Dragonflies Stitch Together Ecosystems (IMAGE)

Washington University in St. Louis

Dragonflies Stitch Together Ecosystems

Caption

Male blue dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis), is one of about 10 dragonfly species commonly seen buzzing the artificial pond systems at the Tyson Research Center, WUSTL’s field station for ecosystem studies. A new study showed that the dragonflies were the liaisons that connected aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems, allowing the plant purple loosestrife to “tug” on the interconnections between organisms in both ecosystems.

Credit

Travis Mohrman/Tyson Research Center

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