Seraina Cappelli
LightNews LightNews
banner
serainacappelli.bsky.social
Seraina Cappelli
@serainacappelli.bsky.social
760 followers 340 following 54 posts
Ecologist - Plant Communities - Plant Pathogens - Insect Herbivores - Grasslands - Ecosystem Functions - @snf-ch.bsky.social postdoc mobility fellow @slfdavos.bsky.social and @wslresearch.bsky.social (contact: seraina.cappelli[ät]slf[dot]ch) she/her
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
serainacappelli.bsky.social
Seraina Cappelli @serainacappelli.bsky.social · Mar 20
‪🧪🌍 🚨📄published *Consumers Modulate Effects of Plant Diversity on Community Stability* 🪲🐛🍄🌱 led by Maowei Liang, with Elizabeth Borer, Eric Seabloom and David Tilman.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

⬇️Short summary in thread below🧵⬇️
Reposted by Seraina Cappelli
jacquelyngill.bsky.social
The new Wiley journal review system is an absolute nightmare. Editorial assistants have been replaced by a clunky, AI-enabled website that makes it harder to find and invite reviewers. Associate editor workloads have increased. I'm not convinced the invitations to reviewers are even going through.
October 6, 2025 at 3:22 PM
serainacappelli.bsky.social
Seriously @globalchangebio.bsky.social & @wiley.com ?! 😡🧪🌍
September 29, 2025 at 3:36 PM
serainacappelli.bsky.social
Are you at @ESA2025 today? Come see my poster (263) about small consumer impacts on plant litter impacts on decomposition!
August 14, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Reposted by Seraina Cappelli
balachaudhary.bsky.social
Our new global study led by @smriti-pehim-limbu.bsky.social is now out in @pnas.org. TLDR: Certain spore traits were linked to climate AND species range sizes! YES we can use traits to gain insight into env adaptations for microbes.

#mycorrhizas #spores #NSFfunded
www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
How climate shapes soil fungal traits
Many soil microbes play a vital role in ecosystems, as they help plants access nutrients and water and assist in stress tolerance such as during drought and to defend against pathogens. One such group...
www.eurekalert.org
July 29, 2025 at 6:43 PM
serainacappelli.bsky.social
🚨📃🧪 New paper out: "Impacts of diverse undersown cover crops on seasonal soil microbial properties". Rashmi Shrestha used the #TWINWIN experiment to show that undersowing crops with diverse plant mixtures, particularly including legumes has beneficial effects on soil microbial life and function 1/6
Aerial view on the 60 plots of the TWINWIN experiment surrounded by grass and agricultural fields. The plots vary in color that represent the different undersown treatments. In the background is a road, buildings and forests. The sky is blue with some white clouds.
June 30, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by Seraina Cappelli
wslresearch.bsky.social
#Sciencejob Alert! Scientific career, experience in leading #research projects & international network? Strong expertise in #forest #ecology and/or #soil #processes and/or #tree functions? 🌳 We are looking for a new head of the forest and soil ecology research unit: apply.refline.ch/273855/1726/...
The Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL is part of the ETH Domain. Approximately 600 people work on the sustainable use and protection of the environment and on the handling of natural hazards. Due to retirement, WSL invites for applications for the position as Head of Research Unit Forest and Soil Ecology 90-100% (f/m/d) You will lead and inspire an internationally recognized Research Unit comprising seven well-established, strong Research Groups and approximately 100 collaborators from around 20 countries. As a distinguished ecologist, you will play an important role in national and international projects focusing on forest or soil science. In the unit, you will integrate diverse research fields, while facilitating and promoting the scientific and strategic development of the research groups. By your extensive experience you will align the unit with WSL’s vision of fostering research for people and the environment in a changing world. You will engage with key forest authorities and expert organizations, ensuring impactful collaborations, and optimizing the knowledge transfer. You are at an advanced stage of your scientific career, experienced in leading research teams and managing large projects. You possess a strong record as a Principal Investigator of significant initiatives, an outstanding publication portfolio, and a well-established international network. Deep expertise in forest ecology and/or soil processes and/or tree functions is assumed. You exemplify initiative, integration, and commitment, with proven skills in leadership, communication, and negotiation. Fluency in English and proficiency in at least one Swiss national language are required.
April 14, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Reposted by Seraina Cappelli
drjoshbrian.bsky.social
The blog about our Harper Prize-shortlisted paper is now up @journalofecology.bsky.social! Read on for a summary of what we found, and what got me into (and keeps me in) ecology!

jecologyblog.com/2025/03/26/j...
Joshua Brian: Release from aboveground enemies increases seedling survival in grasslands
2024 HARPER PRIZE SHORTLIST: For the next two weeks, we are featuring the articles shortlisted for the 2024 Harper Prize. The Harper Prize is an annual award for the best early …
jecologyblog.com
April 4, 2025 at 10:34 AM
serainacappelli.bsky.social
‪🧪🌍 🚨📄published *Consumers Modulate Effects of Plant Diversity on Community Stability* 🪲🐛🍄🌱 led by Maowei Liang, with Elizabeth Borer, Eric Seabloom and David Tilman.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

⬇️Short summary in thread below🧵⬇️
March 20, 2025 at 2:28 PM
serainacappelli.bsky.social
🧪🌍A little cheer up between a lot of negative news: Our paper about the importance of food-web complexity 🌱🐛🪲🍄 for ecosystem stability has just been accepted! Great lead by Maowei Liang, together with Elizabeth Borer, Eric Seabloom and Dave Tilman. Preprint: www.authorea.com/doi/full/10....
Consumers Modulate Effects of Plant Diversity on Community Stability
Biotic complexity, encompassing both competitive interactions within trophic levels and consumptive interactions among trophic levels, plays a fundamental role in maintaining ecosystem stability. Whil...
www.authorea.com
March 5, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Reposted by Seraina Cappelli
wslresearch.bsky.social
🥼 🖥️ #PhDalert! MSc in #environmental #science or related, experience with #field #data collection & strong background in #statistical #analysis? The Biogeochemistry research group is looking for a #PhD student in #Plant #Water #Relations. 🌊🌱 apply.refline.ch/273855/1709/...
he Forest Soils and Biogeochemistry research unit investigates the impacts of climate change on soil biodiversity, soil functions, and ecosystem processes. The Biogeochemistry research group is looking from June 1, 2025 for a PhD student in Plant Water Relations Extreme droughts and heatwaves are increasingly threatening forest ecosystems in Switzerland, altering water availability and leading to tree stress. The DeepDrought project aims to advance our understanding of plant reliance on deep soil water and its role in mitigating drought stress. We are seeking a highly motivated PhD candidate to assess species-specific root water uptake patterns, dendrometer derived tree water deficit, and water use efficiency across Swiss forests using a combination of field observations, stable isotope analyses, and predictive modeling. The PhD candidate will focus on assessing plant reliance on deep soil water and will work closely with a multidisciplinary team across the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow, and Landscape Research (WSL), ETH Zürich, and the Technical University of Munich (TUM). The research will contribute to refining our understanding of plant-water interactions and enhancing climate resilience strategies for Swiss forests. You hold a master’s degree in environmental sciences, hydrology, ecology, forestry, or a related field. Experience with field data collection, particularly soil or plant water measurements, is an asset. A strong background in statistical analysis is desirable. Familiarity with stable isotope data, dendrometry, or soil hydrology is advantageous. Proficiency in programming languages such as R or Python for data analysis and modeling is required. You are highly motivated, independent, and eager to collaborate in an interdisciplinary research team. Excellent English skills are necessary, and knowledge of German or French is a plus but not essential.
February 18, 2025 at 7:53 AM
Reposted by Seraina Cappelli
annekempel.bsky.social
Check out what our @bugnet.bsky.social PhD student Julien Bota is doing at our experimental sites in Davos! @slfdavos.bsky.social
bota-jb.bsky.social Julien L Bota @bota-jb.bsky.social · Jan 17
How do herbivores and fungal pathogens shape plant communities in a changing climate? Learn how we’re investing this experimentally on our @bugnet.bsky.social field sites in Davos. 🌱 🌐 youtu.be/3zJhOJqYkcg?... @slfdavos.bsky.social
Plants and their predators in climate change: Julien Bota explains the BugNet experiments in Davos
YouTube video by WSL-Institut für Schnee- und Lawinenforschung SLF
youtu.be
January 31, 2025 at 7:14 AM
Reposted by Seraina Cappelli
paulkardol.bsky.social
Two cool post-doc positions available at Umeå Uni to work on David Wardle's unique long-term experiments on lake islands in N-Sweden! One position focuses on microbial communities, the other on above-belowground linkages. Please, share! 🧬🦠🌲🍂

www.umu.se/en/work-with...

www.umu.se/en/work-with...
January 30, 2025 at 1:10 PM
serainacappelli.bsky.social
📄🚨 Want to know about #Collembola feeding traits and how they relate to plant community composition? Exciting preprint from #PaNDiv available now! 🧪🌍
Led by Thu Zar Nwe, with @annekempel.bsky.social and many others not on 🦋
dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn...
Collembola Feeding Traits Respond Strongly to Plant Community Characteristics
1. Nitrogen enrichment alters soil communities and their functioning, having major effects on key decomposers such as Collembola. In particular nitrogen might d
dx.doi.org
December 19, 2024 at 10:22 AM
serainacappelli.bsky.social
I am very much looking forward to reading and citing Michael Giolais newly published article "A trade-off between investment in molecular defense repertoires and growth in plants."

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
A trade-off between investment in molecular defense repertoires and growth in plants
Given the negative fitness effects that pathogens impose on their hosts, the benefits of resistance should be universal. However, there is marked variation across plant species in the number of nucleo...
www.science.org
November 8, 2024 at 7:58 AM
Reposted by Seraina Cappelli
ibartomeus.bsky.social
Yesterday an Extreme Climatic Event hit Spain. It rained >400 l/m2 in Valencia in a single day. These kinds of events are increasing worldwide due to climate change. How do we force politicians to abandon fossil fuels before its too late?
October 30, 2024 at 4:26 PM
Reposted by Seraina Cappelli
florianhartig.bsky.social
DHARMa v0.4.7 #rstats package for #glmm residual diagnostics now available on #CRAN. Among other things, this version includes a new residual test for #phylogenetic correlation, as well as support for the #phylolm package. cran.r-project.org/web/packages...
October 29, 2024 at 11:35 AM
Reposted by Seraina Cappelli
funecology.bsky.social
👀Behind the Paper!👀

🚜Seraina Cappelli discusses the role of diversity in agriculture, the value of interdisciplinary research platforms and the importance of supportive colleagues for a successful career in science🤝

Read it here👇
buff.ly/4h7Il5i
🌍🧪
Seraina Cappelli: Is identity or diversity key to managing disease in crops?
In this post, Seraina Cappelli – postdoctoral fellow at University of Minnesota – presents her work ‘The potential of undersown species identity vs. diversity to manage disease in crops’. She discu…
buff.ly
November 20, 2024 at 6:04 PM
serainacappelli.bsky.social
📄🚨Plant diversity drives positive microbial associations in the rhizosphere enhancing carbon use efficiency in agricultural soils. New #TwinWin paper out in Nature Communications! Great lead by Luiz Domeignoz
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Plant diversity drives positive microbial associations in the rhizosphere enhancing carbon use efficiency in agricultural soils - Nature Communications
The expansion and intensification of agriculture has led to a loss of soil carbon. Here the authors show that increasing plant diversity within an agricultural soil increases positive associations wit...
www.nature.com
September 17, 2024 at 6:26 PM
serainacappelli.bsky.social
After a lot of office work, I finally got to the field again: disease survey at beautiful #cedarcreek 😃
September 12, 2024 at 6:56 PM
Reposted by Seraina Cappelli
jebyrnes.bsky.social
The ecoevo job list for 2024-2025 is out. Now featuring both faculty and postdoc positions. 🌍🧪

docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
ecoevojobs.net 2024-25
docs.google.com
August 6, 2024 at 8:23 PM
serainacappelli.bsky.social
What a beautiful plenary by Rodolfo Dirzo at #esa2024 about how great mentorship has led to insights into how interactions between hosts and their consumers are changing in the anthropocene
August 5, 2024 at 4:41 PM
serainacappelli.bsky.social
🧪🌏Now in @funecology.bsky.social: The effects of undersowing on barley disease. 1st results from #TwinWin Experiment.
With L. Domeignoz Horta, S. Gerin, J. Heinosalo, A. Lohila, K. Raveala, B. Schmid, R. Shrestha, @mikkotiusanen.bsky.social , P. Thitz and A.-L. Laine
doi.org/10.1111/1365...
May 28, 2024 at 2:57 PM
serainacappelli.bsky.social
"The potential of undersown species identity vs. diversity to manage disease in crops" Details ⬇️ just forgot the 🧪and 🌏 for appearing in the right feeds 😅
serainacappelli.bsky.social Seraina Cappelli @serainacappelli.bsky.social · Apr 22
"The potential of undersown species identity vs. diversity to manage disease in crops" 📄soon to be published in @funecology.bsky.social Good news: single species can be used to suppress early season disease of barley, if these species are at sufficient abundance!
Aerial view on the TWINWIN agricultural diversity experiment. The 60 rectangular plots, arranged in 4 blocks are clearly visible and the different undersown treatments can be guessed by the different colors of the plots, ranging from yellow to dark green. The experiment is embeded in an agricultural landscape with crop fields and forests in the background. The sky above is blue with some scattered clouds.
April 22, 2024 at 3:49 PM
serainacappelli.bsky.social
"The potential of undersown species identity vs. diversity to manage disease in crops" 📄soon to be published in @funecology.bsky.social Good news: single species can be used to suppress early season disease of barley, if these species are at sufficient abundance!
Aerial view on the TWINWIN agricultural diversity experiment. The 60 rectangular plots, arranged in 4 blocks are clearly visible and the different undersown treatments can be guessed by the different colors of the plots, ranging from yellow to dark green. The experiment is embeded in an agricultural landscape with crop fields and forests in the background. The sky above is blue with some scattered clouds.
April 22, 2024 at 3:19 PM
Reposted by Seraina Cappelli
annekempel.bsky.social
Are you interested in insect monitoring using cameras and AI and looking for a paid intern in the Swiss Alps? I am looking for a motivated candidate who helps installing Diopsis Cameras along elevational gradients, and advance the image analysis @slfdavos.bsky.social apply.refline.ch/273855/1630/...
April 3, 2024 at 3:03 PM