Sulfoxaflor is a globally important novel insecticide that can have negative impacts on the reproductive output of bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) colonies. However, it remains unclear as to which life-history stage is critically affected by exposure. One hypothesis is that sulfoxaflor exposure early in the colony’s life cycle can impair larval development, reducing the number of workers produced, and ultimately lowering colony reproductive output. Here we assess the influence of sulfoxaflor exposure on bumblebee larval mortality...

The infographic is a qucik guide for students to help them to develop their feedbakc literacy skills.

The glossary comprises a series of assessment terms that students may encounter in assesment briefs. They are colour-coded according to where they sit within Bloom's Taxonomy. Academics can use these terms in their assessment briefs and rubrics and then refer students to the glossary for definitions.

The glossary comprises a series of assessment terms that students may encounter in assesment briefs. They are colour-coded according to where they sit within Bloom's Taxonomy. Academics can use these terms in their assessment briefs and rubrics and then refer students to the glossary for definitions.

Abstract There is debate within the literature about whether resilience should be considered a stable character trait or a dynamic, changeable process (state). Two widely used measures to assess resilience are the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and the Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA). The aim of this study was to evaluate the true stability (invariance) and change across time in resilience captured by these two measures. Using the perspective of Latent State-Trait theory, the aim...

Abstract There is debate within the literature about whether resilience should be considered a stable character trait or a dynamic, changeable process (state). Two widely used measures to assess resilience are the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and the Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA). The aim of this study was to evaluate the true stability (invariance) and change across time in resilience captured by these two measures. Using the perspective of Latent State-Trait theory, the aim...

Sulfoximine-based insecticides, such as sulfoxaflor, are of increasing global importance and have been registered for use in 81 countries, offering a potential alternative to neonicotinoid insecticides. Previous studies have demonstrated that sulfoxaflor exposure can have a negative impact on the reproductive output of bumblebee colonies, but the specific life-history variables that underlie these effects remain unknown. Here, we used a microcolony-based protocol to assess the sub-lethal effects of chronic sulfoxaflor exposure on egg laying, larval...

Across several animal taxa, the evolution of sociality involves a suite of characteristics, a ‘social syndrome’, that includes cooperative breeding, reproductive skew, primary female biased sex-ratio, and the transition from outcrossing to inbreeding mating system, factors that are expected to reduce effective population size (Ne). This social syndrome may be favoured by short-term benefits but come with long-term costs, because the reduction in Ne amplifies loss of genetic diversity by genetic drift, ultimately restricting the...

Bumblebees are essential pollinators of crops and wild plants, but are in decline across the globe. Neonicotinoid pesticides have been implicated as a potential driver of these declines, but most of our evidence base comes from studies of a single species. There is an urgent need to understand whether such results can be generalized across a range of species. Here, we present results of a laboratory experiment testing the impacts of field-relevant doses (1.87–5.32 ppb)...

We currently face significant, anthropogenic, global environmental challenges and therole of ecologists in mitigating these challenges is arguably more important than ever. Consequently there is an urgent need to recruit and train future generations of ecologists, both those whose main area is ecology, but also those involved in the geological, biological and environmental sciences. Here we present the results of a horizon scanning exercise that identified current and future challenges facing the teaching of ecology,...

1. Subterranean detritivores such as earthworms can increase soil nutrient availability through their burrowing and casting activities. A number of recent studies have explored whether these changes caused by earthworms may in turn affect plant performance and resistance to herbivores, but no formal synthesis of this literature has been conducted to date. 2. We here formally tested for the effects of earthworms on plant growth, resistance and chemical defence against insect herbivores by performing a...

Urbanisation represents a rapidly growing driver of land-use change. While it is clear that urbanisation impacts species abundance and diversity, direct effects of urban land-use on animal reproductive success are rarely documented. Here we show that urban land-use is linked to long-term colony reproductive output in a key pollinator. We reared colonies from wild-caught bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) queens, placed them at sites characterised by varying degrees of urbanisation from inner city to rural farmland, and...

The power curve provides a basis for predicting adjustments that animals make in flight speed, for example in relation to wind, distance, habitat foraging quality and objective. However, relatively few studies have examined how animals respond to the landscape below them, which could affect speed and power allocation through modifications in climb rate and perceived predation risk. We equipped homing pigeons (Columba livia) with high-frequency loggers to examine how flight speed, and hence effort, varies...

1. Animal-borne logging devices are now commonly used to record and monitor the movements, physiology and behaviours of free-living animals. It is imperative that the impacts these devices have on the animals themselves is minimised. 2. One important consideration is the interaction between the body mass of the animal, and the mass of the device. 3. Using captive homing pigeons, we demonstrate that birds lose the equivalent amount of body mass compared to that of...

A collection of research material related to the Livelihood Fire Database (LIFE), a global database of contemporary subsistence-oriented and smallholder fire use and mitigation practices in over 580 case study locations described in the literature.

Coordinated responses in eusocial insect colonies arise from worker interaction networks that enable collective processing of ecologically relevant information. Previous studies have detected a structural motif in these networks known as the feed-forward loop, which functions to process information in other biological regulatory networks (e.g., transcriptional networks). However, the processes that generate feed-forward loops among workers and the consequences for information flow within the colony remain largely unexplored. We constructed an agent-based model to investigate...

This dataset contains information about how seeds collected from Brazilian Cerrado plant species germinate in smoke water and control water solutions. Seeds were collected from site across the Cerrado between 2013 and 2020. Germination was assessed in laboratory experiments by placing seeds on wet filter paper with water and smoke water solutions. Two different methods were used. One used a commercially available smokewater, Regen 2000 and the other used smoke water produced from burning biomass...

Performance score for 'Mensura' (2022), written for open ensemble and Soundbrenner vibrating metronomes.

This edition was made by transcribing the outputs generated by a GAN machine learning algorithm, trained on digital scans of the Old Hall MS (British Library, Add MS 57950). The algorithm was trained in collaboration with PRiSM RNCM. The edition was developed in collaboration with EXAUDI vocal ensemble.

The dataset comprises of sedimentological, geochemical, biological and chronological data from a sediment core record extracted from Kiteschsee Lake sediment, Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, South Shetland Islands. We undertook multi-proxy analyses (diatom, grain size, geochemical and sedimentological) on a 77 cm-long sediment record extracted from the flat-bottomed eastern basin depocentre of Kiteschsee Lake and compared data obtained with published lake records from the Fildes Peninsula. Data collected in this study were funded by: Centro...

Score for Morrow, created by Robin Haigh and Zubin Kanga

Supplementary information (PDF 53 kB)

Producer diversity is known to affect a wide range of ecosystem processes including plant growth and insect pest resistance. Consumers such as mammalian herbivores too have been shown to modify plant growth and insect herbivory by triggering changes in host plants. However, few studies have investigated whether consumer effects interact with plant species diversity effects on a focal plant. To unravel consumer-diversity interactions, we recorded both the presence and intensity of winter browsing by moose...