Tom Rhys Bishop
@tbish.bsky.social
Ant biologist, trait biogeographer based at Cardiff Uni. ⛰️🐜🔬
www.BishopTraitsLab.com
www.BishopTraitsLab.com
Reposted by Tom Rhys Bishop
Do you like functional traits, competition, mesocosm experiments, ants and rigorous fieldwork in unusual tropical systems?
Then you might like this new paper - the last from my DPhil at Oxford- in Functional Ecology:
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Then you might like this new paper - the last from my DPhil at Oxford- in Functional Ecology:
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Functional trait dissimilarity drives arboreal ant community assembly while competitive trait hierarchies shape colony performance in experimental mesocosms
Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
September 29, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Do you like functional traits, competition, mesocosm experiments, ants and rigorous fieldwork in unusual tropical systems?
Then you might like this new paper - the last from my DPhil at Oxford- in Functional Ecology:
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Then you might like this new paper - the last from my DPhil at Oxford- in Functional Ecology:
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Tom Rhys Bishop
Shannon's H, Simpson's D, and Pielou's J are useless in ecology. Fitting data with a compound abundance distribution based on the geometric series is a better way to quantify variation – and to estimate species richness. New paper in Ecology Letters.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
July 24, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Shannon's H, Simpson's D, and Pielou's J are useless in ecology. Fitting data with a compound abundance distribution based on the geometric series is a better way to quantify variation – and to estimate species richness. New paper in Ecology Letters.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Tom Rhys Bishop
We need more provocative papers like this …
Shannon's H, Simpson's D, and Pielou's J are useless in ecology. Fitting data with a compound abundance distribution based on the geometric series is a better way to quantify variation – and to estimate species richness. New paper in Ecology Letters.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
September 10, 2025 at 5:05 AM
We need more provocative papers like this …
Reposted by Tom Rhys Bishop
🦠 New Research - The gut microbiome shapes latitudinal differences in host immunity and pathogen load in a damselfly ➡️ buff.ly/0f99mq4
September 1, 2025 at 11:02 AM
🦠 New Research - The gut microbiome shapes latitudinal differences in host immunity and pathogen load in a damselfly ➡️ buff.ly/0f99mq4
Reposted by Tom Rhys Bishop
🚨New paper out in PNAS🚨
Soil eDNA reflects regionally dominant species rather than local composition of tropical tree communities 🧬🌿🌳🌺🧬
We asked about the spatial scale of biodiversity captured by samples of DNA from tropical soils #Luquillo #eDNA. A short 🧵....
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Soil eDNA reflects regionally dominant species rather than local composition of tropical tree communities 🧬🌿🌳🌺🧬
We asked about the spatial scale of biodiversity captured by samples of DNA from tropical soils #Luquillo #eDNA. A short 🧵....
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
August 20, 2025 at 2:39 PM
🚨New paper out in PNAS🚨
Soil eDNA reflects regionally dominant species rather than local composition of tropical tree communities 🧬🌿🌳🌺🧬
We asked about the spatial scale of biodiversity captured by samples of DNA from tropical soils #Luquillo #eDNA. A short 🧵....
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Soil eDNA reflects regionally dominant species rather than local composition of tropical tree communities 🧬🌿🌳🌺🧬
We asked about the spatial scale of biodiversity captured by samples of DNA from tropical soils #Luquillo #eDNA. A short 🧵....
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Tom Rhys Bishop
"Commuting in crosswinds and foraging in fast winds: the foraging ecology of a flying fish specialist" 💨🐦🐟
New @iomarinescience.bsky.social research out now in @royalsocietypublishing.org: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
📸 @robinfreeman.bsky.social
🧪🌍🪶
New @iomarinescience.bsky.social research out now in @royalsocietypublishing.org: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
📸 @robinfreeman.bsky.social
🧪🌍🪶
August 6, 2025 at 9:15 AM
"Commuting in crosswinds and foraging in fast winds: the foraging ecology of a flying fish specialist" 💨🐦🐟
New @iomarinescience.bsky.social research out now in @royalsocietypublishing.org: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
📸 @robinfreeman.bsky.social
🧪🌍🪶
New @iomarinescience.bsky.social research out now in @royalsocietypublishing.org: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
📸 @robinfreeman.bsky.social
🧪🌍🪶
Reposted by Tom Rhys Bishop
New paper out on the dangers of using patterns across spatial climate gradients to predict what will happen with changing climate. That includes species distribution modeling. Space-for-time substitution can be misleading in sign, not just the magnitude of effects.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reconsidering space-for-time substitution in climate change ecology - Nature Climate Change
Ecologists often leverage patterns observed across spatial climate gradients to predict the impacts of climate change (space-for-time substitution). We highlight evidence that this can be misleading n...
www.nature.com
July 31, 2025 at 4:04 AM
New paper out on the dangers of using patterns across spatial climate gradients to predict what will happen with changing climate. That includes species distribution modeling. Space-for-time substitution can be misleading in sign, not just the magnitude of effects.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Tom Rhys Bishop
Excited to share that we have just been awarded a NERC Pushing the Frontiers grant to work on between-group cooperation in the Shark Bay dolphins. We will soon advertise a 3 year post-doc to join the team - drop me an email if you might be interested! Pls share widely 🙏🏻
July 31, 2025 at 6:13 AM
Excited to share that we have just been awarded a NERC Pushing the Frontiers grant to work on between-group cooperation in the Shark Bay dolphins. We will soon advertise a 3 year post-doc to join the team - drop me an email if you might be interested! Pls share widely 🙏🏻
Reposted by Tom Rhys Bishop
Really disappointing new policy from NERC banning resubmissions of grant applications
Many of us, including me, have won grants on resubmission,
using the reviews to improve the application
This is is neither fair nor productive
www.ukri.org/councils/ner...
Many of us, including me, have won grants on resubmission,
using the reviews to improve the application
This is is neither fair nor productive
www.ukri.org/councils/ner...
NERC policy on resubmissions
This policy only applies to research grant applications.
www.ukri.org
July 17, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Really disappointing new policy from NERC banning resubmissions of grant applications
Many of us, including me, have won grants on resubmission,
using the reviews to improve the application
This is is neither fair nor productive
www.ukri.org/councils/ner...
Many of us, including me, have won grants on resubmission,
using the reviews to improve the application
This is is neither fair nor productive
www.ukri.org/councils/ner...
Awesome to see our paper exploring competing hypotheses in macro/metabolic ecology out in PNAS.
Led by the all star @lilyleahy.bsky.social with a range of amazing folks including @funkyant.bsky.social @natejsanders.bsky.social @ianjwright.bsky.social.
Check it out!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Led by the all star @lilyleahy.bsky.social with a range of amazing folks including @funkyant.bsky.social @natejsanders.bsky.social @ianjwright.bsky.social.
Check it out!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Metabolic traits are shaped by phylogenetic conservatism and environment, not just body size | PNAS
Metabolic rate dictates life’s tempo, yet how ecological and environmental factors
integrate to shape metabolic traits remains contentious. Conside...
www.pnas.org
July 18, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Awesome to see our paper exploring competing hypotheses in macro/metabolic ecology out in PNAS.
Led by the all star @lilyleahy.bsky.social with a range of amazing folks including @funkyant.bsky.social @natejsanders.bsky.social @ianjwright.bsky.social.
Check it out!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Led by the all star @lilyleahy.bsky.social with a range of amazing folks including @funkyant.bsky.social @natejsanders.bsky.social @ianjwright.bsky.social.
Check it out!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Tom Rhys Bishop
Phylosignal celebrates its 500 citations! 📦🎉
I've written a short blog post to celebrate and reflect on this 10-year old #rstats project. 👨💻
www.pieceofk.fr/phylosignal-...
I've written a short blog post to celebrate and reflect on this 10-year old #rstats project. 👨💻
www.pieceofk.fr/phylosignal-...
Phylosignal, 500 citations later
My first R package, phylosignal, that I started more than a decade ago, has just passed its 500th citation. So I decided to take a little time to celebrate (we definitely don’t celebrate enough). I…
www.pieceofk.fr
June 25, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Phylosignal celebrates its 500 citations! 📦🎉
I've written a short blog post to celebrate and reflect on this 10-year old #rstats project. 👨💻
www.pieceofk.fr/phylosignal-...
I've written a short blog post to celebrate and reflect on this 10-year old #rstats project. 👨💻
www.pieceofk.fr/phylosignal-...
Reposted by Tom Rhys Bishop
Heard of "Darwin's paradox"? It refers to Charles Darwin's observation that coral reefs are wildly productive despite occurring in nutrient-poor tropical oceans. Reefs are, so the story goes, oases in marine deserts 🏝️...
Turns out that 2/3 of these assertions are very wrong...
🌐
🦑🧪
🧵⬇️
Turns out that 2/3 of these assertions are very wrong...
🌐
🦑🧪
🧵⬇️
June 6, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Heard of "Darwin's paradox"? It refers to Charles Darwin's observation that coral reefs are wildly productive despite occurring in nutrient-poor tropical oceans. Reefs are, so the story goes, oases in marine deserts 🏝️...
Turns out that 2/3 of these assertions are very wrong...
🌐
🦑🧪
🧵⬇️
Turns out that 2/3 of these assertions are very wrong...
🌐
🦑🧪
🧵⬇️
Reposted by Tom Rhys Bishop
I am looking for a postdoc wanting to use functional genomics to understand why birds 🐦 struggle with climate warming in @erc.europa.eu project #HotLife. Ideal candidate is a molecular evolutionarybiologist. Join us at @biologylu.bsky.social. Details 👇
shorturl.at/wijEq
Would appreciate a re-post!
shorturl.at/wijEq
Would appreciate a re-post!
Post-doctoral fellow in functional genomics and ecophysiology
Subject description The goal of the project is to uncover the mechanisms explaining why global warming and heatwaves reduce reproductive success and cause excess mortality in wild and domesticated war
lu.varbi.com
May 22, 2025 at 3:22 PM
I am looking for a postdoc wanting to use functional genomics to understand why birds 🐦 struggle with climate warming in @erc.europa.eu project #HotLife. Ideal candidate is a molecular evolutionarybiologist. Join us at @biologylu.bsky.social. Details 👇
shorturl.at/wijEq
Would appreciate a re-post!
shorturl.at/wijEq
Would appreciate a re-post!
Reposted by Tom Rhys Bishop
It's the last day to apply for #BESMacro2025 ! Come join us in beautiful York for two days of awesome macro-scale science (plus an optional pre-conference workshop on scientific storytelling)
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bes-macro-...
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bes-macro-...
BES Macro 2025
A British Ecological Society specialist group conference for researchers in macroecology and/or macroevolution at any academic career stage.
www.eventbrite.co.uk
May 30, 2025 at 11:07 AM
It's the last day to apply for #BESMacro2025 ! Come join us in beautiful York for two days of awesome macro-scale science (plus an optional pre-conference workshop on scientific storytelling)
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bes-macro-...
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bes-macro-...
Reposted by Tom Rhys Bishop
So excited to finally share our new paper charting the global spectrum of tree crown architecture, out today at @natcomms.nature.com 🧪🌐
Paper link 🔗: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A brief thread of what we found 🧵
Paper link 🔗: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A brief thread of what we found 🧵
May 27, 2025 at 10:31 AM
So excited to finally share our new paper charting the global spectrum of tree crown architecture, out today at @natcomms.nature.com 🧪🌐
Paper link 🔗: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A brief thread of what we found 🧵
Paper link 🔗: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A brief thread of what we found 🧵
Reposted by Tom Rhys Bishop
Closing tomorrow! Last chance to apply for postdoc to explore the role of animals in savanna ecosystem productivity & nutrient cycling! Link to job: tinyurl.com/53dy4584 #savanna #termites #largemammals
May 20, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Closing tomorrow! Last chance to apply for postdoc to explore the role of animals in savanna ecosystem productivity & nutrient cycling! Link to job: tinyurl.com/53dy4584 #savanna #termites #largemammals
Reposted by Tom Rhys Bishop
🌸Plant diversity dynamics over space and time in a warming Arctic 🌸
Our new study @nature.com analysed plant diversity change in >2000 tundra plots over 4 decades. We found that plants changed unevenly, mostly driven by warming and biotic interactions.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧵 (1/7) 🌐🧪🌱🌍
Our new study @nature.com analysed plant diversity change in >2000 tundra plots over 4 decades. We found that plants changed unevenly, mostly driven by warming and biotic interactions.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧵 (1/7) 🌐🧪🌱🌍
April 30, 2025 at 3:15 PM
🌸Plant diversity dynamics over space and time in a warming Arctic 🌸
Our new study @nature.com analysed plant diversity change in >2000 tundra plots over 4 decades. We found that plants changed unevenly, mostly driven by warming and biotic interactions.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧵 (1/7) 🌐🧪🌱🌍
Our new study @nature.com analysed plant diversity change in >2000 tundra plots over 4 decades. We found that plants changed unevenly, mostly driven by warming and biotic interactions.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧵 (1/7) 🌐🧪🌱🌍
Reposted by Tom Rhys Bishop
In February, Yadvinder & Eleanor traveled to South Africa to collect trait data at collaborator, Kate Parr’s @funkyant.bsky.social field site for her new ‘The Green Stuff’ Project.
@naturerecovery.bsky.social
We cover this visit in a visual way on our blog
www.oxfordecosystems.org/post/explori...
@naturerecovery.bsky.social
We cover this visit in a visual way on our blog
www.oxfordecosystems.org/post/explori...
Exploring Nutrient Cycling in the Waterberg, South Africa
Ecosystems researchers travel to the Waterberg in South Africa to collect baseline trait data with collaborators from Liverpool University and University of Pretoria
www.oxfordecosystems.org
April 28, 2025 at 1:08 PM
In February, Yadvinder & Eleanor traveled to South Africa to collect trait data at collaborator, Kate Parr’s @funkyant.bsky.social field site for her new ‘The Green Stuff’ Project.
@naturerecovery.bsky.social
We cover this visit in a visual way on our blog
www.oxfordecosystems.org/post/explori...
@naturerecovery.bsky.social
We cover this visit in a visual way on our blog
www.oxfordecosystems.org/post/explori...
Reposted by Tom Rhys Bishop
our perspective on desiccation tolerance research is out in
@naturecomms.bsky.social. with nearly forty authors from around the world spanning diverse career stages and disciplines, this work represents a shared vision for the field. let us know what you think!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@naturecomms.bsky.social. with nearly forty authors from around the world spanning diverse career stages and disciplines, this work represents a shared vision for the field. let us know what you think!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Life on the dry side: a roadmap to understanding desiccation tolerance and accelerating translational applications - Nature Communications
Desiccation tolerance is an extreme adaptation to water limitation. Here the authors envisage a roadmap to advance desiccation tolerance research, highlight key knowledge gaps, call for standardizatio...
www.nature.com
April 9, 2025 at 4:06 PM
our perspective on desiccation tolerance research is out in
@naturecomms.bsky.social. with nearly forty authors from around the world spanning diverse career stages and disciplines, this work represents a shared vision for the field. let us know what you think!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@naturecomms.bsky.social. with nearly forty authors from around the world spanning diverse career stages and disciplines, this work represents a shared vision for the field. let us know what you think!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Excited to have kicked off our @hfspo.bsky.social project MicroMaze with Andrew Davies, Charlene janion-Scheepers and @rebeccasenior.bsky.social in the Cederberg mountains.
News update and pics on my website here: www.bishoptraitslab.com/news.html
News update and pics on my website here: www.bishoptraitslab.com/news.html
News
A very busy month in the Traits Lab! Tom and Phil were establishing the new MicroMaze project in the Cederberg mountains of South Africa and figuring out our new physiological experiments in...
www.bishoptraitslab.com
April 1, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Excited to have kicked off our @hfspo.bsky.social project MicroMaze with Andrew Davies, Charlene janion-Scheepers and @rebeccasenior.bsky.social in the Cederberg mountains.
News update and pics on my website here: www.bishoptraitslab.com/news.html
News update and pics on my website here: www.bishoptraitslab.com/news.html
Reposted by Tom Rhys Bishop
Registration is OPEN for #BESMacro2025, the best conference in town. This year we're in York: 10-11 July main conference, 9 July pre-conference scicomm workshop. If you do macroecology or macroevolution, please join us!
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bes-macro-...
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bes-macro-...
BES Macro 2025
A British Ecological Society specialist group conference for researchers in macroecology and/or macroevolution at any academic career stage.
www.eventbrite.co.uk
February 7, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Registration is OPEN for #BESMacro2025, the best conference in town. This year we're in York: 10-11 July main conference, 9 July pre-conference scicomm workshop. If you do macroecology or macroevolution, please join us!
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bes-macro-...
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bes-macro-...
Reposted by Tom Rhys Bishop
Rochelmeyer et al. investigate the use of drone-based surveys to count and assess tree hollow accessibility in a tropical savanna south of Darwin, Australia 🌳📈
Check out their findings 👇
https://buff.ly/3WCSvT0
🌎🧪
Check out their findings 👇
https://buff.ly/3WCSvT0
🌎🧪
buff.ly
January 29, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Rochelmeyer et al. investigate the use of drone-based surveys to count and assess tree hollow accessibility in a tropical savanna south of Darwin, Australia 🌳📈
Check out their findings 👇
https://buff.ly/3WCSvT0
🌎🧪
Check out their findings 👇
https://buff.ly/3WCSvT0
🌎🧪
Reposted by Tom Rhys Bishop
How do urban rivers recover from historical pollution and what could be applying the brakes to ongoing biological recovery? #PhD opportunity at Cardiff Uni with Steve Ormerod and me, plus UKCEH and other partners 🌍🧪 www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
NERC RED-ALERT CDT: Linking the changing chemical environment to biological recovery across formerly industrial rivers. at Cardiff University on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - NERC RED-ALERT CDT: Linking the changing chemical environment to biological recovery across formerly industrial rivers. at Cardiff University, listed on FindAPhD.com
www.findaphd.com
November 29, 2024 at 4:03 PM
How do urban rivers recover from historical pollution and what could be applying the brakes to ongoing biological recovery? #PhD opportunity at Cardiff Uni with Steve Ormerod and me, plus UKCEH and other partners 🌍🧪 www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Reposted by Tom Rhys Bishop
Fully-funded PhD with @seanrands.bsky.social, Emma McKinley, Rupert Perkins and myself on saltmarsh management and ecosystem service provision 🐝
Apply here 👉 www.nercgw4plus.ac.uk
Apply here 👉 www.nercgw4plus.ac.uk
November 25, 2024 at 10:21 AM
Fully-funded PhD with @seanrands.bsky.social, Emma McKinley, Rupert Perkins and myself on saltmarsh management and ecosystem service provision 🐝
Apply here 👉 www.nercgw4plus.ac.uk
Apply here 👉 www.nercgw4plus.ac.uk
Reposted by Tom Rhys Bishop
I'm afraid it was the US election and Elon Musk's role in it that finally made me leave Twitter
November 15, 2024 at 3:01 PM
I'm afraid it was the US election and Elon Musk's role in it that finally made me leave Twitter