Nature and wildlife topics from freshare.net

Humidity a Cue to Where the Nectar Is

2012-05-31T20:06:00-06:00

Plants and pollinators have co-evolved over millions of years. During that time, plants developed myriad means of attracting bees, flies and other animals to spread pollen and keep the plant species thriving. In similar fashion, pollinators developed specialized methods of collecting plant nectar, as well as a little pollen while they were at it. Recently, entomologists at the…

Technology to Monitor Bird Sounds

2012-05-31T18:44:00-06:00

Researchers at Oregon State University have created a new computer technology with the ability to listen to multiple bird sounds at one time, and identify which species are present as well as how they may be changing as a result of habitat loss or other factors. The system, one of the first of its type, should provide an…

Blowing in the Wind: How Hidden Flower Features Are Crucial for Bees

2012-05-31T18:06:01-06:00

Scientists in the United Kingdom discovered the crucial role played by conical cells observed on the petals of some plants. These cells have a sticky quality that help bees grip flowers, especially during high winds. The surface of flower petals is best viewed under an electron microscope, which enhances their stunning structure. According to Dr. Beverly Glover, the…

A Burning Question

2012-05-31T13:33:00-06:00

To burn, or not to burn? That’s a question natural resource managers have asked themselves for years—often coming up with conflicting answers. Joe Marschall, research specialist at the Missouri Tree Ring Laboratory in CAFNR’s Forestry Department, seeks to bring science to that debate. Marschall, who also coordinates the Oak Woodlands and Forests Fire Consortium, notes that not all…

Pesticide Makes Bees Finicky Eaters

2012-05-25T16:27:00-06:00

Links between pesticides and honeybee health continue. Researchers at the University of California San Diego discovered that even small doses of a common crop pesticide turned bees into finicky eaters, and inhibited their ability to communicate food sources to the rest of the hive. Bee colonies throughout the world have been decimated by colony collapse disorder since 2006.…

DNA Reveals Different Origins for Missouri Mountain Lions

2012-05-24T14:57:00-06:00

DNA test results show that four mountain lions seen in Missouri last year came from three Western states, illustrating the species’ capacity for long-distance travel. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) confirmed 14 mountain-lion sightings in 2011. That was a sharp increase from the previous 16 years, when MDC was able to document only 12 cougar sightings. …

Landowners Play Key Role in Elk Restoration

2012-05-24T14:46:00-06:00

Ron and Sandy Morton probably don’t think of themselves as being lynchpins in Missouri’s elk-restoration program. Nevertheless, their efforts to create habitat that benefits elk – and a wide range of other wildlife – could make the difference between success and failure of Missouri’s latest conservation saga. Since beginning its elk-restoration program last year, the Missouri Department of…

Never a Dull Day Fishing

2012-05-18T16:36:00-06:00

I hadn’t wet a line in a while, so my plan was to ply the waters of Capps Creek for a couple of hours in search of a few rainbow or brown trout. Capps is a location where I’ve either had great success catching fish, or left without as much as a nibble. Yesterday, it was the latter. …

Tips to Help Manage Property for Turkeys in Oklahoma

2012-05-15T13:15:00-06:00

It won’t be long until their eggs hatch and poults will be leaving their nest sites to start their lives as wild turkeys in Oklahoma. These birds will have a large home range so their management can be a bit tricky. However, Dwayne Elmore, Oklahoma Cooperative Extension wildlife specialist, has some good advice for proper management of the…

More Elk for Missouri Restoration to Arrive Mid-May

2012-05-08T15:23:00-06:00

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) will soon add 35 wild elk to the Show-Me state’s recently restored herd at Peck Ranch Conservation Area. Peck Ranch is part of a 221,000-acre elk-restoration zone that covers parts of Shannon, Carter and Reynolds counties. The elk are scheduled to arrive at the refuge area of Peck Ranch on May 18…

Warm Temperatures Continue Through April; May Rainfall Uncertain

2012-05-08T15:12:00-06:00

It’s too close to call yet, but April temperatures this year look to be cooler than March’s. “It’s rare, but occasionally it occurs where March is warmer than April,” said Pat Guinan, extension climatologist with the University of Missouri Commercial Agriculture Program. “The numbers are indicating it’s going to be very close, with both months averaging about 58…

One Million Observations in Nature’s Notebook

2012-05-04T14:18:01-06:00

Thanks to citizen-scientists around the country, the USA National Phenology Network hit a major milestone this week by reaching its one millionth nature observation. The millionth observation was done by Lucille Tower, a citizen-scientist in Portland, Ore., who entered a record about seeing maple vines flowering. Her data, like all of the entries, came in through USA-NPN’s online…

New Hope Arrives for Endangered Prairie Chickens

2012-05-04T14:08:01-06:00

Greater prairie chickens, missing for some years among the grasses at Wah-Kon-Tah Prairie, strutted and boomed again this spring in an eons-old mating ritual. Biologists, digging deep in grassland ecology to save the species in Missouri, brought them back. Now, they watch to see if this iconic but state-endangered member of the grouse family can be restored longterm to prairies…

Shrew Not Normally from Arkansas Found in the Ozarks

2012-05-04T14:00:00-06:00

In a recently published research paper in the Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, researchers announced the identification in the Arkansas Ozarks of a species of shrew not previously known to exist in the state. The northern short-tailed shrew, which is generally distributed in the northern United States, was found in Madison, Newton, Pope, Sharp and Van Buren counties.…

Earbones Accurately Record a Fish’s Life Travels

2012-05-02T15:05:00-06:00

Studying the earbones of trout can reveal their lifetime movements in a large river system, according to a study released in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. Researchers correlated the natural variation in strontium isotopes found in stream waters against those recorded in the earbones (otoliths) of cutthroat trout. This enabled the scientists to examine fish movements during…

Bear Awareness Extra Important in Springtime

2012-05-02T14:41:00-06:00

Resource Scientist Jeff Beringer has a piece of advice for Missouri outdoors people and landowners: Be bear aware. Beringer is the bear specialist for the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC). When someone sees a bear somewhere in the Show-Me State, they call him. His phone rings more often each spring, and this year is no exception. …

Do Genes Rule Behavior?

2012-04-26T18:50:01-06:00

Age determines stereotypical roles worker honeybees assume. When they are only a few days old, they take on the tasks of feeding the brood and producing beeswax to seal cells in the hive where larvae develop. After a week, she moves on to other tasks, such as grooming other bees and packing pollen in the nest. Only as her life…

6.8 Million Birds Die Each Year at Communication Towers

2012-04-26T14:47:00-06:00

Nearly 7 million birds die every year as they migrate from the United States and Canada to Central and South America, according to a new study published by the Public Library of Science. The birds are killed by the 84,000 communication towers that dot North America, some rising as high as 2,000 feet skyward. “This is a tragedy…

Antibiotic Resistance Flourishes in Freshwater Systems

2012-04-26T14:36:00-06:00

Dr. Seuss may have been on to something when he imagined that microscopic communities could live and flourish on small specs of dust, barely visible to the naked eye. In fact, such vibrant communities actually exist in a material with a delightfully Seussical sounding—yet scientific—name: “floc.” McMaster University researchers discovered that floc, a “goo-like” substance occurring suspended in…

Fight Against Cancer May Hold Lessons for Battling Aquatic Invasive Species

2012-04-25T14:02:00-06:00

Lessons learned from the medical community’s progress in fighting cancer can provide a framework to help prevent the introduction and spread of harmful aquatic invasive species, according to a study released in American Scientist. With more than 6,500 harmful non-native species causing more than 100 billion dollars in economic damage each year in the United States, more effective…

Talking with the Animals

2012-04-20T01:43:00-06:00

When Dr. Doolittle longed to converse with animals, I’m not sure he had worms in mind. But a team of California Institute of Technology scientists got down in the dirt to discover a communication technique used by nematodes, one of the most abundant animals on Earth. Scientists already discovered that many other animals display means of communicating within…

Pining for Economic Opportunity

2012-04-19T23:52:00-06:00

On a sunny, spring morning, Ray Glendening and his crew at CAFNR’s Horticulture and Agroforestry Research Center (HARC) harvested a little-known crop in Missouri—pine straw. The harvest is the result of successful research breeding pitch pines, which have cold tolerance, with loblolly pines, which have long needles necessary for good mulch. Pitch/loblolly hybrid pines offer a market to…

Searching for the Scissortail

2012-04-17T18:03:00-06:00

Now is the time to start searching for the scissor-tailed flycatcher on its way north from the tropics to spend the summer throughout Oklahoma, and in western Arkansas as well as south central and southwest Missouri. This area includes three of the seven states in which the bird nests.

Scientists Discover How Plants Escape Shade

2012-04-17T17:59:01-06:00

Mild mannered though they seem, plants are extremely competitive, especially when it comes to getting their fair share of sunlight. Whether a forest or a farm, where plants grow, a battle wages for the sun’s rays. A plant’s primary weapon in this fight is the ability to grow towards the light, getting just the amount it needs and…

Bats Save Energy by Drawing in Wings on Upstroke

2012-04-13T13:06:00-06:00

Whether people are building a flying machine or nature is evolving one, there is pressure to optimize efficiency. A new analysis by biologists, physicists, and engineers at Brown University reveals the subtle but important degree to which that pressure has literally shaped the flapping wings of bats. The team’s observations and calculations show that by flexing their wings…