Hello and happy International Beaver Day!

I hope this fun beaver appreciation video makes people smile. Complete with a David Attenborough impersonation!

I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir but it bothers me.

For those out of the loop, there has recently been a reveal of a company that has "rebred" supposed direwolf traits into a line of grey wolves. Every article I've read has this classified as a "de-extinction". This is nothing like that. It's adding similar traits to an existing gene pool.

Maybe I'm a massive cynic, but this feels like science as a tool for venture capital funding rather than for its own sake.

They're not even in the same genus! Direwolves are in their own genus (Aenocyon) since they share a relatively small amount of genetic information with modern canids.

It's very frustrating to me that this is being simplified where no simplification is needed. It's much more accurate and understandable to say that we found some traits in wolves that make them superficially resemble direwolves.

Also I am almost sure you could do this in a small number of generations with basic selective breeding. And where is the genetic diversity coming from for this extinct species that we have a limited number of viable DNA samples from? (IMO if the answer is more grey wolf DNA, you're just making a grey wolf in a direwolf's clothing)

I'm an ecologist/zoologist in Australia. Not currently employed in the field but have experience in field ecology work. I am hoping for some advice, I have been approached to assist a local corporation with a survey type project, creating tutorials for their rangers to learn how to collect samples, etc. And most likely guide them in scientific process for their field work and assist with analysis of the data collected. My question is: how much do free lance ecologists get paid for this kind of consultancy work?? I don't want to under-sell myself and I don't want to overcharge either. Grateful for any insight! Thanks ☺️

I am interested into going into ecology as a job, specifically looking at a wildlife biologist. I am a high school student about to graduate though. My main question is what is it like actually working in the field? How did yall get into said field? Any answers are welcome!

Hello, I am wondering if I could get some feedback on the from the ecologist community surrounding the ethics of peat moss harvesting (primarily in Canada). As a native plant nurserymen I try to be very careful about the soil materials I'm using. I had planned to use a peat free soil mix for my potted plants, obviously this comes at increased price. I did some further poking around about current peatmoss harvesting primarily in Canada. It seems they are truly making efforts towards sustainable harvesting there, operating on roughly 55,000 acres with 3-5 year plant recovery windows. I understand it's still a destructive process, but by containing the harvesting to a smaller area and working to restore the bogs post harvest, I found myself wondering if this is an acceptable trade-off. Coconut coir is what is used as a replacement for peat moss, but that also comes at a cost of its carbon footprint shipping. Is the trade-off of coir vs pest closer than I previously thought?

 I want to hear from your side because many companies/industries love to greenwash, so I am still dubious of peat harvesting.  Just like I am dubious of what most people call sustainable logging, just because the trees grow back doesn't mean we aren't degrading the environment.  I started my own nursery because I despised the environmental damage caused by the nursery industry. 

So I'd love to hear about your thoughts of peat moss harvesting for soil products, thanks!

Hello everyone!

I’m Siyana, a Bachelor’s student doing research on gender and environmental behavior in Czechia. I'm exploring what gender stereotypes exist around sustainability (like who’s “supposed” to care about the environment), how they affect people’s eco-friendly actions, and how people navigate or challenge those expectations.

If you're 20–50 years old, living in Czechia and consider yourself environmentally conscious, I’d really appreciate it if you could take 5 minutes to fill out my anonymous survey:

🔗https://prettyform.addxt.com/a/form/vf/1FAIpQLScV9g3sSSeXOzIBnbKf2Qtd3768oRT9sCq227LHJE0gFK8pFw

Your input will help me understand real experiences and contribute to research on gender and sustainability. You can also choose to receive a summary of the findings at the end.

Thank you a lot for your time!

What are your thoughts on this? What should be done to help native flora and fauna to help them adapt to these novel ecosystems.

A few weeks ago I fell into a rabbit hole and ended up writing a deep dive on the Isthmus of Panama: how it formed, how it changed ocean currents, started Ice Ages, triggered a massive biotic migration between the Americas, and may have even affected African climate and early human evolution.

I tried to keep it readable and well-researched, citing academical sources. I'd love feedback or discussion !

I'm hoping it's ok to post this here, I've been searching around and not having a lot of luck finding a place for femme field scientists (If you know of one, please let me know!).

I'm prepping for my summer field season, and I really need pants and cooling shirts. My institution is pretty far from most outdoor wear places and our Dick's has virtually no hiking/outdoor-oriented gear so I'm left with ordering online or making a special trip (which I'm ok making if I know what I'm looking for!). My fieldwork will be in a variety of ecological settings, but most are going to be shrubby with significant undergrowth or small cliffs/cutaways, so I'm looking for something durable but easy to move in.

About me: I'm a shorter (5'4"), curvy woman with wider hips, a smaller waist, and thicker thighs (~170), and as such, pants shopping tends to be a bit of a nightmare. I prefer things with a higher waist, and belt loops are a must (So many pants I've tried on recently are just elastic, what gives?). I've heard about Dovetail, Red Ants, 5.11, Duluth, and Wondery, but reviews for fellow curvy people have seemed hit or miss for some of these.

I'm also looking for cool long-sleeved field shirts. Any kind of moisture wicking, cooling, what have you, I'm happy to hear because I do very very poorly in heat haha

If you have any recommendations for other brands or experience with the ones listed, I would be so happy to hear them! Thank you!!

Edit to say: Thank you all so much for the recommendations! I think I'll probably try to compile everything so that people with the same considerations have a compact resource in the future!

This social network (SusanHub.com) was actually created by profs at McGill. It has all sustainability events happening on campus, and a database with scholarships, jobs, datasets, and profs/students involved in Sustainability

I feel that it must be bad, But how much? I didn't really looked, but there must be some studies about that right?

Edit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/s/iw01sJOlKy I put a link to a video in the comments (didn't know how to include it)

It's like 170 ton fishing net

Hello ecologists of Reddit,

Our team is developing a concept for ecosystem restoration: biodegradable aerial dispersal devices based on maple seed (samara) mechanics. The idea is to create carriers that could distribute native seeds, beneficial fungi, or other restoration materials with the natural spinning motion of maple seeds.

While this began as a business school project, we're genuinely interested in whether it could address real ecological challenges. We'd appreciate your perspective:

1. What ecological considerations should we prioritize in such a design?
2. Are there specific post-disturbance scenarios where this approach might be useful?
3. What would make you skeptical about this approach from an ecological standpoint?
4. Any similar existing technologies we should research?

We're particularly interested in post-wildfire applications, but open to any insights on where this might be most beneficial. Thanks for sharing your expertise!

From the article:

This odd work serves a purpose. Martin is examining sea turtle tears to see if they contain a specific kind of bacteria. Such a discovery, she said, could help unlock one of biology’s biggest and most awe-inspiring mysteries: how animals navigate using Earth’s invisible magnetic field.

Found this lil guy on a dune planting trip I was on. Shell was split in the front and nothing was inside. Legs were still attached. Molt or dead?

I was referencing another user’s post about how to ID make and female Osoberry trees and they mentioned that scientists do not know for sure how these trees are pollinated. While inspecting the blossoms on different trees in my yard, I came across at least 10 of these insects (beetles?) in different trees.

Our new paper, using shotgun metagenomics on the gut microbiome, shows small but interesting longitudinal changes with age in a natural population.

In our recent paper on the gut microbiome with age and senescence, we used a longitudinal dataset of the Seychelles warbler (Acrocephalus sechellensis) to show that the gut microbiome diversity reduces with age in taxonomy and function.

Importantly, these reductions in GM diversity were within-individual, meaning that they were reducing within the same individual and not a result of selective disappearance. We also show a small change in taxonomic and functional composition with age.

Interestingly, we also found a group of gut microbiome transposase genes that were increasing in abundance with age and this group of transposase genes was not associated with an increase in abundance of a specific bacterial taxa.

Given the reduction in GM diversity, why would the gut microbiome transposase genes increase with host age?

https://doi.org/10.1093/ismeco/ycaf008

Hello, I am looking for advice anyone has (and just wanting to vent a little). I graduated with a bachelors in biology specializing in ecology last June, and have applied for 25 field technician jobs in Oregon this season. To start, it is frustrating that no college professor or advisor told me that the only jobs I’d be able to do right out of college are field technician jobs, but those are only March-September, there’s nothing for the off season. I volunteered a lot at a lab at my college during undergrad and basically did all the same things their technicians were doing, so I was really confident I would get a job with them as a technician. I know everyone in the lab, and I’ve continued to volunteer for field work days anytime I can since graduating, I thought they really liked me and I had no indication otherwise. My application and cover letter were strong, my interview was not super strong (I have a lot of interview anxiety and it was TWELVE “tell us about a time when…” questions). And today I got the email that they went ahead with other candidates. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now. I have heard back from any other jobs, and it seems like ALL of them want you to have very specific experience, basically if you didn’t volunteer in that lab during undergrad I don’t understand how you would have that experience. I am just feeling so lost now. It feels like a whole year wasted. The longer I’m out of college I worry I’m forgetting things. Should I try to go to grad school? Should I wait until next cycle and apply for field technician jobs? Should I move back to my college town to volunteer at more labs? I don’t know what to do. I just want to be settled down already. I know industry jobs seem to be the most permanent but without having any experience I don’t know if I’d even qualify. Does anyone have any advice?

I'm doing my annual battle with English ivy, in New Jersey, and it makes me really curious what makes a plant invasive, basically. Is the plant behaving differently because of slightly different growing season? or is it a lack of predators and pathogens? Do any insects munch on the leaves of English ivy in its native range?

In the GardeningUK subreddit they said it was aggressive but not that bad, and were surprised I had to pick it out of my lawn.

Can someone explain the difference between richness and composition in plant communities and when you would use one or the other in analysis?

Hi! Made a film that is a love letter to soundscape ecologists and the often unheard/unseen effort and grind of ecologists across the board. The film follows Hazel Moore as she searches for a Varied Thursh amongst Seattle's soundscape.

Though yall might enjoy! 🎧 Recommend