Author Archives: Forest Biology Center

How birds learn that specific sounds are cues of a threat, such as predator vocalizations or heterospecific alarm calls? A new study led by Jakub Szymkowiak and published in Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology reveals that birds can learn to recognize novel, previously unfamiliar sounds (samples of punk rock songs) as acoustic risk cues socially, byContinue reading „Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology: Wood Warblers and social learning of fear”

Seeds start forest renewal, allowing forests to regenerate, expand and adapt to changing conditions. But our new study, published in Nature Climate Change, shows that climate change may be weakening tree fecundity in Europe’s trees. We analysed 34 years of Polish forest seed-harvest records, covering 40,530 annual observations from 438 forest districts between 1988 andContinue reading „Nature Climate Change: Forest tree fecundity decline”

How do trees balance the number and quality of seeds during mast years? In our new paper in New Phytologist, led by Kasia Kondrat, we tested this question in European beech using data from 2,792 trees across 123 populations. Contrary to the expectation that producing more seeds should reduce investment per seed, high-seeding years producedContinue reading „New Phytologist: seed size and number in beech”

Sebastian joined our team in January 2026, working on the climate change biology of trees reproduction, which will include climate gradients in fecundity, seed traits, local adaptations, and more. Stay tuned for outcomes!Godspeed Sebastian 🙂

In a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, we show that in temperate European forests, years of seed failure are more strongly synchronized over space than mast years with high seed production. Using 36 years of data from over 400 sites and seven dominant tree species, we demonstrate that regionalContinue reading „PNAS: masting synchrony dominated by seed scarcity”

Reproduction is essential for forests to recover from disturbance and adapt to climate change, yet it is often overlooked in climate impact assessments. Our new study, published in Ecology Letters, shows that climate warming has likely already reduced the natural year-to-year variation in seed production of European beech (‘masting’), with declines of up to ~54% underContinue reading „Ecology letters: No refuge for European beech reproduction at the cold edge”

Our new study, published in Oikos, shows how flexible pollinator communities sustain reproduction in the mast-seeding tree Sorbus aucuparia. Despite large year-to-year swings in flowering intensity, pollination efficiency remained high, driven by dynamic shifts in pollinator composition. Bumblebees dominated during abundant flowering, while solitary bees became proportionally more important when flowers were scarce. These results reveal thatContinue reading „Oikos: masting and insect pollination”

The press release associated with the paper! Global study reveals how weather drives plant reproduction—and how climate change may disrupt it. A major new study published in Nature Communications has uncovered the global patterns linking weather and reproduction in perennial plants. The research, led by Valentin Journé and Michał Bogdziewicz from Adam Mickiewicz University inContinue reading „Nature Communications: global drivers of perennials reproduction”

Over new study, based on 39-year of ecological monitoring in Maine, USA,  analyzed white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) abundance and associated forest and climatic data. We found that mouse abundance increased by ~67 % and average weight by ~15 % during the study period. These trends were driven primarily by rising acorn production — a resultContinue reading „J Anim Ecol: Long-term trends in acorn production translate into more and heavier rodents”

Maria will join our team in October, working on the climate change biology of trees reproduction, which will include altitudinal gradients in fecundity, local adaptations, and more. Stay tuned for outcomes!