Darío Martin‐Benito

Dario Martin-Benito

@dendroecologist.bsky.social

1.5K followers 390 following 77 posts

Functional Ecology of Forests and Trees, and dendroecology @csic.es @INIA_es Madrid 🇪🇺
dmartinbenito.wordpress.com
@BeetleBark in the X Bird site for now

Videos

Environmental science 61%

Geography 20%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Darío Martin‐Benito

Francisco Rodriguez-Sanchez @frodsan.bsky.social · 3d

Interesting new #ecopubs @pnas.org

Seed production failures are more spatially synchronized than mast peaks across temperate tree species

But local synchrony among species is low, so generalist seed consumers unlikely to experience coordinated starvation–satiation

doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

Geography of masting creates greater synchrony in seed scarcity than in seed abundance

Interannually highly variable and synchronized production of large seed crops by perennial plants, called masting, drives resource pulses and famines with cascading effects on food webs. While the spatial scale of masting synchrony is well documented, it remains unclear how synchrony differs between years of seed abundance and failure, and how such dynamics extend across species and space. These gaps are important to resolve, as they determine the magnitude and spatial extent of masting effects on food webs. Using a 36-y dataset from 431 sites spanning seven dominant tree species in temperate Europe, we provide evidence that seed failures are more spatially synchronized than mast peaks, indicating that regional coherence in seed production is structured primarily by reproductive failure. Among-species synchrony was localized. This suggests that in temperate forests, mobile seed consumers are unlikely to experience coordinated starvation–satiation cycles, in contrast to highly synchronous tropical dipterocarp systems. From an applied perspective, failure years affect seed availability over broad regions, limiting sourcing options for afforestation and restoration, and underscoring the value of spatially explicit masting forecasting. Because mast peaks and failures differ fundamentally in their food web consequences, our findings highlight the need to better understand and anticipate the ecological impacts of synchronized seed scarcity.

Reposted by Antonio J. Pérez‐Luque

Dario Martin-Benito @dendroecologist.bsky.social · 3d

Today, we had to do some necessary winter maintenance at one of our forest monitoring sites in central Spain. It was great to see some snow there (compared to most recent years)

Reposted by Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Darío Martin‐Benito, Karl Andraczek

Florian Schnabel @mixedforests.bsky.social · 3d

Just before the Xmas break🎉

In @journalofecology.bsky.social and led by Anvar Sanaei, we provide insight into #trait coordination across 90 common and future European #tree species👇

doi.org/10.1111/1365...

@agwirthweigelt.bsky.social @unileipzig.bsky.social @uni-freiburg.de

Above‐ and below‐ground trait coordination across 90 angiosperm and gymnosperm tree species in a common garden experiment

This research highlights the significance of elucidating the mechanisms behind above-and below-ground organs. The varying trait coordination across clades indicates different resource acquisition str...

doi.org

Reposted by Darío Martin‐Benito

CREAF @creaf.cat · 3d

¿Cómo puede algo tan pequeño como un hongo... cuidar algo tan grande como un #bosque? 🍄🌲

Los #hongos del suelo son clave✅: alimentan árboles, regulan nutrientes y ayudan a resistir #sequías.

¡Nuestra investigadora @terefigimeno.bsky.social te lo cuenta en este vídeo!🤩▶️

Reposted by Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Darío Martin‐Benito

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory @lamont.columbia.edu · 5d

At #AGU25, tree ring scientist Caroline Leland of LDEO shared her research on dshared research on climate sensitivity of wood from Siberian Pine and Larch in North-central Mongolia to improve or build upon reconstructions of long-term climate. ➡️ Lamont at AGU25: https://lamont.columbia.edu/agu25

Caroline Leland at AGU: Temperature Signals of Siberian Pine and Larch in North-central Mongolia

YouTube video by Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory

youtube.com

Reposted by Julie L. Lockwood, Darío Martin‐Benito, Katherine Sinacore

Shersingh Joseph Tumber-Dávila @josephtumber.bsky.social · 5d

Recruiting a postdoc through Dartmouth's Society of Fellows Program co-mentored with Michael Cox with specialization in forest carbon dynamics, climate policy, and nature-based solutions

Apply by January 4th!
apply.interfolio.com/176741

🌳🌎🧪

Reposted by Antonio J. Pérez‐Luque, Darío Martin‐Benito, Antoine Cabon

New Phytologist @newphyt.bsky.social · 6d

#TansleyInsight | Distal to proximal: a continuum of drivers shaping tree growth and carbon partitioning

@acabon.bsky.social 👇

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

#LatestIssue #PlantScience #TansleyMedal

Fig. 3 Resource (here C and water) uptake, transport, and consumption shape resource distribution along the leaf-to-root axis, influencing C partitioning and plant functional traits under changing environmental conditions.

Reposted by Catherine J. Frieman, Darío Martin‐Benito

Angelo Iulianella @aineurolab.bsky.social · 6d

As 2025 comes to a close, my university (Dalhousie U in Halifax, Canada) is recruiting faculty, including outstanding early career researchers, and Canada Research Chairs. Applications are due January 19 2026 (was just notified today!). Please repost.

Dalhousie University is recruiting up to 30 tenure and tenure-track faculty positions

Backed by the Government of Canada’s $1.7 billion Global Impact+ Research Talent Initiative, Dalhousie University is undertaking one of the most ambitious research-leader recruitment efforts in its hi...

www.dal.ca

Reposted by Darío Martin‐Benito

New Phytologist @newphyt.bsky.social · 7d

'It still amazes me that invisible overlooked organisms under our feet can influence plant biology, community diversity and biogeography.'

In Profile: 2025 New Phytologist #TansleyMedal winner @camilledelavaux.bsky.social 👇

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

#LatestIssue #PlantScience

Reposted by Darío Martin‐Benito

Antonio J. Pérez-Luque @ajpelu.bsky.social · 10d

5/5 This work was done during a #postdoctoral fellowship at #ICIFOR @csic.es with G.Gea, @dendroecologist.bsky.social and R. Zamora (@universidadgranada.bsky.social)

For a plain-summary language visit appliedecologistsblog.com/2025/12/15/h... from @jappliedecology.bsky.social

How climate change affects carbon storage in Mediterranean pine forests

Reforestation is widely promoted as a way to mitigate climate change by capturing carbon from the atmosphere. However, its real success depends on how trees invest (allocate) the carbon they captur…

appliedecologistsblog.com

Reposted by Tommaso Jucker, Darío Martin‐Benito, Julen Astigarraga

Antonio J. Pérez-Luque @ajpelu.bsky.social · 10d

🧵 1/5 New paper out at @jappliedecology.bsky.social

We evaluate how #carbon allocation strategies determine the long-term carbon sink potential of large-scale pine reforestations under climate change. We combined #RemoteSensing and #dendrochronological plots

doi.org/10.1111/1365...

Reposted by Darío Martin‐Benito

The Torrey Botanical Society @torreybotanical.bsky.social · 14d

Applications for TBS #grants are currently open - we have grants for undergrads and grad students alike to fund #research and costs associated with training, workshops and symposia! Applications are due by Jan 15 - apply here: www.torreybotanical.org/grants-awards/

🧪🌎🌿🍄🌾 #botany

Reposted by Yadvinder Malhi, Darío Martin‐Benito

Reposted by Neil Pederson, Antonio J. Pérez‐Luque

Dario Martin-Benito @dendroecologist.bsky.social · 15d

In Mediterranean pine reforestation, trees acclimate to warming and drought by shifting carbon below ground aka optimal partitioning theory. New paper @jappliedecology.bsky.social lead by @ajpelu.bsky.social using #RemoteSensing and #dendroecology doi.org/10.1111/1365...

Reposted by Neil Pederson, Darío Martin‐Benito

Kevin Anchukaitis @thirstygecko.bsky.social · 16d

Very cool work by Bryan Black here at the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research establishing the exact date of the Electron Mudflow in the Puget Sound metropolitan area: 'Forest-floor burial in 1507 by the largest Mount Rainier lahar of the past millennium'
doi.org/10.1130/G537...

Forest-floor burial in 1507 by the largest Mount Rainier lahar of the past millennium | Geology | GeoScienceWorld

New dating of lahar-killed trees underscores volcano hazards in the Puget Sound metropolitan area. Beginning as a landslide from the west flank of Mount

doi.org

Reposted by Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Neil Pederson, Brian J. Harvey , and 9 more Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Neil Pederson, Brian J. Harvey, Tommaso Jucker, Emilio Vilanova, Andrew Hacket‐Pain, Darío Martin‐Benito, Joan Dudney, Alba Anadon‐Rosell, Nezha Acil, Gerhard Schmied, Marco Patacca

Rupert Seidl @rupertseidl.bsky.social · 16d

Calling on all forest disturbance experts: Please consider contributing to our study on global forest disturbance change, and help resolve the nuances of changing forest disturbance regimes. More details and survey here: www.lss.ls.tum.de/edfm/disturb...

Reposted by Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Martin Ehbrecht, Darío Martin‐Benito , and 1 more Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Martin Ehbrecht, Darío Martin‐Benito, Kali Middleby

Arthur Gessler @arthurobuntspecht.bsky.social · 21d

We found that when temps hit 30°C+, C3 plants start struggling - their carbon metabolism gets disrupted, they burn through sugar stores faster, and even their isotope signatures change.
Meanwhile C4 plants? They're basically chilling like "this is fine" 😎

www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Hot and Hungry - High temperatures induce changes in leaf carbon dynamics and sugar isotope fingerprints - npj Science of Plants

npj Science of Plants - Hot and Hungry - High temperatures induce changes in leaf carbon dynamics and sugar isotope fingerprints

www.nature.com

Reposted by Darío Martin‐Benito

Tim Osborn @timosbornclim.bsky.social · 25d

Would you like to join UEA's new Fellowship Academy? Talented researchers who join the UEA academy will receive mentoring to help write strong fellowship applications, and successful fellowships will lead to a permanent academic post.

www.nature.com/naturecareer...

Independent Research Fellowships - University of East Anglia, Norwich, England job with University of East Anglia | 12848935

As part of our new Fellowship Academy, we are inviting expressions of interest from outstanding researchers

www.nature.com

Reposted by Darío Martin‐Benito

Antonio J. Pérez-Luque @ajpelu.bsky.social · Nov 24

mappestRisk is on CRAN!
ecologyr.github.io/mappestRisk/
It helps to create pest-risk maps based on experimental thermal biology data of crop-pest species. See bsky.app/profile/dari...

Happy to be part of this collaborative project @dario-ssm.bsky.social @frodsan.bsky.social
@ambarbosa.bsky.social

Reposted by Emilio Vilanova, Darío Martin‐Benito

Shersingh Joseph Tumber-Dávila @josephtumber.bsky.social · Nov 24

QUESTION: @evilanova.bsky.social and I were discussing resources for finding root:shoot ratios (belowground biomass, root biomass, etc) for global forests / ecoregions

And really doesn't feel like there has been much progress in this

Any suggestions for where to look!??
🧪🌎🌳🍁

Reposted by Juan Rocha, Antonio J. Pérez‐Luque, Darío Martin‐Benito , and 1 more Juan Rocha, Antonio J. Pérez‐Luque, Darío Martin‐Benito, Julen Astigarraga

Francisco Rodriguez-Sanchez @frodsan.bsky.social · Nov 20

Two years ago we got together in a beautiful mountain to learn and develop #rstats packages for ecology

After {labeleR} (ecologyr.github.io/labeleR/) and {BlueCarbon} (ecologyr.github.io/BlueCarbon/), {mappestRisk} is now officially out! See thread by lead author @dario-ssm.bsky.social 👇

Collaborative development of R packages for ecology https://ecologyr.github.io/workshop/

Reposted by Darío Martin‐Benito, Julen Astigarraga

Antonio J. Pérez-Luque @ajpelu.bsky.social · Nov 19

Team-paper out!
G. Gea led this multidisciplinary study on 2 Mediterranean pines in drought-driven decline. Despite long-term stress, trees still activate strong metabolic defenses under hotter drought. @dendroecologist.bsky.social et al.
@funecology.bsky.social bsky.app/profile/fune...

Functional Ecology @funecology.bsky.social · Nov 18

📰Published📰An active metabolic response in trees with constrained physiology characterizes pine forest decline under climate change🌲

buff.ly/YfoM0Db

🧪🌍

An active metabolic response in trees with constrained physiology characterizespine forest decline under climate change

Guillermo Gea-Izquierdo, María B. Fernández de Simón, David Sánchez-Gómez, Dario Martin-Benito, Antonio J. Pérez-Luque, Iria Muiño, Ismael Aranda This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ec…

buff.ly

Reposted by Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Neil Pederson, Sabina Burrascano , and 1 more Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Neil Pederson, Sabina Burrascano, Darío Martin‐Benito

WSL Umweltforschung @wslresearch.bsky.social · Nov 19

🌳💧📊 #PhDAlert! MSc in #ForestEcology or #EnvironmentalSciences? Excellent analytical and statistical skills in time-series analysis and experience with #treering methods🪵? We offer a #PhD position in #Dendroecology: apply.refline.ch/273855/1795/... #dendrosciences #ecology #ScienceJobs

Job offer: PhD in Dendroecology (f/m/d)
You will be part of a project aiming to empirically disentangle atmospheric vs. soil drought impacts on intra- and inter-annual wood formation, and mechanistically model drought constraints on intra- and inter-annual tree growth dynamics (https://www.wsl.ch/en/projects/sad-tree) based on a unique monitoring network of 44 forest sites in Switzerland spanning 10 years of soil moisture and atmospheric climate data. In this context, you will contribute to the establishment and analysis of intra- and inter-annual time series of tree growth based on dendrometer, tree rings, and quantitative wood anatomy (QWA).

You will be responsible for establishing improved empirical relationships of tree growth-environment interactions based on the long-term integrative Soil-Plant-Atmosphere-Continuum dataset (tree & stand traits, physical environment), analyzing: intra-annual water- and growth-related stem radius changes from dendrometer measurements, early-season wood anatomy related to water transport and rehydration, and long-term drought effects on growth using tree-ring widths.

You have a Master's degree in forest ecology, environmental sciences, or equivalent. You should have excellent analytical and statistical skills in time-series analysis, preferably in dendrosciences and/or tree physiology. Ideally, you are proficient in programming and handling of large datasets, and have experience with tree-ring methods. You are able to efficiently expand and acquire knowledge in topics relevant to the project. You have a proficient command of written and spoken English, are able to work in a structured, efficient and independent manner, and have a high level of team spirit and have good communication skills.

Reposted by Antonio J. Pérez‐Luque, Xavier Serra‐Maluquer

Dario Martin-Benito @dendroecologist.bsky.social · Nov 18

We have a new paper out in @funecology.bsky.social
‬"High metabolic sensitivity to hot drought in two declining pine species with constrained physiology" besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Reposted by Darío Martin‐Benito

Voices of Wentworth @voicesofwentworth.bsky.social · Nov 18

CSIRO cutting another 350 research roles to save costs “Guardian Australia understands the research areas affected by the latest round of job losses will include the health and biosecurity, agriculture and food and environment research units.”

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
#auspol

‘Sad day for publicly funded science’: up to 350 more jobs to go at CSIRO

Australia’s national scientific agency announces more research job losses as it looks for budgetary savings

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Tommaso Jucker, Darío Martin‐Benito

Milan Chytrý @milanchytry.bsky.social · Nov 14

Temperate deciduous forests are found in three global regions. We compared taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of forest plant communities among these regions in a new Ecography article led by Javier Loidi and Josep Padullés Cubino:
doi.org/10.1002/ecog...
@ecography.bsky.social

Reposted by Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Jakob Zscheischler, Pieter A. Zuidema , and 7 more Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Jakob Zscheischler, Pieter A. Zuidema, Paul Lehmann, Dominik Wiedenhofer, Guy Pe’er, Antonio J. Pérez‐Luque, Darío Martin‐Benito, Billur Bektaş, Benjamin Wildermuth

Florian Hartig @florianhartig.bsky.social · Nov 13

We are hiring: 4 PhD Positions in Ecology / Data Science and one Ecological Data Scientist. For more information, see www.uni-regensburg.de/universitaet...

We are hiring: 4 PhD Positions in Ecology / Data Science and one Ecological Data Scientist

We are looking for 4 PhD Positions and one Scientific Programmer / Ecological Data Scientist to join the AG Hartig (Theoretical Ecology)

www.uni-regensburg.de

Dario Martin-Benito @dendroecologist.bsky.social · Nov 12

Thanks Joe for the invitation and for being such a great host. We really enjoyed visiting and talking to your class. And the beautiful weather

Reposted by Barrett, Darío Martin‐Benito

Gavin Simpson @gsimpson.bsky.social · Nov 12

A new release of the mgcv #RStats 📦 is out on CRAN and Simon Wood (U Edinburgh) has added some significant new features despite the small bump in version number:

🌟 scasm() for estimating GAMs with shape constrained smooths. Can be used with any family & smoothness selection is via the EFS method

Model is:

b3 <- scasm(
y ~ s(x0, bs = "bs", k= k) + s(x1, bs = "sc", xt = "m+", k = k) +
s(x2, bs = "bs", k = k) + s(x3, bs = "bs", k = k),
family=poisson, bs=200
)

The second smooth `s(x1) is a shape constrained smooth with a positive monotonicity constraint (xt = "m+").

The `bs = 200` arguments uses 200 boostrap samples, which generates bootstrap distributions for each coefficient in the model. These bootstrap samples respect the shape constraints, while the usual +/- 2 SE credible intervals may not.

The uncertainty in the partial effects is shown by two credible interval bands; a dark blue central band is a 68% Bayesian credible interval, while the lighter blue outer interval is a 95% Bayesian credible interval.

The background of each panel is light grey with white grid lines, in a similar style to ggplot2's default theme.

Reposted by Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Julie L. Lockwood, Stephen D. Murphy , and 1 more Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Julie L. Lockwood, Stephen D. Murphy, Darío Martin‐Benito

Shersingh Joseph Tumber-Dávila @josephtumber.bsky.social · Nov 6

Looking for a postdoc with a specialization in forest carbon dynamics, climate policy, and nature-based solutions.
The fellow will work at the intersection of forest ecology and environmental policy, investigating the effectiveness of forest carbon offset programs

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