Experiments pinpointed genetic variants associated with successful adaptation to climate change

UC Berkeley News: One-of-a-kind experiment tracked plant evolution in response to climate change at 30 sites worldwideMoisés Expósito-Alonso with the two lead authors of the new study, Tatiana Bellagio and Xing Wu (holding a tray of Arabidopsis seedlings).

Sunbird uses tongue to suck up nectar

UC Berkeley News: Sunbirds suck, scientists find. Hummingbirds don't: “It’s just a really amazing example of the power and beauty of convergent evolution, where in nature we have two organisms filling the same ecological role, but when you look in detail, they’re achieving that outcome in two completely different ways,” said Rauri Bowie, UC Berkeley professor of integrative biology and a study author.

These insects fly with their legs. Physics explains how

Sarahi Arriaga Ramirez is an associate specialist at the Ornithopterus Organismal Dynamics Lab in IB. In collaboration with the Morphing Matter Lab, Arriaga Ramirez led a study on phantom crane flies and robotics that was recently featured in Science News. She presented her findings at the Global Physics Summit in Denver on March 17.

Even moderate heat waves depress sea urchin reproduction aling the Pacific coast

An orange Garibaldi floats above a field of purple sea urchins, which have proliferated along the California coast and in boom years often decimate kelp forests. Understanding the causes of urchin boom and bust cycles can help biologists plan mitigation measures that preserve a balanced coastal ecosystem. Photo Credit: Ron McPeak, courtesy of the Santa Barbara Coastal Long Term Ecological Research Program

Biologists believed that urchin reproduction along the Pacific Coast would only be affected by marine heat waves at lethal ocean temperatures, a new study conducted by IB Assistant Professor Daniel Okamoto and other marine biologists at UC Berkeley suggests that this threshold of susceptibility, for urchins and other marine species, may be at lower temperatures than previously thought. Read the full article here.