It’s me, your local nature columnist, writing about New York City’s only native cactus: the eastern prickly pear! hellgatenyc.com/new-york-natur…

We present new empirical evidence that the fundamental assumption of tree size-to-mass scale-invariance is not well-justified for this kind of forest. This leads to substantial biases in current biomass estimates of broadleaf forests. [4/10]

🏄NEW PAPER🏄‍♀️ I am happy to share our latest just out in Ecosphere titled "The ecological role of native-plant landscaping in residential yards to birds during the nonbreeding period". esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.10… A short🧵below detailing the highlights (1/9)

IT'S THE POST YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR: UMN GRADUATE WORKERS HAVE A UNION! We won 2487 yes votes to 70 no- that's 97% in favor of a union! The hard work of countless graduate workers pays off!

New yard bumble bee 😍😍😍 Saw this big B. fervidus from like 20 ft away, asked partner her phone (“ahhhhhh good bee can I have ur phone???”), and raced over for a pic. Up to 8 species now—still need Lemon Cuckoo (B. citrinus) but then the pickings will get real slim.

Christmas Bird Count planning! Pulled recent sightings from our circle from eBird and plotted to share with participants ahead of count. Let me know if you want the code or for me to make one for your circle!

went to the marsh to hear small taps in the dark

#AOS24 – did you also see new birds in CO? Time to update your lifer map! Fill out this form and I’ll get you yours: forms.gle/snr3ZcjpxvqBYd… My new map below, now minus White-tailed Ptarmigan and Brown-Capped Rosy Finch :)