While samplings of #alpine beasties in the #Cairngorms #NationalPark for my #BEN_EAF project at the #JamesHuttonInstitute are still in the preparation, here some impressions of the critters I've found while hiking.
As temperatures go up, so more activity is expected, right?
? 🤓🕷️🐛🪱🧬

#NatureScot #ScottishHighlands #Highlands #AlpineSoils #AlpSoil_Lab #SoilFauna #SoilBiodiversity

RE: https://flipping.rocks/@frankashwood/116661492786428411

I'm looking forward so much to this book about #soilLife #soil! @frankashwood is a great nature photographer and when the soil ecologist starts to talk about these wonderful creatures ...
Just follow him not to miss it!
More about the book: https://www.frankashwood.com/twbof

#biodiversity #macroPhotography #naturePhotography #natureWriting #soilFauna #SciComm #soilBiodiversity #followFriday #ecology #soilEcology

🌀The decomposition of typhoon-generated #GgreenLitter and physiologically senesced litter exhibit divergent decomposition patterns across lawn and soil microhabitats🍃.

#TropicalCyclones | #UrbanForest | #EnvironmentalHeterogeneity | #LitterDecomposition | #SoilFauna

https://doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtaf151

Preparations for my #BEN_EAF project as visiting scientist at the #JamesHuttonInstitute are still ongoing, but I could hike in the Scottish #Highlands already!

Looking forward to taking #alpine #SoilFauna samples (cores and pitfall traps) and to compare these with #eDNA samplings. 🕷️🧬

#MountainSoilBiodiversity #Scotland #Aberdeenshire #Cairngorms

First day for me today at "the Hutton" in Aberdeen, Scotland!

I will conduct my research on alpine soil fauna here for the next five months and check out what "beasties" we can find in the remote and astonishing Scottish Highlands. 🕷️🪲🪱

Thanks to The James Hutton Institute for hosting me, and a big thank you for the warm welcoming today. 🤗

(Jenni Stockan, Andrea Britton, Tom Parker and more!)

#SoilFauna #AlpineSoils #MountainSoilBiodiversity #AlpEnv_Lab

Want to learn how to start doing soil animal macrophotography? Or how to improve your current macrophotography? Perhaps you just fancy a rare glimpse into mine and Andy Murray's enigmatic minds? Well, here you go!

A new perspectives article has just dropped in Soil Organisms journal, where Monica Farfan digs into mine and Andy's love for documenting and communicating soil biodiversity using photography! It was a very fun interview, jammed full of macrophotography tips and photos.

It's completely free to access:
https://www.soil-organisms.org/SO/article/view/504/517

#SoilBiodiversity #SoilFauna #Macrophotography #Entomology #Soil #Nature #TheWorldBeneathOurFeet

YEAH! 🎉
Today #BEN_EAF kick-offs as collaboration of Eurac Research, South Tyrol (#AlpSoil_Lab) and the James Hutton Institute (#EnB group), Scotland.

We will identify alpine #SoilFauna in the Highlands using traditional and modern #eDNA methods.

Stay tuned!
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.18172.50561

#SoilBiodiversity #MountainSoils #MountainsSoilBiodiversity #Scotland #AlpineSoils #SoilMacroFauna #SoilMesoFauna

The #GreenLitter and senescent litter (Cinnamomum camphora) generated by #TropicalCyclones exhibit distinctly different distribution patterns on the lawn and soil microhabitats.

#UrbanForest | #EnvironmentalHeterogeneity | #LitterDecomposition | #SoilFauna

https://doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtaf151

Some exciting life news... I am now a lecturer in Entomology and Ecology at Lincoln University in New Zealand!

We took the Entomology students on a fieldtrip over the weekend, and saw some of my favourite invertebrates: Velvet worms (Ooperipatellus) and giant springtails (Holacanthella)! Always a joy to see these incredible creatures.

#Entomology #SoilBiodiversity #SoilFauna #Ento #Macrophotography #TheWorldBeneathOurFeet