Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Ecosystems

EcosystemsEnvironmental ScienceRemediation
Aleksandra Dolezal

What is “dark diversity” and how can we use it to guide conservation and restoration?

The core of ecology is devoted to studying the interactions among species and their environment. But why are some species present and others absent in an environment? Think of a region of forest that has been converted to an agricultural field. The species that were thriving in the forest now have become absent because they are not tolerant of the new environmental conditions imposed upon them in the agricultural field.

Only a subset of all species in a region can tolerate the ecological conditions of a given site (the site-specific species pool). Of those, not all are realized in the local species pool. These absent species form what is called the dark diversity of a community. Authors Lewis et al. (2017) believe that the dark diversity concept can be used to complement and further develop conservation prioritization and management decision

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EcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Jessica Espinosa

A Grizzly Situation: Saving Bears by Mitigating Conflict

Many people become fearful at the mention of “bear country.” But is the risk of being hurt by a bear, or even seeing a bear, on your trip really that high? The answer is no: many campers and hikers don’t even know they have passed close to a bear during their time outdoors because bears largely try to avoid humans. When bears do come close to people, it is usually due to conflicts over food and space. Humans often retaliate against bears in these situations, which can ultimately threaten the survival of bear populations. In an effort to save these bears, a team of scientists came up with a program to mitigate human-bear conflicts and create spaces where both humans and bears can coexist.

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Case StudiesEcosystemsEnvironmental ScienceToxicology
Brittany Maule

Streamside Vegetation Can Capture Pesticides

Blueberries and other crops are being impacted in the Pacific northwest by a new invasive species. Pesticide use to combat this problem may impact nearby aquatic life. Researchers studied agriculture areas with and without woody vegetation along stream banks to understand if they could play a role in keeping pesticides out of streams. Sites with woody vegetation reduced 96% of pesticide measured in the stream on average compared to sites without. Increasing woody vegetation next to streams could help farmers fight off invasive species while still protecting water quality.

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EcosystemsScience through time
Munim Deen

A Three-Thousand-Year Glimpse into Climate and Human-Influenced Animal Extinction in China

How long of a time period needs to be studied before conclusions about human activity, population, and rising temperatures’ effect on animal extinction can be drawn? A recent paper focusing on three thousand years of historical animal population data shows that these things have led to significantly lower number of animals throughout recorded history – and the trend is still continuing.

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Ecosystems
Sarah Shainker

Taking care of carrion

Vultures often serve as a symbol of death in popular movies and TV shows. However, they serve a vital role in keeping systems of life functioning healthily. Their lives are threatened by human actions, and a recent study gave some insight into how we can better conserve these important animals.

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Case StudiesEcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Mary Grace Lemon

Salty about coastal walls

Artificial barriers are one of humans favorite thing to build. We build them to keep ‘other’ people in or out. We build them to keep animals in or out. And of course we build them to keep the natural environment out or our AC in. Usually walls are just temporary solutions to a much deeper problem which is definitely true in the case of sea level rise. Coastal communities need walls to protect against flooding. But what happens when to the impounded ecosystem when mother nature crashes through the wall anyway?

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EcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Anita Masse

If you let a beaver build, mammals will come

If you build it, they will come. It worked for Kevin Costner in the 1989 film Field of Dreams and it holds true for beavers too! The dams and lodges these resilient rodents build for homes create wetlands that attract a variety of animals including mammals; casual observations have now become scientifically proven to be true.

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ClimateEcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Jeannie Wilkening

Hot tree summer: Measuring the effects of the 2017 heat wave on Europe’s forests

Plants are always just trying to live their best life, but sometimes high temperatures and a lack of water get in the way of that. In this study, scientists studied a heat wave that occurred in southern Europe in summer 2017 to see how different plants fared across the region.

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EcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Kara Cromwell

Friend or foe? Invasive earthworms can benefit agriculture but harm forests

Earthworms are welcome guests in the garden, but it’s a different story in the forest. By consuming and removing leaf litter too fast they set in motion complex cascades of ecological changes, with long-term negative effects on soil fertility and biodiversity.

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Case StudiesEcosystems
Pernilla Borgstrom

Be quiet, please – I’m listening for bees

Sounds are everywhere in nature, and are important communication tools for many organisms. Plants may not be the first organisms you’d think of that would rely on sound to assess their environment, but new research shows that flowers can respond to the sound of a nearby buzzing bee by producing sweetened nectar, likely an adaptation that lets them avoid “wasting” resources on nectar production in the absence of hungry pollinators.

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