Creating Stories of Science

Researchers, academics, and students in the STEM fields can share their experiences through more than academic papers and reports. In fact, modes of writing like fiction can bring science to new audiences and may generate empathy in both reader and writer. Here, I describe the value of creative writing and offer prompts that will enable scientists of all career stages to investigate their environments, motivations, and fears on the page—as I did in the writing of my first novel, The Breeding Season, which was based on my own research

Urban Physiology: City Ants Possess High Heat Tolerance

Urbanization has caused regional increases in temperature that exceed those measured on a global scale, leading to urban heat islands as much as 12°C hotter than their surroundings. Optimality models predict ectotherms in urban areas should tolerate heat better and cold worse than ectotherms in rural areas. We tested these predications by measuring heat and cold tolerances of leaf-cutter ants from South America's largest city (São Paulo, Brazil). Specifically, we compared thermal tolerances of ants from inside and outside of the city. Knock-down resistance and chill-coma recovery were used as indicators of heat and cold tolerances, respectively. Ants from within the city took 20% longer to lose mobility at 42°C than ants from outside the city. Interestingly, greater heat tolerance came at no obvious expense of cold tolerance; hence, our observations only partially support current theory. Our results indicate that thermal tolerances of some organisms can respond to rapid changes in climate. Predictive models should account for acclimatory and evolutionary responses during climate change

Surface friction alters the agility of a small Australian marsupial

Movement speed can underpin an animal's probability of success in ecological tasks. Prey often use agility to outmanoeuvre predators; however, faster speeds increase inertia and reduce agility. Agility is also constrained by grip, as the foot must have sufficient friction with the ground to apply the forces required for turning. Consequently, ground surface should affect optimum turning speed. We tested the speed-agility trade-off in buff-footed antechinus () on two different surfaces. Antechinus used slower turning speeds over smaller turning radii on both surfaces, as predicted by the speed-agility trade-off. Slipping was 64% more likely on the low-friction surface, and had a higher probability of occurring the faster the antechinus were running before the turn. However, antechinus compensated for differences in surface friction by using slower pre-turn speeds as their amount of experience on the low-friction surface increased, which consequently reduced their probability of slipping. Conversely, on the high-friction surface, antechinus used faster pre-turn speeds in later trials, which had no effect on their probability of slipping. Overall, antechinus used larger turning radii (0.733±0.062 versus 0.576±0.051 m) and slower pre-turn (1.595±0.058 versus 2.174±0.050 m s) and turning speeds (1.649±0.061 versus 2.01±0.054 m s) on the low-friction surface. Our results demonstrate the interactive effect of surface friction and the speed-agility trade-off on speed choice. To predict wild animals' movement speeds, future studies should examine the interactions between biomechanical trade-offs and terrain, and quantify the costs of motor mistakes in different ecological activities

Ecological factors associated with the breeding and migratory phenology of high-latitude breeding western sandpipers

Environmental conditions influence the breeding and migratory patterns of many avian species and may have particularly dramatic effects on long-distance migrants that breed at northern latitudes. Environment, however, is only one of the ecological variables affecting avian phenology, and recent work shows that migration tactics may be strongly affected by changes in predator populations. We used long-term data from 1978 to 2000 to examine the interactions between snowmelt in western Alaska in relation to the breeding or migration phenologies of small shorebirds and their raptor predators. Although the sandpipers' time of arrival at Alaskan breeding sites corresponded with mean snowmelt, late snowmelts did delay breeding. These delays, however, did not persist to southward migration through British Columbia, likely due to the birds' ability to compensate for variance in the length of the breeding season. Raptor phenology at an early stopover site in British Columbia was strongly related to snowmelt, so that in years of early snowmelt falcons appeared earlier during the sandpipers' southbound migration. These differential effects indicate that earlier snowmelt due to climate change may alter the ecological dynamics of the predator-prey system

Integrating conservation biology into the development of automated vehicle technology to reduce animal-vehicle collisions

Every year, hundreds of millions of animals die in collisions with cars. For some species, road strikes are a major cause of population declines, and reducing collisions is a conservation priority. We suggest that the emergence of automated vehicles will provide new opportunities for the use of computerized animal warning systems and variable speed zones in areas (and times) of high collision risk-but only if conservation biologists play a role in the development and implementation of these vehicles on the road

Interannual differences in the relative timing of southward migration of male and female western sandpipers (Calidris mauri)

In the shorebird subfamily Calidridinae, one of the parents shortens parental care and initiates southward migration before the other. We estimated the difference in passage date between male and female western sandpipers (Calidris mauri) at their first major stopover on the southward migration from breeding areas in Alaska, in 18 years between 1978 and 2000. Overall, adult females preceded adult males by 1.22 days. A novel finding was that among juveniles, which migrate approximately a month later than adults, females preceded males by similar magnitude (1.14 days). There was wide variation among years, however, and males actually preceded females in years with late hatch. We relate these findings to hypotheses for female-first southward migration in sandpipers

Foraging preferences

This file contains the data used to analyse the foraging preferences of buff-footed antechinus (Antechinus mysticus) foraging along narrow and wide beams of varying length. It contains: individual antechinus ID, sex, mass (g), beam type, beam diameter (mm), beam length (m), beam position within the experimental enclosure, proportion of food eaten from the platform at the end of the beam, proportion of time spent at the platform at the end of the beam, and proportion of total visits made to the platform at the end of the beam

Ecological context and the probability of mistakes underlie speed choice

Movement is fundamental to the ecology of animals, and an animal's choice of movement speed determines the duration, energetic costs, and probability of success of any given activity. It is often assumed that animals should use maximum speeds when escaping from predators, but an increasing number of studies find animals rarely move as fast as they can in nature because faster speeds come with a greater chance of mistakes. Mathematical modelling suggests that, when escaping predators, prey animals should optimise speeds to simultaneously outrun their pursuer and minimise their probability of slipping. This can be particularly important when running along narrow structures like branches. When foraging, however, animals should avoid moving at high speeds, which are often energetically costly and decrease the ability to detect food or predators. In this study, we examined how trade-offs between speed and probability of slipping influenced the speed choice of wild antechinus (Antechinus mysticus) during escaping and foraging behaviours. We also examined how this trade-off affected foraging behaviour. Antechinus ran significantly faster when escaping (1.207\ua0±\ua00.033\ua0m/s) than foraging (0.145\ua0±\ua00.002\ua0m/s), and slipped 37% more often during escapes. However, foraging antechinus still slipped frequently on narrow branches, despite running an order of magnitude more slowly than they did on wide branches. Furthermore, antechinus slipped at lower speeds when foraging than they did when escaping, suggesting that avoiding mistakes is less highly prioritized when foraging. Antechinus visited the feeding station accessed by a wide branch more frequently (and ate more while there) compared with feeding stations accessed by narrow branches, even when those branches were 33% or 67% shorter. This suggests that foraging decisions may be based on potential limitations to speed and the probability of slipping over distance to cover. Though activities such as running can be fundamental to animals’ fitness, a general framework to understand how animals select speeds in nature is still being developed. We test the assumption that animals choose running speeds to minimise their motor mistakes, and demonstrate the cost of mistakes is likely to be different across ecological and behavioural contexts. A plain language summary is available for this article

Foraging behaviour and experiment comparisions

This file contains the data used to analyse the foraging movement speeds and behavioural decisions of buff-footed antechinus (Antechinus mysticus) foraging on narrow and wide beams. It also contains comparative data for escaping antechinus, to compare foraging and escape movement decisions. It contains: individual antechinus ID, sex, experiment (foraging or escaping), mass (g), beam type, beam diameter (mm), beam length (m), trial number, movement speed (ms-1, mean speed over first 20cm of the beam), presence of a slip, number of slips, and direction of movement