The Kaspari Lab
Category: new papers
The Great Diverse North? Flipping the latitudinal gradient.
Every student of Ecology learns that the variety of species declines as you move north or south from the equator. In a new paper led by Dr. Michael Weiser @NEONAnts we show the truth is more delightfully complex. And we…
Read MoreAs ecosystems heat and green, ant abundance and diversity increases; but too much heat and these communities lose colonies and species.
One paradox in the recent flurry of papers reporting insect declines is that insects—ectotherms that rely on external sources of heat—are often predicted to benefit as their environment warms. In an open access paper accepted as a Report in the…
Read MoreHerbivores like a little salt with their protein
When offered grassland plots fertilized with Nitrogen+Phosphorus, Sodium, or both, above and belowground invertebrates respond to salt differently.
Read MoreOne way to build a dietary generalist
Karl Roeder gives some background on the dietary diversity hidden in a population of red imported fire ants
Read MoreNot all male ants are “sperm missiles”
When your mating system calls for patience, male ants will stick around for a while.
Read MoreOn the salutary effect of the Kudos Email
If you like someone’s work, don’t just cite them, write them!
Read MoreThermal Diversity: the importance of a community perspective
In a Figure that Jon Shik says used a “shocking” color choice–but that the lead author (who is color blind) finds pleasant and peaceful–we plot the distribution of thermal maxima (or, CTmax, or “death temp”) of an assemblage of 87…
Read MoreNew Paper in Insectes Sociaux on Ants in Flight
Ant life cycles are complicated and varied, but in almost all species the queens have wings and fly through the atmosphere to mate and find new places to live. Drawing by Brittany Benson. Text by Jackson Helms. Go the publications…
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