Ecology & Zoology

Birds wouldn't be happy in a Trader Joe's, it seems.   Stuffed with aisles full of organically grown, gluten-free, range fed deliciousness, birds would see through expensive marketing and know that, nutritionally, organic food is no better, it is just a different process. And scientist birds would be confused why no one in the food industry knows what the word 'organic' means. What Is The Meaning Of "organic" (and Inorganic) Food? by professor Lee Silver Organic vegetables: are they really better than conventionally grown? by Jane Poynter The Big Organic Questions - What Is Organic Food…

Scientists from the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) and the University of Bayreuth say they have discovered how spiders form long, highly stable and elastic fibers from the proteins  stored in the silk gland. The results of their study are published in Nature. Spider silk consists of protein molecules, long chains comprising thousands of amino-acid elements. X-ray structure analyses show that the finished fiber has areas in which several protein chains are interlinked via stable physical connections. These connections provide the high stability. Between these connections are…

Yes, I am still here! Did you miss me? You totally missed me! Maybe just a little. I emerge from my thesis-writing cave to spread the word that teuthologists Rui Rosa and Brad Seibel--who, incidentally, are both a hoot to hang out with on a boat in the middle of the Sea of Cortez--have published a new study on squid metabolism. And not just any squid metabolism. COLOSSAL SQUID METABOLISM. The BBC reports: "The colossal squid is not a voracious predator capable of high-speed predator-prey interactions," says Dr Rosa. "It is rather, an ambush or sit-and-float predator that uses the hooks on…

The case for so-called organic farming has always been pretty weak, and a new study in Ecology Letters isn't helping the cause. The study found that the environmental benefits generated organic farming don't compensate for the lower yields produced. Increases in biodiversity from organic farming were found to be much lower than previously thought – averaging just over 12 percent more than conventional farming. Organic farms in the study also produced less than half of the yield of their conventional counterparts. "Over the next forty years, we're going to have to double food production…

Researchers have discovered a new species of monitor lizard, a close relative of the Komodo dragon, on the Moluccan islands of east Indonesia. The lizard was discovered just last spring  and belongs to the mangrove monitor, V. indicus group. The discovery was reported in Zootaxa this week. Varanus obor, popularly referred to as Torch monitor and Sago monitor, has a bright orange head with a glossy black body. It is a close relative of the fruit-eating monitor lizard recently reported from the Philippines. The Torch monitor can grow to nearly four feet in length, and thrives on a diet of…

I garden for a living, besides writing. My last blog referred to bamboo growing in a rock garden outside my back door. But my urban gardening mentor has informed me this plant is not bamboo.  It's Japanese knotweed. Many consider knotweed an invasive species, but one gardener calls it a "beautiful, carefree shrub" (maybe meaning "impossible to get rid of").  Knotweed, also known as Polygonum, is not even closely related to bamboo, though it looks like it, spreads like it and grows so rapidly I notice changes, hour by hour. Bamboo is a grass and knotweed…

So it looks like Humboldt squid don't kill divers after all. At least, they haven't done so yet. Meanwhile, two different species of very large squid are going on display at opposite ends of the commonwealth. That plastinated giant squid (Architeuthis) hit the museum in New Zealand, and a colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis) is on display at the Natural History Museum in the UK. Their press release has a nice description of the cephalopod circulatory system: The colossal squid has an impressive 3 hearts, (2 branchial hearts and 1 systemic heart). The branchial hearts pump blood to the gills,…

Three new species of anaerobic multicellular organisms have been discovered deep under the Mediterranean Sea. The small animals, new members of the group Loricifera, live their entire lives without oxygen and surrounded by 'poisonous' sulphides. Researchers writing in BMC Biology report the existence of multicellular organisms, showing that they are alive, metabolically active, and apparently reproducing in spite of a complete absence of oxygen. Sediment samples from a deep hypersaline anoxic basin (DHABs) of the Mediterranean Sea revealed evidence for the new organisms' existence. "These…

I was watching a wildlife documentary several years ago. The commentor said that scorpions glow under black light (UV light) and proceeded to demonstrate it and it was fascinating to see all those glowing bodies on the desert floor. In passing, he mentioned that it is not known why scorpions glow under UV light. This struck me and I kept thinking what evolutionary advantage this would have given to scorpions. Is this useful for finding mates? Possibly, if scorpion eyes are sensitive to UV light, but I do not know that.Is this useful for finding food or prey?  I thought…

Out in the woods and wondering what the temperature is? Slip down to the nearest stand of deciduous trees to search for the wee Snowy Tree Cricket, Oecanthus Fultoni, part of the order orthoptera. Snowy Tree Crickets and their cousins double as thermometers and wee garden predators, dining on aphids and other wee beasties. Weather conditions, both hot and cold, affect the speed at which they rub the base of their wings together and consequently regulate their rate of chirping.Listen for their tell-tale high pitch triple chirp sound in the early evening. Being in Canada, our crickets chirp in…