Belinda E. Medlyn | Lightnews

Belinda Medlyn

@bmedlyn.bsky.social

2.4K followers 510 following 65 posts

Professor, Ecosystem Modelling, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney U. Ecophysiologist and #DeadTreeDetective

Videos

Belinda Medlyn FAA is a plant physiologist, ecologist and mathematical modeller. Her research explores how plants, and particularly trees, respond to increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide. .. more

Environmental science 53%

Agriculture 15%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Belinda Medlyn @bmedlyn.bsky.social · 15d

Many congrats to the authors, especially lead authors Raphael Trouve and Sophie Yang, for their thought-provoking and discussion-generating articles! @natcomms.nature.com @newphyt.bsky.social

Belinda Medlyn @bmedlyn.bsky.social · 15d

Close runner-up
Yang, S., Ooi, M.K.J., Falster, D.S. and Cornwell, W.K. Continental-scale empirical evidence for relationships between fire response strategies and fire frequency doi.org/10.1111/nph....
Fantastic big-picture analysis testing hypotheses in fire ecology

Continental‐scale empirical evidence for relationships between fire response strategies and fire frequency

Theory suggests that the dominance of resprouting and seeding, two key mechanisms through which plants persist with recurrent fire, both depend on other traits and vary with fire regime. However, ...

doi.org

Reposted by Ben Bond‐Lamberty

Belinda Medlyn @bmedlyn.bsky.social · 15d

Our winner is
Trouvé, R., Baker, P.J., Ducey, M.J. et al. Global warming reduces the carrying capacity of the tallest angiosperm species (Eucalyptus regnans). doi.org/10.1038/s414...
Really clever re-use of an old dataset to provide new insights into climate effects on forest dynamics

doi.org

Belinda Medlyn @bmedlyn.bsky.social · 15d

Time for #oneforjournalclub paper of the year! Drum roll please ..

Journal club end of year voting party: Belinda, Vijay, Krish, Chris, Laura, Drew, Assaf, Sonam, Aaranya, Clare (on screen), Aakash, Erick, Beatrice, Davide, Amy

Reposted by Oliver L. Phillips, Belinda E. Medlyn, Ian J. Wright , and 3 more Oliver L. Phillips, Belinda E. Medlyn, Ian J. Wright, Tommaso Jucker, Antonio J. Pérez‐Luque, Samuele Ramellini

Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · Nov 3

Save the date! 47th New Phytologist Symposium on 'Extreme Heat: extending the thermal limits of life'. Explore how extreme heat affects plants that underpin ecosystem productivity.
2-5 June 2026, Cordoba, Spain.
@newphyt.bsky.social

www.newphytologist.org/events/47-nps

Extreme Heat: extending the thermal limits of life

www.newphytologist.org

Reposted by Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Belinda E. Medlyn

New Phytologist @newphyt.bsky.social · Oct 31

Check out our latest updates!

🌱 New Phytologist #TansleyMedal application deadline
🌱 Upcoming New Phytologist Now webinar
🌱 An exciting announcement from Plants, People, Planet
🌱 Details of next year's New Phytologist Symposium on extreme heat

...and more:

📨 www.newphytologist.org/news/latest-...

Reposted by Belinda E. Medlyn

Ian Wright @ianjwright.bsky.social · Oct 29

Exciting PhD opportunity advertised by superstar colleague Prof. Rachael Gallagher "Genomic and trait-based indicators of restoration success" (collaboration with Botanic Gardens of Sydney). See attached image. Contact Rachael directly for more information (email in advert). Closes 30th Nov.

PhD advert for Genomic and trait-based indicators of restoration success

Reposted by Belinda E. Medlyn

John Dwyer @john-m-dwyer.bsky.social · Oct 25

Yesterday we were treated to an inspirational seminar from Dr Laura Williams from @westsyduhie.bsky.social all about the importance of tree diversity, novel ways to quantify it and its consequences for how forests function. Good luck with the richly-deserved DECRA Laura!!! Ping @bmedlyn.bsky.social

Belinda Medlyn @bmedlyn.bsky.social · Sep 9

NB Applicants must have working rights in Australia

Belinda Medlyn @bmedlyn.bsky.social · Sep 9

One more! Here the stellar Laura Williams leads a review of detection + attribution of change in Australian vegetation. The upshot: with current monitoring, it's remarkably difficult to attribute effects of climate - which has important consequences for management

Cate Macinnis-Ng @loraxcate.bsky.social · Sep 9

Fascinating paper by Laura Williams, @bmedlyn.bsky.social and colleagues - nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Detecting and attributing climate change effects on vegetation: Australia as a test case

Climate change is contributing to vegetation changes that threaten life support systems. Yet, inherent climatic variability and past and present human actions—such as clearing, burning and grazing re....

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Belinda Medlyn @bmedlyn.bsky.social · Sep 9

The arboretum has been even more heavily affected by drought this year - sad to see, but fascinating from a research perspective

Belinda Medlyn @bmedlyn.bsky.social · Sep 9

Drought sensitivity in eucalypts is climate‐adapted and consistently influenced by wood density - great work by PhD student Victoria Perez-Martinez at @deannicolle1.bsky.social Currency Creek Arboretum during the Tinderbox drought

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Drought sensitivity is climate‐adapted and consistently influenced by wood density and maximum height in eucalypts

Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Reposted by Oliver L. Phillips, Ben Bond‐Lamberty

Belinda Medlyn @bmedlyn.bsky.social · Sep 9

Analysis of eddy-covariance C and water fluxes during the Australian Tinderbox drought of 2017-2019 showed remarkable resilience and recovery in most Australian forest types. Great work from @clares-hydro.bsky.social and OzFlux community

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

The Response and Recovery of Carbon and Water Fluxes in Australian Ecosystems Exposed to Severe Drought

We examined flux data across a range of Australian ecosystems exposed to severe drought over two years (2018-19). The driest ecosystems experienced large productivity declines, but intermediate ecosy...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Reposted by Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Maksym Polyakov, Julian Schrader , and 2 more Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Maksym Polyakov, Julian Schrader, Tommaso Jucker, Darío Martin‐Benito

Belinda Medlyn @bmedlyn.bsky.social · Sep 9

Postdoctoral position in Forest Monitoring available. Know your way around spatial datasets? Join us to help monitor changes in Australia's precious forest estate! @westsyduhie.bsky.social
jobs.smartrecruiters.com/WesternSydne...

Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Forest Monitoring

Company Description: Western Sydney University is a modern, forward-thinking, research-led institution at the heart of Australia’s fastest-growing and most economically significant region. With 11 cam...

jobs.smartrecruiters.com

Reposted by Belinda E. Medlyn, Julian Schrader, Tommaso Jucker

Ian Wright @ianjwright.bsky.social · Sep 9

📢🌿Available #traits #FunctionalTraits PhD position in my group @westsyduhie.bsky.social, closes 30th Oct. Topics: “Climate adaptations in Australian native grasses”; OR “Plant resource economics”. Apply via WSU Online Portal. Eligibility and other key info here: wrightlab.wordpress.com/news/

Reposted by Belinda E. Medlyn, Tommaso Jucker

Cate Macinnis-Ng @loraxcate.bsky.social · Sep 9

Fascinating paper by Laura Williams, @bmedlyn.bsky.social and colleagues - nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Detecting and attributing climate change effects on vegetation: Australia as a test case

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Reposted by Belinda E. Medlyn

New Phytologist @newphyt.bsky.social · Sep 8

Environmental conditions drive variation in C4 photosynthetic capacity more than species traits

Fan, et al.

📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#PlantScience @yuzhenfan.bsky.social

VpmaxA and Amax plotted by C4 biochemical subtypes (a and b, respectively), growth forms (c and d, respectively) and growth locations (e and f, respectively).

Reposted by Ben Bond‐Lamberty

Belinda Medlyn @bmedlyn.bsky.social · Aug 18

Fabulous #PhD project opportunity on #Eucalypt diversity - super interesting project plus you get to work with the truly amazing Laura Williams

Suz Everingham @suzeveringham.bsky.social · Aug 18

PhD opportunity available at @westsyduhie.bsky.social with the brillant Dr Laura Williams - hyperspectral data and process-based modelling of tree diversity 🌳🌲 please share with your networks tinyurl.com/ms6mjz8y

Reposted by Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Belinda E. Medlyn, Ian J. Wright , and 2 more Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Belinda E. Medlyn, Ian J. Wright, Shan Kothari, Karl Andraczek

Suz Everingham @suzeveringham.bsky.social · Aug 18

Reposted by Belinda E. Medlyn

Belinda Medlyn @bmedlyn.bsky.social · Nov 2

Oceania Ecological Forecasting Initiative seminar this afternoon 3pm AEDT!
Nick Clark, UQ will speak on "Ecological forecasting with Dynamic Generalized Additive Models"
ecoforecast.org/oceania-ecol...

Reposted by Belinda E. Medlyn

Erle Ellis @erleellis.bsky.social · Feb 10

Indigenous pyrodiversity promotes plant diversity 🌏🧪
doi.org/10.1016/j.bi...

Reposted by Belinda E. Medlyn

Benjamin Mills @bjwmills.bsky.social · Mar 5

Great to collaborate on another brilliant ECR-led paper on vegetation-carbon-climate dynamics over deep time!

@julrogger.bsky.social et al. propose that the thermal adaption capacity of plants is an important carbon cycle feedback.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Reposted by Belinda E. Medlyn, Olivier Jean Leonce Manzi

Arthur Gessler @arthurobuntspecht.bsky.social · Nov 12

Linking source-sink relationships and phenology: Internal physiological drivers of leaf development in trees: Understanding the relationship between non‐structural carbohydrates and leaf phenology

Internal physiological drivers of leaf development in trees: Understanding the relationship between non‐structural carbohydrates and leaf phenology

Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Reposted by Belinda E. Medlyn

Johan van den Hoogen @johanvdhoogen.bsky.social · Nov 17

My first post here!

In our latest paper we observe wood densities ranging from 0.16g/cc (lighter than styrofoam!) to 1.48g/cc (heavier than some sedimentary rock!) 😮

Globally, wood in tropical forests is up to 30% denser than in boreal forests
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The global distribution and drivers of wood density and their impact on forest carbon stocks - Nature Ecology & Evolution

Wood density is an important plant trait. Data from 1.1 million forest inventory plots and 10,703 tree species show a latitudinal gradient in wood density, with temperature and soil moisture explainin...

www.nature.com

Reposted by Belinda E. Medlyn

Dryland Plant Ecophysiology Lab @hultinelab.bsky.social · Nov 18

Check out this recent paper by Dr. Jaclyn Corbin et al. in Plant, Cell and Environment showing how leaf reflectance can predict interactive genetic and environmental effects on tree phenotypes: doi.org/10.1111/pce....

#OpenAccess #PlantBiology #Botany

Reposted by Belinda E. Medlyn

Markus Eichhorn @markuseichhorn.bsky.social · Nov 19

Global patterns of stand-replacing disturbances in forests. The data covers all regions and forested biomes. This is an amazing piece of work! 🌏🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Landscape patterns in stand-replacing disturbances across the world’s forests - Nature Sustainability

Forests are subject to natural and human-induced disturbances, which can be important in shaping their form and function. In this study, the authors examine the landscape patterns of global forest dis...

www.nature.com

Reposted by Belinda E. Medlyn

GrumpyUncleSean🔥 @grumpyunclesean.bsky.social · Dec 10

New paper by Alina Cansler and colleagues:
"Drought before fire increases tree mortality after fire".

I ❤️ results-oriented titles!

#Wildfire 🔥🌏🧪

Drought before fire increases tree mortality after fire

Fire and drought are expected to increase in frequency and severity in temperate forests due to climate change. To evaluate whether drought increases the likelihood of post-fire tree mortality, we us...

esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Reposted by Belinda E. Medlyn, Li Yang

ecohydroloy-wang.bsky.social @ecohydroloy-wang.bsky.social · Dec 13

Excited to share our new #Nature article published yesterday. It showed that rainfall variability is almost as important as total annual rainfall amount in determining global vegetation dynamics.

Led by Feldman, with Konings, Gentine, Cattry, Smith, Biederman, Chatterjee, Joiner & Poulter

Reposted by Belinda E. Medlyn, John W. Morgan, James Camac

Iris Hickman @iris-hickman.bsky.social · Jan 13

Excited to share that our paper on alpine vegetation dynamics on Australian mountain summits is out now! 🏔️ Huge thanks to coauthors @jwmorganecology.bsky.social, @susannavenn.bsky.social, and @jcamac.bsky.social

Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research @aaarjournal.bsky.social · Jan 10

#Newarticle Hickman et al.’s long-term study finds that alpine summit vegetation responds multi-directionally to different, co-occurring drivers, with outcomes contingent on life history characteristics: doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2024.2429864

Long-term alpine summit vegetation cover change: Divergent trajectories driven by climate warming and fire

Alpine summit vegetation, the highest point of species geographical distributions, is vulnerable to climate change (thermal niche contraction), and there is evidence of change in Northern Hemispher...

doi.org

Reposted by Belinda E. Medlyn

Christiane Werner @chriswernerlab.bsky.social · Jan 22

Great paper by @Jesse Radolinksy, Michael Bahn and our colleagues showing how important changes in soil water mixing are: Drought in a warmer, CO2-rich climate restricts grassland water use and soil water mixing | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Drought in a warmer, CO2-rich climate restricts grassland water use and soil water mixing

Soil water sustains terrestrial life, yet its fate is uncertain under a changing climate. We conducted a deuterium labeling experiment to determine whether elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), w...

Add to Home Screen

Light up
your news

Add to Home Screen

Light upyour news

Sign in to Lightnews

Sign up to start reading

Connect Bluesky

Connect with Bluesky

Light up
your news