Simon Harold
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Simon Harold
@simonharold.bsky.social

Chief Editor, Nature Ecology & Evolution. Views my own. nature.com/natecolevol/

Biology 32%
Environmental science 32%
Our November Issue is now live: www.nature.com/natecolevol/...

Featuring research on 🧪

🦆Threats to migratory shorebirds
🌍Phosphorus constraints on global photosynthesis
🦠Evolution of the meerkat MHC

Cover shows a larva of an emperor moth, from Li et al. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Reposted by Simon Harold

New Comment 👇

Combining science and policy for a unified global soil biodiversity observatory www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Parnell et al. outline the Global Soil Biodiversity Observatory, an initiative that aims to develop standardized indicators to support evidence-based policymaking
Combining science and policy for a unified global soil biodiversity observatory - Nature Ecology & Evolution
The effective conservation of soil biodiversity and ecosystem services in the face of global-change threats requires improvements in national monitoring. We outline the Global Soil Biodiversity Observ...
www.nature.com

Reposted by Simon Harold

Our July issue is now live! www.nature.com/natecolevol/...

🧪Featuring research on:

🌴Regenerating tropical forests
🐊Early archosauromorph reptiles
🦑Bobtail squid visual and nervous systems

Cover shows an orchid mantis, from Pei et al. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Reposted by Simon Harold

"We urge delegates to the third United Nations Ocean Conference to recognize that these critical risks require responses that move beyond symbolic commitments"

As the UN Ocean Conference #UNOC3 begins, Gattuso et al argue that US federal science cuts pose a profound global challenge rdcu.be/ep896 🌊
US federal cuts threaten international ocean science and diplomacy - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Nature Ecology & Evolution - US federal cuts threaten international ocean science and diplomacy
www.nature.com

Reposted by Simon Harold

News coverage on this article over in @science.org : www.science.org/content/arti...

Reposted by Simon Harold

New Perspective 👇

Precision ecology for targeted conservation action www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Spake et al. argue that applied ecologists should draw on insight from medicine and marketing to provide decision-makers with specific, site-level intervention strategies
Precision ecology for targeted conservation action - Nature Ecology & Evolution
The fields of medicine and marketing use large data volumes and computational power to target individuals. This Perspective argues that applied ecologists should draw on such approaches to provide dec...
www.nature.com

Reposted by Simon Harold

Our May issue is now live! www.nature.com/natecolevol/...

Featuring research on:

🦠 Primordial metabolism
🦋 Butterfly diversity
🪸 Reef restoration

Cover shows a prothonotary warbler at the entrance of a nest cavity. From Lipshutz et al. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Reposted by Simon Harold

In honour of David Attenborough's 99th birthday, why not revisit our series of tv reviews of Blue Planet II way back in 2017 (that's nothing in Attenborough years...). The links to the individual posts are threaded below : communities.springernature.com/posts/circum...
Circumnavigating Blue Planet II
Rounding up our expert tv reviews of Blue Planet II we identify the highs and (minimal) lows of a stunning series.
communities.springernature.com

Reposted by Simon Harold

New Progress article 👇

Plastic waste in the environment can modify habitats and change the mating, feeding and dispersal behaviours of organisms. Haney & Rochman discuss the emerging understanding of the ecological and evolutionary consequences of these effects www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Plastic pollution has the potential to alter ecological and evolutionary processes in aquatic ecosystems - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Plastic waste in the environment can modify habitats and change the mating, feeding and dispersal behaviours of organisms. This Progress discusses the emerging understanding of the ecological and evol...
www.nature.com

Reposted by Simon Harold

Great @nature.com editorial and @naturepodcast.bsky.social series referencing ongoing coverage in @natureecoevo.bsky.social of the taxonomic furore regarding eponyms www.nature.com/articles/d41... (Check out rdcu.be/eja4P for the most recent NEE piece following last year's IBC votes)
Scientific naming conventions should keep in step with contemporary science
A three-part Nature Podcast series explores the importance of scientific naming conventions — and talks to researchers looking at how to make them more inclusive.
www.nature.com

Reposted by Simon Harold

New genomic & genetic insights into Mendel’s pea genes, including previously uncharacterised alleles

159 years after Mendel published his work, this is a real delight (especially for a geneticist)

🧪
@nature.com

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Genomic and genetic insights into Mendel’s pea genes - Nature
Characterization of the genetic architecture underlying the 7 pairs of contrasting traits studied by Mendel and the over 70 additional agronomic traits in pea (Pisum sativum) reveals their m...
www.nature.com

Reposted by Simon Harold

Our latest Editorial discusses the impact of mariculture on biodiversity, and its role in sustainably meeting future food demands 🐟🦐 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Seafood for thought - Nature Ecology & Evolution
There is hope that sustainable mariculture can have a major role in helping to meet future global food demands, but this will require strategic planning to reduce its effects on marine biodiversity.
www.nature.com

Reposted by Simon Harold

Our April issue is now live! www.nature.com/natecolevol/...

Featuring research on:

🐟 mariculture impacts on biodiversity
🌿 genetics of plant camouflage
🫁 lung evolution

Cover shows an overwintering boreal fire in the Northwest Territories, Canada from Baltzer et al www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Reposted by Simon Harold

New Perspective:

Ecological network research typically focuses on flows of matter and energy, but species also exchange information signals and cues that influence behaviour and movement. Here, Brose et al argue that the information network of nature is a crucial aspect of community organization.
Embedding information flows within ecological networks - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Ecological network research has typically focused on flows of matter and energy, but species also exchange information signals and cues that influence behaviour and movement. This Perspective argues t...
www.nature.com

Reposted by Simon Harold

Nature @nature.com · Mar 19
Nature review article: Long-term studies provide unique insights into evolution

https://go.nature.com/3Rjd1ol
Long-term studies provide unique insights into evolution - Nature
Long-term studies provide insights into the complex interplay between evolutionary process and pattern across multiple systems and timescales.
go.nature.com

Reposted by Simon Harold

Check out our March issue: nature.com/nrbd/volumes...
Review and opinion topics this month include:
🦴 Digitizing natural history collections
🌊 Seagrass ecosystems
💻 AI as a way to fill biodiversity gaps
🍃 Biodiversity offsets
🔁 Conservation translocations
🌎🧪
Nature Reviews Biodiversity - Volume 1 Issue 3, March 2025
Seagrass ecosystems support critical marine biodiversity and ecosystem function; inspired by the Review from Duarte et al.
www.nature.com

Reposted by Simon Harold

A reminder that IPBES is seeking experts for the 2nd global assessment on biodiversity. This will be a hugely important report for the future of biodiversity. Experts are needed, especially, interdisciplinary experts and those from the Global South.
Application as an expert for the second global assessment | IPBES secretariat
Application is open!
www.ipbes.net

Reposted by Simon Harold

Nature @nature.com · Mar 13
Some scientists in the United States have told Nature that they are considering leaving the country in the wake of widespread disruption to research brought in by the Trump administration

Are you thinking about leaving?

https://go.nature.com/424ejK8
These frustrated scientists want to leave the United States – do you? Take Nature’s poll
In the wake of the Trump administration’s funding freezes and job cuts, some researchers are planning their next move.
go.nature.com

Reposted by Simon Harold

New Species Spotlight 🦋

Joana Meier @joanameier.bsky.social is fascinated by the diversity and mimetic colour patterns of glasswing butterflies rdcu.be/edgxh
Glasswing butterfly (Mechanitis messenoides)
Nature Ecology & Evolution - Joana Meier is fascinated by the diversity and mimetic colour patterns of glasswing butterflies.
rdcu.be

Reposted by Simon Harold

The BMC Ecology and Evolution & BMC #Zoology annual image competition is now open! Submit your best photos for a chance to see your work featured in BMC Ecology and Evolution: https://go.sn.pub/ceq0z7

@biomedcentral.bsky.social #ecoevo #evosky 🌏

Love this month’s cover
Our March issue is now live! www.nature.com/natecolevol/...

Featuring research on:

🌲boreal forest resilience
🦠microbial community invasion
🧬evolutionary divergence of X–Y chromosome genes

Cover shows a micro-CT scan of the humpback #anglerfish from Miller et al. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Our March issue is now live! www.nature.com/natecolevol/...

Featuring research on:

🌲boreal forest resilience
🦠microbial community invasion
🧬evolutionary divergence of X–Y chromosome genes

Cover shows a micro-CT scan of the humpback #anglerfish from Miller et al. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Reposted by Simon Harold

A generalizable, functional-trait-based approach for quantifying the effects of disturbances to ecosystem services and economic outcomes, including under climate change, highlights the need for incorporating disturbances in ecosystem services assessments rdcu.be/ecSjg
Quantifying disturbance effects on ecosystem services in a changing climate
Nature Ecology & Evolution - A generalizable, functional-trait-based approach for quantifying the effects of disturbances to ecosystem services and economic outcomes, including under climate...
rdcu.be

Reposted by Simon Harold

Meet Maud Horman-Fisher.

We don’t know what she looks like, or very much about her life. ❓

Still - we’d like to turn the spotlight on this former employee this #InternationalWomensDay, for a few particular reasons.

My heart goes out to all researchers impacted by this assault on US science, these impacts will be felt around the world
In our latest Editorial we discuss the continuing damage being done to US science, and its impact on researchers and the environment 👇

Deep cuts: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
In our latest Editorial we discuss the continuing damage being done to US science, and its impact on researchers and the environment 👇

Deep cuts: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Reposted by Simon Harold

Nature @nature.com · Feb 28
Fungi made Earth’s land liveable by building networks that released nutrients locked in primordial rock and supplied those nutrients to plant roots

https://go.nature.com/41lvtBg
Revealing how fungi build planet-altering ‘road’ networks
Imaging study reveals how fungal networks are constructed.
go.nature.com

Reposted by Simon Harold

‘About time they got some credit’: why hoverflies are an underappreciated insect
‘About time they got some credit’: why hoverflies are an underappreciated insect
Prof Dave Goulson is one of the world’s foremost experts on insects. But there’s a special place in his heart for hoverflies, one of the prettiest flies around. Here he explains why we should nominate hoverflies as invertebrate of the year
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Simon Harold

Give a group of scientists the same data and the same research question, and they should come up with similar answers—in theory. But they don’t.
www.science.org/content/arti... (by @cathleenogrady.bsky.social)
Even faced with the same data, ecologists sometimes come to opposite conclusions
Study highlights powerful role subjective choices can play in research, though some critics urge caution about applying findings too broadly
www.science.org

Really good to see this message out from @nature this week “We at Nature denounce this assault on science. And we encourage the global research community, wherever they can, to voice their opposition.”