Joseph A. Tobias | Lightnews

Joseph Tobias

@josephtobias.bsky.social

3.2K followers 620 following 680 posts

Birds, biodiversity, evolutionary biology, macroecology, conservation biology, ecosystem science, sustainable development, world birding, and other stuff. He/him
More at http://www.tobiaslab.net

Videos

Environmental science 42%

Biology 24%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Joseph Tobias @josephtobias.bsky.social · 11d

Absolute scenes in Yunnan when this happened today

Reposted by Joseph A. Tobias, Mathias Disney

Imma Oliveras Menor @ioliverasmenor.bsky.social · 12d

New study from Ty Loft’s PhD thesis. We used an energetic approach to quantify, acr sub-Saharan Africa, how mammal- and bird-mediated ecosystem functions have changed. We found that overall trophic energy flows have decreased by more than one-third, but this change varies across biomes and land uses

Energy flows reveal declining ecosystem functions by animals across Africa - Nature

An ecosystem energetics approach, quantifying trophic energy flows across species, offers a unified framework for linking animal biodiversity loss to changes in ecosystem function and Earth system pro...

www.nature.com

Reposted by Yadvinder Malhi, Joseph A. Tobias, James M. Bullock , and 2 more Yadvinder Malhi, Joseph A. Tobias, James M. Bullock, Patrick A. Jansen, Moreno Di Marco

Luca Santini @lsantinieco.bsky.social · 12d

Our new @nature.com shows that energy flows mediated by mammals and birds across sub-Saharan Africa have declined by >30% unevenly across functional groups, with major consequences ecosystem functions
shorturl.at/AD0Yb

Joseph Tobias @josephtobias.bsky.social · 24d

A long and busy week ended on a high yesterday. So proud of Dr @jyang19.bsky.social for sailing through her PhD viva, the final step of a long journey in my lab from a Silwood masters degree to a doctorate. 💪

Big thanks to Profs Cris Banks-Leite and Gavin Thomas for examining.

A photograph of Dr Jingyi Yang fresh out of her viva, flanked by me (supervisor) and 2 examiners (Prof Cris Banks-Leite and Prof Gavin Thomas)

Joseph Tobias @josephtobias.bsky.social · 25d

Wish I’d been there for that part! Boo to online vivas. Congrats to Dan - great thesis - and lots of luck with next steps 🪶

Reposted by Laura E. Dee

Joseph Tobias @josephtobias.bsky.social · 27d

A heads-up for anyone interested in research quality, repeatability & transparency: I'm leading a 2-hour session at 10 am UK-time tomorrow, in conjunction with others.
Hopefully this can form the basis of a guidelines paper, so we're hoping you can join online to guide us in the right direction. 🌐🌎

Image showing the text summary for a planned unconference at the 5th SORTEE conference, Oct 2025

Reposted by Joseph A. Tobias

SORTEE @sortee.bsky.social · 29d

🚨 SORTEE’s conference #SORTEE2025 is fast approaching

This year, we have opted once again for a format that facilitates lively exchanges of ideas & which has led to wonderful outcomes. Some examples: www.sortee.org/past/
There is still time to join us - register at sortee.org/upcoming/

Past events

Past events by Society for Open, Reliable, and Transparent Ecology and Evolutionary biology (SORTEE)

www.sortee.org

Joseph Tobias @josephtobias.bsky.social · Sep 19

Good memories. My second attempt, and such a relief!

Reposted by Joseph A. Tobias, Anthony Burke, Tyson Wepprich , and 1 more Joseph A. Tobias, Anthony Burke, Tyson Wepprich, Neil A. Gilbert

gavin jones @ecologyofgavin.bsky.social · Sep 5

We have a new paper developing methods for looking at bird-fire macroecology. What’s most fascinating to me is that the magnitude *and* direction of fire effects can vary enormously across a species range. Stationarity is dead!! Long live non-stationarity!!

doi.org/10.1002/fee....

Evaluating macroecological fire impacts on bird populations

Fire regimes are context-dependent, as are the ways that animals respond. However, most information on animal responses to fire comes from short-term local field studies, which are hard to extrapolat....

doi.org

Reposted by Håvard Kauserud, Joseph A. Tobias, Wolfgang Huber , and 1 more Håvard Kauserud, Joseph A. Tobias, Wolfgang Huber, Caleb T. Hasler

Wayne Maddison @waynemaddison.bsky.social · Sep 5

Confused writing is usually a symptom of confused thinking. As we struggle to clarify writing, we clarify our thoughts. AI writing aids rob us of that struggle, leaving clean-looking text and thoughts still confused for lack of inspection. Writing is not just a product; it is a diagnostic tool.

Joseph Tobias @josephtobias.bsky.social · Sep 3

Colonial superorganisms breaking basic biological rules again. 🐜🧪

Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · Sep 3

Amazing! Full article here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

‘Almost unimaginable’: these ants are different species but share a mother

Ant queens of one species clone ants of another to create hybrid workers that do their bidding.

www.nature.com

Reposted by Ben C. Sheldon, Joseph A. Tobias, Keith C. Hamer , and 1 more Ben C. Sheldon, Joseph A. Tobias, Keith C. Hamer, Márk E. Hauber

Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · Sep 3

Amazing! Full article here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

‘Almost unimaginable’: these ants are different species but share a mother

Ant queens of one species clone ants of another to create hybrid workers that do their bidding.

www.nature.com

Joseph Tobias @josephtobias.bsky.social · Aug 29

Perfect. If you can just tick the box in the Behaviors section called "Foraging or eating" that works fine!

Joseph Tobias @josephtobias.bsky.social · Aug 29

Great shot. Will you be uploading to eBird? Would be useful for our dietary analysis

Joseph Tobias @josephtobias.bsky.social · Aug 28

🚨New paper led by @adrianaalzate.bsky.social showing that in most plant and animal groups the age of a species predicts its geographical range size, although the relationship is strongly mediated by dispersal ability and occurrence on islands 🧪🌐🪶

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

iDiv Biodiversity Research @idiv-research.bsky.social · Aug 27

A new @natcomms.nature.com study led by iDiv alumna @adrianaalzate.bsky.social @naturalis.bsky.social uncovered that across >26,000 species evolutionary age is positively linked to range size, except in marine mammals.

#Biodiversity #Evolution #iDivResearch
www.idiv.de/older-specie...

Older species tend to have large ranges – unless they live on islands

New Nature Communication publications sheds light on how ecological, evolutionary, and geographical processes can simultaneously shape species’ vulnerability to extinction.

www.idiv.de

Reposted by Joseph A. Tobias, Renske E. Onstein

iDiv Biodiversity Research @idiv-research.bsky.social · Aug 27

Older species tend to have large ranges – unless they live on islands

New Nature Communication publications sheds light on how ecological, evolutionary, and geographical processes can simultaneously shape species’ vulnerability to extinction.

www.idiv.de

Reposted by Joseph A. Tobias

Jarome Ali 🇹🇹 🏳️‍🌈 @jarome.bsky.social · Aug 13

Pick an idiom: "more than meets the eye", "beauty more than skin [feather] deep" etc.

In work led by Rosalyn Price-Waldman, we describe a hidden (and ignored!) black or white layer found below the visible surface of bird feathers which helps make bird colours so striking!

🧪 🪶 #colsci

Songbirds play optical tricks to make their feather colors ‘pop’

Concealed black or white bands on feathers boost the vibrancy of bird plumage

www.science.org

Reposted by Joseph A. Tobias

Jente Ottenburghs | Avian Hybrids @jenteo.bsky.social · Aug 13

🥳 New paper out in the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society!

Manakin’s moving melody: the interplay between courtship dance display and vocalization as a predictor of hybridization in manakins (Aves: Pipridae)
academic.oup.com/biolinnean/a...

#ornithology

Joseph Tobias @josephtobias.bsky.social · Aug 12

Hmm yeah, I saw that. If it's the post I'm thinking about. Not exactly insightful comments either.

I mean, I agree that some room for debate on socials is good, and comments shouldn't always be fluffy. But the tendency you report is real and annoying

Joseph Tobias @josephtobias.bsky.social · Aug 9

Well done, @kerrys189.bsky.social, and a much deserved ‘no corrections’. A really excellent thesis and it was a pleasure being involved. Best of luck with next steps!

Manuela Gonzalez Suarez @mgs-cielo-azul.bsky.social · Aug 9

Super happy that @kerrys189.bsky.social passed her viva with no corrections!! 🥳🥳🥳

Congratulations, Dr. Stewart!!

The EcCo lab will miss you, but we know you are off to do amazing things

Thanks to the excellent examiners @alexpigot.bsky.social & @vlboult.bsky.social

Reposted by Joseph A. Tobias, Carlos P. Carmona

Manuela Gonzalez Suarez @mgs-cielo-azul.bsky.social · Aug 9

Joseph Tobias @josephtobias.bsky.social · Aug 1

Well done to you and Anne for getting all of us over the line. Long journey! Thanks for getting me involved and for the opportunity to put some well-brewed ideas into words. 🙏🌳🌎

Reposted by Joseph A. Tobias, Richard Waite, Dominik Wiedenhofer

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · Jul 31

We should come to terms with the fact that forest, shrubland, grassland, and wetland ecosystems cannot offset fossil fuel CO₂ emissions.

But we should still protect and restore them for biodiversity and other ecosystem benefits.

Limited carbon sequestration potential from global ecosystem restoration - Nature Geoscience

The maximum carbon sequestration potential from global terrestrial ecosystem restoration efforts until 2100 is 96.9 Gt, which is equivalent to 3.7–12.0% of anthropogenic emissions until then, accordin...

www.nature.com

Joseph Tobias @josephtobias.bsky.social · Jul 31

Agreed. We make this point clearly, including the abstract. It's the reason why species-centric conservation has taken centre stage and will continue to do so. Problem is it won't work without better integration with the second column – and fortunately that process of integration is underway.

Joseph Tobias @josephtobias.bsky.social · Jul 31

All good points. I think the key point you are missing is that we are not advocating replacing one strategy with the other. More like the left hand box (traditional conservation approaches) is doomed to fail without better integration with the right hand box

Joseph Tobias @josephtobias.bsky.social · Jul 31

I think your critique is also oversimplistic and false!
Agreed about the co-supportive element though. We make this point very clearly in the paper (including the title)

Joseph Tobias @josephtobias.bsky.social · Jul 31

Warning: May include parrots (all of them)

Joseph Tobias @josephtobias.bsky.social · Jul 31

Beautiful thread by my brilliant colleague, Silu Wang, outlining the special issue she has just released (with Anne Yoder). She highlights some of the wider themes inspiring our article (in same issue) about rethinking the boundaries and targets of biodiversity conservation.

Reposted by Joseph A. Tobias, Flavia Montaño‐Centellas

Eliot Miller @eliotmiller.bsky.social · Jul 31

🫠. A tree came out today with 9,072 bird species, all placements based on actual DNA. It looks like they used eBird 2022 taxonomy; 10,096 were recognized back then. That means these folks just dropped (molecularly well informed) knowledge on 83% of the world's birds.

www.cell.com/current-biol...

A new time tree of birds reveals the interplay between dispersal, geographic range size, and diversification

Flight may affect the dispersal and evolution of birds. Using a new evolutionary tree, Claramunt et al. find that efficient fliers have broader geographic ranges, and speciation reduces range size, bu...

www.cell.com

Joseph Tobias @josephtobias.bsky.social · Jul 30

🕊️🙏

Jarod K. Anderson @jarodkanderson.bsky.social · Jul 30

Birds are dinosaurs who shrugged off a couple apocalypses. Some eat bone marrow. Some drink nectar. They outswim fish in the sea. They smile politely at gravity’s demands. ‬

‪I am grateful to see them. I am grateful to feed them. I am grateful to know them.‬

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