Chris Catano
@chriscatano.bsky.social
Assistant Professor at University of California, Riverside | Ecology | Community Assembly | Biodiversity | Global Change Biology
Working towards a predictive ecology to advance fundamental theory & applications
https://chcatano.wixsite.com/ecology
Working towards a predictive ecology to advance fundamental theory & applications
https://chcatano.wixsite.com/ecology
Pinned
Chris Catano
@chriscatano.bsky.social
· Mar 5
Regional Processes Mediate Ecological Selection and the Distribution of Plant Diversity Across Scales
This experiment quantifies how species pool size and immigration influence plant community assembly in restored grasslands. Our findings reveal that greater immigration (seed arrival) and smaller spe...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Excited to share our new paper in Ecology Letters w @lars-brudvig.bsky.social, the culmination of more than a half decade of great fun and research from a landscape-scale experiment in tallgrass prairies! #CommunityAssembly, #PlantDiversity, #RestorationEcology, #Scale, #Prediction
Reposted by Chris Catano
youtu.be/r3wsnirQOXQ?...
Check out our highlights and subscribe to see what is wild in Riverside in 2026. We have partnered with city parks to add cameras to Sycamore Canyon and will be working with the county to start monitoring donkey populations across Riverside.
Check out our highlights and subscribe to see what is wild in Riverside in 2026. We have partnered with city parks to add cameras to Sycamore Canyon and will be working with the county to start monitoring donkey populations across Riverside.
Wild Riverside's best clips of 2025
YouTube video by Spasojevic Ecology Lab
youtu.be
January 1, 2026 at 5:39 PM
youtu.be/r3wsnirQOXQ?...
Check out our highlights and subscribe to see what is wild in Riverside in 2026. We have partnered with city parks to add cameras to Sycamore Canyon and will be working with the county to start monitoring donkey populations across Riverside.
Check out our highlights and subscribe to see what is wild in Riverside in 2026. We have partnered with city parks to add cameras to Sycamore Canyon and will be working with the county to start monitoring donkey populations across Riverside.
Reposted by Chris Catano
New paper out today in @royalsocietypublishing.org Biology Letters, led by undergrad superstar Laina Weiss! An experimental test of theory on the effects of temperature and resources on carrying capacity. So proud 🥹 tinyurl.com/yvmzmt9a @integrativebiology.bsky.social
December 17, 2025 at 6:29 PM
New paper out today in @royalsocietypublishing.org Biology Letters, led by undergrad superstar Laina Weiss! An experimental test of theory on the effects of temperature and resources on carrying capacity. So proud 🥹 tinyurl.com/yvmzmt9a @integrativebiology.bsky.social
Reposted by Chris Catano
My @newphyt.bsky.social Tansley Insight is now published in an issue:
Trait-based island biogeography as a tool for studying future ecological communities
I provide an overview of recent advances in integrating plant traits into island ecology and highlight key themes for future research.
Trait-based island biogeography as a tool for studying future ecological communities
I provide an overview of recent advances in integrating plant traits into island ecology and highlight key themes for future research.
Trait‐based island biogeography as a tool for studying future ecological communities
Understanding the future of ecological communities under global change is among the most pressing challenges in plant ecology. Islands, with their reduced species diversity and clear boundaries, have...
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 18, 2025 at 10:56 PM
My @newphyt.bsky.social Tansley Insight is now published in an issue:
Trait-based island biogeography as a tool for studying future ecological communities
I provide an overview of recent advances in integrating plant traits into island ecology and highlight key themes for future research.
Trait-based island biogeography as a tool for studying future ecological communities
I provide an overview of recent advances in integrating plant traits into island ecology and highlight key themes for future research.
Reposted by Chris Catano
How should the discipline of ecology and the community of ecologists respond to the ecological crisis? Is it time that these were put on something more akin to an emergency footing?
www.cell.com/action/showP...
www.cell.com/action/showP...
December 18, 2025 at 8:59 AM
How should the discipline of ecology and the community of ecologists respond to the ecological crisis? Is it time that these were put on something more akin to an emergency footing?
www.cell.com/action/showP...
www.cell.com/action/showP...
Sometimes when an idea isn't working as expected, it's not failure, but an opportunity to realize something even more interesting is going on.
...maybe it's failure.
...maybe it's failure.
December 17, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Sometimes when an idea isn't working as expected, it's not failure, but an opportunity to realize something even more interesting is going on.
...maybe it's failure.
...maybe it's failure.
Reposted by Chris Catano
How do you ensure generalizability in Ecological Applications?
Jennifer L. Funk says explaining why something works allows others "to transfer the findings" across different taxa and systems.
Read the interview: https://ow.ly/B0Nr50XGZNk
ESA Journals #Ecology
Jennifer L. Funk says explaining why something works allows others "to transfer the findings" across different taxa and systems.
Read the interview: https://ow.ly/B0Nr50XGZNk
ESA Journals #Ecology
December 15, 2025 at 4:00 PM
How do you ensure generalizability in Ecological Applications?
Jennifer L. Funk says explaining why something works allows others "to transfer the findings" across different taxa and systems.
Read the interview: https://ow.ly/B0Nr50XGZNk
ESA Journals #Ecology
Jennifer L. Funk says explaining why something works allows others "to transfer the findings" across different taxa and systems.
Read the interview: https://ow.ly/B0Nr50XGZNk
ESA Journals #Ecology
Reposted by Chris Catano
Ecologists recognize the importance of integrating across scales, yet our models often target specific scales. Our new paper presents models of population growth that scale up to explain community-level patterns, including interactions of temperature, light & nutrients. doi.org/10.1002/ecm....
December 9, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Ecologists recognize the importance of integrating across scales, yet our models often target specific scales. Our new paper presents models of population growth that scale up to explain community-level patterns, including interactions of temperature, light & nutrients. doi.org/10.1002/ecm....
Reposted by Chris Catano
Really happy to share that the Second Edition of our book, "Spatial Ecology and Conservation Modeling", is now out and available online!
We provide a foundation for applied spatial ecology with a focus on learning-by-doing.
@camzoology.bsky.social @conservation.cam.ac.uk
We provide a foundation for applied spatial ecology with a focus on learning-by-doing.
@camzoology.bsky.social @conservation.cam.ac.uk
Spatial Ecology and Conservation Modeling
This textbook provides a foundation for modern applied ecology. It follows a rapidly changing field with updates of concepts, methods, and code.
link.springer.com
December 8, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Really happy to share that the Second Edition of our book, "Spatial Ecology and Conservation Modeling", is now out and available online!
We provide a foundation for applied spatial ecology with a focus on learning-by-doing.
@camzoology.bsky.social @conservation.cam.ac.uk
We provide a foundation for applied spatial ecology with a focus on learning-by-doing.
@camzoology.bsky.social @conservation.cam.ac.uk
Reposted by Chris Catano
Reining in large for-profit academic publishers and valuing researchers for quality over quantity must be central as we reimagine the future of scholarly publishing.
The fall of a prolific science journal exposes the billion-dollar profits of scientific publishing
One of the 15 publications that put out the most studies globally has been expelled from the indexing system for irregularities. Its publisher, Elsevier, has a 38% profit margin that reached $1.5 billion in 2024
english.elpais.com
December 6, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Reining in large for-profit academic publishers and valuing researchers for quality over quantity must be central as we reimagine the future of scholarly publishing.
Reposted by Chris Catano
The Georgia Coastal Ecosystems Long-Term Ecological Research program is looking for a postdoc with expertise in wetlands and biogeochemistry. Please pass this along to likely candidates!
December 2, 2025 at 8:45 PM
The Georgia Coastal Ecosystems Long-Term Ecological Research program is looking for a postdoc with expertise in wetlands and biogeochemistry. Please pass this along to likely candidates!
Reposted by Chris Catano
We are entering that time of year when it’s good to remember that, the editors & reviewers of your favorite society journals are your peers, so they’re also overwhelmed by end of the semester stuff & would like to spend time with family during holidays.
a man is sitting in a car with the words just give it some time above him
ALT: a man is sitting in a car with the words just give it some time above him
media.tenor.com
December 3, 2025 at 2:16 AM
We are entering that time of year when it’s good to remember that, the editors & reviewers of your favorite society journals are your peers, so they’re also overwhelmed by end of the semester stuff & would like to spend time with family during holidays.
Reposted by Chris Catano
Exciting new 🧪 work by Kai Huang on #soil N emissions after warming a forest for 6 years @pnas.org www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
November 24, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Exciting new 🧪 work by Kai Huang on #soil N emissions after warming a forest for 6 years @pnas.org www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Had an amazing time the last two days visiting and giving a seminar at UC Davis! Such great conversations, especially with students, and got to meet people who I've been inspired by since I was a student. Thank you Susan Harrison for hosting me, and to everyone else for your hospitality!
November 21, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Had an amazing time the last two days visiting and giving a seminar at UC Davis! Such great conversations, especially with students, and got to meet people who I've been inspired by since I was a student. Thank you Susan Harrison for hosting me, and to everyone else for your hospitality!
Reposted by Chris Catano
This is a reminder that @asn-amnat.bsky.social publishes abstracts in both English and your native language, using your native alphabet. You can see and read those online. Here is a screenshot of a great example. Love seeing this in my favorite journal.
November 14, 2025 at 3:47 PM
This is a reminder that @asn-amnat.bsky.social publishes abstracts in both English and your native language, using your native alphabet. You can see and read those online. Here is a screenshot of a great example. Love seeing this in my favorite journal.
First year disturbance treatments are done in our new #DRAGNet site in Riverside, California! Yes, we were crazy enough to do it by hand ... literally blood, sweat, and tears went into this today.
November 13, 2025 at 9:59 PM
First year disturbance treatments are done in our new #DRAGNet site in Riverside, California! Yes, we were crazy enough to do it by hand ... literally blood, sweat, and tears went into this today.
Reposted by Chris Catano
🆕 in "Ecological Monographs": Static models miss the mark—adding nonlinear, density-based facilitation helps predict coexistence, persistence, and realistic community dynamics
📄Neighbor density-dependent facilitation promotes coexistence and internal oscillation
doi.org/10.1002/ecm....
📄Neighbor density-dependent facilitation promotes coexistence and internal oscillation
doi.org/10.1002/ecm....
November 10, 2025 at 7:45 PM
🆕 in "Ecological Monographs": Static models miss the mark—adding nonlinear, density-based facilitation helps predict coexistence, persistence, and realistic community dynamics
📄Neighbor density-dependent facilitation promotes coexistence and internal oscillation
doi.org/10.1002/ecm....
📄Neighbor density-dependent facilitation promotes coexistence and internal oscillation
doi.org/10.1002/ecm....
Reposted by Chris Catano
Thanks for this contribution to "Ecology"!
V. pleased to have this out in Ecology @esajournals.bsky.social - evidence for limiting similarity vs. pre-adaptation (Darwin's naturalisation conundrum) vary across very fine spatial scales and when using phylogenetic vs. functional metrics!
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Evidence for environmental filtering and limiting similarity depends on spatial scale and dissimilarity metrics
Darwin's theory of natural selection provides two seemingly contradictory hypotheses for explaining the success of biological invasions: (1) the pre-adaptation hypothesis posits that introduced speci....
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Thanks for this contribution to "Ecology"!
Reposted by Chris Catano
Another amazing paper from Tara Christensen - with a surprising result that nectar generalists (butterflies) are declining more than specialists. esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Specialized flower visitation in montane butterflies is associated with positive population trajectories over time
Insect biodiversity is under threat from multiple stressors, including climate change and extreme weather. For butterflies, nectar resource use is an understudied trait in relation to population traj....
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 6, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Another amazing paper from Tara Christensen - with a surprising result that nectar generalists (butterflies) are declining more than specialists. esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by Chris Catano
Caterpillar guts are like grasslands: immigration and selection determine gut microbial communities. Thanks @chriscatano.bsky.social for leading this exciting project, and for showing that niche selection is important in caterpillar microbial ecology!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Experimental Immigration Mediates Ecological Selection and Drift in Monarch Microbiome Assembly
The distribution of biodiversity depends on processes operating across scales, yet multiscale paradigms have struggled to permeate host-microbiome research. By integrating multi-scale ecological theo...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Caterpillar guts are like grasslands: immigration and selection determine gut microbial communities. Thanks @chriscatano.bsky.social for leading this exciting project, and for showing that niche selection is important in caterpillar microbial ecology!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
New paper showing how immigration alters the ecological processes structuring the assembly and variation in #Monarch caterpillar gut #microbiomes.
w/ @jaapderoode.bsky.social, @gabe-dubose.bsky.social, Joselyne Chavez, Lydia Fuller-Hall
Ecology Letters onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
w/ @jaapderoode.bsky.social, @gabe-dubose.bsky.social, Joselyne Chavez, Lydia Fuller-Hall
Ecology Letters onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Experimental Immigration Mediates Ecological Selection and Drift in Monarch Microbiome Assembly
The distribution of biodiversity depends on processes operating across scales, yet multiscale paradigms have struggled to permeate host-microbiome research. By integrating multi-scale ecological theo...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:40 PM
New paper showing how immigration alters the ecological processes structuring the assembly and variation in #Monarch caterpillar gut #microbiomes.
w/ @jaapderoode.bsky.social, @gabe-dubose.bsky.social, Joselyne Chavez, Lydia Fuller-Hall
Ecology Letters onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
w/ @jaapderoode.bsky.social, @gabe-dubose.bsky.social, Joselyne Chavez, Lydia Fuller-Hall
Ecology Letters onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Chris Catano
Did you know "Ecology" publishes Statistical Innovations papers?
These articles spotlight cutting-edge methods that tackle pressing ecological questions and advance data analysis in the field. Learn more in our author guidelines: esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/...
These articles spotlight cutting-edge methods that tackle pressing ecological questions and advance data analysis in the field. Learn more in our author guidelines: esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/...
November 3, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Did you know "Ecology" publishes Statistical Innovations papers?
These articles spotlight cutting-edge methods that tackle pressing ecological questions and advance data analysis in the field. Learn more in our author guidelines: esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/...
These articles spotlight cutting-edge methods that tackle pressing ecological questions and advance data analysis in the field. Learn more in our author guidelines: esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/...
This looks like an important one! Nice work all!
New paper out today in Ecology Letters! In this synthesis we dive into the equilibrium assumption in ecology - why it's everywhere in ecological theory, the evidence for it in nature, when meeting the assumption is important, how to achieve it in empirical research, and more! tinyurl.com/yh6kyysm
November 3, 2025 at 2:28 PM
This looks like an important one! Nice work all!
Reposted by Chris Catano
New paper out today in Ecology Letters! In this synthesis we dive into the equilibrium assumption in ecology - why it's everywhere in ecological theory, the evidence for it in nature, when meeting the assumption is important, how to achieve it in empirical research, and more! tinyurl.com/yh6kyysm
November 3, 2025 at 1:31 PM
New paper out today in Ecology Letters! In this synthesis we dive into the equilibrium assumption in ecology - why it's everywhere in ecological theory, the evidence for it in nature, when meeting the assumption is important, how to achieve it in empirical research, and more! tinyurl.com/yh6kyysm
Reposted by Chris Catano
“We fundamentally believe that publishing less – but better – is essential for the health of the entire research system worldwide,” the authors of the report state.
Less is more: academic publishing needs ‘radical change,’ Cambridge press report concludes
Academic publishing needs “renewed focus and collective action” to embrace new approaches and ensure the future of the industry, concludes a report from Cambridge University Press, released last we…
retractionwatch.com
October 21, 2025 at 7:11 PM
“We fundamentally believe that publishing less – but better – is essential for the health of the entire research system worldwide,” the authors of the report state.