Belinda Medlyn
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bmedlyn.bsky.social
Belinda Medlyn
@bmedlyn.bsky.social
Professor, Ecosystem Modelling, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney U. Ecophysiologist and #DeadTreeDetective
Reposted by Belinda Medlyn
Save the date! 47th New Phytologist Symposium on 'Extreme Heat: extending the thermal limits of life'. Explore how extreme heat affects plants that underpin ecosystem productivity.
2-5 June 2026, Cordoba, Spain.
@newphyt.bsky.social

www.newphytologist.org/events/47-nps
Extreme Heat: extending the thermal limits of life
www.newphytologist.org
November 3, 2025 at 6:52 AM
Reposted by Belinda Medlyn
Check out our latest updates!

🌱 New Phytologist #TansleyMedal application deadline
🌱 Upcoming New Phytologist Now webinar
🌱 An exciting announcement from Plants, People, Planet
🌱 Details of next year's New Phytologist Symposium on extreme heat

...and more:

📨 www.newphytologist.org/news/latest-...
October 31, 2025 at 5:19 AM
Reposted by Belinda Medlyn
Exciting PhD opportunity advertised by superstar colleague Prof. Rachael Gallagher "Genomic and trait-based indicators of restoration success" (collaboration with Botanic Gardens of Sydney). See attached image. Contact Rachael directly for more information (email in advert). Closes 30th Nov.
October 29, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Reposted by Belinda Medlyn
Yesterday we were treated to an inspirational seminar from Dr Laura Williams from @westsyduhie.bsky.social all about the importance of tree diversity, novel ways to quantify it and its consequences for how forests function. Good luck with the richly-deserved DECRA Laura!!! Ping @bmedlyn.bsky.social
October 25, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Reposted by Belinda Medlyn
Our global meta-analysis is finally out - we explore the most important influencer on C4 photosynthetic capacity using ~1700 C4 Aci curves! Data are freely available for the community.
Environmental conditions drive variation in C4 photosynthetic capacity more than species traits

Fan, et al.

📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#PlantScience @yuzhenfan.bsky.social
September 8, 2025 at 4:36 AM
One more! Here the stellar Laura Williams leads a review of detection + attribution of change in Australian vegetation. The upshot: with current monitoring, it's remarkably difficult to attribute effects of climate - which has important consequences for management
September 9, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Drought sensitivity in eucalypts is climate‐adapted and consistently influenced by wood density - great work by PhD student Victoria Perez-Martinez at @deannicolle1.bsky.social Currency Creek Arboretum during the Tinderbox drought

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Drought sensitivity is climate‐adapted and consistently influenced by wood density and maximum height in eucalypts
Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
September 9, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Analysis of eddy-covariance C and water fluxes during the Australian Tinderbox drought of 2017-2019 showed remarkable resilience and recovery in most Australian forest types. Great work from @clares-hydro.bsky.social and OzFlux community

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
The Response and Recovery of Carbon and Water Fluxes in Australian Ecosystems Exposed to Severe Drought
We examined flux data across a range of Australian ecosystems exposed to severe drought over two years (2018-19). The driest ecosystems experienced large productivity declines, but intermediate ecosy...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
September 9, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Postdoctoral position in Forest Monitoring available. Know your way around spatial datasets? Join us to help monitor changes in Australia's precious forest estate! @westsyduhie.bsky.social
jobs.smartrecruiters.com/WesternSydne...
Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Forest Monitoring
Company Description: Western Sydney University is a modern, forward-thinking, research-led institution at the heart of Australia’s fastest-growing and most economically significant region. With 11 cam...
jobs.smartrecruiters.com
September 9, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Reposted by Belinda Medlyn
📢🌿Available #traits #FunctionalTraits PhD position in my group @westsyduhie.bsky.social, closes 30th Oct. Topics: “Climate adaptations in Australian native grasses”; OR “Plant resource economics”. Apply via WSU Online Portal. Eligibility and other key info here: wrightlab.wordpress.com/news/
September 9, 2025 at 7:36 AM
Fabulous #PhD project opportunity on #Eucalypt diversity - super interesting project plus you get to work with the truly amazing Laura Williams
PhD opportunity available at @westsyduhie.bsky.social with the brillant Dr Laura Williams - hyperspectral data and process-based modelling of tree diversity 🌳🌲 please share with your networks tinyurl.com/ms6mjz8y
August 18, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Reposted by Belinda Medlyn
🌿 Eucalypt Australia is offering research grants of up to $50K to advance knowledge of eucalypts.

1-year ($25K) or 2-year ($50K) projects supported.
Open to Australia-based researchers with a strong track record.

Apply by Tues 12 Aug eucalyptaustralia.org.au/grants/
#LoveAGum #ozplants
July 23, 2025 at 4:39 AM
Reposted by Belinda Medlyn
How can we save threatened forests from climate change? Refugia can be an answer, but we need to monitor their effectiveness - Our paper out now, on whether topography is effectively buffering the vulnerable Red Stringybark eucalypt 🟥🌳 from hot droughts in South Australia 👉🏻 doi.org/10.1111/csp2...
Using in situ microrefugia to safeguard stringybark eucalypts from hot droughts
Facilitating species persistence under climate change is a pressing issue. Refugia, places where the impacts of climate change may be less severe, can constitute the only option for in situ persisten...
doi.org
July 14, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Reposted by Belinda Medlyn
#ESAus2025 abstracts are due this Friday! If you research vegetation #dieback, consider submitting to the 'Beyond the Brink–Navigating vegetation dieback and climate-succession' symposium chaired by Cal Bryant and @bmedlyn.bsky.social.

🧪🌏 #WildOz #ecology #ClimateChange

Symposium description:
July 14, 2025 at 1:55 AM
Reposted by Belinda Medlyn
"It isn't that the alarm bells are about to ring. They already have & if these last 2 fires are not enough to scare the pants off you, I don't know what is."

VIC's mountain forests are on the brink of collapse due to frequent bushfires & lack of regeneration support.

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06...
Alpine forests face collapse without urgent reforestation, say scientists
Bushfires and a lack of seed have created a "ticking time bomb" in Victoria's alpine and mountain ash forests, scientists are warning.
www.abc.net.au
June 22, 2025 at 1:36 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 🧵
May 27, 2025 at 11:33 AM
🔥ADVANCE ACCESS🔥: Effect of climate extremes and grazing on functional traits of a grassland community: insights from a 20-year experiment
doi.org/10.1093/aob/...
May 6, 2025 at 7:33 AM
The #EucFACE canopy has finally recovered from the 19-20 drought and the 21-22 floods. Beautiful time for new Lidar scans! @westsyduhie.bsky.social @kimcalders.bsky.social
May 5, 2025 at 6:13 AM
Reposted by Belinda Medlyn
@climateandweather.bsky.social at CCRC is re-opening its call for domestic master’s students for 2025. If you’d like to learn about climate and weather, and work together with NSW government agencies to make NSW a safer place to live and work, apply at www.unsw.edu.au/research/hdr...
Climate and Weather Master's Program
www.unsw.edu.au
April 30, 2025 at 1:23 AM
Our new research shows that forest recovery from tree mortality has slowed in recent decades. This reduction is primarily associated with rising temperatures and increased water scarcity. Recovery of forest canopy water content lags behind that of vegetation greenness
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Satellite-based evidence of recent decline in global forest recovery rate from tree mortality events - Nature Plants
Satellite data show declining global forest recovery from tree mortality since the 1990s, driven by warming and water scarcity. Canopy water recovers slower than greenness, stressing the need for a mu...
www.nature.com
April 20, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Congrats to our superstar postdoc Laura Williams for winning a JG Russell Award from the Australian Academy of Science! Award will support Laura's cool research on #spectra and #eucalypt diversity @westsyduhie.bsky.social
www.science.org.au/news-and-eve...
Five emerging scientists receive 2025 J G Russell Award
(from left) Dr Morgan Li, Dr Alexandre Siqueira, Dr Sarah Piper, Dr Marcus Giansiracusa and Dr Laura Williams. Images supplied. Five researchers have been awarded funding from the Australian Academy
www.science.org.au
April 17, 2025 at 2:37 AM
#DeadTreeDetective Last year it was Western Australia, this year South Australia is seeing canopy collapse from drought. If you're in SA, please help us figure out how widespread it is!
April 16, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Reposted by Belinda Medlyn
🥇Eucalypt Australia is thrilled to announce that the 2025 Eucalypt to the Year has been awarded to the Wondrous Forests of the #WalpoleWilderness in WA!

Thank you to all who voted and took part in this year's #EucalyptoftheYear2025 campaign!
#NationalEucalyptDay2025
March 23, 2025 at 2:24 AM