Today: Pengcheng Liu, a postdoc in the lab of Lidong Mo (who we can't wait to introduce next!). 🤝 With this series, we want to say a massive THANK YOU to all our worldwide partners who make international research and the #BIOMEproject possible, fun, and full of friendship. 🌍

Ever wonder how rainforest leaves handle excess water 🌧️🍃? In the #BIOMEproject, we measure leaf traits to see how plants adapt to their biome's climate. Watch @haozhima.bsky.social explain the function of drip tips with a demo from the subtropical rainforests near Guangzhou! 👇 #Macroecology

From the forest floor to the canopy 🍃 Here’s how the #BIOMEproject captures leaf traits! 👇 Watch @nezimmermann.bsky.social explain our digital data collection across all forest layers. Lab processing unlocks key traits to characterize these biomes. #Macroecology #Forests #China #PlantTraits #WSL

To define biomes globally, we measure diverse parameters. Over the next days, we show you what we capture in the field! First up: PhD student @yang-gengchen.bsky.social shows how we measure light in forests using hemispherical photos in China. 👇 #BIOMEproject #GlobalChange #PlantTraits #Fieldwork

Same climate, different species – identical traits? 🌿 Join us in China's laurel forests. Although the species differ completely from Ecuador, the similar climate shapes nearly identical plant structures and traits. Watch the video for a direct look at our fieldwork! 👇

From Shanghai straight into the deep green: We arrived in China! Global BIOME-project: We collect functional plant traits & 3D structural data to infer a standardized, data-driven definition of global biomes & to test a new biome biogeography theory. Follow us for updates from the laurel forest!

The BIOME team is on its way to Sardinia! 🚢🌳 Following campaigns in Switzerland & Ecuador, our PhD students are kicking off a new field season studying Mediterranean holm oak forests together with Alberto Tarroni. Proud to partner with FoReSTAS & colleagues from the University of Padua. 👇

Damiano Righetti from our DME lab just presented his cool research at #TIBS2026 on trophic species distribution modelling of tuna and its pray.

@wennading.bsky.social from the DME lab presented her great work at #TIBS2026 on the origin of mountain floras in response to biotic assembly, orogeny and climate change. If you are interested, her is the latest paper on the topic: www.science.org/doi/full/10....

Our DME member @dirknkarger.bsky.social gave a great talk on adapting land use to climate change and how this can mitigate global biodiversity decline.

Interesting talk by @nezimmermann.bsky.social from our DME lab today at #TIBS2026 on a new conceptual framework on #BiomeBiogeography. This concept is at the core of our #biome project, in which several lab members are involved.

🗾The poster sessions at #TIBS2026 are a great opportunity to exchange results and ideas, and to meet new people. We enjoy the interaction and atmosphere. And we will leave with a rich set of new ideas and connections.🚀 #Biogeography #Macroecology #Biodiversity #CHELSA @wslresearch.bsky.social

Elena Plekhanova from @wsl-dme.bsky.social just gave a very interesting talk on how to use #AI in combination with #RemoteSensing to map global #biomes. #Macroecology #Biodiversity #Mapping @wslresearch.bsky.social

Great talk by @vboussange.bsky.social from @wsl-dme.bsky.social on "Multiscale species richness modelling". Victor developed a cool method to map species richness in a way that allows spatial scaling and to retrieve scale-relevant information.

The @wsl-dme.bsky.social lab members arrived at #TIBS2026 in Aarhus. We are excited to enjoy great talks, posters, workshops, discussions with colleagues and friends, and we look forward to contribute as well, with 7 oral and 5 poster contributions. #Biogeography #Macroecology #Biodiversity

🌿 While conducting #biome research in the #Maquipucuna Reserve in #Ecuador, our lodge unexpectedly became a perfect vantage point for observing mesmerizing #hummingbirds. ✨🐦

Exploring the tropical cloud forests of #Guacamayos. 🔎 Foggy, rain-soaked and mild temperatures: #cloudforests are some of the most species- and endemism-rich biomes on Earth. Despite covering only 0.4% of global land, they host 3,700 #species of birds, mammals, amphibians and tree ferns. 🌧️🌳🌿

🚁🌳 We are collecting #biome data in #Ecuador using three types of #drones: 1️⃣ #LiDAR – to analyze vertical biomass distribution 2️⃣ Multispectral – to assess canopy leaf area 3️⃣ Photo – to capture leaf imagery

🌳 Towering trees (often >50 m), massive buttress roots and woody lianas are typical plant traits of tropical rainforests. 🌧

🌿Fieldwork in the #Yasuni National Park, #Ecuador.🦜 Our researchers are studying the structural and functional properties of #rainforests to better understand and define #biomes.🌳🔎

A breathtaking sunrise with a view of the #Antisana volcano on the road from Quito to Yasuní National Park.☀️🌋

The BIOME team explored the high-altitude city of #Quito (2,850 m) before heading deep into the Amazon rainforest for fieldwork. 🌳🌿

🌎 Our BIOME project team has just begun a 3.5-week research expedition in Ecuador! 🇪🇨 They’ll be conducting fieldwork across diverse landscapes to study how biomes have evolved and how to define them. 🔎🌿🏔️ Stay tuned for field updates! ✨ 👉BIOME project: shorturl.at/RLQPw

Fieldwork magic 🍄✨ We encountered an incredible diversity of #mushrooms in the forest last week. Each species part of the living network that keeps ecosystems dynamic and resilient. 🌎

📱🌱 Plant identification apps are booming – but which one is the best? And how reliable are the results? 🤔 Our researchers collected over 5,000 photos of 560 Swiss plant species from 85 habitat types and tested the most popular apps.🔎 Here are the findings: shorturl.at/lD0Cl

@clechartre.bsky.social reimplemented #BIOME4 into a modular, high-performance #Julia version, enabling 1 km vegetation modeling 🌱 and integration of #CHELSA climate datasets. 🌦️ We can now simulate biome patterns across complex terrains ⛰️ and define biome boundaries with greater accuracy. 🎯

🌿 What makes plants in tropical ecosystems so unique & remarkably adapted to their environment? 🌸✨ We explored this question during a visit to the Botanical Garden in Zurich, guided by our group member dirknkarger.bsky.social‬ — a fantastic opportunity to observe tropical plant traits up close. 🔎🌱

🐝 Happy World Bee Day! 🌍 Bees play a vital role in maintaining biodiversity and are crucial to healthy ecosystems.🌸🌱 We are exploring a novel approach to insect biodiversity monitoring: using radar technology to track insect movement across lowland landscapes in Switzerland.📡 👉 shorturl.at/QuQa1

🔎 Martina Scacco’s research explores how the landscape and atmosphere influence the transport cost of flying animals.🌬️⛰️ Her findings show that species across the entire range of body masses can indeed benefit from atmospheric energy to reduce movement cost. 🐝🐦🦅

What an amazing week at #EGU25 in Vienna! 🌍✨ We had a fantastic time connecting with fellow scientists from diverse fields, sharing our research and diving into inspiring discussions.💡 Grateful for the experience and already looking forward to next year! ❤️🚀