Ryan Stephens
@ryanbstephens.bsky.social
Wildlife ecologist, trophic ecologist, museum lover, truffle admirer, biological illustrator, and assistant professor at ETSU.
Reposted by Ryan Stephens
🦅🌱Secondary seed dispersal by migrant harriers in India
📷 © Sankar Subramanian
vist.ly/4cfkr
#Diploendozoochory #Grasslands #OpenNaturalEcosystems #Raptor
📷 © Sankar Subramanian
vist.ly/4cfkr
#Diploendozoochory #Grasslands #OpenNaturalEcosystems #Raptor
October 31, 2025 at 6:06 PM
🦅🌱Secondary seed dispersal by migrant harriers in India
📷 © Sankar Subramanian
vist.ly/4cfkr
#Diploendozoochory #Grasslands #OpenNaturalEcosystems #Raptor
📷 © Sankar Subramanian
vist.ly/4cfkr
#Diploendozoochory #Grasslands #OpenNaturalEcosystems #Raptor
Reposted by Ryan Stephens
Excited to share our most recent work in collaboration with @liedcarneiro.bsky.social . We link network properties with estimates of pollination success. Check it out!
Network specialization increases plant reproductive success
Arceo-Gómez and Carneiro @arceo-gomezg.bsky.social
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Arceo-Gómez and Carneiro @arceo-gomezg.bsky.social
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
October 29, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Excited to share our most recent work in collaboration with @liedcarneiro.bsky.social . We link network properties with estimates of pollination success. Check it out!
Reposted by Ryan Stephens
Saturday site visit today at Abram's Falls with @ryanbstephens.bsky.social, beautiful fall weather, and the onset of fall colors in southern Appalachia 🍁🍂
October 11, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Saturday site visit today at Abram's Falls with @ryanbstephens.bsky.social, beautiful fall weather, and the onset of fall colors in southern Appalachia 🍁🍂
Reposted by Ryan Stephens
🚨 Please repost widely!🚨
I am recruiting a PhD student to join my lab next fall to work on forest and climate change ecology projects in southern Appalachia! Come join me in one of the most beautiful, biodiverse, and understudied parts of North America. Details below and happy to answer questions
I am recruiting a PhD student to join my lab next fall to work on forest and climate change ecology projects in southern Appalachia! Come join me in one of the most beautiful, biodiverse, and understudied parts of North America. Details below and happy to answer questions
October 3, 2025 at 4:45 PM
🚨 Please repost widely!🚨
I am recruiting a PhD student to join my lab next fall to work on forest and climate change ecology projects in southern Appalachia! Come join me in one of the most beautiful, biodiverse, and understudied parts of North America. Details below and happy to answer questions
I am recruiting a PhD student to join my lab next fall to work on forest and climate change ecology projects in southern Appalachia! Come join me in one of the most beautiful, biodiverse, and understudied parts of North America. Details below and happy to answer questions
You know your Google Scholar alerts are keyed in when it suggests your own papers and your student's theses!
August 18, 2025 at 3:43 PM
You know your Google Scholar alerts are keyed in when it suggests your own papers and your student's theses!
Reposted by Ryan Stephens
I'm hiring! Please share!
Join me this winter as a #wildlife #ecology technician. 6 months at $18/hr and subsidized housing available. Maintain a #cameratrap array, #bobcat and #fisher live trapping transects, and telemetry. More: blackrockforest.org/work_with_us
Join me this winter as a #wildlife #ecology technician. 6 months at $18/hr and subsidized housing available. Maintain a #cameratrap array, #bobcat and #fisher live trapping transects, and telemetry. More: blackrockforest.org/work_with_us
August 15, 2025 at 9:13 PM
I'm hiring! Please share!
Join me this winter as a #wildlife #ecology technician. 6 months at $18/hr and subsidized housing available. Maintain a #cameratrap array, #bobcat and #fisher live trapping transects, and telemetry. More: blackrockforest.org/work_with_us
Join me this winter as a #wildlife #ecology technician. 6 months at $18/hr and subsidized housing available. Maintain a #cameratrap array, #bobcat and #fisher live trapping transects, and telemetry. More: blackrockforest.org/work_with_us
I'm giving a talk on Tuesday about carnivores as dispersers of mycorrhizal fungal spores as part of a special session on fungal spore dispersal. Come check it out if you are here in Baltimore and like fungi, carnivores, or trophic interactions. #ESA2025
August 11, 2025 at 1:46 AM
I'm giving a talk on Tuesday about carnivores as dispersers of mycorrhizal fungal spores as part of a special session on fungal spore dispersal. Come check it out if you are here in Baltimore and like fungi, carnivores, or trophic interactions. #ESA2025
Reposted by Ryan Stephens
“…when organisms interact can largely determine how they interact.”
#Viewpoint: Is it all about timing? Identifying the symbiosis critical points that govern interactions among #bacteria, ectomycorrhizal #fungi, and land #trees
By Louis Berrios 👇
📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#Viewpoint: Is it all about timing? Identifying the symbiosis critical points that govern interactions among #bacteria, ectomycorrhizal #fungi, and land #trees
By Louis Berrios 👇
📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
August 8, 2025 at 1:01 PM
“…when organisms interact can largely determine how they interact.”
#Viewpoint: Is it all about timing? Identifying the symbiosis critical points that govern interactions among #bacteria, ectomycorrhizal #fungi, and land #trees
By Louis Berrios 👇
📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#Viewpoint: Is it all about timing? Identifying the symbiosis critical points that govern interactions among #bacteria, ectomycorrhizal #fungi, and land #trees
By Louis Berrios 👇
📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Ryan Stephens
Our new global study led by @smriti-pehim-limbu.bsky.social is now out in @pnas.org. TLDR: Certain spore traits were linked to climate AND species range sizes! YES we can use traits to gain insight into env adaptations for microbes.
#mycorrhizas #spores #NSFfunded
www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
#mycorrhizas #spores #NSFfunded
www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
How climate shapes soil fungal traits
Many soil microbes play a vital role in ecosystems, as they help plants access nutrients and water and assist in stress tolerance such as during drought and to defend against pathogens. One such group...
www.eurekalert.org
July 29, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Our new global study led by @smriti-pehim-limbu.bsky.social is now out in @pnas.org. TLDR: Certain spore traits were linked to climate AND species range sizes! YES we can use traits to gain insight into env adaptations for microbes.
#mycorrhizas #spores #NSFfunded
www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
#mycorrhizas #spores #NSFfunded
www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
Reposted by Ryan Stephens
Our review led by S. Savazza "Measuring Personality in Wild Small Mammals: A Review of Methods and Proposal for a Standardised Approach" is out, free open access, in mammal review
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Measuring Personality in Wild Small Mammals: A Review of Methods and Proposal for a Standardised Approach
We provide a systematic review of methodologies used to study personality in small mammals. We propose adopting ‘Standardised Experimental Design’ and ‘Behavioural Measurements’ to effectively compar...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
July 17, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Our review led by S. Savazza "Measuring Personality in Wild Small Mammals: A Review of Methods and Proposal for a Standardised Approach" is out, free open access, in mammal review
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Ryan Stephens
New from Rebekah Persad and the Kawartha Flying Squirrel Project: Home range size, habitat selection, and mycophagy of sympatric North American flying squirrels esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
July 14, 2025 at 2:12 PM
New from Rebekah Persad and the Kawartha Flying Squirrel Project: Home range size, habitat selection, and mycophagy of sympatric North American flying squirrels esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Big day in the lab. Noah, successfully defended his thesis (my first student) and knocked it out of the park! I also submitted a manuscript from a project that we have been working on for about 6 years.
July 9, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Big day in the lab. Noah, successfully defended his thesis (my first student) and knocked it out of the park! I also submitted a manuscript from a project that we have been working on for about 6 years.
Reposted by Ryan Stephens
New paper out! 🏙️ We found that urbanisation simplifies and homogenises seed dispersal networks. 🪴🐦⬛ Non-native plants dominate in cities, accounting for 61% 😔 of interactions in the urban network vs just 15% in forests! 🪻🌿🌴
Check it out: doi.org/10.1111/cobi...
🌐🧪🌍🍁
Check it out: doi.org/10.1111/cobi...
🌐🧪🌍🍁
July 3, 2025 at 10:59 AM
New paper out! 🏙️ We found that urbanisation simplifies and homogenises seed dispersal networks. 🪴🐦⬛ Non-native plants dominate in cities, accounting for 61% 😔 of interactions in the urban network vs just 15% in forests! 🪻🌿🌴
Check it out: doi.org/10.1111/cobi...
🌐🧪🌍🍁
Check it out: doi.org/10.1111/cobi...
🌐🧪🌍🍁
Reposted by Ryan Stephens
Forestry trials set up decades ago are key to understanding long term outcomes of management. This study looks at recovery of EcM fungi nearly 30 years (!) post harvest. Nice work👍from a great team.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Ectomycorrhizal fungal community succession and fragmentation across forest edges nearly three decades postharvest
Forest management for wood products involves the conversion of primary forests to younger plantations. This has an immediate impact on biota such as ectomycorrhizal fungi, a diverse symbiotic fungal ...
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
June 19, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Forestry trials set up decades ago are key to understanding long term outcomes of management. This study looks at recovery of EcM fungi nearly 30 years (!) post harvest. Nice work👍from a great team.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Ryan Stephens
Our paper shows that most ectomycorrhizal fungal species (83% of OTUs) are "dark taxa": species we detect in DNA, but can't match to known species names. We map global "darkspots" - the parts of the world most in need of more research. @spun.earth @ethz.ch www.cell.com/current-biol...
The biogeography and conservation of Earth’s ‘dark’ ectomycorrhizal fungi
In this review, van Galen et al. use global soil metabarcoding databases to evaluate
current estimates of the total number of ectomycorrhizal (EcM) fungal species on Earth,
outline the current state o...
www.cell.com
June 10, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Our paper shows that most ectomycorrhizal fungal species (83% of OTUs) are "dark taxa": species we detect in DNA, but can't match to known species names. We map global "darkspots" - the parts of the world most in need of more research. @spun.earth @ethz.ch www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Ryan Stephens
Histograms are incredibly useful, interpretable, and common in BI. But building histograms that work well out of the box — no matter the data — is trickier than it sounds. We share some of the challenges faced, and decisions made, when designing histograms for Observable Canvases:
Designing better out-of-the-box histograms
Given how common histograms are in BI tools, you might think they’re easy to design. Think again. We share challenges we encountered, and how we handled them, while designing better out-of-the-box…
buff.ly
June 5, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Histograms are incredibly useful, interpretable, and common in BI. But building histograms that work well out of the box — no matter the data — is trickier than it sounds. We share some of the challenges faced, and decisions made, when designing histograms for Observable Canvases:
Last day of Animal Ecology today and my students surprised me with bear hats. I’ve been complaining about all the damage they do to our field sites and it’s been a running joke all semester. Of course every student presentation today also had bears.
May 2, 2025 at 12:42 AM
Last day of Animal Ecology today and my students surprised me with bear hats. I’ve been complaining about all the damage they do to our field sites and it’s been a running joke all semester. Of course every student presentation today also had bears.
Reposted by Ryan Stephens
Ahhhhhh Spring. A time to replenish, revive, and…. REGROW YOUR BONES?!?
a🧵on a new paper
a🧵on a new paper
April 10, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Ahhhhhh Spring. A time to replenish, revive, and…. REGROW YOUR BONES?!?
a🧵on a new paper
a🧵on a new paper
Reposted by Ryan Stephens
"Over the limit: Consequences of gray squirrel personality on the shifting range limits of oak and hickory species" led by Maisie Merz is now out (open access) in Global Ecology and Conservation. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
March 24, 2025 at 10:24 AM
"Over the limit: Consequences of gray squirrel personality on the shifting range limits of oak and hickory species" led by Maisie Merz is now out (open access) in Global Ecology and Conservation. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Ryan Stephens
Happy to share that the first paper of my PhD is out!
We developed a trait-based framework 🌱🦜 to quantify how plant-frugivore interactions and animal movement shape plant functional connectivity—the dispersal of seeds between habitat patches.
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
We developed a trait-based framework 🌱🦜 to quantify how plant-frugivore interactions and animal movement shape plant functional connectivity—the dispersal of seeds between habitat patches.
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
March 6, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Happy to share that the first paper of my PhD is out!
We developed a trait-based framework 🌱🦜 to quantify how plant-frugivore interactions and animal movement shape plant functional connectivity—the dispersal of seeds between habitat patches.
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
We developed a trait-based framework 🌱🦜 to quantify how plant-frugivore interactions and animal movement shape plant functional connectivity—the dispersal of seeds between habitat patches.
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Reposted by Ryan Stephens
Today in Ecology Letters, we show how wildlife is affected by cities, with urban adaptations boosting resilience to global change
This has implications for potential ‘rescue populations’ in conservation, as well as invasion success between urban centres
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
This has implications for potential ‘rescue populations’ in conservation, as well as invasion success between urban centres
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Urban Environments Promote Adaptation to Multiple Stressors
To improve our knowledge of evolution and adaptation in urban and anthropogenically impacted habitats, we conducted the widest series of stress experiments to date with three marine taxa: one mussel ...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
February 19, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Today in Ecology Letters, we show how wildlife is affected by cities, with urban adaptations boosting resilience to global change
This has implications for potential ‘rescue populations’ in conservation, as well as invasion success between urban centres
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
This has implications for potential ‘rescue populations’ in conservation, as well as invasion success between urban centres
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Ryan Stephens
Does anyone on bluesky have experience bear-proofing environmental data loggers (specifically PAR and soil moisture) without compromising functionality? Bears at our sites have extensively damaged seed and camera traps already, so hoping to get ahead of them this year.
February 4, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Does anyone on bluesky have experience bear-proofing environmental data loggers (specifically PAR and soil moisture) without compromising functionality? Bears at our sites have extensively damaged seed and camera traps already, so hoping to get ahead of them this year.
Reposted by Ryan Stephens
🚨 New paper! We looked at Wolf-coyote-fox trophic niches in 1920s, 1960s, and 2000s to see how resource use by mesocarnivores changed as a function of wolf extirpation and recolonization in Michigan over the last 100 years. Check it out!
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Carnivore community reassembly provides a test of Eltonian niche conservatism
The repatriation of species is common, especially in conservation efforts aimed at restoring trophic interactions. Whether the Eltonian niches of restored species are conserved in reassembled ecologi...
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
February 4, 2025 at 5:44 PM
🚨 New paper! We looked at Wolf-coyote-fox trophic niches in 1920s, 1960s, and 2000s to see how resource use by mesocarnivores changed as a function of wolf extirpation and recolonization in Michigan over the last 100 years. Check it out!
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...