Wild Things: Yeti Crabs, Guppies and Ravens
Tree killers and the first beds ever round up this month in wildlife news
- By T.A. Frail, Laura Helmuth, Joseph Stromberg, Erin Wayman And Sarah Zielinski
- Smithsonian magazine, February 2012
(Tim Fitzharris / Minden Pictures)
After a drought in the West several years ago, aspen trees started dying in large numbers. The drought ended, but “sudden aspen decline” continued and now affects 17 percent of Western aspen forests. A Stanford University-led study in 51 Colorado sites found that aspens’ ability to transport water has been impaired, particularly in their roots. Researchers conclude that ongoing thirst is causing die-offs.
Additional Sources
“The roles of hydraulic and carbon stress in a widespread climate-induced forest die-off,” William R. L. Anderegg et al., PNAS, December 13, 2011
“Dancing for Food in the Deep Sea: Bacterial Farming by a New Species of Yeti Crab,” Andrew R. Thurber et al., PLoS ONE, November 30, 2011
“The use of referential gestures in ravens (Corvus corax) in the wild,” Simone Pika and Thomas Bugnyar, Nature Communications, November 29, 2011
“Middle Stone Age Bedding Construction and Settlement Patterns at Sibudu, South Africa,” Lyn Wadley et al., Science, December 9, 2011
“Social preferences based on sexual attractiveness: a female strategy to reduce male sexual attention,” Josefine B. Brask et al., Proceedings of the Royal Society B, December 7, 2011
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