In a new study, a team of scientists determined the minimum natural habitat on agricultural land that will allow insect pollinators 鈥� including bumble bees, solitary bees, hoverflies and butterflies 鈥� to thrive. 91探花News reached out to co-author Berry Brosi, 91探花professor of biology, to learn more about these results and how habitat is important to two types of bees native to Washington.
A new study by researchers at the 91探花 shows that losing a particular group of endangered animals 鈥� those that eat fruit and help disperse the seeds of trees and other plants 鈥� could severely disrupt seed-dispersal networks in the Atlantic Forest, a shrinking stretch of tropical forest and critical biodiversity hotspot on the coast of Brazil.
Scientists at the 91探花 and Emory University report that an antibiotic sprayed on orchard crops to combat bacterial diseases slows the cognition of bumblebees and reduces their foraging efficiency. The study, published Feb. 9 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, focused on streptomycin, an antibiotic used increasingly in U.S. agriculture during the past decade.