By University of Manitoba 12/12/2019 MANITOBA, Canada – University of Manitoba researchers made a recent discovery that suggests Purple Martins, unlike other long-distance migratory songbirds, show promise of being able to adapt to climate change. The Purple Martin’s (Progne subis) breeding range spans from Florida to northern Alberta, and the smartphone-sized songbird passes our winter months on small islands in…
By Washington State University 12/4/2019 PULLMAN, Wash. – Resembling an overgrown house cat with black-tipped ears and a stubby tail, the Canada lynx, a native of North America, teeters on the brink of extinction in the U.S. The few lynx that now roam parts of Washington and the mountainous Northwest survive largely because of a network of protected landscapes that crosses…
By KU Leuven 11/20/2019 Researchers from KU Leuven have discovered that the presence of yeasts can alter the chemical composition and thus the nutritional value of nectar for pollinators such as bees. The study discovered that yeasts can even boost bee health and colony fitness. “Research into the role of microbes in our ecosystem is of vital importance to safeguard bees.”…
By Colorado State University 11/15/2019 Dennis Ojima is the latest member of the Colorado State University faculty to be selected by members of the Ecological Society of America to serve as president-elect. His term begins in 2020. “For more than 30 thirty years, Dennis Ojima has been at the forefront of the field of ecology and has had an immeasurable impact…
By Cornell University 11/20/2019 ITHACA, N.Y. -Metal copper from agricultural runoff and marine paint leaching from boat hulls poses an emerging threat to soft coral sea fans in the waters around Puerto Rico. In a Cornell-led study, published in the journal Ecological Applications, scientists report evidence of metal pollution creating danger for the soft coral sea fans. “We know warming oceans…
By Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences 10/29/2019 Although common, indirect interactions between taxonomically distant herbivores, such as mammals and insects, are less studied than interaction between taxonomically related species (insect–insect). In this study the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the Max Planck Institute for chemical ecology in Germany show that sawfly performance was enhanced on trees browsed by moose….
By Idaho State University 11/5/2019 POCATELLO – Most people don’t think of weather as having a biological component and aren’t aware of the role airborne bacteria and fungi have in helping create rain and snow. But Ken Aho, Idaho State University associate professor of biological sciences, studies this phenomenon. “Weather is not as simple as we think – it is…
By University of Exeter 11/4/2019 Satellites now play a key role in monitoring carbon levels in the oceans, but we are only just beginning to understand their full potential. Our ability to predict future climate relies upon being able to monitor where our carbon emissions go. So we need to know how much stays in the atmosphere, or becomes stored in the oceans or…
By UC Davis 11/1/2019 Social networking, even between competing species, plays a much bigger role in ecology than anyone previously thought, according to three biologists at the University of California, Davis. “There’s mounting evidence that different species pay attention to each other in the wild, especially if they share predators,” said Mike Gil, postdoctoral researcher at UC Davis. “The theory…
By University of Maine 10/24/2019 Two new studies published by University of Maine scientists are putting a long-standing survey of the American lobster’s earliest life stages to its most rigorous test yet as an early warning system for trends in New England’s iconic fishery. The studies point to the role of a warming ocean and local differences in oceanography in…
By James Cook University 10/25/2019 A long-term study of coral cover on island groups of the Great Barrier Reef has found declines of between 40 and 50 percent of live, hard corals at inshore island groups during the past few decades. Scientists from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University (Coral CoE at JCU)…
By Kasey Rahn, University of Montana 10/22/2019 MISSOULA – Research led by a University of Montana undergraduate student to identify less error-prone methods for performing wildlife surveys was published Oct. 20 in Ecological Applications. Biologists around the world use a variety of boots-on-the-ground field methods to survey animal populations. When extrapolated, these data provide population counts and other scientific information used to…
By Point Blue Conservation Science 10/7/2019 Petaluma, CA–New research from Point Blue Conservation Science shows the significant negative impact that invasive, non-native house mice on the Farallon Islands are having to the threatened ashy storm-petrel. Original modeling by ecologists published today in the journal Ecosphere shows the potential impacts to the petrel’s population if mice are allowed to remain. The…
By Mississippi State University 10/2/2019 STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State University researchers are shifting commonly held ideas about the diet of grey wolves in a newly published article gaining national attention. Published in the scientific journal “Ecology,” MSU assistant professor Brandon Barton’s Sept. 18 article “Grasshopper consumption by grey wolves and implications for ecosystems” details the unexpected effects of wolf reintroduction into the…
By CU Boulder 10/2/2019 BOULDER, CO – A lack of tree seedling establishment following recent wildfires represents a crucial bottleneck limiting coniferous forest recovery in the western U.S., new CU Boulder-led research finds. The study, which was recently published in the journal Ecological Applications, examined burn-affected ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir stands in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico to better understand variation in…
By University of New Hampshire 10/3/2019 DURHAM, N.H.—As the popular saying goes, “winter is coming,” but is it? Researchers at the University of New Hampshire have found clear signs of a decline in frost days, snow covered days and other indicators of winter that could have lasting impacts on ecosystems, water supplies, the economy, tourism and human health. “Winter conditions…
By the National Science Foundation 10/9/2019 Forests in the eastern United States that are structurally complex — the arrangement of vegetation is varied throughout the physical space — sequester more carbon, according to a new study in Ecology, a journal of the Ecological Society of America. The study, by researchers at the University of Connecticut, Virginia Commonwealth University and Purdue University, demonstrates for the…
By Florida International University 10/7/2019 Addressing policy “blind spots” that allow energy production and mineral exploration to trump environmental protection could help improve the outlook for conservation in the Amazon Basin, according to a new study. The production of new dams and the search for oil and natural gas, while often beneficial for people, can harm the environment. Dams block…
By University of Alberta 9/18/2019 A new technique developed by University of Alberta biologists can determine whether certain fish populations are native to lakes in national parks. The technique takes a molecular approach, using environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis of lake sediment to provide important historical information necessary for determining the conservation status of many lakes in Western Canada. “When you…
By CU Denver 9/13/2019 Ecologists have long tried to understand and anticipate the compositional change of plant species, especially now, as climate and land usage disrupts the way in which plants colonize and expand their communities. Called plant succession, the study of predicting plant communities through time is one of ecology’s oldest pursuits. In 2016, Brian Buma, PhD, assistant professor of…