Alpine Plants May Struggle for Pollination as Climate Warms
Climate warming is likely to change how plants and pollinators interact in mountain ecosystems, with possible consequences for biodiversity.
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Animal behavior
Decoding the Waggle Dance: The Importance of Flowers in Urban Landscapes for Honey Bees
Bee populations are threatened due to habitat loss and fragmentation, partly due to the expansion and intensification of agriculture worldwide. By videotaping and analyzing the “waggle dances” of honey bees near London, scientists compared the distance that bees need to travel to reach nectar in urban and agricultural landscapes. Bees needed to travel less far to reach nectar and pollen in urban areas vs. agricultural areas, underscoring the importance of urban planted areas, like gardens, in supporting honey bee populations. Establishing flowering plants in agricultural landscapes could help support honey bee populations.
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How Climate-driven Ocean Changes Affect Right Whale Populations
It is no secret that the world is ever-shifting towards a warmer reality. With conditions changing greatly in the Gulf of Maine, researchers are now exploring how climate-driven changes have been affecting the North Atlantic right whale populations. Sadly, their findings have shone a light towards a worrisome reality – a reality where these whales might be driven into extinction.
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For birds, drab is in fashion in our cities
Color has the power to affect our feelings and emotions. For many animals, color signals status or condition. Factors such as food quality, stress, and pollution can cause changes in animal coloration. The color of the background can also have significant effects on how animals perceive color. Cities introduce drab, grey buildings and pavement, pollutants, and reduced plant complexity. A recent study shows that city birds produce darker, duller feathers with less complex patterns. Click to find out how cities may be hindering the color and diversity of wildlife.
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Flying on the Edge – Bees use linear features to navigate
Ever noticed how straight roads or the edges of crop fields are? Humans love turning naturally curvy land into straight lines. While land modification poses significant threats to many animals, some can take advantage of these changes. A new study found that bumble bees exploit human-made lines and edges to navigate to food sources. Taking the path most traveled may make all the difference for these bees.
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Weaving Social Webs – A trick or a treat?
Spooky season is upon us, and people of all ages will be planning social events involving the holiday. Humans are not the only social beings. Although rare, some spider species are social too, living in large groups and sharing a web and the prey it catches. Sharing resources can be a real treat, but do some spiders get tricked into doing more work? Creep into the article for more on this spidery tale.
Read moreCombine Crickets and Lockdowns and get an Unlikely Experiment
In the spring of 2020, we all dealt with lockdowns in a different way. In urban parks, animals were suddenly exposed to a world without humans, and this disrupted ongoing urban ecology experiments. But resourceful ecologists used the sudden silence near businesses and the uptick of outdoor recreation to understand how shifting human behaviors change timing and duration of chirping urban crickets.
Read moreSurrogates for Ecosystem Engineers? A new method to restore the Galapagos Islands
What do you see when you picture an engineer? Perhaps you picture a human in a hard hat watching a
Read moreIf trees could hear, is human noise a threat?
Sources of noise, like gas well compressors, are known to affect many animals negatively. But could the noise be impacting plant communities? Researchers sought an answer by comparing pinyon and juniper seedling growth near quiet or noisy gas well pads in the woodlands of New Mexico. Throughout the twelve-year study, noise harmed tree communities. Trees struggled to recover even several years after the noise was removed. Now is the time to listen to the trees because the trees are tired of listening to us.
Read moreA Day in the Life of a Parasite: Using Parasites to Describe Fish Movement
When you think of parasites, your first thoughts probably aren’t “helpful” or “useful.” However, parasites aren’t just something we try to get rid of; they can be studied and used in all kinds of applications, including conservation. Check out this article to learn more about how scientists are using parasites to track species movements around the world.
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