By Yale University 7/30/2019 Savannas cover about 40% of the area of the tropics, yet little is known about the effects of drought on their ecosystems. A new Yale-led study published in the journal Ecology shows that a severe drought between 2014 and 2016 in Kruger National Park in South Africa killed off a large number of trees, a finding that somewhat…
By Pennsylvania State University 7/22/2019 UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Plants may induce “leaky gut syndrome” — permeability of the gut lining — in insects as part of a multipronged strategy for protecting themselves from being eaten, according to researchers at Penn State. By improving our understanding of plant defenses, the findings could contribute to the development of new pest control…
Combining solar panel (photovoltaic) infrastructure and agriculture can create a mutually beneficial relationship. This practice of co-locating the two by planting crops under the shade of solar panels is called agrivoltaics.
By UC Berkeley 7/2/2019 Spotted owl populations are in decline all along the West Coast, and as climate change increases the risk of large and destructive wildfires in the region, these iconic animals face the real threat of losing even more of their forest habitat. Rather than attempting to preserve the owl’s remaining habitat exactly as is, wildfire management —…
By Pennsylvania State University 7/18/2019 New guidelines drafted by a consortium of concerned experts could enable corals to adapt to changing environments and help restore declining coral populations in the Caribbean. The guidelines provide a definitive plan for collecting, raising, and replanting corals that maximizes their potential for adaptation. A new paper outlining the guidelines, authored by the restoration genetics…
Pathogens attack invasive trees and native trees differently, even when the tree species are closely related, in the same genus.
By University of Liverpool 7/19/2019 A study by the University of Liverpool and Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) has found that parasites reduced female seabirds’ reproductive success by 30%, whilst seeming to have little effect on male seabirds. A seven year study of European shags on the Isle of May off the East coast of Scotland sought to explore the impact…
Lionfish in Florida are an underwater force to be reckoned with. The biggest threat they pose is not their venomous spines – it is the alarming speed and ferocity with which they invade new waters.
ESA 2019 Preview: Human-induced land use change is the primary driver of EIDs, including those carried by mosquitoes such as malaria, dengue, Zika, EEE, and West Nile. Why, then, does land-use planning often fail to recognize the effects these changes have on the risk of spreading disease?
By Florida State University 6/11/2019 Research by an evolutionary biologist from Florida State University has shown parasites have important and far-reaching effects on predatory fish and the ecosystems they inhabit. These findings, published this week in the journal Ecology, provide important evidence for the little-studied role of parasites in trophic cascades, which are powerful, indirect interactions that can affect entire…
By Manchester Metropolitan University 7/4/2019 A rare tree has been re-discovered in a remote area of Indonesia decades after it was thought to be extinct. Liam Trethowan, an ecology PhD student at Manchester Metropolitan University, spotted a cluster of ‘Kalappia’ trees some 200 km from where it was last seen in the 1970s while conducting fieldwork in the Indonesian rain…
New research on damselflies in northern Africa suggests that females may facilitate the reproductive success of inferior males when their health is at risk.
By Villanova University 6/19/2019 Three Villanova University researchers, part of a team that through a five-year study in Alberta, Canada determined the “critical load”—or recommended maximum amount of nitrogen that can enter the region’s peat bogs through precipitation without causing damage to its ecosystem—have released their findings in an article published June 18 in Ecological Monographs. Titled “Experimental Nitrogen Addition Alters…
The following selected sessions and events at the Annual Meeting delve into this year’s meeting theme.
By University of Göttingen 6/18/2019 For a long time, ecologists have relied on their senses when it comes to recording animal populations and species diversity. However, modern programmable sound recording devices are now the better option for logging animal vocalisations. Scientists lead by the University of Göttingen have investigated this using studies of birds as an example. The results were…
By São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) 5/15/2019 Plants in the Brazilian savanna, the Cerrado, have evolved to deal with fire. When fire is used intelligently as part of a carefully planned land management method, it is indispensable to the conservation of this superb ecosystem, the world’s most biodiverse savanna. Two months suffice for the Cerrado to burst into flower after…
By University of Rennes, Earth Sciences and Astronomy Observatory (OSUR) 6/12/2019 Demographic and health factors that condition female dispersal decisions. In an article entitled “Disease avoidance, and breeding group size and dispersal patterns of western lowland gorilla females” published in the journal Ecology in June 2019, Alice Baudouin, Pascaline Gouar, Jean-Sebastien Pierre and Nelly Ménard (ECOBIO) explore the mechanisms of social dispersal…
By University of Illinois 6/18/2019 If current climate and crop-improvement trends continue into the future, Midwestern corn growers who today rely on rainfall to water their crops will need to irrigate their fields, a new study finds. This could draw down aquifers, disrupt streams and rivers, and set up conflicts between agricultural and other human and ecological needs for water,…
By Zoological Society of London 6/12/19 Six different colour morphs of the elusive Asiatic golden cat have been discovered in Northeast India – with the findings being hailed as “an evolutionary puzzle” – as the world’s greatest number of different coloured wild cat species in one area are reported. The Indian scientists from ZSL and UCL discovered the colour morphs, during…
By University of Jyväskylä 6/10/2019 Reproducing in a fearful world is tricky. How do rodents get information of prevailing risk of death, and how do they respond to the information? A research team of evolutionary biologists from University of Jyväskylä, Finland and University of Vienna, Austria reported that rodent mothers are more likely to become pregnant after smelling odors produced…
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