Angler preferences and satisfaction in a high-threshold bucket-list recreational fishery (published in Fisheries Research).
Read the article at the following link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016578361930219X?dgcid=author Julia received a NASA Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) grant. This 3-year grant will support Julia's project: "Generating a mechanistic understanding of horizontal gene transfer as a driver of cell adaptation on the early earth."
For more info on this grant, click here. Male and female bees show large differences in floral preference
"We found that the diets of male and female bees of the same species were often dissimilar as the diets of different species of bees. Furthermore, we demonstrate differences in preference between male and female bees. We show that intraspecific differences in preference can be robustly identified among hundreds of unique species-species interactions, without precisely quantifying resource availability, and despite high phenological turnover of both bees and plant bloom. Given the large differences in both flower use and preferences between male and female bees, ecological sex differences should be integrated into studies of bee demography, plant pollination, and coevolutionary relationships between flowers and insects." Read more here. "Rutgers-led study finds female and male bees oft he same species frequent different flowers" Click here for the press release. Don't forget to sign up for the Run for the Woods on May 11th in the Rutgers Ecological Preserve. This is a lovely spring run through an old growth forest in 360- acre wooded preserve in Piscataway, NJ. Proceeds benefit the EcoPreserve and fund small grants for the Ecology and Evolution Graduate Association. Registration is only $25, and includes a t-shirt and a shot at winning a Native plant from Pinelands Nursery or a pair of brand new running sneakers from Road Runner Sports!
Sign up here. The paper is published here and revisits the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in forest nutrient cycling by reviewing new and existing evidence for the colonization of litter by AMF, and possible pathways by which AMF could facilitate decomposition and rapid nutrient uptake.
This opinion piece is a timely and critical perspective on the role of museums in preserving their specimens in the multi-omics era. Here, LaShanda and the other authors provide new guidelines currently implemented at the Smithsonian to protect the rich biomolecular resources maintained in museum collections worldwide. Read more here.
It all started with a happy accident. When cleaning out a basement lab at Hutcheson Memorial Forest (HMF), the Lockwood Lab discovered several boxes of old bird banding records. These records provided an in depth look at what birds were present in the forest during the 1960s and 1970s.
With this information in hand, the Lockwood Lab re-established the bird banding efforts to investigate how the modern bird community compared with the historic records. Starting in 2009, members of the Lockwood Lab spent their summer weekends inside Hutcheson Memorial Forest setting out mist nets to capture and band birds. This banding effort continued until 2015 at which point Jeff Brown begun comparing the bird communities from the two time periods. Analysis confirmed what many visitors to the forest anecdotally knew. Birds were missing. Many species that were once common such as ovenbirds (Seiurus aurocapilla) and american redstarts (Setophaga ruticlla) were no longer present. However, other species such as the common yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) have hairy woodpeckers (Leuconotopicus villosus) are more common than they previously were. To better understand why species were disappearing, Brown and his collaborators looked to the life history of the species within the forest as well as how the forest itself has changed. Many of the species that are no longer present at HMF are migratory and ground nesting species. It is unsurprising migratory species are having a more difficult time establishing in HMF. Regional trends show HMF has become increasingly isolated as the surrounding areas have become more developed. Additionally, within HMF the understory has been taken over by non-native species such as Japanese stilt grass (Microstegium vimineum). The invasion of non-native plant species combined with increased herbivory from white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) create an understory that is inhospitable to many ground nesting species. For a complete version of this story please see the journal article in Biodiversity and Conservation Despite this bleak news, there is hope for the future of HMF. The current state of the forest is largely due to a hands-off management approach that was taken over the last few decades. However, current HMF managers have implemented a more proactive approach by installing a deer fence around the forest. While it is still early in this management process, native plants have started to return, and the first record of an ovenbird was observed in June of 2018. Here are some of the highlights in these lovely papers:
Divergence in Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus (Actinopterygii, Clupeidae), life history alters parasite communities:
The article is open-access which mean that it’s free and available to anyone interested in learning best practices for culturing this native and delicious bivalve species!
Some highlights from the paper include: "1. Juvenile surfclam survival and growth were optimized at 20C. 2. Colder water increases survival but slows growth; warmer water causes mortality. 3. Variation across clam cohorts suggests parentage influences temperature tolerance. 4. Commercial surfclam seed production is readable in the Northeast US." The full paper can be found at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352513418301078 Show your support for the Rutgers University EcoGSA by pre-ordering one of our new T-shirts! The colors will come in black, red, navy and forest green, and the lettering will be in white. We can order any size (including youth) as long as it's part of this pre-order. Final cost will depend on how many shirts are ordered, but we will try to keep the cost between $12 and $20.
Head to this link to see the design and place your order. |
We seek to further the social, cultural, academic and research interests of the students in the graduate program in Ecology and Evolution and act as a link between the graduate students and the faculty. Archives
November 2023
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