The hottest Ecology Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Complexity Thoughts: Issue #46

Complexity Thoughts • 259 implied HN points • 28 Oct 24
🔬 Science Ecology
  1. Biodiversity is important for the stability of ecosystems, as different species contribute to their health and resilience. Losing biodiversity can harm not just the species we see, but also the tiny organisms that support them.
  2. Ecosystem synchrony is a concept that helps us understand how different ecosystems respond to changes in their environment. It looks at how similar patterns in ecosystem functions can reveal important information about their health.
  3. Belief dynamics show how people's beliefs change over time, influenced by their social networks. Understanding these dynamics can help tackle issues like misinformation and social conflict.

We're Going Back To The Moon And It's Kind Of Weird That Nobody Is Freaking Out?

Everything Is Amazing • 1303 implied HN points • 21 Jan 26
🔬 Science Ecology
  1. Humans are about to travel farther from Earth than almost anyone alive has in over 50 years as crewed lunar missions restart, and oddly few people seem to be paying attention.
  2. Underwater stone walls off Brittany may be about 7,000 years old, suggesting Mesolithic coastal communities built big, durable structures and inspiring the old myth of a drowned city.
  3. A new mapping project has uncovered tens of thousands of miles of previously unknown or conjectured Roman roads, revealing the empire's transport network was far larger and more complex than historians had thought.

The Pando Edition

Why is this interesting? • 784 implied HN points • 22 Jan 26
🌞 Climate & Environment Ecology
  1. Pando isn’t a forest of separate trees but one giant organism made of many trunks sprouting from a shared underground root system.
  2. It challenges the idea of an individual. What looks like many trees behaves like a single, redundant system—like a server farm or RAID array—where visible parts can be swapped while hidden infrastructure keeps things running.
  3. Even resilient systems have limits; human actions like fire suppression and unchecked deer populations are stressing Pando and could push its redundancy past a breaking point.

Relax, Microplastics Aren’t Killing You

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 741 implied HN points • 22 Jan 26
🔬 Science Ecology
  1. Microplastics are everywhere and do pose real ecological risks. But alarmist claims that they are immediately causing major human diseases aren’t supported.
  2. A high‑profile study claiming plastic in human brains used a detection method that can’t reliably distinguish plastic from ordinary fats, so its results are likely false.
  3. Experts have criticized and reversed those dramatic claims, showing we need better methods and more careful interpretation before linking microplastics to serious human health effects.

Robin: The Gateway Bird

Street Smart Naturalist: Explorations of the Urban Kind • 399 implied HN points • 15 Aug 24
🎭️ Culture Ecology
  1. Robins are often the first birds people notice, making them a great introduction to birdwatching. They are recognizable and often found in urban areas, but many people overlook them.
  2. Despite being common, robins have interesting behaviors and adaptations. For example, they use their eyesight and hearing to find food, like earthworms, in clever ways.
  3. Connecting with local nature, like watching robins, can help us appreciate our surroundings and understand the ecosystem better. Observing these familiar birds can be surprising and fulfilling.
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The Entropy Debt Theory of Civilization

Anima Mundi • 432 implied HN points • 16 Jan 26
🌞 Climate & Environment Ecology
  1. Many major problems—climate breakdown, institutional decay, and worsening mental health—are connected as interest payments on an "entropy debt" because civilizations maintain order by exporting disorder across space and time.
  2. Modern civilization has exhausted the places and times to which it can export entropy—fossil fuels, colonial extraction, and psychological repression were ways to borrow order, and now the system is approaching saturation.
  3. The real solution is a civilizational shift from borrowing order to living on "entropy income" by relying on solar-driven flows and redesigning institutions and values. Efficiency or a simple energy switch won’t by itself erase the underlying debt.

Are bees booming or dying off?

Sustainability by numbers • 439 implied HN points • 20 Jan 26
🌞 Climate & Environment Ecology
  1. Farmed honeybee colonies and global honey production have generally increased, so managed honeybees (kept as livestock) are doing relatively well in many places.
  2. Many wild bee species are declining: their ranges and recorded species richness have fallen and some face higher extinction risk.
  3. More managed honeybees can harm wild bees by competing for resources and spreading pathogens, so rising hive numbers do not mean all bee species are thriving.

Mount St. Helens - An Awful Place

Street Smart Naturalist: Explorations of the Urban Kind • 499 implied HN points • 01 Aug 24
🔬 Science Ecology
  1. Mount St. Helens had a huge eruption in 1980, which produced a lot of dramatic scientific observations and remarkable descriptions. Scientists used strong words to convey the massive impact of the event.
  2. The landscape at Mount St. Helens has undergone significant changes since the eruption, showing how nature can recover and adapt after destruction. Visitors can see new growth, diverse plants, and wildlife returning to the area.
  3. The experience of visiting Mount St. Helens is filled with awe and inspiration. It's a reminder of nature's power and resilience, making it a special place for reflection and appreciation.

Pikas Hit the Trail

Street Smart Naturalist: Explorations of the Urban Kind • 399 implied HN points • 08 Aug 24
🔬 Science Ecology
  1. Pikas are cute animals that have traveled a long way from Asia to North America over millions of years. They didn't just hop across in one go; it took many generations to spread out.
  2. Pikas have a unique relationship with their parasites, which helps scientists understand their history better. These tiny creatures help tell the story of the pikas and how they adapted over time.
  3. Climate change is a big threat to pikas today. As their homes warm up, they may struggle to find suitable places to live, especially since they can't go any higher into the mountains.

Quit your job, start a farm, write a book

As If We Were Staying • 15 implied HN points • 13 Mar 26
🌞 Climate & Environment Ecology
  1. A personal journey from biotech and capitalist life to regenerative farming shows that confronting climate reality often means remaking your life and work to fit a future that can last.
  2. Seeing capitalism like a tumor highlights how systems shape people’s habits and protections, so real change means healing both the structures and the people adapted to them.
  3. The answer lies in relational thinking and local care — reconnecting with land and community through restorative practices creates hopeful, durable ways of living.

Cooperation is the scaffolding principle of life

Optimally Irrational • 56 implied HN points • 18 Feb 26
🔬 Science Ecology
  1. Cooperation is the scaffolding of life: from genes inside cells to multicellular organisms, species partnerships, and animal societies, working together is what made complexity and survival possible.
  2. Cooperation is not unconditional — it evolved because it benefits participants and must be sustained by checks like punishment, partner choice, reputation, and quality control to prevent cheating.
  3. Humans scaled cooperation to huge groups by evolving social cognition and building institutions, so solving social problems means designing rules and organizations that harness collective gains while limiting conflicts of interest.

The mourning of the elephants

Wrong Side of History • 588 implied HN points • 16 Nov 25
🔬 Science Ecology
  1. Elephants show deep emotions when they mourn. They have rituals for honoring their dead, like touching the body and covering it with dirt.
  2. Octopuses and cuttlefish are surprisingly smart for invertebrates. Octopuses can solve problems and cuttlefish can count.
  3. Dogs really seem to love their owners more than food. They respond more to praise from people they care about than to treats.

Camouflage for nests, "nests" for language survival, & tumour hijacking strategies

The Strategy Toolkit • 17 implied HN points • 23 Feb 26
🔬 Science Ecology
  1. Elaborately draped nest decorations like hanging streamers dramatically lower predation by creating a false shape that confuses visually hunting predators.
  2. This disruptive camouflage works mainly against birds and other visual predators but won’t stop mammals or reptiles that rely on smell, and placing nests over water helps reduce scent-based detection.
  3. Building tails on nests seems to be an evolved adaptation to visual exposure, using conspicuous decorations not to hide but to mislead predators and protect the nest.

Death Comes to the Beach

Street Smart Naturalist: Explorations of the Urban Kind • 359 implied HN points • 13 Jun 24
🔬 Science Ecology
  1. A small bird was saved from a drainage pipe, showcasing the joy of saving wildlife. It’s a reminder that nature can surprise us and that we can make a difference.
  2. Opalescent squid lay their eggs in clusters that wash ashore, but most will die out of water. This highlights the fragility of marine life and how conditions affect their survival.
  3. Pelagic gooseneck barnacles live on floats in the ocean but end up on shore after they die. Their life cycle shows the interesting connections between different marine creatures and their environments.

Soul Initiation: Finding your Unique Niche

What's Important? • 27 implied HN points • 27 Feb 26
⛪ Faith & Spirituality Ecology
  1. Mature human development includes a Soul Initiation, a passage out of cultural adolescence to discover the unique ecological niche or gift you are meant to offer the living world.
  2. The Journey of Soul Initiation often requires a difficult ‘Descent to Soul’ and a pivotal Soul Encounter accessed through nature-based, mythopoetic practices like vision fasts and dreamwork that let the world mirror symbolic guidance to you.
  3. The process is risky but necessary — it can lead to deep fulfillment, extended transition, or failure — so people need to be held by supportive communities and practical delivery systems (jobs, networks, digital cocoons) to embody and share their soul-purpose.

High Water and Lake Washington

Street Smart Naturalist: Explorations of the Urban Kind • 279 implied HN points • 27 Jun 24
🌞 Climate & Environment Ecology
  1. Lake Washington's water level is controlled artificially now, which is different from how it used to fluctuate naturally by as much as nine feet each year. This change was mainly due to the building of the Lake Washington Ship Canal in 1916.
  2. The current management of the lake helps local properties but is not good for the environment. Plants that normally thrive with seasonal changes are struggling because they can't grow properly in the constant water level.
  3. Union Bay has seen a lot of restoration work from being a dump to a vibrant natural space. It shows that even after mistakes, communities can come together to create a healthier ecosystem.

Flight Of The Ultimate Navigator

Everything Is Amazing • 1194 implied HN points • 24 Jul 25
🔬 Science Ecology
  1. Arctic terns are amazing birds that fly incredible distances. In a year, they can cover around 59,650 miles, which is like going to the Moon and back several times.
  2. These birds have a natural instinct for navigation. They rely on the sun, stars, and Earth's magnetic field to find their way, even without any training.
  3. To prepare for their long migrations, Arctic terns and other migratory birds change their bodies to store fat and energy needed for the journey. They can drop weight as they travel to fuel their flights.

Engineering Liveness

Breaking Smart • 50 implied HN points • 01 Feb 26
🕹 Technology Ecology
  1. A 'useless machine' models a kind of liveness: things that exist to control their own state and resist being captured or made to serve external purposes.
  2. New Nature will look like a technological tangled bank — messy, competitive, and often secretly violent — so rewilding civilization means accepting risk, death, and illegible forms of competitiveness instead of sanitised spectacle.
  3. Liveness means reserving resources for self‑continuation and choosing to exist without proving usefulness; it’s about playing the infinite game and resisting being absorbed into finite goals.

Do You Split Your Toilet Paper With Strangers?

Anima Mundi • 164 implied HN points • 12 Dec 25
🌞 Climate & Environment Ecology
  1. The world is going through not just a crisis, but a transition. We need to focus on how we can build better relationships with each other and the environment.
  2. We can learn from successful small-scale practices that prioritize care and regeneration. These practices show that working together and sharing resources can help us thrive.
  3. It's important to pay attention to what care looks like in our lives. Simple acts of kindness can create stronger communities and help us notice the connections we often overlook.

The Possibility of Pikas

Street Smart Naturalist: Explorations of the Urban Kind • 419 implied HN points • 02 May 24
🔬 Science Ecology
  1. Pikas are small mammals that usually live in rocky areas at high elevations, but some have been found at lower elevations, like the Columbia River Gorge. These unique habitats help them survive despite the warmer climate.
  2. Researchers found that moss plays an important role for pikas at lower elevations by keeping them cooler and happier. Moss helps create a nice environment for these little creatures as temperatures can often be too hot for them.
  3. Pikas are adapting to their new lower habitats by spending less energy storing food for winter and more time in the shade of trees. This shows they might have the ability to adjust to climate change better than some other animals.

How can we rewild the Earth at scale?

The Novelleist • 912 implied HN points • 30 Jun 25
🌞 Climate & Environment Ecology
  1. Rewilding means restoring nature and biodiversity on a large scale. This can start at home, focusing on planting native species and fostering local wildlife.
  2. Humans can play a positive role in nature, rather than being a destructive force. By forming strong relationships with ecosystems and local communities, we can support a healthier planet.
  3. It's important to protect and empower Indigenous communities who have historically cared for the land. Their knowledge and connections can help in rewilding efforts, making conservation more effective.

Forest Feed: How Trees Like, Share, & Communicate Through Mycelial Networks 🌲🍄

Tripsitter • 179 implied HN points • 26 Jun 24
🔬 Science Ecology
  1. Forests operate as interconnected organisms, with trees communicating and sharing resources through underground mycelial networks.
  2. The symbiotic relationship between trees and fungi, known as mycorrhizae, plays a vital role in enhancing the forest ecosystem.
  3. Trees use the mycelial network to warn each other of dangers, nourish weaker trees, and even collectively defend against threats like pests.

Wolverine: The Creature Most Voracious

Street Smart Naturalist: Explorations of the Urban Kind • 239 implied HN points • 06 Jun 24
🔬 Science Ecology
  1. Wolverines are known for their huge appetites and can eat a lot of food at once. They are so gluttonous that they can overeat and need to find narrow spaces to relieve themselves.
  2. These animals have a varied diet and are both hunters and scavengers, eating everything from birds to rodents. They do face tough winter conditions without hibernating, relying on their hunting skills.
  3. People often view wolverines negatively, calling them destructive and cunning. However, they are simply doing what they need to survive in harsh environments and shouldn't be unfairly blamed.

The Whale Fall Edition

Why is this interesting? • 1870 implied HN points • 11 Feb 25
🔬 Science Ecology
  1. When a whale dies and sinks to the ocean floor, it becomes a feast for many sea creatures. This event leads to a chaotic but vital ecosystem around the whale carcass.
  2. After larger scavengers eat their fill, bacteria step in to break down the whale's body, turning it into nutrients for other life forms. This process creates a thriving community in a place that usually has little life.
  3. The cycle of life and death in the ocean shows that nothing goes to waste. Even in death, a whale can support new life for decades, reminding us that everything in nature is interconnected.

If it destroys life, it is progress?

storyvoyager • 4 implied HN points • 08 Mar 26
🌞 Climate & Environment Ecology
  1. Progress that destroys ecosystems and species is not real progress; true progress must protect life on Earth.
  2. Economic systems have turned nature and basic needs into commodities, concentrating wealth for a few while wrecking environments and livelihoods.
  3. Technological automation and today's economy make humans increasingly replaceable and consumable, leaving younger generations disillusioned about their value.

Sounding the Climate Change Alarm: Lessons from Carl Sagan

The Climate Historian • 19 implied HN points • 29 Aug 24
🌞 Climate & Environment Ecology
  1. Carl Sagan connected the extreme climate of Venus to warnings about Earth's future. He showed us that understanding other planets can help us prevent our world from facing similar climate issues.
  2. Sagan proposed four key actions to tackle climate change: using fossil fuels more efficiently, developing alternative energy, reforestation, and helping the world's poorest. These ideas are still very important today.
  3. Despite Sagan's warnings and advancements in some areas, we are facing more climate challenges now. It's crucial that we change our thinking and take long-term actions for the planet's future.

No, Kerosene did NOT save the Sperm Whale

Material World • 1323 implied HN points • 30 Dec 24
🌞 Climate & Environment Ecology
  1. Sperm whales have unique features, like the biggest heads and brains among large animals. They are incredible divers and eat mysterious creatures from the ocean's depths.
  2. Whale oil was popular because it made great lantern fuel and was used in various industries. Even after kerosene was discovered, the hunting of sperm whales actually increased due to new uses for their oil.
  3. Whale populations only recovered significantly after international bans on whaling and the development of synthetic substitutes for whale oil. It shows that technology and regulations are important for conservation.

Dungeness Spit

Street Smart Naturalist: Explorations of the Urban Kind • 299 implied HN points • 07 Mar 24
🌞 Climate & Environment Ecology
  1. Dungeness Spit is a five-mile-long sandy spit named by Captain George Vancouver in 1792, originally known as Tsi-tsa-kwick by the S’Klallam people. It's interesting how names can connect us to history and culture.
  2. This spit is about 5,000 years old and was formed as glaciers melted, causing the land to rise and create new sediment. Nature shows us how changes over time can create beautiful landscapes.
  3. Dungeness Spit is always changing, with natural forces moving materials like rocks and logs. It's a reminder of how dynamic and alive our natural world is, constantly evolving and adapting.

📉 Well, they ran the numbers on degrowth — and it's not good

Faster, Please! • 1279 implied HN points • 15 Nov 24
🌞 Climate & Environment Ecology
  1. Degrowth means living better with less stuff, focusing more on well-being than just economic growth. It suggests we should intentionally reduce production and consumption to fit within our planet's limits.
  2. However, following the degrowth idea doesn't guarantee a perfect, eco-friendly world. It might not look like a dreamy utopia where nature and humanity perfectly blend together.
  3. Research shows that reducing consumption to meet basic needs is challenging and requires significant changes in how we live. Simply downsizing isn't easy and can have complex implications.

Cable Bacteria are Living Batteries

Asimov Press • 335 implied HN points • 23 Jul 25
🔬 Science Ecology
  1. Cable bacteria are unique microbes that act like living batteries by transferring electrons over long distances in mud. They help oxidize sulfide deep in sediment and transport energy to places where it can access oxygen.
  2. The discovery of cable bacteria challenges traditional views in biology, showing that organisms can work together like circuits and coordinate their energy processes over large spaces, which was not thought possible before.
  3. These bacteria have potential environmental benefits, like reducing methane emissions in rice paddies, but growing them for practical use is difficult, as they can't be cultured alone or genetically modified yet.

Technology should reintegrate humans into planetary life

storyvoyager • 8 implied HN points • 16 Feb 26
🕹 Technology Ecology
  1. Trying to dominate or 'master' nature comes from fear and isolates us, so we should stop treating the living world as an enemy and accept we won't fully control it.
  2. Technology should reintegrate humans into planetary life by immersing us in ecosystems rather than pulling us into abstract, life-simulating worlds.
  3. Design tech to enhance our senses and empathy—like listening to trees, feeling animal heartbeats, or sensing earthquakes—so we can connect with nature without violence or exploitation.

The Anthropocene: What's In A Name?

Surfing the Future • 139 implied HN points • 16 Apr 24
🌞 Climate & Environment Ecology
  1. Naming periods of significant change is crucial for understanding history and its impact on the present and future.
  2. The concept of Anthropocene, denoting the era where human activities have significant geological impacts, sparks debates among scientists about its start date and implications.
  3. Embracing new paradigms like sustainability and circularity is essential for addressing climate and biodiversity emergencies, even if the recognition like the Anthropocene remains a point of contention.

Rainshadows and other Ephemeralities

Street Smart Naturalist: Explorations of the Urban Kind • 499 implied HN points • 12 Oct 23
🌞 Climate & Environment Ecology
  1. Rainshadows, or ghost leaves, show us signs of plant life, reminding us of the interactions in nature. They are a fascinating way to notice how the environment communicates with us.
  2. Flight maps are shadows left by birds flying above, which can help us spot them better. They add excitement to our walks as we try to find the birds that made those marks.
  3. Crows exhibit interesting behaviors like mobbing to protect themselves from predators. Observing such actions gives us insight into how animals interact and learn from each other.

The Monarch's Shield

coldhealing • 294 implied HN points • 11 Jan 24
🔬 Science Ecology
  1. Monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico to survive winter.
  2. Raising monarch caterpillars in captivity can hinder their ability to reach Mexico.
  3. Watching a caterpillar grow into a butterfly can be a fun and educational experience.

As Wild as It Gets

Passing Time • 200 implied HN points • 13 Aug 25
🌞 Climate & Environment Ecology
  1. Wilderness is something that can diminish but not expand. Once it's used or developed, there's no way to create new areas of true wilderness like before.
  2. The idea that the world moves from wild to civilized makes us rethink our understanding of nature and urban spaces. Sometimes, even developed places can be more natural than they were before.
  3. Aldo Leopold's views highlight the importance of preserving nature. We need to value untouched places even while recognizing that development is always happening around us.