Rebecca McMackin
@rebeccalovesplants.bsky.social
Ecological Horticulture. Public servant. Pollination ecology. Harvard Loeb Fellow. American Horticultural Society. X-Brooklyn Bridge Park. TED talker.
I have a newsletter! www.rebeccamcmackin.com/newsletter
I have a newsletter! www.rebeccamcmackin.com/newsletter
Reposted by Rebecca McMackin
Eight new species of Greigia (Bromeliaceae) from the Andean cloud forests! Their pineapple-flavored fruits feed spectacled bears, their flowers smell like fermented milk, and one, G. muysca, honors the Indigenous Muysca people. Read more: doi.org/10.11646/
October 23, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Eight new species of Greigia (Bromeliaceae) from the Andean cloud forests! Their pineapple-flavored fruits feed spectacled bears, their flowers smell like fermented milk, and one, G. muysca, honors the Indigenous Muysca people. Read more: doi.org/10.11646/
So many stories about fall leaves and red flowers fall into this category. Telling people the stories of their world so they can see and appreciate what is all around them.
“One of the functions of art is to give people the words to know their own experience… Storytelling is a tool for knowing who we are and what we want.”
An Ursula K. Le Guin gem www.themarginalian.org/2018/01/30/u...
An Ursula K. Le Guin gem www.themarginalian.org/2018/01/30/u...
Ursula K. Le Guin on Art, Storytelling, and the Power of Language to Transform and Redeem
“One of the functions of art is to give people the words to know their own experience… Storytelling is a tool for knowing who we are and what we want.”
www.themarginalian.org
October 7, 2025 at 12:30 PM
So many stories about fall leaves and red flowers fall into this category. Telling people the stories of their world so they can see and appreciate what is all around them.
Hello I am back on Bluesky! I was overwhelmed with the world, the world is overwhelming. But I am now back to talk about spider gardening, leaving leaves and the nuns of ecological restoration. xo!
Grow Like Wild! - Harvest Moon
Left leaves, spider gardening, and nuns.
rebeccamcmackin.substack.com
October 6, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Hello I am back on Bluesky! I was overwhelmed with the world, the world is overwhelming. But I am now back to talk about spider gardening, leaving leaves and the nuns of ecological restoration. xo!
Really, the only good use of forsythia.
May 8, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Really, the only good use of forsythia.
Red Trillium with a crane fly pollinator.
The flower emits a stinky scent, attracting flies and beetles. If you look close, you can see pollen grains in the fly’s legs.
The flower emits a stinky scent, attracting flies and beetles. If you look close, you can see pollen grains in the fly’s legs.
April 27, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Red Trillium with a crane fly pollinator.
The flower emits a stinky scent, attracting flies and beetles. If you look close, you can see pollen grains in the fly’s legs.
The flower emits a stinky scent, attracting flies and beetles. If you look close, you can see pollen grains in the fly’s legs.
Trees make women happy. I could have told you that, but now there's a study. Researchers looked at 33,000 women, how many trees they lived around, and how likely they were to be depressed. The results were that more trees = less depression.
researchgate.net
April 22, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Trees make women happy. I could have told you that, but now there's a study. Researchers looked at 33,000 women, how many trees they lived around, and how likely they were to be depressed. The results were that more trees = less depression.
Reposted by Rebecca McMackin
Abundant Eocene fossils of plants and animals are found in the Green River Formation of Wyoming, Colorado and Utah. This fossil Pseudosalix Hanleyi, with stems, leaves and flowers preserved, is harder to find than a T-rex tooth!
April 20, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Abundant Eocene fossils of plants and animals are found in the Green River Formation of Wyoming, Colorado and Utah. This fossil Pseudosalix Hanleyi, with stems, leaves and flowers preserved, is harder to find than a T-rex tooth!
Urban trees, even small ones, can reduce water run off by 25%!
An evaluation of the stormwater runoff reduction of two distinct tree species to support urban greening as nature-based solutions
Trees, as a vital element of urban greening, have been increasingly recognized for their hydrologic contributions to stormwater management. However, t…
sciencedirect.com
March 31, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Urban trees, even small ones, can reduce water run off by 25%!
Reposted by Rebecca McMackin
The alemdro tree doesn't just survive lightning strikes--it appears to use the electricity to fry parasites and kill competitors. Fascinating story by @erikstokstad.bsky.social for @science.org!
Shocker: This tropical tree thrives after being struck by lightning
The almendro withstands thunderbolts that blast away parasitic vines
www.science.org
March 26, 2025 at 5:00 PM
The alemdro tree doesn't just survive lightning strikes--it appears to use the electricity to fry parasites and kill competitors. Fascinating story by @erikstokstad.bsky.social for @science.org!
Bad news: a massive study in Science found that US butterflies abundance is down 22% in the last 20 years.
Good news: butterflies are incredibly environmentally responsive. If they have the conditions they need to thrive, populations can bounce back quickly. Protect & cultivate native plants! 🌎🧪🌿🌱
Good news: butterflies are incredibly environmentally responsive. If they have the conditions they need to thrive, populations can bounce back quickly. Protect & cultivate native plants! 🌎🧪🌿🌱
Rapid butterfly declines across the United States during the 21st century
Numerous declines have been documented across insect groups, and the potential consequences of insect losses are dire. Butterflies are the most surveyed insect taxa, yet analyses have been limited in ...
www.science.org
March 6, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Bad news: a massive study in Science found that US butterflies abundance is down 22% in the last 20 years.
Good news: butterflies are incredibly environmentally responsive. If they have the conditions they need to thrive, populations can bounce back quickly. Protect & cultivate native plants! 🌎🧪🌿🌱
Good news: butterflies are incredibly environmentally responsive. If they have the conditions they need to thrive, populations can bounce back quickly. Protect & cultivate native plants! 🌎🧪🌿🌱
Times are bleak, it’s true. But people are still out here doing incredible work now, when it matters most.
Activists in KY bought land slated for a new prison, and will now fill it with native plants and use it as an intertribal gathering location.
🌱🌎🧪🌿
Activists in KY bought land slated for a new prison, and will now fill it with native plants and use it as an intertribal gathering location.
🌱🌎🧪🌿
Eastern KY activists bought land where feds wanted to build a prison
Rep. Hal Rogers has wanted another prison in eastern Kentucky for years. Local and national activists say the new land owners have better plans for Letcher County.
www.lpm.org
February 17, 2025 at 2:18 AM
Times are bleak, it’s true. But people are still out here doing incredible work now, when it matters most.
Activists in KY bought land slated for a new prison, and will now fill it with native plants and use it as an intertribal gathering location.
🌱🌎🧪🌿
Activists in KY bought land slated for a new prison, and will now fill it with native plants and use it as an intertribal gathering location.
🌱🌎🧪🌿
Trump won’t let the team working on National Nature Assessment publish their report. Researchers are planning to publish it anyway and we should all commit to getting it out there when they do.
Trump Killed a Major Report on Nature. They’re Trying to Publish It Anyway.
The first full draft of the assessment, on the state of America’s land, water and wildlife, was weeks from completion. The project leader called the study “too important to die.”
www.nytimes.com
February 12, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Trump won’t let the team working on National Nature Assessment publish their report. Researchers are planning to publish it anyway and we should all commit to getting it out there when they do.
Reposted by Rebecca McMackin
Our newest study is out today! We found that 9 y after fire there were HUGE differences in bacterial and fungal communities between neighboring burned soils and small unburned refugia. Contact me directly if you can't access the paper and I will email you a pdf copy!
doi.org/10.1016/j.sc...
doi.org/10.1016/j.sc...
Redirecting
doi.org
February 8, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Our newest study is out today! We found that 9 y after fire there were HUGE differences in bacterial and fungal communities between neighboring burned soils and small unburned refugia. Contact me directly if you can't access the paper and I will email you a pdf copy!
doi.org/10.1016/j.sc...
doi.org/10.1016/j.sc...
A long-running study out of England has found that, as you use fertilizers on landscapes, you lose pollinators.
The mechanism is that fertilizers encourages grasses, which outcompete insect pollinated flowers and reduce floral resources. 🌿🌱🧪🌎
The mechanism is that fertilizers encourages grasses, which outcompete insect pollinated flowers and reduce floral resources. 🌿🌱🧪🌎
High fertiliser use halves numbers of pollinators, world’s longest study finds
Even average use of nitrogen fertilisers cut flower numbers fivefold and halved pollinating insects
www.theguardian.com
February 9, 2025 at 6:21 PM
A long-running study out of England has found that, as you use fertilizers on landscapes, you lose pollinators.
The mechanism is that fertilizers encourages grasses, which outcompete insect pollinated flowers and reduce floral resources. 🌿🌱🧪🌎
The mechanism is that fertilizers encourages grasses, which outcompete insect pollinated flowers and reduce floral resources. 🌿🌱🧪🌎
Reposted by Rebecca McMackin
A mountain sacred to the Maori people has been granted personhood under the laws of New Zealand. apnews.com/article/moun...
A New Zealand mountain is granted personhood, recognizing it as sacred for Māori
A mountain in New Zealand considered an ancestor by Indigenous people has been recognized as a legal person after a new law granted it all the rights and responsibilities of a human being.
apnews.com
February 6, 2025 at 4:37 PM
A mountain sacred to the Maori people has been granted personhood under the laws of New Zealand. apnews.com/article/moun...
New Bee Alert! This little blue mining bee only visits a couple of species of nightshade in flowers in southern grasslands. Their name, Andrena androfovea, translates to "eyeliner boy" because the males have this fuzzy stripe of hair that is usually only on females. 🌎🧪🌿🌱
February 3, 2025 at 4:11 PM
New Bee Alert! This little blue mining bee only visits a couple of species of nightshade in flowers in southern grasslands. Their name, Andrena androfovea, translates to "eyeliner boy" because the males have this fuzzy stripe of hair that is usually only on females. 🌎🧪🌿🌱
Seed banks are a way for plants to travel through time, asleep until they’re called back up into the sun. Nitrogen fertilizers threaten that process.
🌎🌱🌿🧪
🌎🌱🌿🧪
Multiple mechanisms associated with loss of seed bank diversity under nitrogen enrichment
These results provide novel insights into multiple direct and indirect mechanisms that can lead to loss of plant diversity in seed banks under N enrichment, with important ramifications on the mainte...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
January 28, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Seed banks are a way for plants to travel through time, asleep until they’re called back up into the sun. Nitrogen fertilizers threaten that process.
🌎🌱🌿🧪
🌎🌱🌿🧪
A completely new plant lineage has been discovered, from 47 million years ago. Researchers named it Othniophyton elongatum, meaning “alien plant.”
Ancient 'Alien Plant' Shatters Beliefs About Earth's Botanical History
A mysterious fossil plant discovered in Utah has upended botanists' understanding of ancient plant diversity, revealing the existence of an entirely
scienceblog.com
December 20, 2024 at 10:00 PM
A completely new plant lineage has been discovered, from 47 million years ago. Researchers named it Othniophyton elongatum, meaning “alien plant.”
Reposted by Rebecca McMackin
Pesticides are a major reason so many native bees, butterflies, & other pollinators are in serious trouble. So why does the EPA only consider risks to honey bees when approving pesticides for sale?
@earthjustice.bsky.social & Xerces are calling on the EPA to fix this flaw🔗 xerces.org/press/pollin...
@earthjustice.bsky.social & Xerces are calling on the EPA to fix this flaw🔗 xerces.org/press/pollin...
December 17, 2024 at 10:12 PM
Pesticides are a major reason so many native bees, butterflies, & other pollinators are in serious trouble. So why does the EPA only consider risks to honey bees when approving pesticides for sale?
@earthjustice.bsky.social & Xerces are calling on the EPA to fix this flaw🔗 xerces.org/press/pollin...
@earthjustice.bsky.social & Xerces are calling on the EPA to fix this flaw🔗 xerces.org/press/pollin...
This is dangerous rhetoric.
As much as I’ve benefitted from Attenborough’s work over the years, he’s done a massive amount of harm by, not just ignoring, but actively erasing the people in the various ecosystems he shows to the world.
As much as I’ve benefitted from Attenborough’s work over the years, he’s done a massive amount of harm by, not just ignoring, but actively erasing the people in the various ecosystems he shows to the world.
December 10, 2024 at 1:18 PM
This is dangerous rhetoric.
As much as I’ve benefitted from Attenborough’s work over the years, he’s done a massive amount of harm by, not just ignoring, but actively erasing the people in the various ecosystems he shows to the world.
As much as I’ve benefitted from Attenborough’s work over the years, he’s done a massive amount of harm by, not just ignoring, but actively erasing the people in the various ecosystems he shows to the world.
Reposted by Rebecca McMackin
New paper out! We show that heart cockles use bundled fiber optic cables to transmit light through "skylights" in their shell for their photosynthetic algae. The skylights filter out harmful UV radiation. These coral analogues are cool critters!! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Heart cockle shells transmit sunlight to photosymbiotic algae using bundled fiber optic cables and condensing lenses - Nature Communications
Some bivalves have evolved photosynthetic symbioses. Here, the authors show that heart cockles transmit light through their upper shell to internal photosynthetic symbionts, using mineral fiber optic ...
www.nature.com
December 9, 2024 at 2:45 PM
New paper out! We show that heart cockles use bundled fiber optic cables to transmit light through "skylights" in their shell for their photosynthetic algae. The skylights filter out harmful UV radiation. These coral analogues are cool critters!! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Remember a few years ago when we found out that some moths emit ultrasonic clicks to jam bat sonar? Then recently we heard that some plants make ultrasonic clicks when dehydrated?
Well now researchers have found that some moths HEAR those plant clicks and use them to decide where to lay eggs.
🪲🧪🌿🌎
Well now researchers have found that some moths HEAR those plant clicks and use them to decide where to lay eggs.
🪲🧪🌿🌎
When They Hear Plants Crying, Moths Make a Decision
A new study suggests that the insects rely on the sounds made by distressed vegetation to guide important reproductive choices.
www.nytimes.com
December 9, 2024 at 2:32 AM
Remember a few years ago when we found out that some moths emit ultrasonic clicks to jam bat sonar? Then recently we heard that some plants make ultrasonic clicks when dehydrated?
Well now researchers have found that some moths HEAR those plant clicks and use them to decide where to lay eggs.
🪲🧪🌿🌎
Well now researchers have found that some moths HEAR those plant clicks and use them to decide where to lay eggs.
🪲🧪🌿🌎
Reposted by Rebecca McMackin
A must-read: Patrick Chandler Brown — named after the PCB chemicals dumped in his community — purchased the plantation where his great-grandfather was enslaved and is in the process of transforming it to serve farmers like him
Black Earth — THE BITTER SOUTHERNER
In North Carolina, a Black farmer purchased the plantation where his ancestors were enslaved— and is reclaiming his family’s story, his community’s health, and the soil beneath his feet.
bittersoutherner.com
December 5, 2024 at 3:27 PM
A must-read: Patrick Chandler Brown — named after the PCB chemicals dumped in his community — purchased the plantation where his great-grandfather was enslaved and is in the process of transforming it to serve farmers like him
One easy way to increase wild urban bee diversity is to make sure you plants many different SHAPES of flowers.
🌎🪲🌿🧪
🌎🪲🌿🧪
Variation in flower morphology associated with higher bee diversity in urban green spaces
Urbanization is a leading threat to biodiversity, but scientifically informed management of urban ecosystems can mitigate negative impacts. For wild bees, which are declining worldwide, careful consi...
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 7, 2024 at 1:21 AM
One easy way to increase wild urban bee diversity is to make sure you plants many different SHAPES of flowers.
🌎🪲🌿🧪
🌎🪲🌿🧪
ETHIOPIAN WOLVES AS (possible) KNIPHOFIA POLLINATORS!!!!
December 5, 2024 at 3:15 AM
ETHIOPIAN WOLVES AS (possible) KNIPHOFIA POLLINATORS!!!!