Auke-Florian 🪹

@aukeflorian

🌍 Biologist, 🪺 Studying strange animal nests, 📚 Author, 🧠 Doing science communication daily, 🏛️ Loves natural history, 🔥 Documenting the Anthropocene 🌐 www.aukeflorian.nl 📍 Leiden, The Netherlands

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Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· 15d

When the record is so extreme that the average line nearly blends into the x-axis... 🫣🔥

Line chart of cumulative burned area in France by month. In 2026, the total rises sharply to about 90,000 hectares by late July, compared with around 37,000 hectares in 2025 and a 2006–2025 average of roughly 15,000 hectares... so low that the average line nearly blends into the x-axis.

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· 19d

Where would you even begin to put this out? 🫣

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· 22d

Welcome to the Anthropocene 🔥

People “enjoying” the beach during the French forest fires

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· Jun 29

I just hope a brave natural history museum managed to get hold of one of the dead ducks found in the reflective pool. It would be such an iconic specimen to turn into a museum piece that reflects current American politics. 🦆

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· Jun 26

During my lifetime, these butterflies have dropped by half. 🫣

Graph showing a stark decline in butterflies, dropping by half between 1991 and 2023

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· Jun 23

🫣

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· May 29

Daar ging mijn eerste wetenschappelijk publicatie over! Tien jaar geleden voorspelde ik dit al, in 2015! 🐙 repository.naturalis.nl/pub/588033

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· May 7

You have it in your power to make a difference. Don’t give up. There is a future for you. Do your best while you’re still on this beautiful Planet Earth that I look down upon from where I am now. - Jane Goodall

Jane Goodall in Gombe, when she was younger, holding her binoculars

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· May 1

Wat is het verboden woord? 🫣

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· May 1

Bijna knap hoe in deze duiding, in een artikel over de hevige bosbranden, één bepaald woord geheel ontbreekt… 😵‍💫 @nieuws.nos.nl #klimaat

Weerpresentator Peter Kuipers Munneke:
"Het weer is op dit moment erg ongunstig voor het
bestrijden van natuurbranden. Het regent niet, er is veel verdamping door de zon, en het waait flink. De wind wakkert het vuur aan, en leidt tot een snelle verspreiding van een brandhaard. Pas in de loop van zaterdag kan er plaatselijk wat regen vallen.
Deze maand was het uitzonderlijk droog: het is de op een na droogste aprilmaand ooit gemeten. Er viel maar een paar millimeter regen. Door de zon en de wind verdampt er bovendien veel water uit de bodem. Dat het zo vroeg in het jaar al zo droog is, komt minder dan eens in de twintig.jaar voor.
Doordat Nederland sterk opwarmt, neemt het neerslagtekort in het voorjaar en de zomer structureel toe. Veel extreem droge jaren zijn van recente datum, zoals recordjaar 2018, en ook vorig jaar was zeer droog. Als de temperatuur in Nederland in de toekomst nog flink toeneemt, ligt het neerslagtekort jaarlijks 80 procent hoger dan nu.
Dan wordt een recorddroog jaar als 2018 het nieuwe
gemiddelde. Dat vergt grote aanpassingen aan natuur en landbouw in ons land."

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· Apr 10

Found this framed in the office 🫣

Showing the Nature paper 'The growing inaccessibility of science', but shielded by a paywall stating '199 dollar' for a subscription to read it.

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· Apr 7

Let's share something positive! Last week, I was a judge in a seagull-imitation competition (dream job!!), and this was the juvenile winner. Isn't she amazing?! 🤩 "Three, two, one ... 🐦"

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· Mar 3

Museum exhibition: “The number of large predators such as tuna has plummeted by 90%.” Museum restaurant: “Tuna mayo sandwiches!” @nhm-london.bsky.social 🫣

Losing large ocean predators
When this marlin swam in the Indian Ocean in the late 1800s, the world's seas were teeming with life. But, since industrialised fishing began in the 1950s, the number of large predators such as marlin, tuna and sharks has plummeted by 90%.
Scientists at the Natural History Museum are helping to survey huge new protected areas of ocean surrounding British overseas territories.
This work supports the United Nations pledge set out in 2023 to protect a third of the world's oceans from overfishing.

TUNA MAYO & CUCUMBER
BLOOMER
Tuna mayonnaise and cucumber on bloomer bread
£5.75

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· Oct 28

It’s that time of year when this meme becomes relevant again… 🫣

A meme with two panels. The top panel shows trees at night completely wrapped in bright white Christmas lights, making the area glow intensely. The bottom panel shows a man in bed with his eyes half-closed and red, looking pained and exhausted as if unable to sleep. The caption across the bottom image says, “The bird trying to sleep in its nest be like.” The meme humorously suggests how birds might feel if their tree is covered in blinding holiday lights.

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· Oct 5

Don't give up.

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· Oct 1

I will forever remember Jane, her inspiring stories and her powerful message of hope, but also her humour, smile and the fun that we had. With a twinkle in her eyes, she once said to me: ‘The chimps would have the time of their lives grooming you’. Best compliment I ever had. 🐵

Jane Goodall and me, together with our stuffed animals 🐵

Jane impersonating how a chimp would be grooming me 🥰

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· Sep 19

*Coot to meet you!* 🐦 Last day of posters at the Annual Conference of the Cognition & Behavior Evolution Network, find me and my coot there if you like! 🙌

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· Sep 18

Sharing the stage with a co-presenter today 🐦 Delighted to be at the University of Antwerp for the Annual Conference of the Cognition & Behavior Evolution Network, and yes, the coot has its own chair! 🪑

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· Aug 27

All I see is ripple bug robots now haha 😵‍💫

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· Aug 27

A ripple bug robot just went full Van Gogh ✨🎨

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· Aug 15

Can we stop putting happy faces in news stories about temperature records and heat waves?

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· Jun 27

(not pictured) 😂 🦈 @nature.com

A photo of a great white shark and a quote by David Shiffman, ending with the remark ‘not pictured’. Not that it was obvious haha

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· Jun 16

I was today years old when I learned about bird nest fungi!! 🪹🍄 And I’m literally a scientist who studies bird nests... MIND IS BLOWN 🤯

Bird nests fungi, photo: Creative Commons.

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· Jun 11

That sequence of music snippets! 🤯🎶 Very impressive video editing and science storytelling from the YouTube channel 'How do they know', created by Adam Cole and Joss Fong. Thank you for covering my research, and high fives to the editor! 🤩👏

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· May 29

If you enjoyed this thread and want more people to find out about these tiny caddisflies, please consider sharing the first post! 🧵🐛 It's very much appreciated if you made it here and read about my research! Curious to hear your thoughts below! 💭 22/22

Auke-Florian holding a caddisfly larva. Photo: Liselotte Rambonnet

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· May 29

Hi! 👋 I'm Auke-Florian, and I study how animals adapt to the Anthropocene, this new age shaped by pollution, and how that shows up in the things birds or insects build. 🪹 Curious about the weird and wonderful world of animal architecture? Follow along for more! 🙏 21/x

Biologist Auke-Florian Hiemstra, photographed by Alexander Schippers.

Biologist Auke-Florian Hiemstra, standing next to his discovery 'Bird nests made from anti-bird spikes', photographed by Alexander Schippers.

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· May 29

Our work is published #openaccess in the Journal of Limnology, which means that everyone can read it, and I invite everyone curious to do so! 💚 www.jlimnol.it/jlimnol/arti... 🐛 Researchers can also find me and my papers on ResearchGate! www.researchgate.net/profile/Auke-Florian-Hiemstra ✨

The title page of our recent publication: 'A curious case: caddisfly cases built from brick and sewage overflow microplastics'

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· May 29

Urgent action is needed to minimise sewage overflows. ⚠️ They release high loads of microplastics, which are picked up by caddisflies, allowing plastics to enter and spread through the food chain. Overflow events are already common and expected to increase with climate change. 😵‍💫 🔥 19/x

Raw sewage mixing with clean water. What a contrast, this nasty brown water mixing with this beautiful green/blue water. Photo: Getty

After rain, the sewer system is draining wastewater into canals and streams. Photo: stock.adobe

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· May 29

From diamond to debris? I first heard about caddisflies thanks to the amazing artist Hubert Duprat. 🐛 He famously allowed them to build casings with e.g. gold and diamonds in the 1980s. 💎 These legendary creatures deserve more than the filth we flush their way. They deserve clean water!! 18/x

Trichoptera larva building its case (view from the workshop), 1980-2000, gold, pearls, turquoise, length 2.5 cm.

© Hubert Duprat, adagp, 2024
Courtesy the Artist and Art : Concept, Paris
Photo F. Delpech

Trichoptera larva building its case (exhibition view), 1980-2000, gold, pearls, length 2.5 cm.

© Hubert Duprat, adagp, 2024
Courtesy the Artist and Art : Concept, Paris
Photo F. Delpech

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian· May 29

Brick is lighter than natural stone, and plastic is even lighter. But weight matters for caddisfly larvae to avoid being swept away by currents, so some add side extensions as ballast stones. Using a light brick particle as ballast might be an evolutionary trap... 🐛🪨 17/x