Monday, July 27, 2026

Ecosystems

CitiesEcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Julia Bebout

Urban Gardens Provide Stable Nectar Supply for Pollinators

Insect pollinators are in trouble, and many plants on farms or in the wild need them to be able to grow fruits and reproduce. With so much at stake for plants around the world, and the humans who depend on them, how can we stop the decline of insect pollinator populations? Urban gardens may have a role to play in supporting pollinators, especially if we plant flowers that provide a stable supply of nectar, their most important food.

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Animal behaviorEcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Maria Marlin

Matriarch Madness: Mechanism of Social Parasitism and Colony Takeover in Ants

Carpenter ants play an important role in an ecosystem; they break down wood into smaller pieces that will ultimately become part of the soil. But a parasitic ant can rapidly take over and destroy a colony by simply disguising herself through chemical means.

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Animal behaviorEcosystems
Andrea Valcarcel

Fire and Animal Behavior: How Forest Fires are Mediating Predator-Prey Interactions

Fires, both from intentional and unintentional sources, have been altering our ecosystems for as long as history has been recorded, yet little is known about how these occurrences affect animal behavior, especially concerning predator-prey interactions. Countless factors, including the extent of the fire and the adaptability of both predator and prey to these new conditions affect the behavior and survivability of both predator and prey. In the end, change is inevitable, but if we improve our understanding of how fires influence animal behavior, we can then help rehabilitate affected populations in more effective and efficient ways.

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Animal behaviorCase StudiesEcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Brianne Palmer

How Citizen Science Led to The Discovery of Tree-Dwelling Toads

Two groups of citizen scientists in the UK discovered something previously unknown to science– toads living in trees. Read on to learn about how citizen science and collaborations with scientists can lead to more interesting questions and discoveries.

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ClimateEcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Etienne Herrick

Managing soil carbon for short and long-term benefits: Have we cracked the code?

Increasing carbon in soils has potential to help fight climate change and support crop growth, but researchers are still figuring out if and how we can do both at the same time. Read on to find out if they’ve discovered a solution!

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EcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Julia Bebout

Buried Alive: How Plants Bounce Back from Volcanic Debris

When a volcano erupts, what happens to plants growing nearby? Some are buried by volcanic tephra, dust and rocks thrown into the air by the volcano. Amazingly, newly published results suggest that this might not kill the plant community under the debris.

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EcosystemsEnvironmental Science
Andrea Valcarcel

Microplastics In Our Fish: How Fish Food Is Affecting Our Food Supply and Our Health

Microplastics are small plastic particles ranging in size from 1μm (the size of a human hair) to 5mm (the size of a pencil-top eraser) that don’t dissolve in water and are usually fragmented from larger pieces of plastics. That sounds like something that should never end up on our plates, right? Well, researchers have found that these small plastics have, unfortunately, found their way into our food chain.

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Ecosystems
Brandi Pessman

Oversimplified – Deforestation cuts down spider species

We tend to value simplification over complexity in our day-to-day lives, but animals rely on complex environments to maintain diversity. When we cut down forests for agriculture, livestock, or manufacturing, we simplify environments by reducing the diversity of plants – a disturbance that forces out many vital animals. A recent study showed that converting the diverse Atlantic Forest in Argentina into rows of pine trees for paper production has had severe consequences for spider species. Can time heal the wounds caused by clear-cutting?

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