Sara Mendes

🔥New paper out in Science!!🔥 @ScienceMagazine We found that a third of the seed dispersers and interactions face potential extinction, in Europe 🌿🌳🐦‍⬛🦆🌍 This was an incredibly challenging (and rewarding!) chapter of my PhD thesis! #seeddispersal science.org/doi/abs/10.112…

It’s a privilege to work in a place like Parque Nacional de Tamadaba, in Gran Canaria! 🇮🇨Surrounded by beautiful pine forests 🌲🌲, rich biodiversity with endemic species 🐦🌿, and , on clear days, a stunning view of Tenerife’s Teide volcano 🌋

Happy to share that I’ve won the UC-Life Sciences Award 2025 for best scientific article of 2024 in Biology!🧪👩🏻‍💻🪻🌿🐦‍⬛🦊 This national award recognizes top papers published by master’s or PhD students in Portugal. Huge thanks to my amazing co-authors! 🙌

The beautiful Semele gayae, endemic to Gran Canaria island 🥰🏝️🌿

Office view of the week in Gran Canaria island 🥾🎒🏝️🌎

I'm happy to share that I've started a new position as a Postdoctoral Researcher at CSIC 🇪🇸! Excited to dive into some cool science on seed dispersal 🌴🐦‍⬛ and island colonisation 🏝️ and work with great people. Looking forward to the journey ahead! 🤗

Back from the 3rd CONNECT meeting in France last week! 🥐 It was a fruitful meeting with exciting progress on seed dispersal research! 🫐🍓🐦‍⬛🐜🦊

Finally in the field again! After almost three years of mostly desk work, it feels good to be doing field work once more 🎒🥾 this time exploring some of the wildest parts of Gran Canaria in search of rare and endangered plant species. 🌱🌿🌳

I’m a Dr. now! 🥹 I defended my PhD thesis, and what an incredible journey it has been. I feel so lucky to have had the best supervisors, @ruben_heleno and @jensmolesen1, who guided and inspired me throughout. I’m ready for the postdoc adventure! ✨🥰

Once plantas de Tenerife 'conquistan' las alturas de la isla para escapar del cambio climático, ¿podrán seguirlas el resto? eldiario.es/1_b58c37?utm_c… vía @Cahora

It’s International Mountain Day, so here’s my excuse to share some photos of one of my favorite places 🌏 Mount Teide in Tenerife 🏔️🌋 A super cool place to do fieldwork and soak in some incredible views!

Los patrones espaciales de dispersión de semillas por aves en paisajes fragmentados son congruentes con una historia ecológica y evolutiva con hábitats abiertos y semiabiertos creados y mantenidos por megaherbívoros extintos 👩‍🎨: @ClaraUndata @JEcology doi.org/10.1111/1365-2…

2nd CONNECT meeting in France is over! It was a fantastic week of fruitful discussions on seed dispersal 🐦‍⬛🦆🐗🐜🌿🌳

Seed dispersers help plants track #climate #change on mountains 📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/np… by Mendes et al. @sara_mmendes @ruben_heleno #PlantScience

We compiled seed dispersal networks for the five altitudinal vegetation belts of the Tenerife Island (0 - 3718 m asl) 🌋 🐦‍⬛🌿 We found that seed dispersers offer pathways for plants to colonise upper belts! Check it out: doi.org/10.1111/nph.20…

In #EarlyView👀 @oliverpoole_ & @alba_costa_ et al. investigate pollinator responses to urban restoration schemes in Cornwall, finding non-native plants play a key role in enhancing green space for biodiversity and people #OpenAccess⬇️ doi.org/10.1111/icad.1… @CornwallCouncil

[JUST PUBLISHED] In a large collaborative effort to put together 103 hummingbird–plant mutualistic networks across the Americas, we asked how urbanization affects species interactions over large climate gradients. See more at: pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pn…