Jens-Christian Svenning
@jcsvenning.bsky.social
Scientist: #biodiversity, #macroecology, #climatechange, #restoration & #rewilding, #novelecosystems, #plants & #vegetation, #megafauna, #human-#nature relations & #remotesensing. Director, https://econovo.au.dk/
Pinned
The late-Quaternary megafauna extinctions: Patterns, causes, ecological consequences and implications for ecosystem management in the Anthropocene | Cambridge Prisms: Extinction | Cambridge Core
The late-Quaternary megafauna extinctions: Patterns, causes, ecological consequences and implications for ecosystem management in the Anthropocene - Volume 2
www.cambridge.org
The evidence for Homo sapiens playing the dominant role in the global #megafauna #extinctions constitutes one of the clearest, well-supported patterns in #ecology. See our 2024 review www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #paleobiology #archeology #hunting #ecosystem #Pleistocene #defaunation #rewilding
Reposted by Jens-Christian Svenning
Observed and Dark Diversity of Alien Plants Across the World #bioinvasions 🌎🌐🧪 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Observed and Dark Diversity of Alien Plants Across the World
Aim
Biological invasions are one of the major threats to ecosystems worldwide and are expected to increase further in the future. Prevention and swift responses are crucial to mitigate this threat. .....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Observed and Dark Diversity of Alien Plants Across the World #bioinvasions 🌎🌐🧪 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Jens-Christian Svenning
Our new paper in Ecology Letters, led by Jan Divíšek, shows that non-invasive alien plant species that successfully establish within local plant communities tend to resemble the resident native species. In contrast, invasive alien species usually differ from native plants.
doi.org/10.1111/ele....
doi.org/10.1111/ele....
November 10, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Our new paper in Ecology Letters, led by Jan Divíšek, shows that non-invasive alien plant species that successfully establish within local plant communities tend to resemble the resident native species. In contrast, invasive alien species usually differ from native plants.
doi.org/10.1111/ele....
doi.org/10.1111/ele....
Reposted by Jens-Christian Svenning
#meetECONOVO - @jonastrepel.bsky.social is a PhD researcher working with Robert Buitenwerf, Elizabeth Le Roux and @jcsvenning.bsky.social. His research explores how large herbivores shape vegetation dynamics and plant diversity, including fieldwork in South Africa.
November 10, 2025 at 11:22 AM
#meetECONOVO - @jonastrepel.bsky.social is a PhD researcher working with Robert Buitenwerf, Elizabeth Le Roux and @jcsvenning.bsky.social. His research explores how large herbivores shape vegetation dynamics and plant diversity, including fieldwork in South Africa.
Reposted by Jens-Christian Svenning
Debating the aesthetics of #wind & #solar is a luxury. The real crisis is climate change—threatening billions with deadly heat & catastrophic ecosystem breakdowns ♨️🥵🔥 Green #energy is a necessity🍃 Challenges exist (noise, land use) but are manageable - biggest risk is inaction #dkpol #climatechange
September 21, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Debating the aesthetics of #wind & #solar is a luxury. The real crisis is climate change—threatening billions with deadly heat & catastrophic ecosystem breakdowns ♨️🥵🔥 Green #energy is a necessity🍃 Challenges exist (noise, land use) but are manageable - biggest risk is inaction #dkpol #climatechange
Reposted by Jens-Christian Svenning
New at Tetrapod Zoology, a brief look at what's surely the world's best known extinct proboscidean: that Ice Age superstar the Woolly mammoth .... tetzoo.com/blog/2025/11... #mammoths #IceAge #Pleistocene #fossilmammals #elephants
A Woolly Mammoth Primer — Tetrapod Zoology
I’ve said before that proboscideans – the familiar group of placental mammals that includes living elephants and their many fossil relatives – have never been well served here at Tet Zoo…
tetzoo.com
November 5, 2025 at 9:08 PM
New at Tetrapod Zoology, a brief look at what's surely the world's best known extinct proboscidean: that Ice Age superstar the Woolly mammoth .... tetzoo.com/blog/2025/11... #mammoths #IceAge #Pleistocene #fossilmammals #elephants
Reposted by Jens-Christian Svenning
Just published this new paper, with a bunch of fantastic colleagues, with many suggestions for "Improving the representation of plant water stress and water use in Earth System Models." Access is free online. We have some great figures, thanks to Victor Leshyk. 🧪🌐🌳🌎
November 5, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Just published this new paper, with a bunch of fantastic colleagues, with many suggestions for "Improving the representation of plant water stress and water use in Earth System Models." Access is free online. We have some great figures, thanks to Victor Leshyk. 🧪🌐🌳🌎
Reposted by Jens-Christian Svenning
New paper by @jcsvenning.bsky.social in @newphyt.bsky.social using @gbif.org mediated data:
Integrating specimen and citizen science data reveals climatic niche expansion and shifts of naturalized plants in China 🇨🇳
#CiteTheDOI: ✅
https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.70680
Integrating specimen and citizen science data reveals climatic niche expansion and shifts of naturalized plants in China 🇨🇳
#CiteTheDOI: ✅
https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.70680
Integrating specimen and citizen science data reveals climatic niche expansion and shifts of naturalized plants in China
This study examines the climatic niche dynamics of naturalized plants in China, emphasizing how incomplete species distribution data from digitized herbarium specimens and associated observation rec...
doi.org
November 5, 2025 at 2:23 PM
New paper by @jcsvenning.bsky.social in @newphyt.bsky.social using @gbif.org mediated data:
Integrating specimen and citizen science data reveals climatic niche expansion and shifts of naturalized plants in China 🇨🇳
#CiteTheDOI: ✅
https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.70680
Integrating specimen and citizen science data reveals climatic niche expansion and shifts of naturalized plants in China 🇨🇳
#CiteTheDOI: ✅
https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.70680
Reposted by Jens-Christian Svenning
Thrilled to be one of the plenary speakers for the @iavs5.bsky.social 68th #IAVS Symposium (Gijón, Spain, 22-26 June 2026) along legends like @jcsvenning.bsky.social @gmendietal.bsky.social @ftmaestre.bsky.social et al!
Join us to discuss plants across taxonomic, spatial and temporal scales! 🌿
Join us to discuss plants across taxonomic, spatial and temporal scales! 🌿
📢 68th #IAVS Symposium: Understanding #Ecosystems through #Vegetation | 22-26 June 2026, Spain
Join us to explore how vegetation shapes #biodiversity and ecosystems worldwide!
📅 Call for Special Session proposals is now open: 15 Oct – 15 Nov 2025
👉 Details: gijon2026.iavs-meetings.org
#IAVS2026
Join us to explore how vegetation shapes #biodiversity and ecosystems worldwide!
📅 Call for Special Session proposals is now open: 15 Oct – 15 Nov 2025
👉 Details: gijon2026.iavs-meetings.org
#IAVS2026
October 31, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Thrilled to be one of the plenary speakers for the @iavs5.bsky.social 68th #IAVS Symposium (Gijón, Spain, 22-26 June 2026) along legends like @jcsvenning.bsky.social @gmendietal.bsky.social @ftmaestre.bsky.social et al!
Join us to discuss plants across taxonomic, spatial and temporal scales! 🌿
Join us to discuss plants across taxonomic, spatial and temporal scales! 🌿
Reposted by Jens-Christian Svenning
How can we explore the future of the world's forests? Understanding the demography of their trees is key. In We took the new gen of global demographic vegetation models and held their roots to the observations. Thanks @annemarie-es.bsky.social for leading! nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
October 27, 2025 at 7:12 AM
How can we explore the future of the world's forests? Understanding the demography of their trees is key. In We took the new gen of global demographic vegetation models and held their roots to the observations. Thanks @annemarie-es.bsky.social for leading! nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Fin artikel i Weekendavisen om vores nye studie om hvordan mennesker I Europa (jægersamlere af vores art og neandertalere) påvirkede økosystemerne via jagt og brug af ild 🦣🔥👣🌿 Man kan også læse mere i pressemeddelelsen fra Aarhus University - se link i kommentar💡 #økologi #arkæologi
October 25, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Fin artikel i Weekendavisen om vores nye studie om hvordan mennesker I Europa (jægersamlere af vores art og neandertalere) påvirkede økosystemerne via jagt og brug af ild 🦣🔥👣🌿 Man kan også læse mere i pressemeddelelsen fra Aarhus University - se link i kommentar💡 #økologi #arkæologi
Reposted by Jens-Christian Svenning
Just published, a land-mark paper by Annemarie Eckes-Shephard et al.! It assesses the performance of a new generation of Demography-enabled Dynamic Global Vegetation (D-DGVMs), that attempt to simulate the changing size and age structure of trees in forests.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 24, 2025 at 3:12 AM
Just published, a land-mark paper by Annemarie Eckes-Shephard et al.! It assesses the performance of a new generation of Demography-enabled Dynamic Global Vegetation (D-DGVMs), that attempt to simulate the changing size and age structure of trees in forests.
🔥See our new paper led by @nikulinaav.bsky.social
People shaped Europe’s #ecosystems long before farming
🦣#Megafauna effects on #vegetation openness dropped from 77%→57% bt #Eemian & #Mesolithic
🧑🦱Mesolithic people shaped up to 47% of landscapes w Neanderthals affecting 6–14%
doi.org/10.1371/jour...
People shaped Europe’s #ecosystems long before farming
🦣#Megafauna effects on #vegetation openness dropped from 77%→57% bt #Eemian & #Mesolithic
🧑🦱Mesolithic people shaped up to 47% of landscapes w Neanderthals affecting 6–14%
doi.org/10.1371/jour...
October 23, 2025 at 8:07 AM
🔥See our new paper led by @nikulinaav.bsky.social
People shaped Europe’s #ecosystems long before farming
🦣#Megafauna effects on #vegetation openness dropped from 77%→57% bt #Eemian & #Mesolithic
🧑🦱Mesolithic people shaped up to 47% of landscapes w Neanderthals affecting 6–14%
doi.org/10.1371/jour...
People shaped Europe’s #ecosystems long before farming
🦣#Megafauna effects on #vegetation openness dropped from 77%→57% bt #Eemian & #Mesolithic
🧑🦱Mesolithic people shaped up to 47% of landscapes w Neanderthals affecting 6–14%
doi.org/10.1371/jour...
Reposted by Jens-Christian Svenning
Please pass along, I’m recruiting PhD students to join our Macroecology Lab @uofa-eeb.bsky.social We study phys ecology, macroecology, biodiversity - spanning scaling, trait-based ecology, theory, comparative biology & ecoinformatics. Several avenues for funding. Please reach out if interested🧪🌐🌾
October 21, 2025 at 5:13 AM
Please pass along, I’m recruiting PhD students to join our Macroecology Lab @uofa-eeb.bsky.social We study phys ecology, macroecology, biodiversity - spanning scaling, trait-based ecology, theory, comparative biology & ecoinformatics. Several avenues for funding. Please reach out if interested🧪🌐🌾
Reposted by Jens-Christian Svenning
CS at Aarhus University is hiring up to six professors of any rank and area! Come join my section and do cutting-edge research in TCS, database systems and/or ML/AI, both from a theory and applied side.
international.au.dk/about/profil...
The application deadline is January 5th, 2026.
international.au.dk/about/profil...
The application deadline is January 5th, 2026.
Aarhus University is hiring Assistant, Associate and Full Professors for the Department of Computer Science - Vacancy at Aarhus University
Vacancy at Computer Science, Dept. of, Aarhus University
international.au.dk
October 21, 2025 at 6:08 AM
CS at Aarhus University is hiring up to six professors of any rank and area! Come join my section and do cutting-edge research in TCS, database systems and/or ML/AI, both from a theory and applied side.
international.au.dk/about/profil...
The application deadline is January 5th, 2026.
international.au.dk/about/profil...
The application deadline is January 5th, 2026.
Reposted by Jens-Christian Svenning
This is the oldest surviving spherical representation of Earth, created in 1492. It's so old that the entirety of the Americas are missing, and other parts of the world are pretty hazy.
October 20, 2025 at 7:31 PM
This is the oldest surviving spherical representation of Earth, created in 1492. It's so old that the entirety of the Americas are missing, and other parts of the world are pretty hazy.
Reposted by Jens-Christian Svenning
🚨 NEW PAPER 🚨 "Investigating pre-Columbian floristic legacy effects using machine learning in the southern Atlantic Forest, Brazil"
We demonstrate that SDMs in this critically endangered biome are measurably improved by using archaeological data
www.frontiersin.org/journals/env...
We demonstrate that SDMs in this critically endangered biome are measurably improved by using archaeological data
www.frontiersin.org/journals/env...
Frontiers | Investigating pre-Columbian floristic legacy effects using machine learning in the southern Atlantic Forest, Brazil
The scope and scale of past human impacts on both historic and current vegetation is of widespread interest in the historical sciences. In the Atlantic Fores...
www.frontiersin.org
October 20, 2025 at 7:47 PM
🚨 NEW PAPER 🚨 "Investigating pre-Columbian floristic legacy effects using machine learning in the southern Atlantic Forest, Brazil"
We demonstrate that SDMs in this critically endangered biome are measurably improved by using archaeological data
www.frontiersin.org/journals/env...
We demonstrate that SDMs in this critically endangered biome are measurably improved by using archaeological data
www.frontiersin.org/journals/env...
Reposted by Jens-Christian Svenning
How did #Neanderthals use #fire to hunt?🔥
Our new conceptual agent-based #model simulates their fire-driven hunting strategies around the Neumark-Nord site in Germany. Available here 👉 www.comses.net/codebases/86...
Our new conceptual agent-based #model simulates their fire-driven hunting strategies around the Neumark-Nord site in Germany. Available here 👉 www.comses.net/codebases/86...
HUMLAND FIRE-IN-THE-HOLE agent-based model
HUMLAND Fire-in-the-Hole is a conceptual agent-based model (ABM) designed to explore the ecological and behavioral consequences of fire-driven hunting strategies employed by hunter-gatherers, specific...
www.comses.net
October 20, 2025 at 3:41 PM
How did #Neanderthals use #fire to hunt?🔥
Our new conceptual agent-based #model simulates their fire-driven hunting strategies around the Neumark-Nord site in Germany. Available here 👉 www.comses.net/codebases/86...
Our new conceptual agent-based #model simulates their fire-driven hunting strategies around the Neumark-Nord site in Germany. Available here 👉 www.comses.net/codebases/86...
Excited about the new Africa-Europe Cluster of Research Excellence (CoRE) on Integrative #Conservation Biology w focus on the #savanna and #Afromontane region from Ethiopia to South Africa -great to have @econovoau.bsky.social @au.dk part of this🌍🌳🗻🦓♨️
#AfricaEuropeCoRE #climatechange #sustainability
#AfricaEuropeCoRE #climatechange #sustainability
🌍 The Guild and ARUA are delighted to announce the latest addition to the #AfricaEuropeCoRE with the launch of the CoRE on 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴
Learn more here ➡️ www.the-guild.eu/africa-europ...
Learn more here ➡️ www.the-guild.eu/africa-europ...
October 20, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Excited about the new Africa-Europe Cluster of Research Excellence (CoRE) on Integrative #Conservation Biology w focus on the #savanna and #Afromontane region from Ethiopia to South Africa -great to have @econovoau.bsky.social @au.dk part of this🌍🌳🗻🦓♨️
#AfricaEuropeCoRE #climatechange #sustainability
#AfricaEuropeCoRE #climatechange #sustainability
Reposted by Jens-Christian Svenning
Prof. Jens-Christian Svenning's inspiring talk held 2 weeks ago for Naturnahe Weidelandschaften e.V. is online now. No one else can argue as clearly & precisely for integrating grazers into modern conservaton. Great thanks to you, Jens!
@jcsvenning.bsky.social
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqHS...
@jcsvenning.bsky.social
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqHS...
October 19, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Prof. Jens-Christian Svenning's inspiring talk held 2 weeks ago for Naturnahe Weidelandschaften e.V. is online now. No one else can argue as clearly & precisely for integrating grazers into modern conservaton. Great thanks to you, Jens!
@jcsvenning.bsky.social
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqHS...
@jcsvenning.bsky.social
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqHS...
Reposted by Jens-Christian Svenning
New paper out 🥳
Drought intensity and duration interact to magnify losses in primary productivity | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
@stockholm-uni.bsky.social
Drought intensity and duration interact to magnify losses in primary productivity | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
@stockholm-uni.bsky.social
Drought intensity and duration interact to magnify losses in primary productivity
As droughts become longer and more intense, impacts on terrestrial primary productivity are expected to increase progressively. Yet, some ecosystems appear to acclimate to multiyear drought, with cons...
www.science.org
October 17, 2025 at 5:15 AM
New paper out 🥳
Drought intensity and duration interact to magnify losses in primary productivity | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
@stockholm-uni.bsky.social
Drought intensity and duration interact to magnify losses in primary productivity | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
@stockholm-uni.bsky.social
Bumble #bee #pollination of #linden already 24.6 milllion years ago - cool new empirical illustration of the deep roots of the ecologies of modern-day species www.sci.news/paleontology...
(photo 1: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bombus_hypnorum_-_Tilia_cordata_-_Keila.jpg)
(photo 1: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bombus_hypnorum_-_Tilia_cordata_-_Keila.jpg)
October 17, 2025 at 5:12 AM
Bumble #bee #pollination of #linden already 24.6 milllion years ago - cool new empirical illustration of the deep roots of the ecologies of modern-day species www.sci.news/paleontology...
(photo 1: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bombus_hypnorum_-_Tilia_cordata_-_Keila.jpg)
(photo 1: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bombus_hypnorum_-_Tilia_cordata_-_Keila.jpg)
Reposted by Jens-Christian Svenning
🦣 New paper: Megafauna with large size & flat-footedness + less related to tropical African/Asian fauna were more likely to go extinct in recent prehistory; consistent w direct hunting including pre-sapiens human filtering👣👉 doi.org/10.1111/geb....
#Megafauna #Extinction #TraitEcology #Palaeoecology
#Megafauna #Extinction #TraitEcology #Palaeoecology
Phylogenetic Evidence Supports the Effect of Traits on Late‐Quaternary Megafauna Extinction in the Context of Human Activity
Aim The late-Quaternary extinctions, which affected primarily large mammals, are strongly connected to the migration of modern humans out of sub-Saharan Africa and tropical Asia (the Palaeotropics),...
doi.org
June 30, 2025 at 5:22 AM
🦣 New paper: Megafauna with large size & flat-footedness + less related to tropical African/Asian fauna were more likely to go extinct in recent prehistory; consistent w direct hunting including pre-sapiens human filtering👣👉 doi.org/10.1111/geb....
#Megafauna #Extinction #TraitEcology #Palaeoecology
#Megafauna #Extinction #TraitEcology #Palaeoecology
Reposted by Jens-Christian Svenning
The disproportionate impact of the #megabiota on biodiversity and ecosystem processes
October 11, 2025 at 3:19 PM
The disproportionate impact of the #megabiota on biodiversity and ecosystem processes
Reposted by Jens-Christian Svenning
My article is out! On how ‘ecosystem services’ went from a word for those aspects of nature that economics cannot express to a word for nature's economic value, and how concerns for planetary habitability disappeared from the environmentalist vocabulary.
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
The Nature of Planetary Habitability: A Conceptual History of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services | Environmental History
Abstract This essay traces the conceptual history of biodiversity and ecosystem services from the late 1970s to the early 2000s. In contrast to recent historical studies that have interpreted biodiver...
www.journals.uchicago.edu
March 13, 2025 at 2:05 PM
My article is out! On how ‘ecosystem services’ went from a word for those aspects of nature that economics cannot express to a word for nature's economic value, and how concerns for planetary habitability disappeared from the environmentalist vocabulary.
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Reposted by Jens-Christian Svenning
I believe that scholars and practitioners in the biodiversity / ecosystem service community need to read this very well-researched and inspiring paper - The Nature of Planetary Habitability.
My article is out! On how ‘ecosystem services’ went from a word for those aspects of nature that economics cannot express to a word for nature's economic value, and how concerns for planetary habitability disappeared from the environmentalist vocabulary.
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
The Nature of Planetary Habitability: A Conceptual History of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services | Environmental History
Abstract This essay traces the conceptual history of biodiversity and ecosystem services from the late 1970s to the early 2000s. In contrast to recent historical studies that have interpreted biodiver...
www.journals.uchicago.edu
October 11, 2025 at 5:00 AM
I believe that scholars and practitioners in the biodiversity / ecosystem service community need to read this very well-researched and inspiring paper - The Nature of Planetary Habitability.