Marius Somveille
marius-somveille.bsky.social
Marius Somveille
@marius-somveille.bsky.social

Ecologist at the University of East Anglia | Macroecology, animal movement, global change

Environmental science 73%
Geography 18%

Finally, a big shout out to all the #eBirders recording birds in mountains without whom this research would not be possible!

10/10

This work provides a quantitative framework and a basis for understanding and predicting how mountain birds will cope with global change.

9/10

These results suggest that elevational gradients in avian distributions might be a condensed version of corresponding latitudinal gradients, and that altitudinal migration serves the same ecological purpose as long-distance migration.

8/10

Instead, bird movements match what would be expected if they were trying to acquire and use energy in the most efficient way based on today’s environments, with computer models simulating what birds should do to optimise energy budgets corresponding with what they do in real life.

7/10

We found that altitudinal migration is a notable phenomenon globally, and that many birds do not strictly follow the temperatures they are supposedly adapted to. Many populations even migrate upslope during winter, therefore tracking thermal conditions worse than if they actually stayed put.

6/10

To test this, we analysed vast amount of #eBird data. We looked at seasonal changes in the elevational distributions of birds - how high in the mountain birds go at different times of year - for nearly 11,000 avian populations across 34 mountain regions worldwide.

5/10

One theory is that it's mostly because of long-term evolution, and the climate niches species have adapted to over long time.

Another - the ‘energy efficiency’ hypothesis -suggests it is about how species today manage their energy budgets and compete for resources varying in space and time.

4/10

The fact that biodiversity varies along mountain gradients has long been established but it is not clearly understood why this is the case

3/10

Reposted by Joseph A. Tobias

Why is there such variation in the birds encountered as you go up or down a mountain? New paper in #ScienceAdvances examines how climate and ecological interactions drive bird distributions in mountains throughout the year:

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

1/10 ⬇️
Climate, ecological dynamics, and the seasonal distribution of birds in mountains
Ecological dynamics related to energy use and competition drives the seasonal distribution of birds in mountains across the world.
www.science.org
As someone trained as both a field ecologist and quantitative scientist, this tension runs deep for me. Some of my group are entrenched in the field whereas others work with models for a living.

‘I rarely get outside’: scientists ditch fieldwork in the age of AI www.nature.com/articles/d41...
1/4
Client Challenge
www.nature.com

Reposted by Marius Somveille

The Seabird Tracking Database has been updated!

With lots of new features, these updates improve user experience and ensure dataset legacy

To learn more visit
➡️ seabirdtracking.org/seabird-trac...

and go to data.seabirdtracking.org to try out the new search and mapping features!

Reposted by Marius Somveille

Reposted by Marius Somveille

Our new review on the “circular seabird economy”
- how seabirds circulate nutrients betwem ocean and land, supporting ecosystems and livelihoods …https://www.nature.com/articles/s44358-025-00099-w
The circular seabird economy is critical for oceans, islands and people - Nature Reviews Biodiversity
Seabirds are top predators and nutrient cyclers in marine island ecosystems, but are threatened by risk of extinction. This Review explores the circular seabird economy around islands and discusses ho...
www.nature.com
POSTDOC JOB AD: I'm hiring a Bayesian ecologist to build a (IMO, extremely fun) model of humpback whale spatiotemporal dynamics in California

2-year position starting fall 2026. in-person in Santa Cruz; collab w with Mevin Hooten's lab at UT Austin.

ask me Qs or apply: recruit.ucsc.edu/JPF02003
Fredston Lab: Postdoctoral Scholar
University of California, Santa Cruz is hiring. Apply now!
recruit.ucsc.edu

Reposted by Marius Somveille

🦉 Exciting ornithology Masters and PhD research opportunities at The Swiss Ornithological Institute 🦅
www.vogelwarte.ch/en/about-us/...
Master and PhD theses - Swiss Ornithological Institute
www.vogelwarte.ch

Reposted by Marius Somveille

What if sensor equipped drones could autonomously hop around landscapes to survey biodiversity?

Would data be reliable? Could we adapt survey design in real-time?

This and more in our latest @zslofficial.bsky.social RSEC publication led by @peggybevan.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1002/rse2...
Robotics‐assisted acoustic surveys could deliver reliable, landscape‐level biodiversity insights
Deploying and maintaining sensors is often a major bottleneck in collecting rapid biodiversity data. We tested whether autonomous hopping drones equipped with acoustic recorders could collect reliabl....
doi.org

Reposted by Marius Somveille

A really high quality article on bird migration in a national newspaper using excellent graphics - the Desertas Petrel/Hurricane interaction is great!
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Bird migration is changing. What does this reveal about our planet? – visualised
Bird migrations rank as one of nature’s greatest spectacles. Thanks to GPS tracking, scientists are uncovering extraordinary insights into ancient and mysterious journeys – and new threats that are re...
www.theguardian.com