Nigel Willby
@nigelwillby.bsky.social
Ecologist (restoration, ecosystem assessment, beaver-nerd, water policy), botanist, birder, hill walker. No pictures of cats (dogs a different matter). YNWA.
Prof. Freshwater Science, University of Stirling. Associate Dean Research, Natural Sciences.
Prof. Freshwater Science, University of Stirling. Associate Dean Research, Natural Sciences.
Reposted by Nigel Willby
Check out the summary of our new research in @jappliedecology.bsky.social led by Patrick Cook with @nigelwillby.bsky.social @dralanlaw.bsky.social @stir.ac.uk
phys.org/news/2025-11...
phys.org/news/2025-11...
Beavers provide a boost for declining pollinators, study reveals
Beaver-created wetlands increase pollinator numbers, boosting biodiversity, according to new research by the University of Stirling.
phys.org
November 18, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Check out the summary of our new research in @jappliedecology.bsky.social led by Patrick Cook with @nigelwillby.bsky.social @dralanlaw.bsky.social @stir.ac.uk
phys.org/news/2025-11...
phys.org/news/2025-11...
Himalayan balsam is remarkably variable depending where it grows, from thin and spindly to truly giant like. These plants growing on river gravels were the short and chunky kind - only 1-1.5 m tall but a whopping 5cm wide at the base @zarahpattison.bsky.social @lizziekeen.bsky.social
July 10, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Himalayan balsam is remarkably variable depending where it grows, from thin and spindly to truly giant like. These plants growing on river gravels were the short and chunky kind - only 1-1.5 m tall but a whopping 5cm wide at the base @zarahpattison.bsky.social @lizziekeen.bsky.social
The annual orchid feast on our university campus is the best yet with many hundreds of spikes of common spotted and northern marsh orchids, but I still wasn't expecting to bump into this beauty - Greater Butterfly Orchid. #wildflowerhour
July 6, 2025 at 8:05 PM
The annual orchid feast on our university campus is the best yet with many hundreds of spikes of common spotted and northern marsh orchids, but I still wasn't expecting to bump into this beauty - Greater Butterfly Orchid. #wildflowerhour
Geum x intermedium (hybrid of water x wood avens) going strong near Doune, including some interesting flower mutations #wildflowerhour
June 1, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Geum x intermedium (hybrid of water x wood avens) going strong near Doune, including some interesting flower mutations #wildflowerhour
Globeflower and Mountain Sorrel, Ben Ledi, Stirling #wildflowerhour
May 18, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Globeflower and Mountain Sorrel, Ben Ledi, Stirling #wildflowerhour
Sometimes it's your duty, plain and simple #rewilding
May 9, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Sometimes it's your duty, plain and simple #rewilding
The turions (winter buds) of Potamogeton obtusifolius in our pond are now showing signs of life #macrophytemonday
May 5, 2025 at 10:13 PM
The turions (winter buds) of Potamogeton obtusifolius in our pond are now showing signs of life #macrophytemonday
This is the time when wild strawberry 🍓 [left] and barren strawberry [right] flowering overlaps in central Scotland ( F vesca vs F sterilis) #wildflowerhour
May 4, 2025 at 7:29 PM
This is the time when wild strawberry 🍓 [left] and barren strawberry [right] flowering overlaps in central Scotland ( F vesca vs F sterilis) #wildflowerhour
Seeing awesome stuff like this could damn near get a person into physical geography 😉
April 17, 2025 at 5:00 AM
Seeing awesome stuff like this could damn near get a person into physical geography 😉
Pleased to report that the Grand Canyon actually is everything it's cracked up to be.
April 16, 2025 at 6:31 AM
Pleased to report that the Grand Canyon actually is everything it's cracked up to be.
Reposted by Nigel Willby
Professor Nigel Willby, @nigelwillby.bsky.social, who co-authored the study, said: “If we want to realise these benefits rather than robbing ourselves of them, we must find better ways to accommodate beavers in our landscapes rather than continually removing their dams.”
March 25, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Professor Nigel Willby, @nigelwillby.bsky.social, who co-authored the study, said: “If we want to realise these benefits rather than robbing ourselves of them, we must find better ways to accommodate beavers in our landscapes rather than continually removing their dams.”
Comfortably into double figures now in central Scotland with the addition of coltsfoot and primrose, plus dogs mercury and some early wood anemones #wildflowerhour
March 16, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Comfortably into double figures now in central Scotland with the addition of coltsfoot and primrose, plus dogs mercury and some early wood anemones #wildflowerhour
There's now a heady 6 flowers out in the 'hood. Don't mock, that's a 6 fold increase in the last month, including the first L Celandines and Barren Strawberries I've seen here before March in 26 yrs #wildflowerhour
March 2, 2025 at 7:40 PM
There's now a heady 6 flowers out in the 'hood. Don't mock, that's a 6 fold increase in the last month, including the first L Celandines and Barren Strawberries I've seen here before March in 26 yrs #wildflowerhour
Reposted by Nigel Willby
Invasion ecology is replete with a body of well-supported yet contradictory evidence for numerous invasion hypotheses, likely as a result of context dependency. Just published in DDI we explore the indirect effects & context dependencies in fish invasions. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
January 16, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Invasion ecology is replete with a body of well-supported yet contradictory evidence for numerous invasion hypotheses, likely as a result of context dependency. Just published in DDI we explore the indirect effects & context dependencies in fish invasions. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reading about new year plant hunts in the south with 60 or 70 odd species may I present pretty much the only plant currently flowering in inland central Scotland 🙂 #wildflowerhour
January 5, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Reading about new year plant hunts in the south with 60 or 70 odd species may I present pretty much the only plant currently flowering in inland central Scotland 🙂 #wildflowerhour
Feeling bereft now I've finished this amazing book. Brilliant and awful in equal measure.
January 5, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Feeling bereft now I've finished this amazing book. Brilliant and awful in equal measure.
Well, that'll be the morning sitting and thinking out the window....
December 31, 2024 at 11:16 AM
Well, that'll be the morning sitting and thinking out the window....
Red sky on bluesky. Just stop me here.
December 19, 2024 at 4:17 PM
Red sky on bluesky. Just stop me here.
Sunshine on Leith - out today with Stirling colleagues and @wolct.bsky.social on Water of Leith, Edinburgh to recce sites for our Methods and Applications in Env Science module
December 10, 2024 at 10:35 PM
Sunshine on Leith - out today with Stirling colleagues and @wolct.bsky.social on Water of Leith, Edinburgh to recce sites for our Methods and Applications in Env Science module
The number 1 freshwater detective agency lab night oot in (possibly) our second favourite habitat (minus Alice Turner and cofounder @zarahpattison.bsky.social for the night)
December 5, 2024 at 11:00 PM
The number 1 freshwater detective agency lab night oot in (possibly) our second favourite habitat (minus Alice Turner and cofounder @zarahpattison.bsky.social for the night)