By University of New Hampshire 2/18/2020 DURHAM, N.H.—Small mammals such as mice and chipmunks who are not picky eaters play a more important role than previously known in dispersing the spores of wild mushrooms and truffles, according to new research from the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of New Hampshire. Mushrooms and truffles colonize the roots of…
By CU Boulder 2/13/2020 Two words, and a tiny little creature, strike fear in the hearts of many Colorado outdoor enthusiasts: bark beetle. But new research from CU Boulder reveals that even simultaneous bark beetle outbreaks are not a death sentence to the state’s beloved forests. The study, published this month in the journal Ecology, found that high-elevation forests in the southern…
By University of Washington 2/12/2020 Polar bears are spending more time on land than they did in the 1990s due to reduced sea ice, new University of Washington-led research shows. Bears in Baffin Bay are getting thinner and adult females are having fewer cubs than when sea ice was more available. The new study, recently published in Ecological Applications, includes satellite tracking…
By UC Santa Barbara 2/12/2020 In 2014, a disease of epidemic proportions gripped the West Coast of the U.S. You may not have noticed, though, unless you were underwater. Fueled by abnormally hot ocean temperatures, sea star wasting disease ravaged these echinoderms from Alaska to Mexico. The condition, still not fully understood, wiped out a significant marine predator, the sunflower star….
By National Science Foundation 2/6/2020 The chemical signature left behind by hurricanes, fires, cold snaps and droughts can linger in the slow-moving water of the Florida Everglades for up to a decade, researchers report. No one expected evidence of these disturbances to be detectable in the water for so long and to spread across different areas of the Everglades, the…
By Florida International University 2/3/2020 The chemical signature left behind by hurricanes, fires, cold snaps and droughts can linger in the slow-moving water of the Florida Everglades for up to a decade. No one expected evidence of these disturbances to be detectable in the water for so long and spread across different areas of the Everglades. Increased levels of phosphorus, nitrogen,…
By National Science Foundation 1/29/2020 Through research in the blast zone of Mount St. Helens, Evergreen State College scientists have discovered that plants are influencing the ecosystem’s recovery. A new paper reporting the results, “Plant sex influences terrestrial-aquatic interactions,” was published in the journal Ecosphere by Carri LeRoy and her collaborators at the U.S. Forest Service and the Science Museum of Minnesota. The research,…
By The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences 1/23/2020 While some trends suggest that insect abundances generally decrease, there is also a fear that problems with pest insects will increase in the future. The logic is simple – insects are ectothermic and should thereby be favored by ongoing climate warming. It is however not that easy to predict future damage of pest…
By The U.S. Geological Survey 1/23/2020 (Carlisle, Pa.) – Researchers from Dickinson College and the U.S. Geological Survey collaborated on field research to understand the ability of human searchers to detect the invasive brown treesnake (BTS) on the island of Guam. Due to their nocturnal and tree-dwelling habits, these snakes are extremely difficult to detect, especially when they are present…
By University of Michigan 1/23/2020 ANN ARBOR—While conducting fieldwork in Puerto Rico’s central mountainous region in 2016, University of Michigan ecologists noticed tiny trails of bright orange snail excrement on the undersurface of coffee leaves afflicted with coffee leaf rust, the crop’s most economically important pest. Intrigued, they conducted field observations and laboratory experiments over the next several years and…
By UC Santa Barbara 1/29/2020 Anyone who’s read “The Lorax” will recognize that certain species serve as the foundation of their ecosystems. When the truffula trees disappear, so to do the swomee-swans and bar-ba-loots. However, the same is not necessarily true the other way around. Scientists have taken a growing interest in ecological stability — the factors that make an…
By UC San Diego 1/23/2020 Four hours east of Medellín in northern Colombia’s Puerto Triunfo municipality, the sprawling hacienda constructed by infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar of “Narcos” fame has become a tourist attraction. When Escobar’s empire crashed, the exotic animals housed at his family’s zoo, including rhinos, giraffes and zebras, were safely relocated to new homes… except for the…
By Pennsylvania State University 1/8/2020 Selective fishing can disrupt the delicate balance maintained between corals and algae in embattled Caribbean coral reefs. Removing large parrotfish, which graze on algae like large land mammals graze on grasses, can allow the algae to overtake the corals, with potentially dire consequences for reef health. New experimental research suggests that maintaining a healthy size…
By University of Georgia 1/6/2020 Nearly a decade after the nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan, researchers from the University of Georgia have found that wildlife populations are abundant in areas void of human life. The camera study, published in the Journal of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, reports that over 267,000 wildlife photos recorded more than 20 species, including wild…
By Lancaster University 12/20/2019 The regrowth of Amazonian forests following deforestation can happen much slower than previously thought, a new study shows. The findings could have significant impacts for climate change predictions as the ability of secondary forests to soak up carbon from the atmosphere may have been over-estimated. The study, which monitored forest regrowth over two decades, shows that…
By Oregon State University 12/9/2019 CORVALLIS, Ore. – A study by Oregon State University researchers has identified forests in the western United States that should be preserved for their potential to mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration, as well as to enhance biodiversity. Those forests are mainly along the Pacific coast and in the Cascade Range, with pockets of them…
By Chrystian Trejedor, Florida International University 12/18/2019 The north might no longer be as inhospitable to mangroves as it once was. Fleeing rising seas in South Florida, mangroves are establishing themselves farther north along Florida’s Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Some are thriving in southern Texas and are already approaching Mississippi and Alabama – places where they historically could not withstand the climate,…
By Steve Lundeberg, Oregon State University 12/9/2019 CORVALLIS, Ore. – A study by Oregon State University researchers has identified forests in the western United States that should be preserved for their potential to mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration, as well as to enhance biodiversity. Those forests are mainly along the Pacific coast and in the Cascade Range, with pockets…
By Anglia Ruskin University 12/11/2019 CAMBRIDGE, U.K.–Findings from ARU project could help to protect solitary, ground-nesting bees The UK’s first citizen science project focusing on solitary, ground-nesting bees has revealed that they nest in a far broader range of habitats than previously thought. There are approximately 250 species of solitary bee in the UK, but far less is known about…
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…