More than 80 years ago scientists discovered that differences in yellow pigmentation were critical to courtship success and failure for fruit flies. 

The lasting impact of historical events on New Mexico fire regimes, using sea slugs as ecological ambassadors and more from ESA’s journals.

Luis Escobar, associate professor in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Tech, has received a $400,000 award from the National Science Foundation to lead a nationwide investigation into how environmental shifts and virus evolution cause hantaviruses to leap from wildlife to humans in a process termed "spillover transmission." Escobar is also a member of the Pandemic Prediction and Prevention Destination Area that funded pilot work for this NSF project.

Coral reefs in Indonesia’s Spermonde Archipelago are under pressure from both natural and anthropogenic activities. Researchers from Hasanuddin University assessed reef conditions across three islands using underwater photography and drone surveys, while also gathering local perspectives on reef conditions and restoration. They found greater live coral cover in clearer waters but limited community readiness to participate in conservation efforts, suggesting that training and institutional support could strengthen local communities’ role in protecting these natural treasures.

A landmark survey of the world’s largest free-roaming giant tortoise population has revealed the once endangered species is thriving and stable in the Seychelles. Giant tortoises found on the Aldabra Atoll - one of two population centres in the world - are now numbered at around 180,000 individuals following five years of surveying and the use of sophisticated statistical techniques. 

Kyoto, Japan -- Monitoring biological indicators plays a crucial role in forest management, which requires finding a delicate balance between timber use and biodiversity conservation. Across forests and across species, responses to forestry operations that alter habitat conditions vary, so repeatable surveys of biological indicators like ground-dwelling beetles can capture forest spatial variation and changes over time.

While ground dwelling beetles help scientists understand conditions on the forest floor, indicators that reflect conditions in the canopy have been more evasive. But a team of researchers at Kyoto University thought that Platycerus might fit this role: a genus of stag beetles that inhabits broadleaf forests, munching on the dead wood of trees as larvae and new leaf buds as adults. The research team chose to investigate whether these beetles might complement their ground-dwelling counterparts in the biological monitoring of broadleaf forests.

In the forests of Hida, Japan, the scientists conducted a survey called a female-attracted flight Interception trap -- F-FIT -- a "honey trap" that uses female Platycerus stag beetles to attract males. F-FIT was introduced only recently to address the limitations of conventional Platycerus surveys, which depend on an observer's skill and may risk damaging breeding sites. With this new survey, the team recorded captures of male Platycerus takakuwai, a species typical to Japan.

Native seed systems are a crucial part of prairie restoration and have been studied from ecological, production and trouble-shooting angles, but never from a social science perspective, until now. Researchers from South Dakota State University conducted more than 60 interviews to better understand the people and relationships within the native seed system of the Northern Great Plain Region to help identify the best ways to support the local network.