Graeme S. Cumming | Lightnews

Graeme Cumming

@gscumming.bsky.social

5.5K followers 1.4K following 320 posts

Ecologist of the frontiers... Prof at University of Western Australia & posting on ecology, conservation, academic life.

Videos

Environmental science 60%

Geography 15%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Graeme S. Cumming, Stephen D. Murphy

Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · 18h

"The Southern Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia is becoming less salty at an astonishing rate, largely due to #climate change, new research shows."

One of the saltiest parts of the ocean is getting fresher

Off the west coast of Australia, some seawater has lost nearly a third of its salty area in recent decades, as climate change-related current shifts push more

www.colorado.edu

Reposted by Graeme S. Cumming, Pol Capdevila

Dr Chris Clements @expecocons.bsky.social · 2d

Great to see the new paper being picked up in the press

phys.org/news/2026-02...

Reposted by Graeme S. Cumming

Simon J. Brandl @gobyone.bsky.social · 4d

Weak trophic position–body mass relationships undermine simple size-spectrum models for coral reefs 🦑🧪

royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...

Graeme Cumming @gscumming.bsky.social · 5d

Ecology is definitely to blame for resilience. But I don’t know where transformation originated… Is it embedded in any social science? Ecologists don’t really use it outside SES circles.

Graeme Cumming @gscumming.bsky.social · 5d

Exactly. Confusion also comes from mixing scales and levels of analysis. So you can in theory be more resilient at one level while transforming something else (less important for identity) at a lower level. e.g., transform water management (lower level) in order to remain an irrigation farmer.

Graeme Cumming @gscumming.bsky.social · 5d

I find a lot of the published thinking/terminology very confused and inconsistent. The problem IMO started when a leading group of resilience scholars wanted to include transformation as a form of resilience while also continuing usage of resilience as a return to equilibrium.

Graeme Cumming @gscumming.bsky.social · 5d

I would say that adaptation means keeping your identity, while transformation means losing it. So these terms are both problematic.

Reposted by Graeme S. Cumming

Diversity and Distributions @consbiog.bsky.social · 5d

🦜 Can we map #bird communities, not just species? Using 50 years of #CitizenScience data, this new study defines 29 distinct bird communities across #Australia, providing a new continental framework to assess community condition and track change over time.

🔗 doi.org/10.1111/ddi....

Reposted by Graeme S. Cumming

Menestune @menestune.bsky.social · 5d

This is a throng of yellow tangs hanging out together just a few feet from the ocean shore.

#fish #nature #photography #marinelife #love #yellow #maui #hawaii #bluesky #goodnight #peace #nokings #vacay

Green ocean wave you can see through with a few dozen yellow tang fish swimming just under the surface.

Reposted by Graeme S. Cumming, Trevor A. Branch

William Barnacle @urchinartdesigns.bsky.social · 7d

That's a Giant Kelp holdfast or base clinging to rocks on a shallow part of a reef. The mass migration of urchins seeking food is called an "urchin stampede". The holdfast is only a fraction of the mass of a kelp stand so this behavior is very destructive. This happens when their predators are gone.

Reposted by Graeme S. Cumming, Simon Roux

ron-kichurchak.bsky.social @ron-kichurchak.bsky.social · 8d

McCoy's elf skink from northeastern Australia. Look at those stubby little arms, likely an adaptation to its burrowing lifestyle.

Graeme Cumming @gscumming.bsky.social · 8d

Swim bladder problems? Fish do this when swim bladder is infected or damaged.

Graeme Cumming @gscumming.bsky.social · 9d

ah the joys of evolution... this is the kind of beast that got me hooked on biology 🤩

Doug Aoki @nantanreikan.bsky.social · 9d

Barreleye fish.

Reposted by Graeme S. Cumming

Doug Aoki @nantanreikan.bsky.social · 9d

Barreleye fish.

Reposted by Graeme S. Cumming, Juan Rocha

Ricard Solé @ricardsole.bsky.social · 9d

What causes tipping points in complex microbial ecosystems? Check this @pnas.org paper by @thilogross.bsky.social showing that cross-feeding networks create strong interdependencies & small structural changes can trigger abrupt collapses. @akhilesh-nandan.bsky.social www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10....

Graeme Cumming @gscumming.bsky.social · 11d

Sugarloaf Rock in WA is a secure breeding spot for locally endangered red-tailed tropicbirds.

Graeme Cumming @gscumming.bsky.social · 11d

One thing about Australia is it has incredible public infrastructure. This is at sugarloaf rock, near Cape Naturaliste in WA.

Picture shows a bright orange lifesaving ring fastened to a rock in a remote spot

Reposted by Graeme S. Cumming

Nature Communications @natcomms.nature.com · 11d

New study uses #satellite records and shows that #SouthernOcean #phytoplankton responds in contrasting ways to marine #heatwaves and #cold spells. The impacts vary sharply by region, exposing distinct #ecological sensitivity to #climate -driven extremes. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Extreme temperature events reshuffle the ecological landscape of the Southern Ocean - Nature Communications

Satellite records reveal that Southern Ocean phytoplankton responds in contrasting ways to marine heatwaves and cold spells. These opposing impacts vary sharply by region, exposing distinct ecological...

www.nature.com

Reposted by Graeme S. Cumming

Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 11d

The Hallucigenia of sharks.

Royal Ontario Museum @romtoronto.bsky.social · 11d

The Helicoprion puzzled scientists for years, who couldn't figure out where to place its spiral-shaped jaw loaded with teeth.

Dr. Nathan Lujan (Curator of Fishes) @potamophile.bsky.social sheds some light on this mysterious, extinct shark. Learn more at Sharks, on now through March 22!

Reposted by Graeme S. Cumming

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 15d

Marine protected areas aren’t in the right places to safeguard dolphins and whales in the South Atlantic

Despite Brazil’s recent expansions of protected areas, research shows that the favorite habitats of whales and dolphins are still threatened by human activities.

theconversation.com

Reposted by Graeme S. Cumming

c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 16d

It's hard to grasp how large this grouper is until you see it in comparison to the ship's toilet on the left.

This appears to be an Atlantic goliath grouper or 'itajara' (Epinephelus itajara). They can reach 800 lbs (350 kg) & 8 feet long (2.5 m)

Let's talk about these gentle giants.

Graeme Cumming @gscumming.bsky.social · 17d

And no Octopus is not Orlando’s little brother, sorry

Graeme Cumming @gscumming.bsky.social · 17d

Nice example of how ecological variability doesn’t play nicely with human economic systems. Climate change will increase this variability further.

The Marine Biological Association @thembauk.bsky.social · 18d

Octopus numbers exploded around the UK’s south-west coast in 2025 – a new report explores this rare phenomenon

Great write up in @uk.theconversation.com about the Octopus Bloom

The Conversation UK @uk.theconversation.com · 19d

Climate-driven shifts in ocean and atmospheric dynamics underpin these recent blooms in octopus numbers in UK waters.

Reposted by Graeme S. Cumming

Guardian Australia @australia.theguardian.com · 17d

Thousands of lion’s mane jellyfish have washed into the shallows and on to the sand across Port Phillip Bay, from Altona in the west to Blairgowrie on the Mornington Peninsula, Australia. Photographer and ocean swimmer Rodney Dekker captured video of the incredible sight. 🪼

Reposted by Graeme S. Cumming, Tiziana A. Gelmi‐Candusso

kzeller.bsky.social @kzeller.bsky.social · 17d

With the increase of recreation on public lands, there is an increasing need for data on how recreation affects wildlife. We ask whether wildlife responses to recreation depended on previous exposure to recreation

Paper, led by @markdittmer.bsky.social here www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The landscape of no worries? Increased recreation exposure decreases the landscape of human fear in wildlife

Recreation's expanding footprint increasingly overlaps habitats once considered refuges from human disturbance. Yet our ability to predict wildlife re…

www.sciencedirect.com

Reposted by Graeme S. Cumming

The Marine Biological Association @thembauk.bsky.social · 18d

Octopus numbers exploded around the UK’s south-west coast in 2025 – a new report explores this rare phenomenon

Great write up in @uk.theconversation.com about the Octopus Bloom

The Conversation UK @uk.theconversation.com · 19d

Climate-driven shifts in ocean and atmospheric dynamics underpin these recent blooms in octopus numbers in UK waters.

Octopus numbers exploded around the UK’s south-west coast in 2025 – a new report explores this rare phenomenon

Climate-driven shifts in ocean and atmospheric dynamics underpin these recent blooms in octopus numbers in UK waters.

tcnv.link

Reposted by Graeme S. Cumming, Vincent Raoult

The Conversation AUNZ @aunz.theconversation.com · 18d

The teeth of white sharks are not static weapons but living records of a shark’s changing lifestyle.

Great white sharks grow a whole new kind of tooth for slicing bone as they age

theconversation.com

Reposted by Graeme S. Cumming, Richard Waite

Catherine @shadowdogdesigns.bsky.social · 19d

Rare Glimpses of Diverse #Marine Life Take the Stage in This Year’s #Ocean Art #Photography Contest

Link for more #photos and information: www.thisiscolossal.com/2026/01/ocea...