A study led by Qiujie “Angie” Zheng from the University of Maine found that consumers are willing to pay an average of $3.42 more for a lobster roll made with lobster harvested using ropeless fishing technology designed to reduce whale entanglement risks when presented with information on animal welfare. Researchers tested how information about whale conservation, animal welfare and Maine’s lobster industry shaped consumer willingness to pay more for lobster harvested using ropeless technology. Messaging focused on whale welfare and entanglement impacts proved most effective at increasing support for ropeless technology, with consumers willing to pay more.

A new worm model developed by Brown University researchers could play a key role in treating a rare genetic disease that causes paralysis in children and worsens with age. Developed in the lab of neuroscientist Anne Hart, a genetically engineered C. elegans nematode model provides a fast, inexpensive way to evaluate potential drug treatments for alternating hemiplegia of childhood, or AHC, a disorder that currently has no cure or effective treatments.

Soils are home to some of the most diverse animal communities on Earth. These animals – including nematodes, springtails, mites, earthworms, spiders and other arthropods – drive decomposition, regulate microbial communities and contribute to nutrient cycling. However, little is known about how these animals’ “trophic diversity” – meaning the variety of feeding activities – is affected by land use and climate. An international research team led by the University of Göttingen has now shown that soil animal communities have greater trophic diversity in agricultural ecosystems and in tropical regions. The study analysed carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios from over 17,000 soil samples, covering 28 major groups of organisms from 456 sites across 19 countries. The results were published in Nature Ecology & Evolution.

A new study by University of Victoria and Pacific Salmon Foundation scientists has uncovered what adult Chinook salmon in the Salish Sea are eating—and revealed diet can differ according to region. 

Restoring dry forests in the Pacific Northwest, shaped by frequent low-intensity fire and widely spaced trees, often means thinning dense stands that accumulated after decades of fire suppression. This can make forests healthier and more resilient to wildfire, but it can raise concerns about protecting wildlife that depend on dense tree cover, including the northern spotted owl.

A new study by researchers at Oregon State University and the U.S. Forest Service and just published in Forest Ecology & Management, suggests that restoration of landscapes that historically burned frequently through planned, controlled fire does not have to conflict with spotted owl conservation.

- Achieving an international conservation target to protect almost a third of the world’s land and sea in the next four years could directly affect the lives of almost half the people on the planet, finds a new report.

- The study is the first to consider the social implications of the target at the global level.

- Supporting the people who live near areas that could be designated for nature - financially and otherwise - is vital for success.

Gordon Burghardt, Alumni Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and international collaborators reviewed 37 primate species and found social “style” best predicts whether adults keep playing. Tolerant species with flexible bonds and cooperation show adult–adult play in over 90% of cases, while despotic, aggressive hierarchies show almost none.