Insects
Pines detect insect sex pheromones and protect themselves from infestation
Through research conducted on young Scots pine trees and Diprion pini, a sawfly common to conifer forests in the Northern Hemisphere, scientists have shown, for the first time, how trees take steps to protect themselves against insect infestation even before eggs are laid on them.
“There are comparative grievances on the cost of living and University fees during the PhD” explains Sara Reverté
The CREAF ecologist has participated in a series of interviews by the English journal Functional Ecology to researchers from all over the world to learn about their experiences during the PhD and to understand how it works in each country.
About flowers, insects and networks
Nature establishes relationships between species and organisms, forming a very complex network where often great-interconnected nodes appear. They are called 'hubs'. But humans also create this kind of networks, such as airports as nodes and flights as connections.
To Nacho and Marc.
Sergio Osorio defends his doctoral thesis and shows that the rules of ecology can still be revised
Are the insects which begin their adult life in the coldest months the largest? An accepted paradigm within ecology, Bergmann's rule, says that organisms in the coldest regions of the Earth tend to be larger. Two months ago, Sergio Osorio presented his doctoral thesis at CREAF in which he analyzed this principle to test if seasonality is also related with body size.
Climate change could change the gender ratio of acorn weevils
According to a study in which CREAF participated, the delay of late-summer rains could change the equilibrium between males and females in these Mediterranean weevils, favoring the females. The authors have shown that male weevils are more sensitive to prolonged drought.
Increased ozone levels reduce flowers' sex appeal
New research finds that as climate change increases ozone levels, pollinators will have a harder timing finding plants that feed them. That’s going to be a problem for the bees that pollinate a third of the world’s food supply. Flowers and other plants rely on microscopic scent molecules to attract the bees and other pollinators that feed on them.
Flowers pollinized by insects are more fragrant than those pollinized by the wind
A study published in the journal Biochemical Systematics and Ecologyand carried out by a team of CREAF researchers has shown that pollination by insects increases emissions of the molecules that give flowers their odors. Flower fragrances are needed to attract insects and guarantee the exchange of pollen with other flowers.