Julian Radford-Smith
@jradford-smith.bsky.social
Postdoctoral researcher @ The Hawkesbury Institute, Australia.
Plant ecologist and rainforest enthusiast 🌳
Plant ecologist and rainforest enthusiast 🌳
Reposted by Julian Radford-Smith
Ontogenetic shifts in wood anatomy & leaf traits in Colombian tropical dry forests
📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
by Williams et al.
@peterw-ecol.bsky.social @WileyPlantSci #PlantScience
📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
by Williams et al.
@peterw-ecol.bsky.social @WileyPlantSci #PlantScience
November 11, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Ontogenetic shifts in wood anatomy & leaf traits in Colombian tropical dry forests
📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
by Williams et al.
@peterw-ecol.bsky.social @WileyPlantSci #PlantScience
📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
by Williams et al.
@peterw-ecol.bsky.social @WileyPlantSci #PlantScience
Reposted by Julian Radford-Smith
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
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.
Reposted by Julian Radford-Smith
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
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
Reposted by Julian Radford-Smith
🔥🌱 From the upcoming #AJB Special Issue: “Understanding novel #fire regimes using plant trait‐based approaches" 🌱🔥
Toward a functional understanding of novel fire regimes in tropical #forests
By David Pacuk, Peter van der Sleen, Frank Sterck & @masha-vandersande.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1002/ajb2...
Toward a functional understanding of novel fire regimes in tropical #forests
By David Pacuk, Peter van der Sleen, Frank Sterck & @masha-vandersande.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1002/ajb2...
October 14, 2025 at 4:31 PM
🔥🌱 From the upcoming #AJB Special Issue: “Understanding novel #fire regimes using plant trait‐based approaches" 🌱🔥
Toward a functional understanding of novel fire regimes in tropical #forests
By David Pacuk, Peter van der Sleen, Frank Sterck & @masha-vandersande.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1002/ajb2...
Toward a functional understanding of novel fire regimes in tropical #forests
By David Pacuk, Peter van der Sleen, Frank Sterck & @masha-vandersande.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1002/ajb2...
Reposted by Julian Radford-Smith
Thrilled to see my Tansley insight review published in @newphyt.bsky.social!
I provide an overview of recent advances in integrating plant traits into island ecology and highlight key opportunities for future research in island systems.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
I provide an overview of recent advances in integrating plant traits into island ecology and highlight key opportunities for future research in island systems.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Trait‐based island biogeography as a tool for studying future ecological communities
Understanding the future of ecological communities under global change is among the most pressing challenges in plant ecology. Islands, with their reduced species diversity and clear boundaries, have...
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
September 6, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Thrilled to see my Tansley insight review published in @newphyt.bsky.social!
I provide an overview of recent advances in integrating plant traits into island ecology and highlight key opportunities for future research in island systems.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
I provide an overview of recent advances in integrating plant traits into island ecology and highlight key opportunities for future research in island systems.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Julian Radford-Smith
Just heading back from a quick couple of days in the scrub at Yarraman with a wonderful crew including Dr Bill McDonald.
September 9, 2025 at 5:21 AM
Just heading back from a quick couple of days in the scrub at Yarraman with a wonderful crew including Dr Bill McDonald.
Reposted by Julian Radford-Smith
Tuned in yesterday for an impassioned plea and delightful talk by @john-m-dwyer.bsky.social on how dry rainforest trees, including our beloved vine thickets, could be used to revegetate Brisbane's streets in the lead up to the 2032 Olympics.
Lots of neat data on temp. niches!
Lots of neat data on temp. niches!
September 4, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Tuned in yesterday for an impassioned plea and delightful talk by @john-m-dwyer.bsky.social on how dry rainforest trees, including our beloved vine thickets, could be used to revegetate Brisbane's streets in the lead up to the 2032 Olympics.
Lots of neat data on temp. niches!
Lots of neat data on temp. niches!
Reposted by Julian Radford-Smith
Check out our piece in @theconversation.com explaining how intraspecific trait coordination across climatic gradients helps to avoid heat stress in some (but not all) tropical tree species
theconversation.com/some-tropica...
theconversation.com/some-tropica...
Some tropical trees cool their leaves to survive the heat — but not all species have ways to cope
In full sun, tropical leaves can become much hotter than the surrounding air. Their ability to cope can be a matter of life or death.
theconversation.com
September 4, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Check out our piece in @theconversation.com explaining how intraspecific trait coordination across climatic gradients helps to avoid heat stress in some (but not all) tropical tree species
theconversation.com/some-tropica...
theconversation.com/some-tropica...
Reposted by Julian Radford-Smith
A new journal category: Reflections. We're inviting reviews authored by research field leaders to reflect on a topic of their choosing, exploring the history of and provide context for the current state of our discipline. Our first guest is Prof. Mark Westoby #openaccess
Trajectories of ecology past and future
Ecosystems have many different processes going on. Researchers need to select and simplify, and so development of ecology as a discipline has involved finding different possible ways to select and…
doi.org
August 21, 2025 at 11:17 PM
A new journal category: Reflections. We're inviting reviews authored by research field leaders to reflect on a topic of their choosing, exploring the history of and provide context for the current state of our discipline. Our first guest is Prof. Mark Westoby #openaccess
Reposted by Julian Radford-Smith
🚨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 Julian Radford-Smith
A big congratulations to William Farhan-Rios on this paper in @pnas.org, featuring a study of tropical-forest change over four decades along the Amazon-to-Andes elevational gradient in Bolivia and Peru 🌴 ⛰️ 🌐
@mobotgarden.bsky.social @livingearthcollab.bsky.social
1/3
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@mobotgarden.bsky.social @livingearthcollab.bsky.social
1/3
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Amazonian and Andean tree communities are not tracking current climate warming | PNAS
Climate change is shifting species distributions, leading to changes in community
composition and novel species assemblages worldwide. However, the...
www.pnas.org
August 19, 2025 at 5:38 PM
A big congratulations to William Farhan-Rios on this paper in @pnas.org, featuring a study of tropical-forest change over four decades along the Amazon-to-Andes elevational gradient in Bolivia and Peru 🌴 ⛰️ 🌐
@mobotgarden.bsky.social @livingearthcollab.bsky.social
1/3
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@mobotgarden.bsky.social @livingearthcollab.bsky.social
1/3
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Julian Radford-Smith
How do tropical #trees deal with droughts? The answer is published today in @science.org
Our pantropical #treering analysis revealed 2.5% growth reduction during #drought years. Yet, growth declined by >10% in 1/4 of 500 study sites, and in hotter & drier regions.
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
🌍🍁🌐
(1/4)
Our pantropical #treering analysis revealed 2.5% growth reduction during #drought years. Yet, growth declined by >10% in 1/4 of 500 study sites, and in hotter & drier regions.
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
🌍🍁🌐
(1/4)
Pantropical tree rings show small effects of drought on stem growth
Increasing drought pressure under anthropogenic climate change may jeopardize the potential of tropical forests to capture carbon in woody biomass and act as a long-term carbon dioxide sink. To evalua...
doi.org
July 31, 2025 at 6:37 PM
How do tropical #trees deal with droughts? The answer is published today in @science.org
Our pantropical #treering analysis revealed 2.5% growth reduction during #drought years. Yet, growth declined by >10% in 1/4 of 500 study sites, and in hotter & drier regions.
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
🌍🍁🌐
(1/4)
Our pantropical #treering analysis revealed 2.5% growth reduction during #drought years. Yet, growth declined by >10% in 1/4 of 500 study sites, and in hotter & drier regions.
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
🌍🍁🌐
(1/4)
Officially Dr Hoolian! Thanks JD for an incredible PhD and years of mentorship and friendship. It was great to share this experience with someone as obsessed with rainforest as I am. Can't wait for what's next!
July 22, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Officially Dr Hoolian! Thanks JD for an incredible PhD and years of mentorship and friendship. It was great to share this experience with someone as obsessed with rainforest as I am. Can't wait for what's next!
Reposted by Julian Radford-Smith
New lab paper hot off the press in @globalchangebio.bsky.social by David Coleman and @westobymark.bsky.social
Australia’s #islands may offer climate refuges, but ~40% of #plant populations—especially poorly dispersing species—will face hotter conditions beyond their current limits
#ecology #nature
Australia’s #islands may offer climate refuges, but ~40% of #plant populations—especially poorly dispersing species—will face hotter conditions beyond their current limits
#ecology #nature
Future Climate Shifts for Vegetation on Australia's Coastal Islands
Climate warming is likely to be mild for the plants on coastal islands. Although average annual temperatures will increase relative to their current ranges, the hottest annual temperatures will remai....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
May 14, 2025 at 10:57 PM
New lab paper hot off the press in @globalchangebio.bsky.social by David Coleman and @westobymark.bsky.social
Australia’s #islands may offer climate refuges, but ~40% of #plant populations—especially poorly dispersing species—will face hotter conditions beyond their current limits
#ecology #nature
Australia’s #islands may offer climate refuges, but ~40% of #plant populations—especially poorly dispersing species—will face hotter conditions beyond their current limits
#ecology #nature
Reposted by Julian Radford-Smith
📰Published📰 Climate-induced shifts in long-term tropical tree reproductive phenology: insights from species dependent on and independent of biotic pollination🌼
buff.ly/FGwmHDe
🧪🌍
buff.ly/FGwmHDe
🧪🌍
Climate-induced shifts in long-term tropical tree reproductive phenology: insights from species dependent on and independent of biotic pollination
Amanda Eburneo Martins, Priscilla de Paula Loiola, Daniel Pareja-Bonija, Leonor Patricia Cerdeira Morellato This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology research article which can be fo…
buff.ly
July 3, 2025 at 9:30 AM
📰Published📰 Climate-induced shifts in long-term tropical tree reproductive phenology: insights from species dependent on and independent of biotic pollination🌼
buff.ly/FGwmHDe
🧪🌍
buff.ly/FGwmHDe
🧪🌍
Reposted by Julian Radford-Smith
So proud of Beibei Zhang for leading this paper in @newphyt.bsky.social showing how soils & topography shape variation in canopy dynamics across tropical forest landscapes 🌳🔃🌐
Link to 📃: nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
A short 🧵
Link to 📃: nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
A short 🧵
Soils and topography drive large and predictable shifts in canopy dynamics across tropical forest landscapes
Tropical forests can vary enormously in their 3D structure and dynamics across surprisingly small spatial scales. However, the drivers that underpin this local-scale variation in forest structure an.....
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
June 14, 2025 at 11:58 AM
So proud of Beibei Zhang for leading this paper in @newphyt.bsky.social showing how soils & topography shape variation in canopy dynamics across tropical forest landscapes 🌳🔃🌐
Link to 📃: nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
A short 🧵
Link to 📃: nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
A short 🧵
Reposted by Julian Radford-Smith
🍃Recent study uncovers how phylogeny and climate shaped drought strategies in tropical African woody plants. It reveals strong phylogenetic signals in leaf habit and advances modeling leaf habit in relation to tree height and wood density🧪🌍
🔍 Article: buff.ly/FxBXjC0
🗞️ Blog: buff.ly/NikXrqs
🔍 Article: buff.ly/FxBXjC0
🗞️ Blog: buff.ly/NikXrqs
Leaf habit, maximum height and wood density of tropical woody flora in Africa: Phylogenetic constraints, covariation and responses to seasonal drought
buff.ly
June 10, 2025 at 11:03 AM
🍃Recent study uncovers how phylogeny and climate shaped drought strategies in tropical African woody plants. It reveals strong phylogenetic signals in leaf habit and advances modeling leaf habit in relation to tree height and wood density🧪🌍
🔍 Article: buff.ly/FxBXjC0
🗞️ Blog: buff.ly/NikXrqs
🔍 Article: buff.ly/FxBXjC0
🗞️ Blog: buff.ly/NikXrqs
Reposted by Julian Radford-Smith
(2 of 2) We shared the paper previously but here it is again as part of the latest issue:
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Drier, more seasonal climates strengthen coordination of hydraulic, leaf economic and reproductive strategies in subtropical forest tree communities
Trade-offs relating to resource acquisition and conservation, reproduction and longevity generate considerable trait variation among co-occurring tree species, yet little is known about how the natur...
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
June 4, 2025 at 8:58 PM
(2 of 2) We shared the paper previously but here it is again as part of the latest issue:
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Julian Radford-Smith
Congratulations to @jradford-smith.bsky.social for making the cover of @ecography.bsky.social with his stunning photo of subtropical #rainforest at Mt Glorious, less than an hour from Brisbane in beautiful Queensland (1 of 2).
June 4, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Congratulations to @jradford-smith.bsky.social for making the cover of @ecography.bsky.social with his stunning photo of subtropical #rainforest at Mt Glorious, less than an hour from Brisbane in beautiful Queensland (1 of 2).
Reposted by Julian Radford-Smith
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 Julian Radford-Smith
#oneforjournalclub
Amazon rainforest adjusts to long-term experimental drought 🌐🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Amazon rainforest adjusts to long-term experimental drought 🌐🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Amazon rainforest adjusts to long-term experimental drought - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Drought is a growing issue in tropical rainforests. Here, the authors revisit a long-term rainfall manipulation experiment in the Amazon to show that tree mortality was followed by community-level adj...
www.nature.com
May 16, 2025 at 6:37 AM
#oneforjournalclub
Amazon rainforest adjusts to long-term experimental drought 🌐🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Amazon rainforest adjusts to long-term experimental drought 🌐🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Julian Radford-Smith
🌱Are the traits of seeds & seedlings linked? Evidence from multiple dryland species points to strong coordination in some cases – but not others. This could suggest complex, multidimensional variation in the recruitment strategies of co-occurring species 🧪🌏
Seed and seedling traits suggest ontogenetic coordination in the functional recruitment niche for dryland restoration species
buff.ly
May 9, 2025 at 11:01 AM
🌱Are the traits of seeds & seedlings linked? Evidence from multiple dryland species points to strong coordination in some cases – but not others. This could suggest complex, multidimensional variation in the recruitment strategies of co-occurring species 🧪🌏
Reposted by Julian Radford-Smith
We have updated our database of funding opportunities for Early-Career Researchers (private foundations, federal, international)
We have 456 entries, for which we provide $ amount, deadline, eligibility criteria, etc.
Download this massive database here for free: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...
We have 456 entries, for which we provide $ amount, deadline, eligibility criteria, etc.
Download this massive database here for free: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...
May 7, 2025 at 4:46 PM
We have updated our database of funding opportunities for Early-Career Researchers (private foundations, federal, international)
We have 456 entries, for which we provide $ amount, deadline, eligibility criteria, etc.
Download this massive database here for free: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...
We have 456 entries, for which we provide $ amount, deadline, eligibility criteria, etc.
Download this massive database here for free: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...
Reposted by Julian Radford-Smith
I had serious FOMO over the long weekend when @lilydun.bsky.social and @jradford-smith.bsky.social headed north to collect more data in scanned forest plots. Thanks to our amazing collaborators ArborMeta for scanning in such awesome places! 🧵 #lidar #TLS #FunctionalTraits #rainforest
April 28, 2025 at 6:58 AM
I had serious FOMO over the long weekend when @lilydun.bsky.social and @jradford-smith.bsky.social headed north to collect more data in scanned forest plots. Thanks to our amazing collaborators ArborMeta for scanning in such awesome places! 🧵 #lidar #TLS #FunctionalTraits #rainforest
Reposted by Julian Radford-Smith
📢 New publication 'Do trait–growth relationships vary with plant age in fire-prone heathland #shrubs?' by Lily Dun, Elizabeth Wenk, Daniel Falster, Mark Westoby and Ian Wright in Journal of Ecology 🧪
doi.org/10.1111/1365...
doi.org/10.1111/1365...
Do trait–growth relationships vary with plant age in fire‐prone heathland shrubs?
We demonstrate that key functional traits undergo shifts in their relationship with growth as plants mature. Therefore, it will be valuable to shift our understanding of plant strategies away from th...
doi.org
April 28, 2025 at 1:55 AM
📢 New publication 'Do trait–growth relationships vary with plant age in fire-prone heathland #shrubs?' by Lily Dun, Elizabeth Wenk, Daniel Falster, Mark Westoby and Ian Wright in Journal of Ecology 🧪
doi.org/10.1111/1365...
doi.org/10.1111/1365...