https://phys.org/biology-news/plants-animals en-us The latest science news on plants and animals In 2003, Anne Nielsen became the first doctoral student in the U.S. to study the brown marmorated stink bug, which was beginning its ascendancy as an invasive species notoriously damaging to crops. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-ecological-countering-invasive-species.html Plants & Animals Ecology Fri, 21 Jun 2024 06:16:49 EDT news638169402 As much of the world prepares for hotter and drier growing seasons as the result of climate change, a research team led by University of Nevada, Reno researchers has identified several varieties of cactus pear that are particularly well-suited to producing biomass for fuels production. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-focuses-cactus-pear-biofuel-production.html Plants & Animals Agriculture Fri, 21 Jun 2024 06:11:54 EDT news638169094 Gala is a major apple cultivar grown worldwide that is mostly planted as red sports (genetic mutation), such as Royal, Brookfield, Fulford, and Galaxy. The red sports tend to have similar maturation profiles, but they allow earlier harvests and strip picking, which is not recommended for the original Gala or lower-colored sports. Although Gala fruit are harvested early relative to typical long-term storage cultivars such as Red Delicious, Granny Smith, and Fuji, they are often stored long-term under controlled atmosphere conditions. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-gala-apples-cold-ethylene-impacted.html Plants & Animals Agriculture Thu, 20 Jun 2024 16:20:06 EDT news638119202 A new study delving into the lives of one of the UK's rarest beetles shows them to be athletes and adventurers—sometimes traveling the scaled-up equivalent of several kilometers a night in search of food and mates. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-uk-rarest-rainforest-beetles-multi.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 15:45:49 EDT news638117143 Researchers at the University of Hannover have uncovered new insights into the mode of action of calcium in the reduction of macrocracking in sweet cherry fruit. The findings shed light on the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon, offering significant implications for cherry growers and the fruit industry at large. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-calcium-macrocracking-sweet-cherries.html Plants & Animals Agriculture Thu, 20 Jun 2024 15:45:31 EDT news638117127 Insecticide use is a major factor causing a decrease in the size and diversity of butterfly populations across the US Midwest, reports Braeden Van Deynze of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and colleagues in a study published June 20 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-insecticides-contribute-butterfly-species-midwest.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:00:02 EDT news638093342 Chimpanzees appear to consume plants with medicinal properties to treat their ailments, according to a study published on June 20 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Elodie Freymann from the University of Oxford, UK, and colleagues. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-wild-chimpanzees-medicinal-illness-injuries.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:00:02 EDT news638092921 A devastating hurricane transformed a monkey society by changing the pros and cons of interacting with others, new research shows. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-hurricane-game-monkey-society.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:00:02 EDT news638090481 Researchers at La Trobe University's Center for Freshwater Ecosystems have exposed the hidden consequences of climate change on Alpine stream ecosystems, which could see an earlier emergence of insects. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-climate-emergence-insects.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 13:03:06 EDT news638107382 Callicarpa L. (Lamiaceae) consists of 140 species that are trees or shrubs, and there are about 53 species in China, mainly distributed south of the Yangtze River. Some plants of Callicarpa are used as traditional medicine in China. In addition, they are also landscape plants with potential for utilization and development due to the abundant flowers and the colorful fruits. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-species-callicarpa-hunan-china.html Plants & Animals Thu, 20 Jun 2024 12:16:06 EDT news638104564 The reef manta ray (Mobula alfredi) is a tough swimmer. They can travel hundreds of kilometers to feed themselves. The longest recorded movement for an individual reef manta ray was 1,150km, observed in eastern Australia. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-raja-ampat-reef-manta-rays.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 11:50:01 EDT news638099521 A new study presents video evidence that at least one species of terrestrial leech can jump, behavior that scientists have debated for more than a century. Researchers from the American Museum of Natural History, Fordham University, and City University of New York (CUNY)'s Medgar Evers College published the footage and corresponding analysis in the journal Biotropica. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-conclusive-video-evidence-terrestrial-leech.html Plants & Animals Ecology Thu, 20 Jun 2024 10:00:01 EDT news638090881 Measuring the heart rate of great apes in captivity is essential for both health management and animal studies. However, most existing methods are either invasive or inaccurate. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-heart-health-advancing-noninvasive-chimpanzees.html Plants & Animals Veterinary medicine Wed, 19 Jun 2024 12:25:04 EDT news638018701 An international team of scientists has recently found that non-native species are expanding their ranges many orders of magnitude faster than native ones, in large part due to inadvertent human help. Even seemingly sedentary non-native plants are moving at three times the speed of their native counterparts in a race where, because of the rapid pace of climate change and its effect on habitat, speed matters. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-native-animals-ranges-faster-species.html Plants & Animals Ecology Wed, 19 Jun 2024 12:15:03 EDT news638018101 A study published in the journal BioScience sheds light on the importance of gray wolves in the western United States. Led by William Ripple, a scientist at Oregon State University and the Conservation Biology Institute, the research delves into the implications of large predator absence on plant and animal communities, and ecosystem functions. It calls attention to "shifting baselines" wherein increasingly degraded conditions are viewed as reflecting the historical state of a system. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-illuminates-ecological-importance-gray-wolves.html Plants & Animals Ecology Wed, 19 Jun 2024 10:33:54 EDT news638012027 A research paper from University of Vermont's Keller Laboratory examining the impacts of genomically-diverse seedlings on the resilience of red spruce forests in a changing climate was published in Applications in Plant Sciences. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-sourcing-genomically-diverse-seedlings-climate.html Plants & Animals Ecology Wed, 19 Jun 2024 09:00:01 EDT news638005208 More than 48,000 deer, thousands of Pacific newts, close to 100 mountain lions and many thousands of other animals are killed each year by vehicles on California roads, according to the 2024 "roadkill report" from the University of California, Davis' Road Ecology Center. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-roadkill-natural-disaster.html Plants & Animals Ecology Wed, 19 Jun 2024 08:57:57 EDT news638006269 A new study has uncovered the significant role stingrays play in shaping estuaries, revealing threatened stingrays in Brisbane Water may move more than 21,000 tonnes of sand per year. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-scientists-unearth-stingrays-heavy-role.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 18 Jun 2024 14:45:03 EDT news637940701 In a world-first experiment, JCU researchers have been using the pelts of dead rats to test if the glow-in-the-dark fur of mammals is being used for secret nocturnal communication. The results are published in the Australian Journal of Zoology. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-rats-photoluminescent-fur-nocturnal-communication.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 18 Jun 2024 13:27:02 EDT news637936021 A team of zoologists and marine biologists affiliated with several institutions in Indonesia, working with a colleague from Germany, has discovered previously unknown instances of fluorescence in 27 marine creatures. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-team-biologists-fluorescence-marine-creatures.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 18 Jun 2024 12:50:01 EDT news637933494 Birds have been known to seek out pungent chemicals for various reasons. Some consume fermented fruits with gusto and suffer the ill effects. Others expose themselves to ants, but only the stinky kind. These ants produce useful antimicrobials and insect repellents. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-high-fliers-pleasure-parrots-aromatic.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 18 Jun 2024 12:30:01 EDT news637931283 While there is an increasing consensus among humans that corporal discipline of children does more harm than good, fish may disagree. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-fish-offspring.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 18 Jun 2024 11:53:03 EDT news637930382 The iconic marsupial can regulate its temperature to a greater degree than previously thought—but this could prove troublesome as global warming bites. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-koalas-hottest-days-summer.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 18 Jun 2024 11:35:03 EDT news637929301 Most of us are aware that climate change is altering our world. But it can also make certain natural disasters, like hurricanes, more likely in places where susceptible species reside. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-global-natural-hazards-threaten-species.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 18 Jun 2024 10:38:03 EDT news637925881 Beneath the surface, bacterivorous nematodes are key players in the nutrient cycle, consuming bacteria that decompose organic matter. Traditionally, these nematodes are studied in laboratory environments where isolated bacterial strains are used to monitor interactions on petri dishes. However, such settings do not accurately mimic the complex microbial ecosystems found in natural environments. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-nematode-microbe-interactions-lab-simulated.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 18 Jun 2024 09:34:13 EDT news637922050 A multidisciplinary, multi-institutional team of researchers in the U.S. has found that starlings that fly in a follower position expend 25% less energy than when they fly solo. In their study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group designed complex experiments to learn more about the amount of energy savings for birds following another bird in flight rather than going it alone. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-starlings-expend-energy-position-flying.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 18 Jun 2024 09:30:01 EDT news637921650 Scientists at the Schmid College of Science and Technology at Chapman University developed a novel way to observe the elusive burrowing behavior of hagfish. Dr. Douglas S Fudge and his team created a specialized tank of transparent gelatin in order to visualize how the hagfish behave and locomote within sediments. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-mechanisms-hagfish-burrowing-deep-sea.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 18 Jun 2024 09:29:42 EDT news637921779 Hundreds of thousands more breeding pairs of seabirds could return to remote island archipelagos if invasive rats were removed and native vegetation restored, a new paper finds. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-rat-free-islands-hundreds-thousands.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 18 Jun 2024 04:00:01 EDT news637858108 The six turtle species that call Australia home appear to have few similarities at first. Some turtles are large, others are much smaller. Some turtles are herbivores, others enjoy a varied diet. Unfortunately, their threats are almost universal. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-turtle-species-australia-vulnerable-endangered.html Plants & Animals Ecology Mon, 17 Jun 2024 16:12:05 EDT news637859522 One of the most beautiful aspects of nature is the endless variety of shapes, colors and behaviors exhibited by organisms. These traits help organisms survive and find mates, like how a male peacock's colorful tail attracts females or his wings allow him to fly away from danger. Understanding traits is crucial for biologists, who study them to learn how organisms evolve and adapt to different environments. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-scientists-language-organismal-traits.html Plants & Animals Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 17 Jun 2024 15:50:19 EDT news637858215