Category Archives: community ecology

The key to a productive ecosystem may be plant neighbors’ chemistry

Posted on 25 Jul, 2023 by Jeremy Yoder

One of the grand patterns across the diversity of flowering plants is that major groups of species are deeply united by shared chemistry, especially “secondary” biochemical products that don’t directly contribute to processes like photosynthesis, growth, and reproduction. Secondary compounds … Continue reading →

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Shedding light on symbiotic relationships

Posted on 5 Feb, 2021 by Kelle Freel

Lots of critters glow in the dark, but most of them aren’t found in just any back yard…unless that back yard happens to be the beach. The ocean is full of bioluminescent critters that use light to attract prey (possibly … Continue reading →

Posted in community ecology, ecology, microbiology, natural history, Symbiosis | Tagged | Leave a comment

Ask GEVEs

Posted on 31 Dec, 2020 by Kelle Freel

Yikes. This year has been a doozy, and while we all know that the hand on the wall (if you have one of those old fashioned things) that strikes midnight on December 31st will not put out the dumpster fires … Continue reading →

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The Molecular Ecologist Podcast: Rivers and rabbit resistance

Posted on 6 Jul, 2020 by Jeremy Yoder

A new episode of The Molecular Ecologist Podcast is now out on Anchor.fm. In this episode, Sarah Shainker tells us about how population genetic structure works differently in river drainages; Kelle Freel recaps her reading on the history of rabbits and rabbit-killing viruses … Continue reading →

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Genes rolling down the river

Posted on 12 Jun, 2020 by Stacy Krueger-Hadfield

Sarah Shainker wrote this post as a part of Dr. Stacy Krueger-Hadfield’s Conservation Genetics course at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Sarah completed a B.S. in Marine Biology at the College of Charleston before serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines, … Continue reading →

Posted in bioinformatics, blogging, citizen science, Coevolution, community ecology, comparative phylogeography, DNA barcoding, ecology, evolution, fieldwork, haploid-diploid, natural history, Science Communication | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

The miraculous biodiversity bubbling in your sourdough starter

Posted on 1 Jun, 2020 by Jeremy Yoder

I made it through four weeks of Los Angeles’ COVID-19 shelter in place order before I climbed aboard the isolation sourdough bandwagon. It took more effort than expected just to stay on. I followed a protocol provided on the King … Continue reading →

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It’s the city life for me… or maybe not.

Posted on 29 May, 2020 by Stacy Krueger-Hadfield

Michael Fitch wrote this post as part of Dr. Stacy Krueger-Hadfield’s Evolution course at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He completed a B.S. in Biology from the UAB and is currently considering entering the Master’s program.  Current interests… all over … Continue reading →

Posted in bioinformatics, blogging, community ecology, comparative phylogeography, conservation, ecology, evolution, genomics, mammals, population genetics, Science Communication | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The spirit of Antarctic invasions future?

Posted on 21 Apr, 2020 by Stacy Krueger-Hadfield

Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol during a change in how Victorian England viewed the Christmas holiday. It’s clearly not Christmas … and certainly isn’t a jolly time. But, taking some artistic liberty from how Dickens outlined the five chapters of … Continue reading →

Posted in blogging, community ecology, comparative phylogeography, conservation, DNA barcoding, ecology, evolution, mini-review, natural history, phylogeography, Science Communication | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Molecular Ecologist Podcast: #StudentSciComm, diversity within an algae bloom, the origins of a vital mutualism, and population genetics in continuous space

Posted on 13 Apr, 2020 by Jeremy Yoder

A new episode of The Molecular Ecologist Podcast is now out on Anchor.fm. The Molecular Ecologist Podcast made it to a second episode! Thanks for listening to our first one, and for all the positive comments. In addition to our “home” … Continue reading →

Posted in association genetics, community, community ecology, housekeeping, microbiology, population genetics, Science Communication, TME Podcast | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A bloom by any other name

Posted on 7 Apr, 2020 by Kelle Freel

Once a year during the spring, when conditions are juuuuust right, phytoplankton are terrible at social distancing. This annual bloom that takes place in the spring from 35º North in the North Atlantic and reaches all the way to the … Continue reading →

Posted in community ecology, ecology, microbiology | Tagged , | 1 Comment