Plants and flammability—Deep inside the mechanisms of wild fires – Functional Ecologists

In this revisited blog post, Indra Boving, a PhD candidate at University of California-Santa Barbara, USA, shares her work ‘Live fuel moisture and water potential exhibit differing relationships with leaf-level…

Astrocytes Remember: A New Layer of Immune Memory Uncovered

Summary: Astrocytes, traditionally non-immune cells within the central nervous system, possess the ability to develop an immune memory, responding more vigorously to subsequent immune challenges. This groundbreaking study reveals that…

AI Matches Humans in Vocal Emotion Detection

Summary: Machine learning (ML) models can accurately identify emotions from brief audio clips, achieving a level of accuracy comparable to humans. By analyzing nonsensical sentences to remove the influence of…

American bullfrogs may be threatening a rare frog species in Brazil

American bullfrog DNA has turned up not far from the only known habitat of Pithecopus rusticus — a small, critically endangered tree frog that lives in Brazil. Bullfrogs are native…

Why does temperature determine sex in long-lived reptiles? – Functional Ecologists

In this blog post, Samantha Bock, a post-doctoral researcher, discusses her study “Differential early-life survival underlies the adaptive significance of temperature-dependent sex determination in a long-lived reptile“, which has been…

Curious what chickens cluck about? AI is decoding the language of poultry

Unlocking Potential: A Short Course Boosts Grit and Self-Belief

Summary: A novel method offers a promising approach to enhancing grit and self-belief. Through a pilot study involving 38 Norwegian students, this method, encapsulated in a 35-40 minute online course…

Root diversity in grasslands buffers biomass production under drought – Functional Ecologists

In this post, Lina Aoyama, a PhD student at the University of Oregon, discusses their research “Functional diversity buffers biomass production across variable rainfall conditions through different processes above- versus…

Serotonin-Producing Gut Bacteria in Newborns Shields Against Allergies

Summary: New research highlights the critical role of unique gut bacteria in newborns, producing serotonin to educate immune cells and prevent allergic reactions early in life. The study reveals that…

Paws for Thought: Dog Interaction Boosts Brainwaves and Relaxation

Summary: A new study highlights the psychological and neurological benefits of interacting with dogs, revealing that activities such as playing and walking with dogs enhance brain wave strengths linked to…