Category: Ecology

2022-23, Ecology, Environment, Evolution, Natural World, Year

21 Million Year Old Fossil Reveals Hominid Environment and Diet

Julia Chivu ’23 The Motroto site in Uganda has recently provided new insights on the evolution of the locomotor versatility, diet, and environment of early hominids. The site is estimated to be twenty-one million years old. Associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at Stony Brook University, Dr. James Rossi, is part of a large research team that has recently examined the fossil remains of … Continue reading 21 Million Year Old Fossil Reveals Hominid Environment and Diet

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2021-22, Biology, Brain, Ecology, Evolution

Brawn Before Brains in Early Mammalian Development

Zhifei Zeng ’23 Of all vertebrates, mammals have the largest brains in terms of absolute size and relative to body size. Significant encephalization (an increase in brain size relative to body size) has been observed in the placenta of extant mammals. However, until recently it has not yet been determined when mammalian brains began to increase in size and how they evolved to their current … Continue reading Brawn Before Brains in Early Mammalian Development

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Ecology

How Ice and Wind Can Affect Baltic Sea Phytoplankton

Panayiota Siskos ’23 The Baltic Sea has a history of having anthropogenic river nutrients from agriculture and wastewater discharges as well as phytoplankton biomass. A combination of physical, chemical, and biological factors forms the marine ecosystem, making it difficult to identify which impacts are climate change and human caused concentration of nutrients, and studies identifying them are necessary for a healthy marine ecosystem. Seasonal ice … Continue reading How Ice and Wind Can Affect Baltic Sea Phytoplankton

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Ecology

How Environment Affects Breeding in Migratory Populations

Panayiota Siskos ’23 Vertebrates have different seasonal reproductive times depending on the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis, which is associated with breeding latitude and a sensitivity to changes in length of daylight. Migratory animals in particular work to optimize reproductive timing since breeding conditions are needed later at migrationary regions than overwintering regions (regions where animals stay throughout the winter). There are multiple migrationary bird species with populations … Continue reading How Environment Affects Breeding in Migratory Populations

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Ecology

A Once Thought Extinct Species of Mice Repopulates after an Explosion

Sabah Bari ’24 Mount Pinatubo was known for being a quiet volcano located on the most populated Island of Luzon in the Philippines. However, the calmness of Mount Pinatubo came to a halt on June 15, 1991 when the volcano erupted. The destruction of the explosive volcano negatively affected the wildlife on Luzon, except two main species of the Philippine forest mice. Upon the eruption, … Continue reading A Once Thought Extinct Species of Mice Repopulates after an Explosion

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Astronomy, Ecology, Environment, Evolution, Natural World

Implications of Solar Geoengineering

Ashley Goland ’23 Solar geoengineering is a technology that aims to reflect incoming sunlight away from the Earth to reduce the rise of global temperatures, and one proposed approach is to send aerosols into the atmosphere. Although this method may seem like a quick, relatively cheap way to delay further climate change, the effects it could have upon marine and terrestrial organisms are not yet … Continue reading Implications of Solar Geoengineering

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Biology, Ecology, Natural World

Ecological Dynamics of Coastal Plants, Birds, and Herbivores

Fatin Chowdhury ’20 In a recent paper, scientists from the University of Irvine examined the resistance of shrub plants to herbivory, as enabled by plant morphology or the presence of avian species. The scientists studied both direct and indirect defenses in nature and assessed these mechanisms in the context of energetic trade-offs. Characteristics that were already known to directly lower the success rate of herbivory … Continue reading Ecological Dynamics of Coastal Plants, Birds, and Herbivores

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Ecology, Environment

Environment Dependent Dietary Adjustment by Invasive Aquatic Species

Fatin Chowdhury ‘20 Recently, researchers at three Brazilian universities examined patterns of feeding behavior displayed by the Knodus moenkhausii fish invasive to Brazil. The researchers described a two-fold hypothesis. Firstly, the species is expected to be non-specialist and opportunistic, feeding on whatever food source is most readily accessible. Secondly, resource abundance affects the nature of the trophic niche it resides in. Accordingly, flexibility in diet … Continue reading Environment Dependent Dietary Adjustment by Invasive Aquatic Species

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Ecology

How Mosquitoes Find Their Next Meal

Ellie Teng ‘21 Getting a mosquito bite is common during warmer weather, however in certain places, it could be deadly, as mosquitoes are major transmitters of disease. Bloodborne pathogens are easily transferred between humans. To determine how a female mosquito identifies, tracks and prey on a potential host, a group of scientists from the University of Washington studied the two sensory systems in mosquitoes: the … Continue reading How Mosquitoes Find Their Next Meal

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Ecology

Why the Highveld Mole Rat Does Not Sense Pain

By Nicole Zhao ‘20  Plants and insects alike often use algogens, noxious substances, as defensive weapons against predators (1). Predators, such as humans, detect these algogens via the receptors of nociceptive sensory neurons and are warned to back off(2). It has previously been shown that Heterocephalus glaber, otherwise known as the naked mole rat, shows no pain behavior when exposed to hydrogen chloride and capsaicin, … Continue reading Why the Highveld Mole Rat Does Not Sense Pain

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Ecology

Global Warming Could Allow Squid to Thrive

Ellie Teng ‘21 The unique swimming technique of squid requires energy and oxygen. Jet propulsion allows the cephalopods to rapidly move about, but requires a large output of energy, thereby increasing the demand for oxygen. There is evidence suggesting increased CO2 has adverse effects on squid respiratory performance, however, there has been no research on the effects of prolonged exposure to CO2 for adult cephalopods. … Continue reading Global Warming Could Allow Squid to Thrive

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Ecology

Use of Arithmetic operations and Memory Processing Shown in Bees

By Mariam Malik ‘22 Some animals are mentally capable of understanding the concept of numbers, emotion, and even language. However, at RMIT University in Australia, an experiment done on bees shows that they are not only able to understand the concept of numbers, but they also show comprehension of arithmetic operations, such as addition and subtraction, with the use of colored symbols. To determine if … Continue reading Use of Arithmetic operations and Memory Processing Shown in Bees

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