NOW ONLINE at Biological Reviews!

Global review on "Biodiversity in mountain soils above the treeline" by @nadinepraeg.bsky.social and me with many great #SoilBiodiversity researcher.

This is the first time such global information on #alpine soil microbiota, soil fauna, and (soil) biocrusts were synthesised.
Read and download it for free at http://doi.org/10.1111/brv.70028

Here, a short thread 🧵 (1/4)

#UIBK #EuracResearch #UniGraz #GMBA

Well: late April rain was insufficient in my forest. growing plants absorbed every of it and soils remained exactly as dramatically dry as before.

no water = no life!

In early May, a crucial breeding time period for most insects, observation spots in clearings were devoid of any soil insect, despite heat and sun. No ground beetles. No rove beetles. Nothing. Ludicrous!

A little insect activity is detected under canopy only.

Without any predator roaming, my clearings are turning into a slug paradise! (I did not shoot a picture because some people seem to be afraid of slugs).

#SoilBiodiversity #SoilFauna #forest

60% der landwirtschaftlich genutzten #Boden in der EU sind degradiert. Verdichtet, durch Eutrophierung und Pestizide das Bodenleben gestört, Humus abgebaut, etc. etc.

In den letzten 20 Jahren stagnieren z.B. in Deutschland die Hektarerträge bei #Weizen - trotz immer neuer "Hochleistungssorten" und immer giftigerer Pestizide.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/may/09/more-than-a-third-of-uk-agricultural-soil-degraded-by-intensive-farming-report

#Edaphon #SoilBiodiversity #BioDiversitat #Landwirtschaft

I bring you some exciting news...

I'VE DISCOVERED THE FIRST EVER GIANT SPRINGTAILS IN CHRISTCHURCH CITY!

The closest known populations before this were at Arthur's Pass, but now we can add the Port Hills to their distribution map.

Definitely my proudest observation from last week's iNaturalist City Nature Challenge.

#Entomology #Collembola #SoilBiodiversity #SoilEcology #SoilFauna #Nature #Macrophotography

Time to see if rain did any good to soils. When I recorded soil moisture 2 weeks ago, it was dramatically low. It ranged between 18 and 38% of 2022 level at that same time of year. 2022 was a heat dome here.

It is disturbing. 2024 sits in top 10 rainiest years on record. Where has all this water gone? The nearby water pumping station looks like a very plausible explanation to me, also for soils being 3 times drier downslope!

Let's hope 2025 won't be an other heat dome. The ecosystem is not healing from that one. Starting from such low moisture levels would lead to a definitively irrecoverable disaster.

#soil #SoilBiodiversity

Excuse the radio silence from me lately, it's been a very intense University teaching semester.

On the plus side, I've done LOADS of entomology-related lecturing, which has been great fun! Naturally, I've squeezed in plenty of soil invertebrate content to my lectures, such as this bizarre, not-quite-an-insect, Proturan!

Protura are six-legged, wingless, eyeless and lack pigmentation and antennae. Instead, they raise their front pair of legs forwards as they move, which are covered in sensory hairs. This gives them the slightly comical appearance of a villain in Scooby-Do trying to sneak up menacingly behind someone!

#Invertebrate #Macrophotography #SoilEcology #SoilBiodiversity #Entomology #SoilFauna #Nature #NaturePhotography

Hey Mastodon, we need some expertise on #soil #remediation for a story. Have you ever done any hand-on #fieldwork inoculating dirt with a new #microbiome? Do you know anyone who has?

#SoilBiodiversity #solarpunk #bioremediation #ecology #microbiology

We've all been there: You've been hunting a moth all morning, and when you finally land the killing blow, you overcompensate and savage it so violently, you get its wing scales all up in your eyes.

Then a human comes along with a camera to immortalise your embarrassment. Typical!

#Invertebrate #Macrophotography #Arachnology #Aranea #Spider #SoilBiodiversity #Entomology #Nature #NaturePhotography

Now Bug of the Year is over, normal service can resume!

Here's an incredibly feathery velvet mite (Chyzeriidae) from New Zealand. These active predators wander the forest floor, looking for springtails to ambush and drink dry using their piercing mouthparts! Beautiful but deadly.

#Invertebrate #Macrophotography #Entomology #Acarology #Acari #SoilBiodiversity #SoilEcology #Mesofauna #Arthropod