Pieter Zuidema
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pieterzuidema.bsky.social
Pieter Zuidema
@pieterzuidema.bsky.social
410 followers 550 following 23 posts

Tropical forest ecologist | Professor | Wageningen University 🇳🇱 | Climate change impacts on trees & forests | Tropical 🌳 rings | Dendrochronology | Timber tracing | Model-data integration

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Environmental science 58%
Geography 16%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Pieter A. Zuidema, Emilio Vilanova, Joan Dudney

pnas.org
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences @pnas.org · 11d
Land-use change is the main cause of deforestation in the Amazon, but the risk of abrupt forest decline, along with its potentially devastating consequences, increases as the planet warms, with a strong nonlinear trend beyond 2.3° C of warming. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/6Prr50XKAN1
Aerial view of Amazon rainforest tree canopy. CREDIT: Philippe Ciais

Reposted by Brian J. Enquist, Pieter A. Zuidema, Martin Ehbrecht , and 1 more

natecoevo.nature.com
Nature Ecology & Evolution @natecoevo.nature.com · 19d
Global analysis shows that atmospheric dryness explains geographical patterns of tree canopy height and is projected to become more important in the coming decades:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Global dependency of canopy height on vapour pressure deficit and its projections under climate change - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Rising atmospheric aridity may be an important driver of tree growth. Here the authors present analyse the global relationship between tree canopy height and vapour pressure deficit, and its potential...
www.nature.com

Reposted by Pieter A. Zuidema, John Parker, Joan Dudney

journalofecology.bsky.social
Journal of Ecology @journalofecology.bsky.social · 20d
Published!📖

Forest structural and functional diversity can attenuate forest productivity losses after harvesting and fires. In undisturbed forests, dominance boosts productivity via selection effects, but not after harvesting🌳🌲🌍

Read here:https://buff.ly/Gw5Hq6X

Reposted by Graeme S. Cumming, Pieter A. Zuidema, Matthew J. Silk , and 1 more

expecocons.bsky.social
Dr Chris Clements @expecocons.bsky.social · Nov 26
🌍📢 Postdoc alert | 3-yr starting early 2026

Please 🔁!

Understand how ecosystem stability is changing across space and through time using niche modelling, pinpoint at-risk species/regions, and build tools that drive conservation action🌿🧭📈

👉 tinyurl.com/2mafwru3

#Ecology #Jobs #Biodiversity

Reposted by Ben Bond‐Lamberty

pieterzuidema.bsky.social
Pieter Zuidema @pieterzuidema.bsky.social · Nov 24
Extra CO2 stimulates #photosynthesis of trees and reduces water losses through transpiration. But does that stimulate growth of #tree stems? Our paper today in NatClimateChange led by Quan Zhang uses theory & data to show that strong growth stimulation is unlikely.🌎🌐🍁
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Increased efficiency of water use does not stimulate tree productivity - Nature Climate Change
The authors theoretically delineate the maximal increases in tree growth that can be expected from increases in plant intrinsic water-use efficiency, which increases with rising CO2. They highlight en...
www.nature.com

Reposted by Julia Koricheva, Pieter A. Zuidema, Tommaso Jucker , and 2 more

jappliedecology.bsky.social
Journal of Applied Ecology @jappliedecology.bsky.social · Nov 24
We're currently looking for new Associate Editors to join our Editorial Board! 🌎🧪

If you're interested in contributing to the publishing landscape, check out the link below 👇
www.britishecologicalsociety.org/content/appl...

Reposted by Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Jakob Zscheischler, Pieter A. Zuidema , and 8 more

florianhartig.bsky.social
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

Reposted by Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Pieter A. Zuidema, Elisabet Martínez‐Sancho

elimartinezs.bsky.social
Elisabet Martínez-Sancho @elimartinezs.bsky.social · Nov 5
🚨Calling all #TreeRing lovers!🚨

Join us at #EGU26 for session CL1.2.1 Interdisciplinary Tree-Ring Research

Abstracts exploring tree rings from all perspectives and disciplines are welcome!

Submit here:
tinyurl.com/475xjjfu

K. Treydte, J. Jevšenak, A. Eckes-Shephard, @pieterzuidema.bsky.social

Reposted by Michael E. Mann, Joanna Bryson, Brian J. Enquist , and 11 more

Reposted by Pieter A. Zuidema, Tommaso Jucker, Ensheng Weng , and 1 more

newphyt.bsky.social
New Phytologist @newphyt.bsky.social · Oct 23
#Demography, dynamics and data: building confidence for simulating changes in the world's forests

📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
by Eckes-Shephard et al.

@WIleyPlantSci #PlantScience
Simulated and observed annual mature forest turnover time and woody biomass increment flux at a boreal, temperate and tropical site.

pieterzuidema.bsky.social
Pieter Zuidema @pieterzuidema.bsky.social · Oct 23
🎉Congratulations 🎓 Dr Sophie Zwartsenberg who defended her PhD thesis @w-u-r.bsky.social about climate & CO2 effects on trees in #tropicalforest

Sophie found that 100y of CO2 rise stimulated tree #photosynthesis, that #treerings are narower during hot & dry years, and more so in drier regions. 🌎🍁

Reposted by Jens‐Christian Svenning, Oliver L. Phillips, Simon L. Lewis , and 19 more

bjenquist.bsky.social
Brian J. Enquist @bjenquist.bsky.social · Oct 21
Please pass along, I’m recruiting PhD students to join our Macroecology Lab @uofa-eeb.bsky.social We study phys ecology, macroecology, biodiversity - spanning scaling, trait-based ecology, theory, comparative biology & ecoinformatics. Several avenues for funding. Please reach out if interested🧪🌐🌾

Reposted by Pieter A. Zuidema, Darío Martin‐Benito

evilanova.bsky.social
Emilio Vilanova @evilanova.bsky.social · Oct 19
According to this paper, there could be c. 55.5 million tall trees (> 60 m height) across the Brazilian Amazon, with the highest density in the northeast portion. These trees have a disproportionate contribution to the carbon stored in these forests! nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Reposted by Pieter A. Zuidema

journalofecology.bsky.social
Journal of Ecology @journalofecology.bsky.social · Oct 19
🪵 Diameter drives short-term biomass gains, but long-term carbon storage hinges on wood density, especially in humid forests. To improve accuracy, biomass models should account for radial wood density variation and climate ☁️

🔎 Find out more: buff.ly/kZFoh9B

pieterzuidema.bsky.social
Pieter Zuidema @pieterzuidema.bsky.social · Oct 17
New #timber #tracing paper on power of combined methods.
Study led by @lauraboeschoten.bsky.social & Barbara RV Meyer-Sand for African timber shows combining methods boosts reliability of tracing. With 3 methods: 95% of samples traced back to <100 km of origin. 🌎🌐🍁
👉 www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Combined genetic and chemical methods boost the precision of tracing illegal timber in Central Africa - Communications Earth & Environment
The origin of timber was correctly identified for 94% of samples in Central Africa, a high-risk region with low tracing accuracy to date, according to an analysis that combined genetic, stable isotope...
www.nature.com

Reposted by Pieter A. Zuidema

commsearth.nature.com
Communications Earth & Environment @commsearth.nature.com · Oct 15
🪵Combined methods boost the precision of tracing illegal timber
The origin of timber was correctly identified for 94% of samples in Central Africa, a high-risk region with low tracing accuracy to date.
@lauraboeschoten.bsky.social @pieterzuidema.bsky.social
👉Read here: www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Combined genetic and chemical methods boost the precision of tracing illegal timber in Central Africa - Communications Earth & Environment
The origin of timber was correctly identified for 94% of samples in Central Africa, a high-risk region with low tracing accuracy to date, according to an analysis that combined genetic, stable isotope...
www.nature.com

Reposted by Jens‐Christian Svenning, Jonathan Lenoir, Pieter A. Zuidema , and 2 more

timoconradi.bsky.social
Timo Conradi @timoconradi.bsky.social · Sep 25
Attribution of vegetation change to climate change: here we compared vegetation time series to simulations from a process model forced with observed and counterfactual (detrended) climate data. Trends in climate necessary for the model to emulate vegetation trends www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/3
Shifts in vegetation activity of terrestrial ecosystems attributable to climate trends - Nature Geoscience
An analysis fusing satellite data with a process-based model of plant growth attributes changes in vegetation activity across terrestrial ecosystems to climatic changes.
www.nature.com

Reposted by Ingolf Kühn, Joaquín Hortal, Julie L. Lockwood , and 1 more

bio-diverse.bsky.social
Andy Gonzalez @bio-diverse.bsky.social · Sep 24
A must-read special issue: “Bending the curve towards nature recovery: building on Georgina Mace’s legacy”
royalsocietypublishing.org/toc/rstb/202...
I: Determinants of diversity & resilience.
II: Measuring the state of biodiversity
III: Biodiversity & natural capital
IV: Future scenarios for nature
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences: Vol 380, No 1917
royalsocietypublishing.org

Reposted by Pieter A. Zuidema, Antonio J. Pérez‐Luque, Antoine Cabon , and 1 more

dendroecologist.bsky.social
Dario Martin-Benito @dendroecologist.bsky.social · Sep 23
Climate change is reshaping forest growth 🌳🌡️💧
Water and temperature control growth timing.
Warmer winters make some species start growing earlier.
Hot, dry summers may shorten growing seasons.

New paper out @globalchangebio.bsky.social led by a former PhD student @csic.es shorturl.at/5Gn8a
Long‐Term Cambial Phenology Reveals Diverging Growth Responses of Two Tree Species in a Mixed Forest Under Climate Change
We studied how climate change affects tree growth by monitoring wood formation in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and Pyrenean oak (Quercus pyrenaica) over 11 years. We found that warmer winters lead t...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com

pieterzuidema.bsky.social
Pieter Zuidema @pieterzuidema.bsky.social · Sep 18
Yesterday, Bo Zhou successfully defended his PhD thesis at @w-u-r.bsky.social on carbon & water dynamics in a montane forest in subtropical China. Bo studied tree growth rythms & transpiration fluxes.
🎉Congrats 🎓 Dr Bo!
▶️ Defense: wur.yuja.com/V/Watch?v=93...
📙Thesis: research.wur.nl/en/publicati...

Reposted by Pieter De Frenne, Pieter A. Zuidema

jappliedecology.bsky.social
Journal of Applied Ecology @jappliedecology.bsky.social · Sep 5
Plant species–habitat networks in a mosaic landscape of restored and fragmented tropical forests 🌲🌏

Highlights the role of species interactions and their correlated traits such as dispersal syndromes in promoting landscape-scale connectivity 📊🧪

🔗 doi.org/10.1111/1365...

Reposted by Pieter A. Zuidema, Emilio Vilanova, Martin Ehbrecht

rupertseidl.bsky.social
Rupert Seidl @rupertseidl.bsky.social · Sep 2
Good news for a change: Background mortality in unmanaged forests of Europe has not increased over past decades. Great work from the European Forest Reserve Initiative EuFoRIa, out in @journalofecology.bsky.social doi.org/10.1111/1365...

Reposted by Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Mathias Disney, Peter Brown , and 2 more

pieterzuidema.bsky.social
Pieter Zuidema @pieterzuidema.bsky.social · Aug 29
#Tree stems accumulate biomass by adding volume of certain density. Which factor is more important?

Using tropical #treering data we found: diameter increment explains biomass growth at short term; wood density at long term.🌎🌐🍁
#dendrochronology
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Biomass production of tropical trees across space and time: The shifting roles of diameter growth and wood density
Diameter growth is an important and good indicator of forest carbon production. However, size-related changes in wood density, which are usually neglected, are critical for accurate short- and long-t...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Reposted by Pieter A. Zuidema, Martin Ehbrecht

osbertsun.bsky.social
Osbert Sun @osbertsun.bsky.social · Aug 29
FINAL VERSION PUBLISHED @forestecosyst.bsky.social
📰Tree competition in West African tropical forests mediated by the functional attributes of species and variation in soil moisture www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Reposted by Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Pieter A. Zuidema

forestryjfr.bsky.social
Journal of Forestry Research @forestryjfr.bsky.social · Aug 28
🌱 Study in the tropical–subtropical zone shows slope and species diversity shape carbon sequestration!
Leaf nutrients + soil N and P = key drivers of soil organic carbon.
Random Forest and SEM offer restoration insights.
🔗https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11676-025-01895-y
🧪🌏🌐🍁🌺🌱🌿🦤

Reposted by Pieter A. Zuidema

journalofecology.bsky.social
Journal of Ecology @journalofecology.bsky.social · Aug 21
⛰️🌳New study examines wood density variation across an elevational gradient from the Andean tree line to the Amazon basin, finding a decline from low to middle elevations, followed by an increase near the tree line. Species composition and disturbances influenced this pattern. 👉 buff.ly/ujConkt

Reposted by Pieter A. Zuidema

forestryjfr.bsky.social
Journal of Forestry Research @forestryjfr.bsky.social · Aug 20
🌳 Forests of the future are growing fast!
By 2100, Quercus mongolica stands could see +145% volume and +80% productivity under RCP8.5.
3-PG + Bayesian calibration = sharper growth predictions.

👉 Explore the findings: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

#Forestry #ClimateChange #TreeGrowth
🌏🌐🍁🌺🌱🌿🦤
Parameterization of the 3-PG model for Quercus mongolica by using tree-ring data and Bayesian calibration - Journal of Forestry Research
Although Quercus mongolica is a widely distributed, economically and ecologically important deciduous tree in northern China, models to accurately predict stand growth at a regional scale are limited....
link.springer.com

Reposted by Yadvinder Malhi, Francis Martin, Pieter A. Zuidema , and 1 more

jamyersecology.bsky.social
Jonathan Myers @jamyersecology.bsky.social · Aug 19
A big congratulations to William Farhan-Rios on this paper in @pnas.org, featuring a study of tropical-forest change over four decades along the Amazon-to-Andes elevational gradient in Bolivia and Peru 🌴 ⛰️ 🌐

@mobotgarden.bsky.social @livingearthcollab.bsky.social

1/3

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Amazonian and Andean tree communities are not tracking current climate warming | PNAS
Climate change is shifting species distributions, leading to changes in community composition and novel species assemblages worldwide. However, the...
www.pnas.org

Reposted by Michael A. Wulder, Matthias Cuntz, Pieter A. Zuidema , and 5 more

charlottegrossiord.bsky.social
Charlotte Grossiord @charlottegrossiord.bsky.social · Aug 14
🌳🔥Out now: Our review on compound droughts and forest responses - from leaf to ecosystem. Featuring a stunning 20-yr map of canopy temperatures variation across European forests. @chriswernerlab.bsky.social @simonhaber.bsky.social @vallicrosah.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Impact of emerging compound droughts on forests: A water supply and demand perspective
This review examines the physiological and ecological responses of trees to emerging compound droughts from a water demand and supply perspective, as well as the role of acclimation and consequences ...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Reposted by Pieter A. Zuidema

holisoils.bsky.social
HoliSoils Project @holisoils.bsky.social · Aug 7
🌲Thinning is a common #ForestManagement practice, but how does it impact #carbon dynamics across different #forest types?

A recent #HoliSoils study explores this question in an upland forest on mineral #soil and a drained peatland forest 🔎🌱🏞️

📖 Find out more ⬇️
holisoils.eu/how-does-thi...
How does thinning affect forest carbon? A look at an upland and a drained peatland forest - HoliSoils
Thinning, the practice of removing some trees to help others grow better, changes how much carbon a forest stores or releases. We studied this effect in two
holisoils.eu