Nathan Kiel
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nathankiel.bsky.social
Nathan Kiel
@nathankiel.bsky.social
Plant ecologist and post-doctoral research associate at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry 🌲🌳🌱

‘If dead aspen are important to woodpeckers, then they are important to me.’ Sigurd Olson

nathankiel.com
Reposted by Nathan Kiel
Have you ever wondered if temperate🌳 & boreal🌲 tree seedlings🌱germinate & grow best in their own leaf litter, heterospecific litter, on moss, or on bare soil? If so stay tuned for more from Tee Atwater’s honors thesis experiment completed this Fall! @sunyesf.bsky.social @sunyofficial.bsky.social
November 6, 2025 at 8:35 PM
I enjoyed the opportunity to share my research with the Biology Department at Syracuse University this afternoon. Thanks Martin for the pictures and for excellent collaborations!
Excellent talk today on abrupt vs. slow forest 🌳🌲 change by @nathankiel.bsky.social @sunyesf.bsky.social given @syracuseup.bsky.social biology seminar series. It was super interesting to think of forest change drivers spanning climate zones & disturbance regimes from Yellowstone to the US Northeast
October 31, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Reposted by Nathan Kiel
Done! ✅ A new experiment now set up on our mountain 🏔️ forest 🌳🌲 site network in 4 Northeastern US states to test how seed rain, microsites, & herbivory interact to affect early stages of climate-induced tree migrations. Led by @nathankiel.bsky.social, a post-doc in our group @sunyesf.bsky.social 🌎🌐🧪
September 6, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Happy to see my photo on the cover of this issue of Journal of Ecology!
❄️ Our September issue is out now! 👉 buff.ly/gTI2X5f

The cover image shows snowmelt around the base of a deciduous tree. Photo credit: Nathan G. Kiel. Read more: buff.ly/zFEN2O7
🌎🧪
September 4, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Reposted by Nathan Kiel
❄️🌳Early snowmelt around the base of deciduous trees ("thaw circles") is likely not the proximate cause of improved plant performance and greater local abundance of the spring-flowering herb, Dutchman’s breeches.🌿 @nathankiel.bsky.social 👉 buff.ly/yUTaDe1
August 19, 2025 at 5:10 PM
From June to August on Mt Moosilauke. Earlier this year, we set out TOMST microclimate sensors. Now, we are conducting a seed addition experiment across temperate and boreal forests on the mountain. But there’s always time to summit!
August 14, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Reposted by Nathan Kiel
In 1988, wildfires razed one-third of Yellowstone National Park. While most park woodlands are regenerating, some have turned into meadows. A new study digs into why. 🧪🌿🌎
Yellowstone’s 1988 Fires Eviscerated Forests. Will They Ever Recover? - Mountain Journal
While most park woodlands are regenerating, some have turned into meadows. A new study digs into why.
mountainjournal.org
August 4, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Reposted by Nathan Kiel
🌎🧪🌐 My amazing field team @sunyesf.bsky.social led by my CoPI & postdoc @nathankiel.bsky.social have just completed the first week of installing #Tomst sensors to quantify microclimate across temperate-boreal 🌳🌲forest ecotones on mountains in the northeastern US. Exciting and…more to come❗️
June 6, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Reposted by Nathan Kiel
This is a challenging time for our community. That's why NAA is happy to make our Job Board FREE. Whether you are searching for your next career opportunity or are seeking quality candidates, the NAA Job Board is here to connect practitioners and employers. Link in profile.
May 13, 2025 at 2:07 PM
New land conserved by the Southern Tier Land Conservancy! www.binghamtonhomepage.com/news/souther...
www.binghamtonhomepage.com
May 13, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Happy International Plant Appreciation Day! Here’s trailing arbutus (Epigaea repens) in bloom at Powder Mills Park in Rochester, NY.
April 13, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Reposted by Nathan Kiel
🎉 Congratulations to Rachel Hopkins on excellent MSc defense & seminar “Plants on the move: Tracking 60 years of vegetation shifts on Whiteface Mountain, New York State” @sunyesf.bsky.social. We celebrated hers & other lab members’ recent accomplishments @ Alto Cinco! Stay tuned for the papers! 🌲🪻⛰️
April 11, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Reposted by Nathan Kiel
🏆 Congratulations to our new MS student, Danny Wehner, for receiving Lowe-Wilcox Graduate Fellowship at @sunyesf.bsky.social @sunyofficial.bsky.social for his field research on the effects of mycorrhiza 🍄 on tree seedling 🌱 establishment across montane-temperate forest ecotones. Well done Danny!
April 10, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Reposted by Nathan Kiel
We're thrilled to share that Botany, a @cdnsciencepub.com journal, will be joining the BlueSky community soon! Stay tuned for updates as we prepare to connect, share, and engage with researchers and science enthusiasts in this exciting space. See you soon! 🌟 #ScienceCommunication #BlueSky
March 31, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Curious about which tree species could become more abundant in the northeastern United States with climate change? What about those that could be forced out?

Check out this Shiny app! Current species ranges may help us infer future plant community change in the northeast and beyond.
Species Range Viewer
nathangeraldkiel.shinyapps.io
February 3, 2025 at 2:37 PM
New paper in #EcologicalMonographs w/ @monicagturner.bsky.social & E. Mavencamp! Among sparse/non-forested areas 34 years after the severe 1988 Yellowstone Fires:

- ~1/2 appear “locked in”;
- Plant communities shifted to resemble meadows;
- Aboveground C repartitioned w/ 96% stored in dead wood.
Sparse subalpine forest recovery pathways, plant communities, and carbon stocks 34 years after stand‐replacing fire
Changing global climate and wildfire regimes are threatening forest resilience (i.e., the ability to recover from disturbance). Yet distinguishing areas of “no” versus “slow” postfire forest recovery...
doi.org
January 27, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Reposted by Nathan Kiel
Our new paper in #Ecosystems! Short-interval #fires in lodgepole pine change aboveground N stocks (a lot) but not total ecosystem N, tho available NO3- goes up. #GreaterYellowstone #FireEcology #NSFfunded W/ @nathankiel.bsky.social C Cleveland, J Warren, R Heumann
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reburning Before Recovery: Effects of Short-Interval Fire on Subalpine Forest Nitrogen Stocks and Fluxes - Ecosystems
In forests adapted to infrequent (> 100-year) stand-replacing fires, novel short-interval (< 30-year) fires burn young forests before they recover from previous burns. Postfire tree regeneration is re...
link.springer.com
January 21, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Reposted by Nathan Kiel
A new Natural Area Journal just dropped! Stay tuned for article highlights... bioone.org/journals/nat...
January 1, 2025 at 11:44 PM
Reposted by Nathan Kiel
Interesting contribution to a better understanding of the diversity–productivity relationship in forests, focusing on diversity-mediated increases in tree packing. Led by @xaviermorin.bsky.social, out in @journalofecology.bsky.social besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
More species, more trees: The role of tree packing in promoting forest productivity
The effect of tree species richness on maximum stand density in forest plots had been suspected before, but it had hardly ever been taken into account in biodiversity–ecosystem–functioning studies. H...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
January 8, 2025 at 7:46 PM
2024 was an exciting year professionally - I defended my dissertation, moved back to the northeastern U.S., and began a post-doc position at my alma mater! All while spending time with wonderful friends and colleagues, old and new. I’m looking forward to what 2025 has in store 🌳🌲
January 2, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Reposted by Nathan Kiel
Thanks for entrusting your work to us!

Info about @ijpsjournal.bsky.social's fast-track submission option can be found here:

www.journals.uchicago.edu/journals/ijp...

#PlantScience
International Journal of Plant Sciences: Fast-track submissions
www.journals.uchicago.edu
December 17, 2024 at 10:07 PM
Reposted by Nathan Kiel
I'll be giving a free webinar Thurs, Dec 5, 7 p.m. Central time for the Minnesota Native Plant Society on the topics of #oak reproduction, #species, #hybrids, & #phylogeny / #treeOfLife, from my new book (press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...).

Join us, and pls share!

us06web.zoom.us/j/6977108818...
December 1, 2024 at 7:32 PM
Reposted by Nathan Kiel
1/ Important read for anyone using, contributing, or building large databases by aggregating data sources. Discusses issues with data quality, duplication, credit attribution, etc, and includes recommendations for improvement

doi.org/10.1111/gcb.... #ecopubs
November 29, 2024 at 11:01 AM
Thanksgiving in western New York!
November 28, 2024 at 5:36 PM
Reposted by Nathan Kiel
Important finding for impact modelers by @kornhuber.bsky.social et al.: Climatic extremes change faster/ more severely than anticipated by climate models. The consequences anticipated with impact models (based on climate model-driven forcings) might thus be conservative. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Global emergence of regional heatwave hotspots outpaces climate model simulations | PNAS
Multiple recent record-shattering weather events raise questions about the adequacy of climate models to effectively predict and prepare for unprec...
www.pnas.org
November 27, 2024 at 7:01 AM