Brian Maitner
@maitner.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of Global Change in the Integrative Biology Department at the University of South Florida - St. Petersburg. Views are my own (and are supported by evidence and reason).
Reposted by Brian Maitner
Infrastructure for African mines destroying forests at 34 times the rate of the mines themselves
phys.org/news/2026-06...
phys.org/news/2026-06...
Infrastructure for African mines destroying forests at 34 times the rate of the mines themselves
Industrial-scale mining in Africa to support global supply chains is leading to unprecedented deforestation across the continent, with 34 hectares of forest removed for every single hectare of active ...
phys.org
June 8, 2026 at 5:10 AM
Infrastructure for African mines destroying forests at 34 times the rate of the mines themselves
phys.org/news/2026-06...
phys.org/news/2026-06...
Reposted by Brian Maitner
This was a great collaboration between many different institutions. I feel I am learning a lot from climate modelers. Thanks Cory, @mark-urban.bsky.social , Lauren, @maitner.bsky.social, Ben, gonzalo, @alexpigot.bsky.social , Chris, Adam,
June 8, 2026 at 3:35 PM
This was a great collaboration between many different institutions. I feel I am learning a lot from climate modelers. Thanks Cory, @mark-urban.bsky.social , Lauren, @maitner.bsky.social, Ben, gonzalo, @alexpigot.bsky.social , Chris, Adam,
Reposted by Brian Maitner
In 2024, we found 3,500 vertebrate species predicted to have faced unprecedented temperatures. >1,250 already endangered. The window to act is real and monitoring what's going on in the field is crucial. Can we predict 9-months in advance? and in 10-years? more soon
June 8, 2026 at 3:35 PM
In 2024, we found 3,500 vertebrate species predicted to have faced unprecedented temperatures. >1,250 already endangered. The window to act is real and monitoring what's going on in the field is crucial. Can we predict 9-months in advance? and in 10-years? more soon
Reposted by Brian Maitner
What if conservation could respond before the crisis hits? In 2024, howler monkeys were falling dead from trees in Mexico. Our model had flagged that region before the crisis. We present the first global early warning system forecasting extreme heat exposure for biodiversity here rdcu.be/fm8ml
A global early warning system for predicting exposure of biodiversity to extreme heat
Nature Climate Change - The authors develop an early warning system to predict the risks of extreme temperatures for 30,585 vertebrates 1–9 months in advance. They identify species and...
rdcu.be
June 8, 2026 at 3:35 PM
What if conservation could respond before the crisis hits? In 2024, howler monkeys were falling dead from trees in Mexico. Our model had flagged that region before the crisis. We present the first global early warning system forecasting extreme heat exposure for biodiversity here rdcu.be/fm8ml
Reposted by Brian Maitner
Herbivory is a fundamental ecological process; treating it as harm (like recent work has suggested) misinforms conservation decisions about introduced herbivores.
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reevaluating introduced herbivores in conservation
Click on the article title to read more.
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
May 11, 2026 at 9:36 AM
Herbivory is a fundamental ecological process; treating it as harm (like recent work has suggested) misinforms conservation decisions about introduced herbivores.
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Brian Maitner
Check out our new letter in Conservation Biology where we argue that (re-)introduced large herbivores are often wrongly framed as harmful because herbivory is automatically equated with ecological damage - overlooking their potential to restore biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
Herbivory is a fundamental ecological process; treating it as harm (like recent work has suggested) misinforms conservation decisions about introduced herbivores.
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reevaluating introduced herbivores in conservation
Click on the article title to read more.
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
May 11, 2026 at 3:46 PM
Check out our new letter in Conservation Biology where we argue that (re-)introduced large herbivores are often wrongly framed as harmful because herbivory is automatically equated with ecological damage - overlooking their potential to restore biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
Important new paper out today led by @jonastrepel.bsky.social that explains how common approaches to quantifying the impacts of #introduced #herbivores are fundamentally flawed, including those used by the #IUCN. #Rewilding
doi.org/10.1111/cobi...
doi.org/10.1111/cobi...
May 11, 2026 at 3:22 PM
Important new paper out today led by @jonastrepel.bsky.social that explains how common approaches to quantifying the impacts of #introduced #herbivores are fundamentally flawed, including those used by the #IUCN. #Rewilding
doi.org/10.1111/cobi...
doi.org/10.1111/cobi...
Reposted by Brian Maitner
I am happy to share this again!
🎓 PhD done!
I’m sincerely grateful to my amazing supervisors, @peteecology.bsky.social, @mschleuning.bsky.social and @margot Neyret for their guidance, support, and encouragement throughout this journey.
Cheers to the next step✈️.
🎓 PhD done!
I’m sincerely grateful to my amazing supervisors, @peteecology.bsky.social, @mschleuning.bsky.social and @margot Neyret for their guidance, support, and encouragement throughout this journey.
Cheers to the next step✈️.
March 28, 2026 at 1:11 PM
I am happy to share this again!
🎓 PhD done!
I’m sincerely grateful to my amazing supervisors, @peteecology.bsky.social, @mschleuning.bsky.social and @margot Neyret for their guidance, support, and encouragement throughout this journey.
Cheers to the next step✈️.
🎓 PhD done!
I’m sincerely grateful to my amazing supervisors, @peteecology.bsky.social, @mschleuning.bsky.social and @margot Neyret for their guidance, support, and encouragement throughout this journey.
Cheers to the next step✈️.
Reposted by Brian Maitner
Hi all. I am very excited that after 6 years I finally got my phylogenetic comparative methods book and online exercises online. Feel free to use and share. The book is here: nhcooper123.github.io/pcm-primer/. Note that it is not finished, we had to abandon it before the sunk costs fallacy broke us
Phylogenetic Comparative Methods
Phylogenetic Comparative Methods
nhcooper123.github.io
March 25, 2026 at 2:32 PM
Hi all. I am very excited that after 6 years I finally got my phylogenetic comparative methods book and online exercises online. Feel free to use and share. The book is here: nhcooper123.github.io/pcm-primer/. Note that it is not finished, we had to abandon it before the sunk costs fallacy broke us
Reposted by Brian Maitner
Our new #BIEN biodiversity data workflow paper is out! BIEN is an ecosystem of modular, open-source BIEN tools for collecting, harmonizing, and validating biodiversity data -- and an integrated global database (BIEN db) of plant occurrences, traits & geographic ranges. doi.org/10.1111/2041... 🧪🌐🌾🌵
BIEN: A biodiversity informatics ecosystem advancing open and reproducible workflows for plant observation, plot and trait data
The rapid expansion of biodiversity data presents new opportunities to understand and forecast biosphere dynamics. However, disparate and dispersed data, taxonomic and geographic inconsistencies, ...
doi.org
March 24, 2026 at 7:15 PM
Our new #BIEN biodiversity data workflow paper is out! BIEN is an ecosystem of modular, open-source BIEN tools for collecting, harmonizing, and validating biodiversity data -- and an integrated global database (BIEN db) of plant occurrences, traits & geographic ranges. doi.org/10.1111/2041... 🧪🌐🌾🌵
New BIEN article out! This one digs in to the details of the BIEN #plant database, but importantly, also announces that BIEN is now #CC-BY (see the SI for details on that)!
doi.org/10.1111/2041...
doi.org/10.1111/2041...
BIEN: A biodiversity informatics ecosystem advancing open and reproducible workflows for plant observation, plot and trait data
The rapid expansion of biodiversity data presents new opportunities to understand and forecast biosphere dynamics. However, disparate and dispersed data, taxonomic and geographic inconsistencies, ...
doi.org
March 24, 2026 at 2:30 PM
New BIEN article out! This one digs in to the details of the BIEN #plant database, but importantly, also announces that BIEN is now #CC-BY (see the SI for details on that)!
doi.org/10.1111/2041...
doi.org/10.1111/2041...
Reposted by Brian Maitner
Start treating legends as information! This (work in progress) is a VSUP with model training points overlaid, and it shows that on the training dataset, most points are predicted with low uncertainty.
March 11, 2026 at 12:09 PM
Start treating legends as information! This (work in progress) is a VSUP with model training points overlaid, and it shows that on the training dataset, most points are predicted with low uncertainty.
Reposted by Brian Maitner
The 1939 dictionary laying down some data truth …. “Data. As a Latin word it should be pronounced day'ta-first a long. Many do not seem to know that this word is the the plural of datum-a word seldom seen or heard.” #DataAre
February 27, 2026 at 1:38 AM
The 1939 dictionary laying down some data truth …. “Data. As a Latin word it should be pronounced day'ta-first a long. Many do not seem to know that this word is the the plural of datum-a word seldom seen or heard.” #DataAre
Reposted by Brian Maitner
Fast-growing trees are set to dominate the #forests of the #future — but at a cost🌳
Our Nature Plants (@natplants.nature.com) study shows a global shift toward "sprinter" tree species, while slow-growing, functionally critical #trees face elevated #extinction risk. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Our Nature Plants (@natplants.nature.com) study shows a global shift toward "sprinter" tree species, while slow-growing, functionally critical #trees face elevated #extinction risk. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Global functional shifts in trees driven by alien naturalization and native extinction - Nature Plants
This study finds that native tree extinctions and alien naturalizations are pushing forests towards fast-growing, resource-demanding species. This global shift could affect carbon storage and ecosyste...
www.nature.com
January 29, 2026 at 6:11 AM
Fast-growing trees are set to dominate the #forests of the #future — but at a cost🌳
Our Nature Plants (@natplants.nature.com) study shows a global shift toward "sprinter" tree species, while slow-growing, functionally critical #trees face elevated #extinction risk. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Our Nature Plants (@natplants.nature.com) study shows a global shift toward "sprinter" tree species, while slow-growing, functionally critical #trees face elevated #extinction risk. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Brian Maitner
The evidence for Homo sapiens playing the dominant role in the global #megafauna #extinctions constitutes one of the clearest, well-supported patterns in #ecology. See our 2024 review www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #paleobiology #archeology #hunting #ecosystem #Pleistocene #defaunation #rewilding
The late-Quaternary megafauna extinctions: Patterns, causes, ecological consequences and implications for ecosystem management in the Anthropocene | Cambridge Prisms: Extinction | Cambridge Core
The late-Quaternary megafauna extinctions: Patterns, causes, ecological consequences and implications for ecosystem management in the Anthropocene - Volume 2
www.cambridge.org
January 1, 2025 at 9:49 AM
The evidence for Homo sapiens playing the dominant role in the global #megafauna #extinctions constitutes one of the clearest, well-supported patterns in #ecology. See our 2024 review www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #paleobiology #archeology #hunting #ecosystem #Pleistocene #defaunation #rewilding
Reposted by Brian Maitner
🧪 Figuring out the right way to represent interactions as a network is a really difficult task, makes a big difference on the interpretation.
In a new preprint by @tanyadoesscience.bsky.social we attempt to provide a hierarchical framework for network ecology:
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
In a new preprint by @tanyadoesscience.bsky.social we attempt to provide a hierarchical framework for network ecology:
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
Scaling from Metawebs to Realised Webs: A Hierarchical Approach to Network Ecology
ecoevorxiv.org
January 22, 2026 at 1:51 PM
🧪 Figuring out the right way to represent interactions as a network is a really difficult task, makes a big difference on the interpretation.
In a new preprint by @tanyadoesscience.bsky.social we attempt to provide a hierarchical framework for network ecology:
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
In a new preprint by @tanyadoesscience.bsky.social we attempt to provide a hierarchical framework for network ecology:
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
How do we model ranges for rare or poorly sampled species? In our new paper, we compare methods for modelling rare species. We show that several algorithms designed for small sample sizes outperform more general approaches when modeling rare or poorly sampled species.
doi.org/10.1002/ecog...
doi.org/10.1002/ecog...
Flexible methods for species distribution modeling with small samples
Species distribution models (SDMs) predict where species live or could potentially live and are a key resource for ecological research and conservation decision-making. However, current SDM methods o...
doi.org
January 21, 2026 at 3:32 PM
How do we model ranges for rare or poorly sampled species? In our new paper, we compare methods for modelling rare species. We show that several algorithms designed for small sample sizes outperform more general approaches when modeling rare or poorly sampled species.
doi.org/10.1002/ecog...
doi.org/10.1002/ecog...
Super important paper showing the startlingly low number of active plant taxonomists in the world, and in particular in some of the most biodiverse regions! Definitely a study I'm adding to my reference manager!
Important paper showing the dearth of plant taxonomists in the tropical countries that need them most
www.cell.com/trends/plant...
www.cell.com/trends/plant...
December 2, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Super important paper showing the startlingly low number of active plant taxonomists in the world, and in particular in some of the most biodiverse regions! Definitely a study I'm adding to my reference manager!
Reposted by Brian Maitner
Please pass along - We've extended the CAMBIUM fellowship deadline to December 15! Our NSF NRT supports new grad students to harness biodiversity big data to adapt to & mitigate climate change impacts. Great fit for evolutionary genomics, bioinformatics, ecology & more. cambium.arizona.edu 🧬🌐🌎
November 26, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Please pass along - We've extended the CAMBIUM fellowship deadline to December 15! Our NSF NRT supports new grad students to harness biodiversity big data to adapt to & mitigate climate change impacts. Great fit for evolutionary genomics, bioinformatics, ecology & more. cambium.arizona.edu 🧬🌐🌎
Reposted by Brian Maitner
Reposted by Brian Maitner
in "General laws of biodiversity: Climatic niches predict plant range size and ecological dominance globally", we provide key insights into species’ vulnerability to environmental change and the processes that structure biodiversity at global scales.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
General laws of biodiversity: Climatic niches predict plant range size and ecological dominance globally | PNAS
A longstanding question in ecology asks whether or not species that achieve large
geographic ranges also have large climatic niche breadths. Using ...
www.pnas.org
November 12, 2025 at 6:11 PM
in "General laws of biodiversity: Climatic niches predict plant range size and ecological dominance globally", we provide key insights into species’ vulnerability to environmental change and the processes that structure biodiversity at global scales.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Brian Maitner
We are glad to share our recent article pulbished in @pnas.org, where we we demonstrate that plant species that occupy larger geographic ranges tend to have broader climatic niches and are more likely to achieve high local abundances.
November 12, 2025 at 6:11 PM
We are glad to share our recent article pulbished in @pnas.org, where we we demonstrate that plant species that occupy larger geographic ranges tend to have broader climatic niches and are more likely to achieve high local abundances.