Dr. Courtney Duchardt explains how prairie dogs are ecosystem engineers, the ecological implications of Sylvatic plague, and the complex ways that livestock and wildlife coexist.

https://youtu.be/R2LX5ntuVyw?si=8l7cy7Br2lQu_rJa

was just thinking about a local proposed development that i hugely oppose, and wondering how i’d feel if it was a project we were contracted to do surveys for.

has anyone ever experienced this?

The recent glacier collapse in Nepal got me wondering about the potential environmental impacts. If bacteria and other microorganisms had been frozen inside the glacier for a long time, could the collapse have released them along with all the ice, mud, and sediment into the river?

Could this affect the river ecosystem or the microorganisms that already live there? Could the sudden release of previously frozen microbes have any short-term or long
-term environmental effects?

I’m curious what people who study microbiology, ecology, or glaciers think. Is this something scientists would be monitoring after an event like this?

See also: The summary of the paywalled publication in Science.

New episode with Dr. Carolyn Mahan, Penn State, who’s led the State Game Lands 33 project since 2014 (running since the 1950s). It tracks how different vegetation treatments, including selective herbicide use, affect game species, pollinators, breeding birds, and reptiles on a utility right-of-way. Findings so far show selective herbicide use hasn’t negatively impacted native species, and untreated sites actually had more non-compatible woody growth.

Curious what people here think about selective herbicide use as a vegetation management tool. Net positive for biodiversity, or are you skeptical of the tradeoffs?

Full episode: https://treesandlines.com/what-70-years-of-right-of-way-data-just-told-congress-w-carolyn-mahan/

Hi does anybody know of any cool water quality or wildlife research that could pertain to estuaries/brackish water?
Thank you!

Hi everyone!

I’m an early-career marine biologist currently completing my BSc in Marine Biology, and I’m looking to connect with researchers, students, conservationists, and others working with biological or environmental data.

I’ve been developing my skills in R, particularly for data cleaning, statistical analysis, ecological modelling, and data visualization. I genuinely really enjoy working in R, and at this stage I want to get involved with as many different projects and datasets as I reasonably can.

If anyone has a marine science, ecology, conservation, fisheries, wildlife, or other biological dataset that could use some additional help with analysis in R, I’d be happy to contribute. I’m also open to projects outside of marine science if there is an opportunity to work with interesting data and learn something new.

I’m not looking to charge anyone. My main goal is to gain experience working with different types of real-world data, improve my R skills, contribute where I can, and hopefully meet and build connections with people working in science and research.

I also recently created a GitHub where I’ll be archiving my projects as I continue learning. I uploaded a project I finished about a week ago involving the analysis of BRUV data and whitetip reef shark habitat associations.

GitHub: https://github.com/kylealibz

If you have a project where another person helping with the R or data side would be useful, feel free to message me. I’d also be happy just to connect with other early-career researchers and R users.

Thanks!

I'm currently an undergraduate student going into my senior year at a top 5 public university. I'm majoring in environmental science, minoring in soil, water and ecosystem science, and getting a certificate in geospatial engineering. I've been working part at a science museum as a presenter/facilitator for about a year and a half. I've also been working as a research assistant in a soil toxicology lab for about 8 months. In my AA at a two year institution I was able to conduct and present my own research, earning an award for "excellence in research" and a scholarship from the honors program. This past summer I studied abroad in Costa Rica where I conducted a very small scale research project on coffee plant drought resilience.

This semester I'm working on starting an honors thesis and volunteering in a new lab more aligned with my interests while working at the science museum and maybe bartending for some more cash. My main goals aside from graduating are strenghtening/getting feedback on my first project I've now worked on for around 2 years for publication, doing an honors thesis, continuing to work in labs, and find a summer internship (graduating in the following fall).

After I graduate I want to work towards a PhD in ecology and work as a climate scientist or research ecologist maybe for the government (NASA, DOI, state).

Am I doing enough? What more should I try to do? I have the most hollowing feeling that it's not enough but I'm not sure what more I can do to be successful.

Ultimately, I just want to do research and contribute towards a better world. Any tips or advice is greatly appreciated.

I recently visited a garden ran by a local association, in which a huge variety of flowering plants and herbs were cultivated. A small space for orchids, one for edible herbs, one for tropical flowers, one for lilies, one for succulents, etc. all crammed next to each other in a garden of a quite considerable size.

I wondered if such a huge variety of plants contributes to biodiversity more than a natural wooden area with local species or a permaculture garden with wild species. Especially in the case of this garden where there are cultivated species that are not necessarily found so close to each other in the wild

I’m asking especially because I will soon have quite a lot of space to have my own garden and I want to prioritise creating a haven for local flora and fauna to develop.

Im team Both/And when it comes to getting rid of them in the US, but honestly at this point it feels like this is more of a Let Them Fight situation? I mean, do they prefer maple and oak to ToH? To my knowledge, they dont. And it seems they affect ToH more than Maple or Oak.

Is there any case for letting things run their course? Or are we still trying to kill as many lanternflies as possible? (Please no winery shilling)

See also: The publication in Science Advances.

Hello,

I want to go to grad school to really start a career in restoration ecology but I'm not sure what topic of research to pursue. I live in the southeast of the US in North Georgia currently and would be interested in projects that could benefit the local ecosystems like open woodlands in the Appalachian mountains. Does anyone have any ideas on interesting projects?

Thanks!