Tim Baker
@kofitim.bsky.social
Evolution, ecology and management of tropical forests | Prof @ U Leeds, UK & Visiting Researcher, IIAP, Peru
Reposted by Tim Baker
Piper dispersed from South America first to Southern Africa, then on to South East Asia, where it spread across the Wallace & Lydekker's lines several times! Intrigued? The full paper can be found here: doi.org/10.1093/botl... (2/2) @linneansociety.bsky.social
Origin and biogeographical history of Palaeotropical Piper (Piperaceae): multiple long-distance dispersals from South America initiated during the Middle Eocene climatic optimum
Abstract. Piper is the largest genus of Piperaceae and second largest in the angiosperms, but the biogeography and timing of its global radiation has not y
doi.org
November 4, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Piper dispersed from South America first to Southern Africa, then on to South East Asia, where it spread across the Wallace & Lydekker's lines several times! Intrigued? The full paper can be found here: doi.org/10.1093/botl... (2/2) @linneansociety.bsky.social
Reposted by Tim Baker
Many congratulations to Adriane Esquivel, Rebecca Morgan and to all our colleagues supporting Amazon forest monitoring with RAINFOR and ForestPlots.net!
Our analysis of 30 years of Amazon forest change is highlighted on the cover of @natplants.nature.com.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Our analysis of 30 years of Amazon forest change is highlighted on the cover of @natplants.nature.com.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
October 28, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Many congratulations to Adriane Esquivel, Rebecca Morgan and to all our colleagues supporting Amazon forest monitoring with RAINFOR and ForestPlots.net!
Our analysis of 30 years of Amazon forest change is highlighted on the cover of @natplants.nature.com.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Our analysis of 30 years of Amazon forest change is highlighted on the cover of @natplants.nature.com.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Really great to see our colleagues and friends at IIAP, Peru recognised by FAO for their long-term work on the ecology and management of Amazonian peatlands.
www.facebook.com/100000023934...
www.facebook.com/100000023934...
Facebook
www.facebook.com
October 16, 2025 at 8:04 AM
Really great to see our colleagues and friends at IIAP, Peru recognised by FAO for their long-term work on the ecology and management of Amazonian peatlands.
www.facebook.com/100000023934...
www.facebook.com/100000023934...
Jose Luis Marcello (U Jaén, Peru) está liderando los estudios de la dinámica y el impacto del cambio climático en los bosques secos en el Peru - un trabajo muy importante, y con coordinación con ForestPlots.net
Descubre mas aqui: fb.watch/CjP0DvNbL0/
Descubre mas aqui: fb.watch/CjP0DvNbL0/
September 24, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Jose Luis Marcello (U Jaén, Peru) está liderando los estudios de la dinámica y el impacto del cambio climático en los bosques secos en el Peru - un trabajo muy importante, y con coordinación con ForestPlots.net
Descubre mas aqui: fb.watch/CjP0DvNbL0/
Descubre mas aqui: fb.watch/CjP0DvNbL0/
Reposted by Tim Baker
We have a #Tansley review out today @newphyt.bsky.social led by Becky Banbury Morgan in which we put forward a new framework that aims to explain how and why edge effects on forest structure vary across ecosystems and through time
📜 doi.org/10.1111/nph....
📜 doi.org/10.1111/nph....
August 14, 2025 at 8:16 AM
We have a #Tansley review out today @newphyt.bsky.social led by Becky Banbury Morgan in which we put forward a new framework that aims to explain how and why edge effects on forest structure vary across ecosystems and through time
📜 doi.org/10.1111/nph....
📜 doi.org/10.1111/nph....
Reposted by Tim Baker
Huge new work in the central Congo peatlands, showing that the peatlands began forming 42,000 years ago. Culmination of around 15 major expeditions over the past decade, and a huge effort by many people.
Our new study, led by Greta Dargie and published yesterday in Environmental Research Letters, shows that the Congo Basin peatlands are twice as old as previously thought. www.leeds.ac.uk/main-index/n... @congopeat.bsky.social @simonlewis.bsky.social @iopp-environment.bsky.social
World’s largest tropical peatlands revealed to be more than 40,000 years old
A peatland complex in the Congo Basin which is known to be a globally important carbon store is twice as old as previously thought, according to a new scientific study.
www.leeds.ac.uk
July 30, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Huge new work in the central Congo peatlands, showing that the peatlands began forming 42,000 years ago. Culmination of around 15 major expeditions over the past decade, and a huge effort by many people.
Reposted by Tim Baker
Nueva entrevista en MongaBay a propósito de nuestro nuevo paper sobre la boogeografía del género Weinmannia.
Un estudio revela los secretos de la evolución escondida de los imponentes árboles Weinmannia en Latinoamérica | ENTREVISTA
Un nuevo estudio reconstruyó la historia evolutiva de Weinmannia, un género con más de 90 especies de árboles emblemáticos.
es.mongabay.com
July 21, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Nueva entrevista en MongaBay a propósito de nuestro nuevo paper sobre la boogeografía del género Weinmannia.
Reposted by Tim Baker
¡Recién publicado! 🌿 Descubrimos que Weinmannia, un género emblemático de los Andes, se originó fuera de los trópicos y migró hacia los Andes tropicales, donde se diversificó. A pesar de expandirse en altura y latitud, conserva su nicho ambiental. #Evolución #Andes #Biogeografía
Phylogeny of Weinmannia (Cunoniaceae) reveals the contribution of the southern extratropics to tropical Andean biodiversity
The Andes are a relatively young mountain range with impressive biodiversity, but the biogeographic processes underlying its hyperdiversity are still …
www.sciencedirect.com
June 30, 2025 at 7:12 PM
¡Recién publicado! 🌿 Descubrimos que Weinmannia, un género emblemático de los Andes, se originó fuera de los trópicos y migró hacia los Andes tropicales, donde se diversificó. A pesar de expandirse en altura y latitud, conserva su nicho ambiental. #Evolución #Andes #Biogeografía
Reposted by Tim Baker
📢 Fully funded PhD studentship for UK students is available in my lab @rhulbiology.bsky.social as part of new EU project Trees4Adapt
🌲🌳 Fieldwork in forest diversity experiments in Finland www.sataforestdiversity.org
📆 Apply by Sept 8th, start date - Jan 2026
👉 www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
🍁🌍🧪
🌲🌳 Fieldwork in forest diversity experiments in Finland www.sataforestdiversity.org
📆 Apply by Sept 8th, start date - Jan 2026
👉 www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
🍁🌍🧪
June 27, 2025 at 5:54 AM
📢 Fully funded PhD studentship for UK students is available in my lab @rhulbiology.bsky.social as part of new EU project Trees4Adapt
🌲🌳 Fieldwork in forest diversity experiments in Finland www.sataforestdiversity.org
📆 Apply by Sept 8th, start date - Jan 2026
👉 www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
🍁🌍🧪
🌲🌳 Fieldwork in forest diversity experiments in Finland www.sataforestdiversity.org
📆 Apply by Sept 8th, start date - Jan 2026
👉 www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
🍁🌍🧪
Very important, fascinating patterns, and be cool to link with current trajectories of the structure and composition of apparently 'intact' tropical forests
@forestplots.bsky.social
@forestplots.bsky.social
🖨️ New preprint out !
We present the first global, high-resolution, spatiotemporal maps of hunting pressure across tropical forests 🦜🐒🌴.
This long-standing blind spot in biodiversity threat mapping is now filled 😎:
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
We present the first global, high-resolution, spatiotemporal maps of hunting pressure across tropical forests 🦜🐒🌴.
This long-standing blind spot in biodiversity threat mapping is now filled 😎:
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
Hotspots, refuges, and rising risk: mapping tropical hunting pressure across space and time
ecoevorxiv.org
June 26, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Very important, fascinating patterns, and be cool to link with current trajectories of the structure and composition of apparently 'intact' tropical forests
@forestplots.bsky.social
@forestplots.bsky.social
Reposted by Tim Baker
New study led by Bruno Cintra @unibirmingham.bsky.social brings together work from both our PhD theses! Oxygen isotopes recorded in tree rings provide independent evidence that the Amazon water cycle has intensified, with increasing wet season rainfall and decreasing dry season rainfall since 1980.
June 23, 2025 at 2:47 PM
New study led by Bruno Cintra @unibirmingham.bsky.social brings together work from both our PhD theses! Oxygen isotopes recorded in tree rings provide independent evidence that the Amazon water cycle has intensified, with increasing wet season rainfall and decreasing dry season rainfall since 1980.
Reposted by Tim Baker
The fantastic first image released by @esa.int Biomass satellite.
In glorious false colour to represent its P-band radar imaging, capable of penetrating even the highest biomass forests in the Amazon and Congo.
In glorious false colour to represent its P-band radar imaging, capable of penetrating even the highest biomass forests in the Amazon and Congo.
June 23, 2025 at 11:37 AM
The fantastic first image released by @esa.int Biomass satellite.
In glorious false colour to represent its P-band radar imaging, capable of penetrating even the highest biomass forests in the Amazon and Congo.
In glorious false colour to represent its P-band radar imaging, capable of penetrating even the highest biomass forests in the Amazon and Congo.
Reposted by Tim Baker
🚨 New paper alert 🚨
Documenting the seasonally #dry #plant #community dynamics in the #Marañon valley, in northern #Andean #Peru. Valley is a trove of #endemism, severely threatened, little studied. JL Marcelo and team provide a first glimpse at temporal #vegetation changes.
doi.org/10.1016/j.tf...
Documenting the seasonally #dry #plant #community dynamics in the #Marañon valley, in northern #Andean #Peru. Valley is a trove of #endemism, severely threatened, little studied. JL Marcelo and team provide a first glimpse at temporal #vegetation changes.
doi.org/10.1016/j.tf...
Redirecting
doi.org
June 16, 2025 at 1:23 PM
🚨 New paper alert 🚨
Documenting the seasonally #dry #plant #community dynamics in the #Marañon valley, in northern #Andean #Peru. Valley is a trove of #endemism, severely threatened, little studied. JL Marcelo and team provide a first glimpse at temporal #vegetation changes.
doi.org/10.1016/j.tf...
Documenting the seasonally #dry #plant #community dynamics in the #Marañon valley, in northern #Andean #Peru. Valley is a trove of #endemism, severely threatened, little studied. JL Marcelo and team provide a first glimpse at temporal #vegetation changes.
doi.org/10.1016/j.tf...
Reposted by Tim Baker
#pdra #postdoc
Research Fellow in Tropical American Forest Dynamics.
We are looking for a scientist with strong quantitative skills interested in forests and ecological change. You will work with a team of tropical ecologists including RAINFOR PPBio + other networks.
jobs.leeds.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...
Research Fellow in Tropical American Forest Dynamics.
We are looking for a scientist with strong quantitative skills interested in forests and ecological change. You will work with a team of tropical ecologists including RAINFOR PPBio + other networks.
jobs.leeds.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...
June 9, 2025 at 9:46 AM
#pdra #postdoc
Research Fellow in Tropical American Forest Dynamics.
We are looking for a scientist with strong quantitative skills interested in forests and ecological change. You will work with a team of tropical ecologists including RAINFOR PPBio + other networks.
jobs.leeds.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...
Research Fellow in Tropical American Forest Dynamics.
We are looking for a scientist with strong quantitative skills interested in forests and ecological change. You will work with a team of tropical ecologists including RAINFOR PPBio + other networks.
jobs.leeds.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...
New lecturer position available with us at Leeds Geography: its a very supportive school with a vibrant and varied group of ecology and global change scientists, and it's a good place to live, with six national parks in easy reach. Do apply!
jobs.leeds.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx...
jobs.leeds.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx...
May 23, 2025 at 3:39 PM
New lecturer position available with us at Leeds Geography: its a very supportive school with a vibrant and varied group of ecology and global change scientists, and it's a good place to live, with six national parks in easy reach. Do apply!
jobs.leeds.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx...
jobs.leeds.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx...
Read about our work using drones to support sustainable palm fruit harvesting in the swamps of the Peruvian Amazon environment.leeds.ac.uk/faculty/news...
@envleeds.bsky.social
@envleeds.bsky.social
New research develops drone technology for mapping and managing palm species in the Peruvian Amazon
Working with stakeholders to design technological solutions to support their specific needs can help to extend the reach of conservation in the tropics.
environment.leeds.ac.uk
May 23, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Read about our work using drones to support sustainable palm fruit harvesting in the swamps of the Peruvian Amazon environment.leeds.ac.uk/faculty/news...
@envleeds.bsky.social
@envleeds.bsky.social
Great day studying the impact of excluding sheep on the soils, vegetation, birds and butterflies of limestone pavement in the Yorkshire Dales with our first year undergrads
May 9, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Great day studying the impact of excluding sheep on the soils, vegetation, birds and butterflies of limestone pavement in the Yorkshire Dales with our first year undergrads
Reposted by Tim Baker
#PhD How do tropical forest soundscapes alter with land use change?
Ecoacoustic monitoring in Amazon and African forests, working with partners and gradients of tropical forest modification.
Apply by 19 May: Manchester Met Uni, w/ Martin.Sullivan@mmu.ac.uk & colleagues!
www.mmu.ac.uk/study/postgr...
Ecoacoustic monitoring in Amazon and African forests, working with partners and gradients of tropical forest modification.
Apply by 19 May: Manchester Met Uni, w/ Martin.Sullivan@mmu.ac.uk & colleagues!
www.mmu.ac.uk/study/postgr...
Doctoral scholarships
Find out what doctoral research scholarships are available at Manchester Met and sign up for vacancy alerts.
www.mmu.ac.uk
May 1, 2025 at 9:51 AM
#PhD How do tropical forest soundscapes alter with land use change?
Ecoacoustic monitoring in Amazon and African forests, working with partners and gradients of tropical forest modification.
Apply by 19 May: Manchester Met Uni, w/ Martin.Sullivan@mmu.ac.uk & colleagues!
www.mmu.ac.uk/study/postgr...
Ecoacoustic monitoring in Amazon and African forests, working with partners and gradients of tropical forest modification.
Apply by 19 May: Manchester Met Uni, w/ Martin.Sullivan@mmu.ac.uk & colleagues!
www.mmu.ac.uk/study/postgr...
Fascinating article describing the reality of the fieldwork to map peat across Colombian Amazonia
news.mongabay.com/2025/04/new-...
news.mongabay.com/2025/04/new-...
New research finds substantial peat deposits in Colombia’s conflicted Amazon
In the heart of the Colombian Amazon, the towering mountains of the Serranía del Chiribiquete harbor secrets including South America’s oldest rock art. The remote site was off-limits and poorly known ...
news.mongabay.com
April 26, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Fascinating article describing the reality of the fieldwork to map peat across Colombian Amazonia
news.mongabay.com/2025/04/new-...
news.mongabay.com/2025/04/new-...
Stakeholders + tech + long-term collaboration = more sustainable management: our pipeline using drones and AI makes counting palms cheap and fast in the swamps of the Peruvian Amazon, so more management plans can be produced with communities. Led by Ximena Tagle (IIAP/Wageningen) rdcu.be/ejbKd
April 24, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Stakeholders + tech + long-term collaboration = more sustainable management: our pipeline using drones and AI makes counting palms cheap and fast in the swamps of the Peruvian Amazon, so more management plans can be produced with communities. Led by Ximena Tagle (IIAP/Wageningen) rdcu.be/ejbKd
Reposted by Tim Baker
Great @nature.com editorial and @naturepodcast.bsky.social series referencing ongoing coverage in @natureecoevo.bsky.social of the taxonomic furore regarding eponyms www.nature.com/articles/d41... (Check out rdcu.be/eja4P for the most recent NEE piece following last year's IBC votes)
Scientific naming conventions should keep in step with contemporary science
A three-part Nature Podcast series explores the importance of scientific naming conventions — and talks to researchers looking at how to make them more inclusive.
www.nature.com
April 24, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Great @nature.com editorial and @naturepodcast.bsky.social series referencing ongoing coverage in @natureecoevo.bsky.social of the taxonomic furore regarding eponyms www.nature.com/articles/d41... (Check out rdcu.be/eja4P for the most recent NEE piece following last year's IBC votes)
Reposted by Tim Baker
On this years’ Portugal trip, while wandering over the student field sites we found some naked men. Thankfully, the Naked Man orchid (also generously known as the Italian man orchid). Good spot @kofitim.bsky.social - you have a good eye for these things!
Nice hat too
Nice hat too
April 22, 2025 at 8:47 AM
On this years’ Portugal trip, while wandering over the student field sites we found some naked men. Thankfully, the Naked Man orchid (also generously known as the Italian man orchid). Good spot @kofitim.bsky.social - you have a good eye for these things!
Nice hat too
Nice hat too
Really interesting paper untangling the role of dispersal and speciation in the SE Asian tropics.
1️⃣ 🌍 Fresh out in #Science! The Asian tropics are among the most biodiverse places on Earth, but where does all that diversity come from? 🤔🔍 We used 🌴 phylogenomics and 🦴 new fossils to unravel the roles of different regions in generating and distributing species! 🌱 #Evolution
April 1, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Really interesting paper untangling the role of dispersal and speciation in the SE Asian tropics.
Reposted by Tim Baker
The botanist Al Gentry changed tropical ecology and helped create the global science of today.
This new article celebrates Gentry's unique innovations, achievements and lasting influence, more than 30 years after his untimely death.
rainfor.org/wp-content/u...
annals.mobot.org/index.php/an...
This new article celebrates Gentry's unique innovations, achievements and lasting influence, more than 30 years after his untimely death.
rainfor.org/wp-content/u...
annals.mobot.org/index.php/an...
March 24, 2025 at 2:14 PM
The botanist Al Gentry changed tropical ecology and helped create the global science of today.
This new article celebrates Gentry's unique innovations, achievements and lasting influence, more than 30 years after his untimely death.
rainfor.org/wp-content/u...
annals.mobot.org/index.php/an...
This new article celebrates Gentry's unique innovations, achievements and lasting influence, more than 30 years after his untimely death.
rainfor.org/wp-content/u...
annals.mobot.org/index.php/an...
Reposted by Tim Baker
I'm excited to share my new paper on classifying dry tropical ecosystems in NE Brazil, using remote sensing.
Our method aligns with the IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology and suggests a new Ecosystem Functional Group: non-pyric shrubland.
Find the paper: biogeography.pensoft.net/article/1454...
Our method aligns with the IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology and suggests a new Ecosystem Functional Group: non-pyric shrubland.
Find the paper: biogeography.pensoft.net/article/1454...
Satellite remote sensing can operationalise the IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology in the biome-diverse north-east of Brazil
Accurate biome delineation is difficult where biomes occupy the same climatic space, as is the case for tropical dry forest and savanna. The resulting confusion limits our ability to understand and ma...
biogeography.pensoft.net
March 17, 2025 at 6:31 PM
I'm excited to share my new paper on classifying dry tropical ecosystems in NE Brazil, using remote sensing.
Our method aligns with the IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology and suggests a new Ecosystem Functional Group: non-pyric shrubland.
Find the paper: biogeography.pensoft.net/article/1454...
Our method aligns with the IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology and suggests a new Ecosystem Functional Group: non-pyric shrubland.
Find the paper: biogeography.pensoft.net/article/1454...