François-Xavier Joly
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fxjoly.bsky.social
François-Xavier Joly
@fxjoly.bsky.social

Soil ecologist at INRAE @inrae-france.bsky.social. Invertebrologist. Collects soil invertebrates and their poo for a living.

Environmental science 41%
Agriculture 29%
Pinned
📣 Our paper on soil carbon response to tree planting is out in J. of Env. Management:

🌲 Temperate grassland conversion to conifer forest destabilises mineral soil carbon stocks

Open access ➡️ tinyurl.com/3krerb92

A short thread ⤵️
📄 New paper out in @journalofecology.bsky.social

...where we show an unexpectedly high variation in litter decomposition rates within a 9-ha forest, despite keeping macroclimate, vegetation and litter quality constant!

🍃🍂🦠🪱🌲

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Microenvironmental variability differently predicts microorganism‐ and fauna‐driven litter decomposition
Our study focused on local-scale variation in litter decomposition using a spatially explicit and untargeted network of 113 plots across a 9-ha Chinese fir forest. Interestingly, we found variation i....
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
📢 Funded PhD opportunities for UK candidates in beautiful Edinburgh. Get in touch if you're interested in a PhD on understanding the mechanisms of soil carbon cycling and the role of microbes. We work in different ecosystems: peatlands, forests and agricultural soils. Please repost/spread the word.
🌳 One of my dearest projects—with brilliant friends and colleagues—is out in @NatureComms

We show that how you plant tree species (not just which) can significantly boost forest functioning.

🔗 rdcu.be/evtXs

👇 A short thread
rdcu.be

This looks interesting, but the link doesn't work and I can't find it on the website. Can you check, @journalofecology.bsky.social ?

Amateur. Next time make sure you don't leave your phone on selfie mode!
Hi Bluesky! I'm Fabien, I'm an agronomist and soil scientist at INRAE. My current research digs into the impacts of agricultural systems on soil carbon storage. I like combining experimental and modelling approaches. Here, I'll mainly share news on my research.
More info ⬇️
orcid.org/0000-0002-20...
ORCID
orcid.org
🌴🌳 Tree species richness increases climate buffering 🌡️🥵

I am so happy to share our latest piece, now published in Ecology Letters!

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Tree Diversity Increases Forest Temperature Buffering via Enhancing Canopy Density and Structural Diversity
Making use of 6 years of microclimate measurements in a large-scale tree diversity experiment covering a species richness gradient ranging from 1 to 24 tree species, we demonstrate that tree species ...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Lower survival rate among trainees in labs with highly productive mentors raises important concerns about what we value in academia. Many interesting things to stew over with this paper!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Academic mentees thrive in big groups, but survive in small groups - Nature Human Behaviour
Using longitudinal genealogical data on mentor–mentee relations and their publications, the authors find that mentees trained in larger groups tend to exhibit superior academic performance compared wi...
www.nature.com

📣 Our paper on the effect of microplastics on decomposition is out in Applied Soil Ecology: "No short-term response of microbial or isopod-driven litter decomposition to microplastics". ​

⚠️ Spoiler: We do not report any significant effect, and yes it matters.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
No short-term response of microbial or isopod-driven litter decomposition to microplastics
Microplastic pollution is a growing threat to soils, but its effects on plant litter decomposition remains poorly understood. Particularly, it is uncl…
www.sciencedirect.com
Hi there, my student is making a survey about the use of R packages in Ecology, could you please spend two mins on filling it 🥹 Very appreciated! And if you could spread it further (RT), that would be just awesome. ❤️

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Exploring R Package Usage in Academia
I am running a quick survey to find out which R packages academics use the most in their research and teaching. The goal is to see which tools are essential, spot any gaps, and maybe even discover som...
docs.google.com
Can you see the forest for the fungi?

Check out our new research examining this in depth in Conservation Biology 💫

conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1523...
New paper in diamond open-access @peercomjournal.bsky.social
Reducing mineral fertilizer use in mountain grasslands could improve the ability of their soil to maintain their multifunctionality during drought.
Last chapter of my PhD 5 y latter. #NewPI never give up publish your science! #Soilscience
This gorgeous creature is the prickly stick insect (Acanthoxyla prasina), one of New Zealand's 23 species of stick insect.

Huge thanks to @morganemerien.bsky.social for pointing this out on a recent University of Canterbury field trip - it's great fun teaching entomology!

#Invertebrate 🧪

Dear colleagues,

If you use "Greetings of the day!", "distinguished speaker", or "your valuable submission" in your emails, my new bespoke spam filter will mark is as read and delete it. Works like a charm for now.

I eagerly await for your valuable spam-filtering term suggestions. 🙏⤵️
Introducing New Zealand's latest Bug of the Year- the magnificent Ngāokeoke / Velvet Worm!

NZ has two genera: one lays eggs (Ooperipatellus, 1st photo) and another gives live birth (Peripatoides, 2nd). They also deposit sperm which burrow through their partner's skin, but that's another story! 🧪
Notre unité a mis au point des scanners enterrés pour étudier la dynamique racinaire puis plus largement les interactions biologiques dans le sol. La chaine "écran de savoir" des universités de l’Occitanie-Est, présente en vidéo cette innovation technologique :
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgDe...
Il a détourné un scanner de bureau pour ça ! Ep.6 Christophe Jourdan
YouTube video by Écran de savoirs
www.youtube.com
We're all on tenterhooks waiting for the results to be announced tomorrow for the NZ Bug of the Year competition!

Here's a few of my favourite contenders. Now voting is over I'll admit I have been quietly rooting for the velvet worm too - they're amazing animals!

Good luck #TeamGiantSpringtail!
Science is under threat
On #InternationalDayofWomenandGirlsinScience let me remind you that we are NOWHERE NEAR parity. A few examples.

1. Women are credited less in science than men.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Women are credited less in science than men - Nature
The difference between the number of men and women listed as authors on scientific papers and inventors on patents is at least partly attributable to unacknowledged contributions by women scientists.
www.nature.com
Hello, Bluesky! ☀️

We fund frontier research in Europe—bold ideas, unexpected discoveries and science that shapes the future. So it’s only fitting we’ve landed here. Sorry for being late.

Follow us for updates on ERC funding, research policy, and our grantees' discoveries.
The first many-analysts study in ecology is finally published! 🥳🙌

300+ coauthors and 5+ years, this was a massive effort by @elliotgould.bsky.social Hannah Fraser Tim Parker and co.

Open access 👉 bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
Beauty & the Feces.

groundselbush #beetle #larva #Chrysomelidae #Trirhabda bacharidis (Raleigh, NC, USA)
Tough but essential debate for our labs. Aude Valade from our unit and Tamara Ben Ari, call for a convention on the environmental ethics of research: How do we decide what research to continue? What criteria to evaluate energy-consuming research? How can we distribute reductions? Paper in French 🇫🇷
« Nous appelons à l’organisation d’une convention nationale de l’éthique environnementale de la recherche »
TRIBUNE. Tamara Ben Ari et Aude Valade, chercheuses en écologie et agronomie, estiment que les initiatives existantes ne suffisent pas pour dessiner une recherche éthique, alignée avec les impératifs ...
www.lemonde.fr

Eco&Sols has now moved to bluesky! Our research unit works on functional ecology and biogeochemistry in agroecosystems, from the biodiversity in soil aggregates, to plant-soil interactions and global C cycle. This account will share publications, project updates, job opportunities and more.
Hi bluesky! I will only share news on my research here. My main topics are microbial ecology and biogeochemistry. My current research digs into the functioning of root-soil system in deep horizons of agroforestry systems and the global life history strategies of soil bacteria.
Recent publications 👇
Life history strategies of soil bacterial communities across global terrestrial biomes - Nature Microbiology
Analysis of metagenomes from across the globe reveals the spectrum of soil microbial functional diversity based on community aggregated traits.
www.nature.com

I would be a bit more nuanced, but it's not far off. If one only cares about carbon, planting trees can sometimes be useful, though not as much as we think, and it can be even detrimental in carbon-rich soils (peat/peaty soils, tundra, etc).

Hard to say as this likely depends on various factors (climate, starting soil C stock, plant community), but encroachment from EM-associated trees might trigger a similar effect, albeit perhaps not of the same magnitude. Further research is needed to verify the external validity of our findings!

This effect likely depends on various factors (climate, starting soil C stock, plant community), but ectomycorrhizal-associated deciduous trees might trigger a similar effect, albeit perhaps not of the same magnitude. Further research is needed to verify the external validity of our findings.