restoration should enhance ecological complexity and emergent properties at multiple scales

Ecological restoration has a paradigm of re-establishing ‘indigenous reference' communities. One resulting concern is that focussing on target communities may not necessarily create systems which fun...

doi.org

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 5d

Why is no one talking about the IPBES Plenary in Manchester?

The British Ecological Society explains
www.britishecologicalsociety.org/content/a-be...

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 5d

One reason biodiversity loss gets so much less attention than climate change

Is possibly because of the ‘extinction of experience’ - nature decline has been gradual, & we have forgotten what has been lost

Compare climate change, by which we are experiencing new conditions almost on a daily basis

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 5d

Mandelson for the next Celebrity Traitors anyone?

James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 5d

Interesting paper on debates about reintroducing lynx & wolves to Scotland

In terms of shifting baseline syndrome - the loss of lived experience with these species, leading to idyllic portrayals of coexistence, polarised “romantic vs cynical” narratives, & conflict
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

A shifting baseline theory of debates over potential lynx and wolf reintroductions to Scotland - Ambio

In Scotland, efforts to reintroduce extirpated species have been marred by guerrilla rewilding and social conflicts. We ask whether these conflicts could at least in part be the product of shifting ba...

link.springer.com

Reposted by James M. Bullock

George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 5d

I strongly suspect that a guilty verdict in this case was going to be @yvettecooper-mp.bsky.social's long-awaited Big Reveal: "you see - this was the special knowledge I had proving that Palestine Action are terrorists". Because frankly she had nothing else.
And now she has nothing.