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wennading.bsky.social
Wenna Ding
@wennading.bsky.social
160 followers 320 following 2 posts
Postdoc at Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL
Biogeographer & paleobotanist & macroevolutionary biologist

Science for working 🔭👩🏻‍💻Nature for loving🌿 🍂Mountains for exploring⛰️🌋🏕️Biodiversity for understanding🪐🌏☄️🦖❄️
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wennading.bsky.social
Wenna Ding @wennading.bsky.social · May 30
Very happy to see this out today! Our review explores the transformative role of angiosperms in shaping terrestrial ecosystems from the Cretaceous to the Cenozoic, detailing five key phases of angiosperm evolution by integrating fossil and molecular evidence. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The stepwise rise of angiosperm‐dominated terrestrial ecosystems
Angiosperms are the most diverse and abundant plant taxon today and dominate the majority of Earth's terrestrial ecosystems. They underwent rapid divergence and biogeographic expansion from the early...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Reposted by Wenna Ding
oleseehausen.bsky.social
Our latest paper on fish communities in nearly 80 peri-alpine lakes reveals that community assembly through immigration and speciation respond to different dimensions of ecosystem size: area and depth respectively. Check it out here
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/BKFKRT...
Recent and Rapid Assembly of an Island Species–Area Relationship Threatened by Human Disturbance
You have to enable JavaScript in your browser's settings in order to use the eReader.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 31, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Reposted by Wenna Ding
wslresearch.bsky.social
🍂🌳 #PhDAlert! MSc in #EnvironmentalSciences or a related field and interested in plant #phenology and #ecophysiology? Good level of fitness to carry out field work in remote locations? Our #Ecosystem #Ecology group offers a #PhD position: apply.refline.ch/273855/1789/... #ScienceJobs
Job offer: The Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL is part of the ETH Domain. Approximately 600 people work on the sustainable use and protection of the environment and on the handling of natural hazards. The Forest and Soil Ecology research unit, which investigates the effects of environmental changes in forest ecosystems, is looking for a person to join the Ecosystem Ecology group for a fixed-term period of four years, starting January 2026 or by appointment, as a PhD student in plant phenology and ecophysiology You will be responsible for planning and carrying out experiments in the field and under controlled conditions in the SNF funded project “Linking carbon source-sink dynamics to autumn phenology: Predicting tree growth rhythms in temperature and boreal forests”. You will analyse the interaction between carbon balance and phenology by applying various ecophysiological and biochemical methods and large-scale data analyses. You will carry out statistical and mechanistic modelling approaches. Finally, you will be responsible for publishing results in scientific journals. You have a master’s degree in environmental science, or a comparable topic and are interested in applying various methods, from ecophysiology to model applications. You have a proficient command of written and spoken English, are able to work in a structured, efficient and independent manner, and have a high level of team spirit. Furthermore, you have a good level of fitness to carry out field work in remote locations. We offer an international team with exciting research perspectives and strong collaboration with researchers from ETH and international institutions. The position will be based at WSL and you will be enrolled at ETH Zurich.
October 21, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Reposted by Wenna Ding
rebeccasaurus.bsky.social
Really happy to see chapter 2 of my PhD published today in @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social. DeepDiveR is an R package to assist with deep learning inference of biodiversity change through time 🤿🦊 Thanks to @bethanyjallen.bsky.social & Daniele Silvestro for the collaboration

doi.org/10.1111/2041...
August 8, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Reposted by Wenna Ding
ceciliapad.bsky.social
What a fantastic new paper out today in @pnas.org: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... - and what a great resource, summarising the climatic niche of primates and tackling the hypothesis on whether primates evolved in warm tropical forests 😍
The radiation and geographic expansion of primates through diverse climates | PNAS
One of the most influential hypotheses about primate evolution postulates that their origin, radiation, and major dispersals were associated with e...
www.pnas.org
August 7, 2025 at 8:18 AM
Reposted by Wenna Ding
wsl-dme.bsky.social
📱🌱 Plant identification apps are booming – but which one is the best? And how reliable are the results? 🤔 Our researchers collected over 5,000 photos of 560 Swiss plant species from 85 habitat types and tested the most popular apps.🔎 Here are the findings: shorturl.at/lD0Cl
Manuel Popp @manupopp.bsky.social‬
July 29, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Reposted by Wenna Ding
dirknkarger.bsky.social
🌿 Join Our Team as Postdoctoral Researcher in Regional Climate Downscaling at the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL in Switzerland and lead the development of regional, highresolution climate scenarios for Armenia. @wslresearch.bsky.social @wsl-dme.bsky.social apply.refline.ch/273855/1747/...
July 8, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Reposted by Wenna Ding
wsl-dme.bsky.social
@clechartre.bsky.social reimplemented #BIOME4 into a modular, high-performance #Julia version, enabling 1 km vegetation modeling 🌱 and integration of #CHELSA climate datasets. 🌦️ We can now simulate biome patterns across complex terrains ⛰️ and define biome boundaries with greater accuracy. 🎯
July 10, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Reposted by Wenna Ding
wslresearch.bsky.social
A global analysis shows consistent energy–diversity relationships across birds, mammals, amphibians & reptiles, resolving decades of ecological debate. Paper now out in @science.org : www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🌍🌐 #ecology #MetabolicTheory
July 4, 2025 at 6:04 AM
Reposted by Wenna Ding
bjenquist.bsky.social
In ectotherms, temperature-species richness relationships matched predictions of metabolic theory 🧪🌐 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Consistent energy-diversity relationships in terrestrial vertebrates
Ecologists have long proposed that environments providing more energy can support more species, yet empirical evidence frequently contradicts this expectation. We argue that such inconsistencies resul...
www.science.org
July 4, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Reposted by Wenna Ding
liangzhi-chen.bsky.social
Go check out our event-based evaluation!
Beyond the global scale patterns of increasing multi-year droughts, there are over 10,000 identified events inventoried with explicit spatiotemporal coverage, from which one could easily extract events of their whatever interest across disciplines and uses.
June 5, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Reposted by Wenna Ding
wsl-dme.bsky.social
🌿 What makes plants in tropical ecosystems so unique & remarkably adapted to their environment? 🌸✨
We explored this question during a visit to the Botanical Garden in Zurich, guided by our group member dirknkarger.bsky.social‬ — a fantastic opportunity to observe tropical plant traits up close. 🔎🌱
June 3, 2025 at 3:38 PM
wennading.bsky.social
Very happy to see this out today! Our review explores the transformative role of angiosperms in shaping terrestrial ecosystems from the Cretaceous to the Cenozoic, detailing five key phases of angiosperm evolution by integrating fossil and molecular evidence. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The stepwise rise of angiosperm‐dominated terrestrial ecosystems
Angiosperms are the most diverse and abundant plant taxon today and dominate the majority of Earth's terrestrial ecosystems. They underwent rapid divergence and biogeographic expansion from the early...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
May 30, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Reposted by Wenna Ding
dirknkarger.bsky.social
Bert Wuyts is sharing our latest work on modeling #tipping-points in mountain ecosystems ⛰️ at the #TipESM annual meeting. Do #mountain #ecosystems hit critical tipping points in a warming world — and if so, when? 🌍⚠️ A great chance to exchange ideas. @tipesm.bsky.social ial @wsl-dme.bsky.social
April 10, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Reposted by Wenna Ding
caordonezparra.bsky.social
In my latest interview for @botany.one, I present you the work of @renskeonstein.bsky.social, a researcher always looking for the "big picture" of plant evolution and biogeography #Botany #PlantScience #SciComm 🧪🌍

Renske's research is something you don't want to miss! botany.one/2025/03/rens...
Renske Onstein: A Passion for "Big" Plant Questions
Botany One interviews Dr Renske Onstein, a researcher passionate for the evolution of plants and their characteristics on a global scale.
botany.one
March 31, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Reposted by Wenna Ding
bjwmills.bsky.social
The SCION Earth Evolution Model is turning 4 years old this spring. We have celebrated by extending the framework back to ~1 Ga before present

We find some agreement with broad environmental trends from the rock record, but there is still plenty to learn!

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
March 19, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Reposted by Wenna Ding
ondrejmottl.bsky.social
That's fantastic news! 🎉 The #paleo community is embracing our recommendations for using #fossil #pollen data in #macroecology studies! 🌿
Check it out 🔗 bit.ly/FOSSILPOL
A joint first author with @suzetteflantua.bsky.social , V. Felde & K. Bhatta!
#GEB #global #ecology #biogeography #palaeoecology
A certificate from GEB
March 19, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Reposted by Wenna Ding
ox.ac.uk
'No one will judge you for asking what feels like a stupid question.'

For #IDWGS2025, the Mathematical, Physical, and Life Sciences Division asked scientists from across the faculty about the advice they wish they had received at the beginning of their careers ⬇️
Prof Dame Alison Etheridge: 'In spite of appearances, everyone is insecure and no-one will judge you for asking what feels like a stupid question. Most people in the room probably wanted to ask the same thing but were too embarrassed - asking will win you many friends!' Prof Erin Saupe: I wish I would have realised sooner that it's OK to be wrong in science, and that admitting you were wrong is a strength, not a weakness. Science should be about testing your assumptions and re-thinking paradigms, not just 'getting things right'. Prof Daniela Bortoletto: 'That it's okay to say no and set boundaries. You don't need to feel obligated to take on every task, especially those disproportionately assigned to women. Focus on roles that support your scientific and professional growth.' Prof Tamsin Mather: 'A career is a marathon not a sprint and there will be times things feel better than others or where life has priority. Be patient when things feel tough. Taking time off is so important, not just because work isn't everything, but to stay creative. I've had my best ideas on my bike, kayak, or up a mountain!'
February 11, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Reposted by Wenna Ding
ymalhi.bsky.social
Tropical forests are not all the same: they show many shades of geographical variation. Our new paper in Nature led by @jeaggu.bsky.social combines field and satellite data to make a first map the canopy functional traits of the world’s tropical forests: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Canopy functional trait variation across Earth’s tropical forests - Nature
Data from a variety of sources—including satellite, climate and soil data, as well as field-collected information on plant traits—are pooled and analysed to map the functional diversity of tropical fo...
www.nature.com
March 6, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Reposted by Wenna Ding
ymalhi.bsky.social
In our new paper in @science.org, we show that tropical forests are changing over time, but too slowly to track climate change. Our article, led by @jeaggu.bsky.social just out:

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

@oxfordgeography.bsky.social
@naturerecovery.bsky.social
@forestplots.bsky.social
Tropical forests in the Americas are changing too slowly to track climate change
Understanding the capacity of forests to adapt to climate change is of pivotal importance for conservation science, yet this is still widely unknown. This knowledge gap is particularly acute in high-b...
www.science.org
March 7, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Reposted by Wenna Ding
wslbiodiversity.bsky.social
Friendly reminder: Our Summer School on Blue-Green Biodiversity has an early application track this year!
If you need a visa to Switzerland, apply by March 15. You'll be notified by early April, giving you more time for the visa application process.
biodiversitycenter.wsl.ch/en/events/de...
February 28, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Reposted by Wenna Ding
yaquanchang.bsky.social
In this mountain biodiversity review, we emphasized roles of habitat creation, disruption, and oscillation in driving biodiversity. Additionally, we developed a set of geomorphic predictors that may influence biodiversity patterns, with the potential for application to other montane systems.
February 14, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Reposted by Wenna Ding
liangzhi-chen.bsky.social
New paper in @science.org !
Where and when did the #multiyear-droughts occur around the world? Have they become more prevailing? We identified over 10,000 such events and found that they have been increasingly occupying the terrestrial land. (1/6)
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ado4245
January 16, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Reposted by Wenna Ding
dirknkarger.bsky.social
🌍 Mega-droughts are becoming more frequent and intense globally. Our study in Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... shows that multi-year droughts have significantly increased over the last 40 years with severe impacts @wslresearch.bsky.social @wsl-dme.bsky.social @extremeswsl.bsky.social (1/7) 🧵
The map shows 500 of those events that happend over the last 40 years.
January 17, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Reposted by Wenna Ding
wsl-dme.bsky.social
Walter Jetz & @dirknkarger.bsky.social presented their work on “Mountain Thermal Belts in a Changing #Climate.”🤓 Using #CHELSA climate data on structuring the elevation belts of global #mountains by thermal belts anchored to the #alpine treeline has led to a new high-resolution (90m) dataset.⛰️🛰️💻
January 15, 2025 at 2:21 PM
wennading.bsky.social
A very comprehensive study on stick and leaf insects and so cool pictures! Lineages can independently colonize similar habitats, repeatedly evolving in parallel directions of similar body forms. #Adaptive #Evolution www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
January 15, 2025 at 9:36 AM