Miles Silman
@milessilman.bsky.social
Ecologist and Conservation Biologist @WakeForest | Founding Director @WFUSabinCenter | @CINCIAMDD | Silman Farms
There are forces in #nature that are at work that we don't experience or aren't aware of, but that are essential parts of the lives and spectacular numbers of creatures. For example, this from Ranjiangshang Ran and colleagues @pnas.org
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Electrostatics facilitate midair host attachment in parasitic jumping nematodes | PNAS
Jumping can be hazardous for entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) as those that fail
to attach to an insect host face death by predation or starvation...
www.pnas.org
October 18, 2025 at 3:15 PM
There are forces in #nature that are at work that we don't experience or aren't aware of, but that are essential parts of the lives and spectacular numbers of creatures. For example, this from Ranjiangshang Ran and colleagues @pnas.org
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
This issue of @science.org is like Santa coming at Christmas. Really interesting and important papers and pointers towards others. Video first on this one and a follow-up with the actual paper at @pnas.org
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Bull’s-eye! Static electricity pulls worm through air to its insect victim
Electrostatic charges may help roundworms infect a wide variety of hosts
www.science.org
October 18, 2025 at 3:10 PM
This issue of @science.org is like Santa coming at Christmas. Really interesting and important papers and pointers towards others. Video first on this one and a follow-up with the actual paper at @pnas.org
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Okay, this is the kind of thing that James Cameron makes up for his movies. Really cool #symbiosis where stinkbugs deploy pet #fungi to protect their eggs from parasitoids. Fantastic paper in yesterday's @science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Defensive fungal symbiosis on insect hindlegs
Dinidorid stinkbugs were reported to possess a conspicuous tympanal organ on female hindlegs. In this study, we show that this organ is specialized to retain microbial symbionts rather than to perceiv...
www.science.org
October 18, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Okay, this is the kind of thing that James Cameron makes up for his movies. Really cool #symbiosis where stinkbugs deploy pet #fungi to protect their eggs from parasitoids. Fantastic paper in yesterday's @science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Drone operations today. #Biodiversity and #bioeconomy on the Rio Nanay, Northern Peru
October 4, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Drone operations today. #Biodiversity and #bioeconomy on the Rio Nanay, Northern Peru
Reposted by Miles Silman
Let's dive into this a bit. A short and very incomplete thread on US Forest Service research. 1/
It’s finally in writing. The detailed President’s budget clearly wants to completely eliminate USFS Research
May 31, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Let's dive into this a bit. A short and very incomplete thread on US Forest Service research. 1/
Reposted by Miles Silman
BRB, going to binge four hours of Bugs that Rule the World, featuring bug enthusiast, researcher, and science communicator @the-bug-hut.bsky.social.
www.pbs.org/show/bugs-th... @pbs.org
www.pbs.org/show/bugs-th... @pbs.org
Bugs That Rule the World
A four-part investigation into insect declines, exploring their diversity and ecological importance.
www.pbs.org
May 31, 2025 at 4:38 PM
BRB, going to binge four hours of Bugs that Rule the World, featuring bug enthusiast, researcher, and science communicator @the-bug-hut.bsky.social.
www.pbs.org/show/bugs-th... @pbs.org
www.pbs.org/show/bugs-th... @pbs.org
Reposted by Miles Silman
🌳⚠️Out now in Systematic Biology⚠️🌳
We find rampant reticulation in Inga, the blindingly rapid Amazonian tree radiation! ⚡
BONUS: We also find introgression and selection on genes underlying chemical defences, helping Ingas resist relentless insect herbivory 🐛☠️🌳
academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
We find rampant reticulation in Inga, the blindingly rapid Amazonian tree radiation! ⚡
BONUS: We also find introgression and selection on genes underlying chemical defences, helping Ingas resist relentless insect herbivory 🐛☠️🌳
academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
Rampant Reticulation in a Rapid Radiation of Tropical Trees -Insights from Inga (Fabaceae)
Abstract. Evolutionary radiations underlie much of the species diversity of life on Earth, particularly within the world’s most species-rich tree flora – t
academic.oup.com
May 5, 2025 at 9:43 AM
🌳⚠️Out now in Systematic Biology⚠️🌳
We find rampant reticulation in Inga, the blindingly rapid Amazonian tree radiation! ⚡
BONUS: We also find introgression and selection on genes underlying chemical defences, helping Ingas resist relentless insect herbivory 🐛☠️🌳
academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
We find rampant reticulation in Inga, the blindingly rapid Amazonian tree radiation! ⚡
BONUS: We also find introgression and selection on genes underlying chemical defences, helping Ingas resist relentless insect herbivory 🐛☠️🌳
academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
Reposted by Miles Silman
What motivates forest restoration in the Peruvian Andes and what determines success?
Water resources are key - “sowing and harvesting water”. Terrific new paper by former PhD student @tchristmann.bsky.social : besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
@oxfordgeography.bsky.social
Water resources are key - “sowing and harvesting water”. Terrific new paper by former PhD student @tchristmann.bsky.social : besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
@oxfordgeography.bsky.social
‘Sowing and harvesting water’: Revisiting forest restoration in the Peruvian Andes through a multi‐stakeholder analysis
Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
February 1, 2025 at 8:56 AM
What motivates forest restoration in the Peruvian Andes and what determines success?
Water resources are key - “sowing and harvesting water”. Terrific new paper by former PhD student @tchristmann.bsky.social : besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
@oxfordgeography.bsky.social
Water resources are key - “sowing and harvesting water”. Terrific new paper by former PhD student @tchristmann.bsky.social : besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
@oxfordgeography.bsky.social
Orrin Pilkey as passed. A hero who gave a crystal-clear answer on how to negotiate the balance of science and advocacy. This @nytimes.com obit shows his deep impact on coastal geology science and policy in an arena with multi-billion dollar stakes.
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/16/s...
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/16/s...
Orrin H. Pilkey, Warrior in a Fight to Save Imperiled Beaches, Dies at 90 (Gift Article)
An eminent geologist, he argued against putting condos and hotels on vulnerable coastal landscapes. Environmentalists applauded; many others didn’t.
www.nytimes.com
December 17, 2024 at 12:17 PM
Orrin Pilkey as passed. A hero who gave a crystal-clear answer on how to negotiate the balance of science and advocacy. This @nytimes.com obit shows his deep impact on coastal geology science and policy in an arena with multi-billion dollar stakes.
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/16/s...
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/16/s...