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…
By Michael Kaspari Lab 9/13/2019 One paradox in the recent flurry of papers reporting insect declines is that insects—ectotherms that rely on external sources of heat—are often predicted to benefit as their environment warms. In an open access paper accepted as a Report in the journal Ecology our team of ecologists—including Michael Weiser, Jelena Bujan, Karl Roeder, and Kirsten deBeurs—all from…
By The Conversation 9/11/2019 Sometimes even the largest natural wonders can remain hidden from human view for centuries. The Amazon is a dense place, full of life with new species of flora and fauna being discovered every other day. Now, using the same technology that takes driverless cars from A to B, we – led by Eric Gorgens and Diego…
By University of Arizona 9/10/2019 The iconic saguaros on Tumamoc Hill served as harbingers in new research which sought to predict how the desert species will fare in the hotter, drier climate of the future and how topography might mitigate the effects of climate change. Lead author Susana Rodríguez-Buriticá and her team crunched the numbers in a 48-year-long dataset…
By the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research 9/10/2019 The trade of forest tree seeds is, on a global scale, not as safe as previously believed. Researchers from CABI and, among other institutions, the Swiss Federal Institute WSL, revealed that insect pests and fungal pathogens associated with seeds pose a great risk to trees and forest ecosystems worldwide. Non-native…
By CNRS 9/4/2019 Gorillas are social animals, living in groups that females will migrate to join, becoming members of harems. Though some factors motivating these migrations were previously known, a research team affiliated with the CNRS and Université de Rennes 1 has just demonstrated that female gorillas are able to avoid conspecifics liable to transmit yaws, which leads to conspicuous…
By University of Connecticut 8/28/2019 Forests in the eastern United States that are structurally complex — meaning 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…
By University of Wyoming 8/21/2019 For every acre of mule deer habitat taken by roads, well pads and other oil and gas development infrastructure in Wyoming’s Green River Basin, an average of 4.6 other acres of available forage is lost, according to new research by University of Wyoming scientists. That’s because deer avoid areas close to such human disturbance, even…
By Northern Arizona University 8/20/2019 When Jaime Yazzie began planning her research for her forestry thesis, her adviser asked her what species of trees she wanted to save. They would use a computer simulation to measure the effects of a warming, drying environment, and she needed to select which trees to preserve. “I was a little shocked,” Yazzie said. “In my…