Discoveries Archive
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Poplar Genetics
After helping to decipher the genome of the poplar tree in 2006 and finding it had 45,000 different genes, University of Toronto Professor Malcolm Campbell turned to the next logical question: What do each of the genes do? He was especially interested in understanding which genes are active in response to drought conditions. What he found was quite surprising –… (more)
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Wind Turbines and Migrating Bats
The push for new wind power facilities across the country is driving research to understand the various ecological impacts wind turbines may have. One such study may play a role in the siting of new wind farms by providing new insight into bat migration patterns. Erin Baerwald, a doctoral student at the University of Calgary, monitored bat activity and fatalities… (more)
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Predicting Fishless Lakes
The woods of Maine host the greatest abundance of fishless lakes in the Northeast, but their abundance is declining due to state-sanctioned fish stocking for recreational anglers and illegal releases of fish by others. When fish are introduced, not only does the lake ecosystem change dramatically but the surrounding upland community can, too. According to University of Maine researchers Cynthia… (more)
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Where the Cellulose Meets the Road
Wooden tires went out of style a century ago, along with buggy whips and horse-drawn wagons, but if an Oregon State University researcher has anything to say about it, a modern relative of the wooden tire might lead to the first major change in automobile tire design and production in quite some time. Kaichang Li, a professor of wood science… (more)
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Digging for Worms
When Colgate University biologist Tim McCay began studying the impact of acid rain on soils and forest-dwelling animals in the Adirondacks, he started by heading into the forest and counting all of the species he could find. Much to his surprise, he didn’t find any worms. When he conducted the survey again and still found no worms, he asked other… (more)
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The Power of Trees
When scientists and students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology hammered a nail into a tree on campus and wired it to a metal rod in the ground, they confirmed Internet reports they had read about sustained voltage differences between various tree parts and the adjacent soil. Though they didn’t know why it happened, they suspected the system was acting… (more)
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Some Like it Moist
Like Hagenbuch, Laurie Richmond was interested in learning more about the impact that forestry practices have on wildlife. Earlier research had shown that forest harvesting can cause significant declines in salamander populations. Richmond was curious about what managers could do to protect these small amphibians. As an undergraduate at Middlebury College, Richmond collaborated with Professor Stephen Trombulak to assess the… (more)
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Birds in the Bush
A considerable amount of research has been conducted about the impact of timber management on bird habitat, but few if any scientific studies have examined how management for non-timber forest products affects birds. Steve Hagenbuch, a conservation biologist for Audubon Vermont, was curious about the bird populations in managed maple sugarbushes, so he examined this topic for his master’s thesis… (more)
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Tempest in a Teapot
Manipulating ecosystems to affect biodiversity and examine species interactions can be an overwhelming challenge, especially when trying to understand complete food webs. Unless, that is, the ecosystem is less than the size of a teacup. Harvard Forest ecologist Aaron Ellison and University of Vermont biologist Nick Gotelli are generating unexpected insights into food webs by studying the micro-ecosystem of the… (more)
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Fighting Fire Without Fire
In areas where even a light controlled burn can be dangerous to surrounding communities, forestry officials at the Massachusetts Division of Fish and Wildlife found that aggressive mechanical thinning of trees and understory can have a beneficial effect on rare wildlife. The Montague Plains Wildlife Management Area in west-central Massachusetts is one of the largest remaining inland, pitch pine-scrub oak… (more)