Dr. Dirk N. Karger
banner
dirknkarger.bsky.social
Dr. Dirk N. Karger
@dirknkarger.bsky.social

Scientist bridging #Climate and #Biodiversity...

Environmental science 60%
Geography 17%
🌿Fieldwork in the #Yasuni National Park, #Ecuador.🦜
Our researchers are studying the structural and functional properties of #rainforests to better understand and define #biomes.🌳🔎
A breathtaking sunrise with a view of the #Antisana volcano on the road from Quito to Yasuní National Park.☀️🌋
The BIOME team explored the high-altitude city of #Quito (2,850 m) before heading deep into the Amazon rainforest for fieldwork. 🌳🌿
MeteoSchweiz, die @ethz.ch​ und C2SM präsentieren die neuen Schweizer Klimaszenarien.

Diese zeigen, wie sich das Schweizer Klima verändert, wenn die globale Mitteltemperatur z.B. um 3 Grad steigt.

#klimaszenarien #meteoschweiz #ETH #C2SM #NCCS
Die Schweizer Klimaszenarien 2025
MeteoSchweiz stellt in Zusammenarbeit mit der ETH Zürich und C2SM unter dem Dach des National Centre for Climate Services (NCCS) die neusten Erkenntnisse zum...
www.youtube.com
🌎 Our BIOME project team has just begun a 3.5-week research expedition in Ecuador! 🇪🇨 They’ll be conducting fieldwork across diverse landscapes to study how biomes have evolved and how to define them. 🔎🌿🏔️ Stay tuned for field updates! ✨
👉BIOME project: shorturl.at/RLQPw
New research reveals how to better monitor tree #drought #stress! We combined remote sensing data (greenness & photoprotection indicators) with leaf water potential measurements to track drought impacts across different tree species.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Deciphering tree drought responses across species: linking leaf water potentials with remote sensing greenness and photoprotection dynamics
Monitoring forest drought stress requires indicators that capture tree water relations across species and scales. Remote sensing enables large-scale a…
www.sciencedirect.com
🔊 New paper: first integration of population genetics🧬 and dynamic species distribution modeling🌐 using #KISSMig to reconstruct postglacial dynamics of wild black pepper, endemic to India’s Western Ghats. #macroecology #popgen #phylogeography #biogeography

👉 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Holy shit. I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say they’re trying to kill us all.

“The Environmental Protection Agency plans to eliminate its scientific research arm, firing as many as 1,155 chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other scientists”
Trump Administration Aims to Eliminate E.P.A.’s Scientific Research Arm (Gift Article)
More than 1,000 chemists, biologists and other scientists could be laid off under a plan to dismantle the Office of Research and Development.
www.nytimes.com
At WSL @wslresearch.bsky.social we are hiring a "Postdoc in Regional Climate Downscaling" for a forest/climate project in Armenia funded by the Swiss Development Cooperation (DEZA).
📍 Switzerland | 🕐 1.5 yrs | 📅 Start: Spring 2025
Details: apply.refline.ch/273855/1727/...
Please share widely.
@clechartre.bsky.social reimplemented #BIOME4 into a modular, high-performance #Julia version, enabling 1 km vegetation modeling 🌱 and integration of #CHELSA climate datasets. 🌦️ We can now simulate biome patterns across complex terrains ⛰️ and define biome boundaries with greater accuracy. 🎯
Hiring/Seeking a *permanent* programmer in ecological modelling at my lab @unibonn.bsky.social. We mechanistically model plant communities, island biogeography, species range dynamics, eco-evolutionary feedbacks, diversity gradients, tropical forests, vascular epiphytes. Pls rt! shorturl.at/Bzzdt
Programmer in Ecological Modelling
Full-time, permanent, EG 10, Reference number: 2025/72
shorturl.at
📢 BiodivClim Comics are here!
To mark the end of the BiodivClim programme, we've teamed up with @tnoc.bsky.social‬ to turn science into stories. Explore:
🌊 Tides of Change
🌾 The Wheat Code
🌲 The Forest of Forgotten Futures

📖 www.biodiversa.eu/2025/06/09/b...

Reposted by Arthur Geßler

Earlier this year, Chen et al. @science.org showed that droughts are intensifying globally, with warming. www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.ado4245,
Now, Gebrechorkos et al. @nature.com confirms the same findings. Very important work, but not wholly novel doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Warming accelerates global drought severity - Nature
Increased atmospheric evaporative demand in recent years has increased drought severity by an average of 40% globally across both dry and wet regions, and the trend is likely to continue under future ...
doi.org

However, the framing in Gebrechorkos et al. presents this as new, but conclusions are nearly identical. Is this a problem? Maybe yes, maybe no? But given that @nature.com always claims novelty, this should be at least discussed.

Both Chen et al. (Science, 01.2025) and Gebrechorkos et al. (Nature, 06.2025) report similar trends, e.g. that droughts are intensifying globally, driven by warming, and affecting larger areas.

Supprisingly, no citation of Chen et al. 2025. While this might be a simple oversight, but when conclusions and methods overlap this much in an @nature.com article, such silence risks misleading readers about what’s truly novel.
🌳🐝 #Sciencejob Alert! 🪲🌻Auf der Suche nach einem Job in der Schnittstelle zwischen #Forschung und Praxis? Das Synthesezentrum Biodiversität der #WSL sucht per 1. Juli 25 eine #wissenschaftlicheAssistenz #Biodiversität und #Naturschutzbiologie: apply.refline.ch/273855/1739/...
🌿 What makes plants in tropical ecosystems so unique & remarkably adapted to their environment? 🌸✨
We explored this question during a visit to the Botanical Garden in Zurich, guided by our group member dirknkarger.bsky.social‬ — a fantastic opportunity to observe tropical plant traits up close. 🔎🌱
Metal derived from mining are causing widespread effects in the biodiversity. Check our new preprint on the species exposure to metal in the Amazon. More than 65% of all species are exposed to metal contamination, even in remote area.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

@fabrovillalobos.bsky.social
Amazon biodiversity is at risk from metal contamination due to mining activity
The Amazon basin hosts the most biodiverse and intact ecosystems on Earth, yet human activities are an increasing threat. Metal contamination due to mining constitutes one of these major threats, but ...
www.biorxiv.org
🍁🌷🌼Interessiert an Tipps zur KI-basierten Pflanzenbestimmung mit FlorApp/FlorID der neuen Bestimmungstool für die #Flora der #Schweiz?🥀🌳

👉Dann melde dich an am "Festival der Natur"!

shorturl.at/1fEEv
festivaldernatur.ch

#Natur #Biodiversität #FestivalderNatur #PflanzenBestimmen
Sicher bestimmen im Feld – mit KI zur Zweitmeinung
Schwierig zu bestimmende Pflanzen? Da hilft ein unabhängiger Blick. Das neue Tool FlorID der WSL bietet genau das: eine verlässliche Zweitmeinung – direkt im Feld. FlorID nutzt KI der neuesten Genera...
shorturl.at
Will you live an unprecedented life?

In our new paper in @nature.com and accompanying @savethechildren.org report, we detect who will face unprecedented lifetime exposure to climate extremes (🧵) 1/n
Report: resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/document/bor...
Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Born into the Climate Crisis 2. An unprecedented life: Protecting children’s rights in a changing climate | Save the Children’s Resource Centre
The climate crisis is not a distant threat; it is a pressing reality that children are facing today. Despite having contributed the least to the climate crisis, the inherent intergenerational injustic...
resourcecentre.savethechildren.net
Die Geschichte dazu hier:

Zappa, M., Karger, D. N., & Hüsler, F. (2025). EXtreme Trockenheit in der Schweiz: Regionale und lokale Perspektiven einer globalen Herausforderung. In A. Björnsen (Ed.), WSL Berichte: Vol. 164. Extremes (pp. 13-21). doi.org/10.55419/wsl...
EXtreme Trockenheit in der Schweiz: Regionale und lokale Perspektiven einer globalen Herausforderung | DORA WSL
doi.org
8. Mai 2025 11:00

drought.ch ist nun vollständig umgesetzt.

2010: Beginn der Forschungsarbeiten
2013: Forschungsplattform geht Online
Mai 2022: Der Bund will vor #Trockenheit warnen
Mai 2025: Der Bund warnt vor Trockenheit

auf drought.ch werdet ihr nun auf die Seite des Bundes umgeleitet.
🔉Version 2.0 of our #KISSMig #Rstats package for #SpeciesMigration modeling is now live on #CRAN. 🎉 Together with Dominik Landolt we boosted performance by implementing parallel computing—making this simple dynamic #SDM faster than ever. Learn more about KISSMig here 👉 purl.oclc.org/wsl/kissmig
Mountain species are at risk of extinction as global temperatures rise—but how these risks will manifest remains unclear. 🌱🏔️ Bert Wuyts's research sheds light on this by exploring how habitats become fragmented & isolated as populations shift to higher elevations. He presented his results at #EGU25.

For early career researchers who had their funding cut in the US: Consider coming to Switzerland and integrate future climate change scenarios with developmental work! #climatejobs, @climate.noaa.gov , @noaa.gov, @altusaid.altgov.info
In August 2020, Konrad "Koni" Steffen tragically disappeared on the ice of Greenland.💔 A documentary at Kino Frame in Zürich offers an intimate tribute to Koni, revealing the brilliant scientist and the warm, thoughtful human being. 👉 frame.ch/de/movies/334 @wslresearch.bsky.social
Der Eismann | Frame
Das Frame ist das Haus für kulturelle Begegnungen mit einzigartiger Lage an der Europaallee und das «Home of Zurich Film Festival». Das Kino gegenüber dem 25Hours Hotel bietet das ganze Jahr über ei...
frame.ch
BREAKING from @science.org: The Trump admin is seeking to kill nearly all climate research at NOAA, its climate science agency.

Its near-final budget proposal would end all NOAA research labs, academic institutes, and regional climate centers. And it wants to fully end the NOAA Research division.
Trump seeks to end climate research at premier U.S. climate agency
White House aims to end NOAA’s research office; NASA also targeted
www.science.org