Benjamin Freeman
@benjaminfreeman.bsky.social
Biologist. Mountain Bird Lab PI. Climate change. Species interactions. Asst Prof @GeorgiaTech. #RapYourAbstract #MountainBirdNetwork
Pinned
How are Pacific NW mountain birds responding to climate change?
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Benjamin Freeman
12/12 What's clear: we handicap ourselves by studying organisms in environments dramatically simpler than where they evolved. What other fundamental discoveries await scientists willing to bring ecology into the lab?
November 13, 2025 at 4:13 PM
12/12 What's clear: we handicap ourselves by studying organisms in environments dramatically simpler than where they evolved. What other fundamental discoveries await scientists willing to bring ecology into the lab?
Reposted by Benjamin Freeman
I am so proud of you Eva 🤩🎉🎊👏 This thesis award from #UPJV is so well deserved 👍 You make forest microclimates shine at multiple levels 🌳🌳🌲🌲
#proud #supervisor
@evagril.bsky.social
@upjv-univ.bsky.social
#proud #supervisor
@evagril.bsky.social
@upjv-univ.bsky.social
November 10, 2025 at 5:59 PM
I am so proud of you Eva 🤩🎉🎊👏 This thesis award from #UPJV is so well deserved 👍 You make forest microclimates shine at multiple levels 🌳🌳🌲🌲
#proud #supervisor
@evagril.bsky.social
@upjv-univ.bsky.social
#proud #supervisor
@evagril.bsky.social
@upjv-univ.bsky.social
Reposted by Benjamin Freeman
NSF is open again!
A few comments:
*Please be patient.
During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails.
*Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th.
*POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.
A few comments:
*Please be patient.
During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails.
*Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th.
*POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.
November 13, 2025 at 5:58 PM
NSF is open again!
A few comments:
*Please be patient.
During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails.
*Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th.
*POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.
A few comments:
*Please be patient.
During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails.
*Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th.
*POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.
Reposted by Benjamin Freeman
Great example of how ecology is done, including how open questions about effects of climate change are fairly examined (tl;dr: many birds doing ok, but not all)
How are Pacific NW mountain birds responding to climate change?
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
November 13, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Great example of how ecology is done, including how open questions about effects of climate change are fairly examined (tl;dr: many birds doing ok, but not all)
Reposted by Benjamin Freeman
Wren Wagenbach's photo of Mount Rainier took 3rd place in the scenery category of our photo contest. Wren was a member of our crew surveying birds in the national parks of the Pacific Northwest as part of the NPS's Inventory and Monitoring Program. 🪶
November 13, 2025 at 1:41 AM
Wren Wagenbach's photo of Mount Rainier took 3rd place in the scenery category of our photo contest. Wren was a member of our crew surveying birds in the national parks of the Pacific Northwest as part of the NPS's Inventory and Monitoring Program. 🪶
interactions between habitat preference and behavioral competitive dynamics seem to shape elevational ranges in Catharus thrushes
The answer appears to lie in habitat preference -
lower elevation (dominant) Catharus mexicanus, preferentially chooses open broadleaf forest and avoids fern dominated forest, excluding the higher elevation (subordinate) C.frantzii to habitats it doesn't want to occupy..
lower elevation (dominant) Catharus mexicanus, preferentially chooses open broadleaf forest and avoids fern dominated forest, excluding the higher elevation (subordinate) C.frantzii to habitats it doesn't want to occupy..
November 12, 2025 at 9:00 PM
interactions between habitat preference and behavioral competitive dynamics seem to shape elevational ranges in Catharus thrushes
Reposted by Benjamin Freeman
For Nightingale-Thrushes, an interaction between competition and habitat shape their elevational ranges.
The interaction between them is asymmetric (the norm in birds) - with the lower elevation species, dominant over its higher elevation counterpart.
So WHY NOT go higher up, if you can?
The interaction between them is asymmetric (the norm in birds) - with the lower elevation species, dominant over its higher elevation counterpart.
So WHY NOT go higher up, if you can?
November 12, 2025 at 8:46 PM
For Nightingale-Thrushes, an interaction between competition and habitat shape their elevational ranges.
The interaction between them is asymmetric (the norm in birds) - with the lower elevation species, dominant over its higher elevation counterpart.
So WHY NOT go higher up, if you can?
The interaction between them is asymmetric (the norm in birds) - with the lower elevation species, dominant over its higher elevation counterpart.
So WHY NOT go higher up, if you can?
Reposted by Benjamin Freeman
..with that info, we can test each hypothesis..
The upshot here is that thermal physiology has no bearing on where species CAN physically live (2x BMR suggested as the physiological 'ceiling' for species) - our species live comfortably within this.
So if not physiology, then what?
The upshot here is that thermal physiology has no bearing on where species CAN physically live (2x BMR suggested as the physiological 'ceiling' for species) - our species live comfortably within this.
So if not physiology, then what?
November 12, 2025 at 8:46 PM
..with that info, we can test each hypothesis..
The upshot here is that thermal physiology has no bearing on where species CAN physically live (2x BMR suggested as the physiological 'ceiling' for species) - our species live comfortably within this.
So if not physiology, then what?
The upshot here is that thermal physiology has no bearing on where species CAN physically live (2x BMR suggested as the physiological 'ceiling' for species) - our species live comfortably within this.
So if not physiology, then what?
Reposted by Benjamin Freeman
So i wanted to get mechanistic, and measure each of these variables on species and test them in unison, which meant:
1. Establishing abundance patterns across elevation by lots of point counts
2. Characterising the thermal environment birds experience across elevation..
1. Establishing abundance patterns across elevation by lots of point counts
2. Characterising the thermal environment birds experience across elevation..
November 12, 2025 at 8:46 PM
So i wanted to get mechanistic, and measure each of these variables on species and test them in unison, which meant:
1. Establishing abundance patterns across elevation by lots of point counts
2. Characterising the thermal environment birds experience across elevation..
1. Establishing abundance patterns across elevation by lots of point counts
2. Characterising the thermal environment birds experience across elevation..
Reposted by Benjamin Freeman
Check out our new paper in @royalsociety.org testing mechanisms behind elevational range restriction in tropical montane songbirds! ⛰️🦜🌳
Backstory: when i first visited Central America in the early 2010's i was struck with elevational ranges of birds..
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Backstory: when i first visited Central America in the early 2010's i was struck with elevational ranges of birds..
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Testing the thermal physiology, habitat and competition hypotheses for elevational range limits in four tropical songbirds | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Restricted elevational ranges are common across tropical montane species, but the
mechanisms generating and maintaining these patterns remain poorly resolved. A long-standing
hypothesis is that specia...
royalsocietypublishing.org
November 12, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Check out our new paper in @royalsociety.org testing mechanisms behind elevational range restriction in tropical montane songbirds! ⛰️🦜🌳
Backstory: when i first visited Central America in the early 2010's i was struck with elevational ranges of birds..
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Backstory: when i first visited Central America in the early 2010's i was struck with elevational ranges of birds..
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
excellent new paper by Sam well summarized in this nice thread --- a TON of hard work went into testing these major hypotheses for range limits
Check out our new paper in @royalsociety.org testing mechanisms behind elevational range restriction in tropical montane songbirds! ⛰️🦜🌳
Backstory: when i first visited Central America in the early 2010's i was struck with elevational ranges of birds..
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Backstory: when i first visited Central America in the early 2010's i was struck with elevational ranges of birds..
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Testing the thermal physiology, habitat and competition hypotheses for elevational range limits in four tropical songbirds | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Restricted elevational ranges are common across tropical montane species, but the
mechanisms generating and maintaining these patterns remain poorly resolved. A long-standing
hypothesis is that specia...
royalsocietypublishing.org
November 12, 2025 at 8:54 PM
excellent new paper by Sam well summarized in this nice thread --- a TON of hard work went into testing these major hypotheses for range limits
Reposted by Benjamin Freeman
Very happy to finally see this out in @pnas.org. Great work (masterfully) led by my dear friend @gabrielmoulatlet.bsky.social on a classic question on range sizes, climatic niches and dominance for plants at the global scale!
Thanks for the collab, Gabriel!
Thanks for the collab, Gabriel!
in "General laws of biodiversity: Climatic niches predict plant range size and ecological dominance globally", we provide key insights into species’ vulnerability to environmental change and the processes that structure biodiversity at global scales.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
General laws of biodiversity: Climatic niches predict plant range size and ecological dominance globally | PNAS
A longstanding question in ecology asks whether or not species that achieve large
geographic ranges also have large climatic niche breadths. Using ...
www.pnas.org
November 12, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Very happy to finally see this out in @pnas.org. Great work (masterfully) led by my dear friend @gabrielmoulatlet.bsky.social on a classic question on range sizes, climatic niches and dominance for plants at the global scale!
Thanks for the collab, Gabriel!
Thanks for the collab, Gabriel!
Reposted by Benjamin Freeman
in "General laws of biodiversity: Climatic niches predict plant range size and ecological dominance globally", we provide key insights into species’ vulnerability to environmental change and the processes that structure biodiversity at global scales.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
General laws of biodiversity: Climatic niches predict plant range size and ecological dominance globally | PNAS
A longstanding question in ecology asks whether or not species that achieve large
geographic ranges also have large climatic niche breadths. Using ...
www.pnas.org
November 12, 2025 at 6:11 PM
in "General laws of biodiversity: Climatic niches predict plant range size and ecological dominance globally", we provide key insights into species’ vulnerability to environmental change and the processes that structure biodiversity at global scales.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Benjamin Freeman
Read Ben's great synopsis + background to our new paper out in Ecology!
How are Pacific NW mountain birds responding to climate change?
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
November 12, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Read Ben's great synopsis + background to our new paper out in Ecology!
How are Pacific NW mountain birds responding to climate change?
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
November 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
How are Pacific NW mountain birds responding to climate change?
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Benjamin Freeman
A reminder that Las Vegas and Atlanta are the two largest non-mining settlements in the history of civilization not to be built by a navigable body of water. They frankly should not have existed if not for human hubris
Really cool video from one of my favorite YouTubers. youtu.be/-tiSf1tjq6Q?...
Examining a 1936 World Atlas: One U.S. State Had Only 90,000 People Total!
YouTube video by Geography King
youtu.be
November 11, 2025 at 7:48 PM
A reminder that Las Vegas and Atlanta are the two largest non-mining settlements in the history of civilization not to be built by a navigable body of water. They frankly should not have existed if not for human hubris
Reposted by Benjamin Freeman
One of the funner moments from my South Africa trip occurred when these two little borbs decided to chase each other on the edge a lagoon.
(They're Black Crakes, btw.)
(They're Black Crakes, btw.)
November 11, 2025 at 2:12 PM
One of the funner moments from my South Africa trip occurred when these two little borbs decided to chase each other on the edge a lagoon.
(They're Black Crakes, btw.)
(They're Black Crakes, btw.)
Reposted by Benjamin Freeman
Looking for a PhD opportunity? I'm hoping to recruit someone to my group at Durham University to work on a project combining fieldwork and labwork to study speciation in rubyspot damselflies: iapetus.ac.uk/studentships...
Get in touch if you want to chat!
Get in touch if you want to chat!
November 10, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Looking for a PhD opportunity? I'm hoping to recruit someone to my group at Durham University to work on a project combining fieldwork and labwork to study speciation in rubyspot damselflies: iapetus.ac.uk/studentships...
Get in touch if you want to chat!
Get in touch if you want to chat!
Reposted by Benjamin Freeman
Excited about this paper led by Katja Poveda & Heather Grab!
We use SEM to show natural habitat at large scales improves biocontrol. But, locally, it can decrease yields, perhaps due to edge effects or areas of lower agronomic quality.
Check it out!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
We use SEM to show natural habitat at large scales improves biocontrol. But, locally, it can decrease yields, perhaps due to edge effects or areas of lower agronomic quality.
Check it out!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The Importance of Landscape Composition for Pest Control and Crop Yield: A Global Quantitative Synthesis
In a global analysis of 116 studies, we show that landscape composition affects crop yield both directly and indirectly via traits of crops, herbivores and natural enemies. Our results suggest that w...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Excited about this paper led by Katja Poveda & Heather Grab!
We use SEM to show natural habitat at large scales improves biocontrol. But, locally, it can decrease yields, perhaps due to edge effects or areas of lower agronomic quality.
Check it out!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
We use SEM to show natural habitat at large scales improves biocontrol. But, locally, it can decrease yields, perhaps due to edge effects or areas of lower agronomic quality.
Check it out!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Benjamin Freeman
Last night, I watched one of the best nature videos I have ever seen, from Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I have been in love with hornbills since I lived in Indonesia and Malaysia and saw them every time I went out in the jungle.
You really owe it to yourself to watch this.
You really owe it to yourself to watch this.
Islands of the Hornbills
YouTube video by Cornell Lab of Ornithology
www.youtube.com
November 9, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Last night, I watched one of the best nature videos I have ever seen, from Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I have been in love with hornbills since I lived in Indonesia and Malaysia and saw them every time I went out in the jungle.
You really owe it to yourself to watch this.
You really owe it to yourself to watch this.
Reposted by Benjamin Freeman
1403 Woodpigeons visible in a single frame of this video at 21 seconds @derbyshirebirds.bsky.social #UKBirding, my estimate at the time was 12k birds through in three large waves in about 20 minutes, but I might have been well under...
November 7, 2025 at 9:52 PM
1403 Woodpigeons visible in a single frame of this video at 21 seconds @derbyshirebirds.bsky.social #UKBirding, my estimate at the time was 12k birds through in three large waves in about 20 minutes, but I might have been well under...
Reposted by Benjamin Freeman
07-Nov: On this day in 1913, Alfred Russel Wallace died. Wallace famously came up with a near-identical explanation for how evolution occurs independently of Charles Darwin. You can read about their friendship here: friendsofdarwin.com/articles/dar... #histsci
Modesty and candour: the Darwin-Wallace friendship
To mark the 200th anniversary of Wallace’s birth, an article exploring the friendship between Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace.
friendsofdarwin.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:54 PM
07-Nov: On this day in 1913, Alfred Russel Wallace died. Wallace famously came up with a near-identical explanation for how evolution occurs independently of Charles Darwin. You can read about their friendship here: friendsofdarwin.com/articles/dar... #histsci
tropical baby birds do the darnedest things
check out these fuzzy weird little nestlings that hide their heads and sit there motionless. potentially trying to convince predators they are a nasty fungus rather than a tasty helpless baby bird
v cool new paper: www.scielo.br/j/zool/a/MtT...
check out these fuzzy weird little nestlings that hide their heads and sit there motionless. potentially trying to convince predators they are a nasty fungus rather than a tasty helpless baby bird
v cool new paper: www.scielo.br/j/zool/a/MtT...
November 7, 2025 at 7:07 PM
tropical baby birds do the darnedest things
check out these fuzzy weird little nestlings that hide their heads and sit there motionless. potentially trying to convince predators they are a nasty fungus rather than a tasty helpless baby bird
v cool new paper: www.scielo.br/j/zool/a/MtT...
check out these fuzzy weird little nestlings that hide their heads and sit there motionless. potentially trying to convince predators they are a nasty fungus rather than a tasty helpless baby bird
v cool new paper: www.scielo.br/j/zool/a/MtT...
amazing project!!
Amy Angert and I are recruiting a #postdoc to participate in a collaborative NSF-funded study of demographic responses to climate across the geographic range of the scarlet monkeyflower. Please repost! jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/224...
November 7, 2025 at 5:11 PM
amazing project!!
Reposted by Benjamin Freeman
Interested in a PhD studying the evolutionary ecology of animal behavior in Barcelona?
Final days to apply for this open PhD position in our lab! 👇
For more information about the position:
creaf.factorialhr.com/job_posting/...
Final days to apply for this open PhD position in our lab! 👇
For more information about the position:
creaf.factorialhr.com/job_posting/...
November 7, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Interested in a PhD studying the evolutionary ecology of animal behavior in Barcelona?
Final days to apply for this open PhD position in our lab! 👇
For more information about the position:
creaf.factorialhr.com/job_posting/...
Final days to apply for this open PhD position in our lab! 👇
For more information about the position:
creaf.factorialhr.com/job_posting/...