Tag: insects

Human-wildlife interactions, Monitoring and methods, Research summaries, Urban ecosystems

Streetlights disrupt both flying and crawling invertebrates—but not in the same ways

A new study by Lockett and colleagues explores how the proximity, intensity and colour of streetlighting impacts arthropods occupying different spatial niches, by simultaneously sampling flying and ground-dwelling invertebrates. It is well known that artificial light at night (ALAN) can attract and kill insects and other invertebrates, but do creepy-crawlies and flying invertebrates respond the same way? Does the colour and intensity of lighting matter? … Continue reading Streetlights disrupt both flying and crawling invertebrates—but not in the same ways

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Careers, Journal news, The Applied Ecologist community

Welcoming our new ESE Associate Editors – 2020

Following our open call for applicants over the summer, we are pleased to welcome 14 new Associate Editors to the Ecological Solutions and Evidence Editorial Board. We are delighted to further expand the expertise and diversity of our board through the open call, with ecologists joining us from 9 different countries and bringing expertise from both academic research and on-the-ground practice. You can find out … Continue reading Welcoming our new ESE Associate Editors – 2020

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Citizen science, Editor's Choice

Editor’s Choice 56:10 – How to conduct citizen science that works

Our October Editor’s Choice looks at the value citizen science brings to monitoring programmes and how to ensure that value doesn’t go to waste. Associate Editor, Yolanda F. Wiersma, discusses the selected article, Balancing sampling intensity against spatial coverage for a community science monitoring programme. Citizen science (also termed ‘community science’), the involvement of non-credentialed scientists (‘ordinary citizens’) in a scientific research project, has a … Continue reading Editor’s Choice 56:10 – How to conduct citizen science that works

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Agriculture, Perspectives, The Applied Ecologist community

On the horizon: omega-3 fatty acids in oil crops – saving fish or threatening insects?

An emerging genetic technology that makes oilseed crops produce omega-3 fatty acids promises health and sustainability benefits, but there’s a potential adverse impact on insects that hardly anyone is talking about. Lynn Dicks and Xavier Le Roux round off our ‘On the horizon’ series. Polyunsaturated, long chain omega-3 fatty acids are the reason why healthy diet recommendations usually include seafood and oily fish like salmon, … Continue reading On the horizon: omega-3 fatty acids in oil crops – saving fish or threatening insects?

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Pollinators

Bumblebees are frequent flyers – what are the impacts?

Addressing pollinator introduction policy and the effects introduced species can have on local ecosystems, Romina Rader, Manu Saunders and Tobias Smith discuss the recent Policy Direction, Coordinated species importation policies are needed to reduce serious invasions globally: The case of alien bumblebees in South America by Aizen et al. Bumblebees (Bombus spp.) are large, iconic pollinators of many wild flowers and crops.  Their ability to … Continue reading Bumblebees are frequent flyers – what are the impacts?

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Translation

Strawberry fields forever – with Spanish translation

In this post, Associate Editor, Cristina Garcia comments on the effects of pesticides on pollinators and the recent article by Horth & Campbell, Supplementing small farms with native mason bees increases strawberry size and growth rate. Cristina has also provided a Spanish translation of this post. Most plant species, including crops, require mutualistic interactions with animals to pollinate their flowers and fulfill their demographic cycle. The … Continue reading Strawberry fields forever – with Spanish translation

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Editor's Choice, Pollinators

Editor’s Choice 54:5 – Quantifying the collateral damage of neonicotinoid insecticides on bees

Issue 54:5’s Editor’s Choice is written by Sarah Diamond. The article chosen is Planting of neonicotinoid-treated maize poses risks for honey bees and other non-target organisms over a wide area without consistent crop yield benefit by C. Krupke et al. As humans modify natural environments, we are witnessing the steady accumulation of unintended, cascading effects across biological communities. Biocontrol agents have escaped their intended targets … Continue reading Editor’s Choice 54:5 – Quantifying the collateral damage of neonicotinoid insecticides on bees

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Research summaries

Fatal attraction of Spotted Wing Drosophila to a yeast symbiont, for sustainable control

In this blog post Joelle Lemmen, Alix Whitener, Boyd Mori and Peter Witzgall discuss the recent paper by Boyd Mori and colleagues ‘Enhanced yeast feeding following mating facilitates control of the invasive fruit pest Drosophila suzukii‘ Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD) is currently the most economically important insect in Europe and North America. SWD damages a wide range of our favourite berries and soft fruit, including … Continue reading Fatal attraction of Spotted Wing Drosophila to a yeast symbiont, for sustainable control

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Research summaries

Not all herbivores are created equal – Characterizing population-level damage potential in migratory pests

In this post Gina Angelella discusses the recent paper from Sanford Eigenbrode and colleagues ‘Host-adapted aphid populations differ in their migratory patterns and capacity to colonize crops‘ When encountering a migratory insect such as a winged aphid, how confidently can one predict its origins and threat to crops? It is tricky enough to track the dispersal of a homogeneous species, but the addition of population-level … Continue reading Not all herbivores are created equal – Characterizing population-level damage potential in migratory pests

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Forests, Practitioners, Research summaries

We may be underestimating the negative impacts of logging on the biodiversity of tropical forests

In this post Filipe França & Hannah Griffiths discuss their recent paper ’Do space-for-time assessments underestimate the impacts of logging on tropical biodiversity? An Amazonian case study using dung beetles The difficulty in developing strong researcher-practitioner relationships is a central ‘stumbling block’ in conservation science. Unfortunately this means that more often than not the policy implications of ecological research don’t reach the people responsible for … Continue reading We may be underestimating the negative impacts of logging on the biodiversity of tropical forests

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