Collaboration Matters: Honey Bee Health as a Transdisciplinary Model for Understanding Real-World Complexity

We develop a transdisciplinary deliberative model that moves beyond traditional scientific collaborations to include nonscientists in designing complexity-oriented research. We use the case of declining honey bee health as an exemplar of complex real-world problems requiring cross-disciplinary intervention. Honey bees are important pollinators of the fruits and vegetables we eat. In recent years, these insects have been dying at alarming rates. To prompt the reorientation of research toward the complex reality in which bees face multiple challenges, we came together as a group, including beekeepers, farmers, and scientists. Over a two-year period, we deliberated about how to study the problem of honey bee deaths and conducted field experiments with bee colonies. We show trust and authority to be crucial factors shaping such collaborative research, and we offer a model for structuring collaboration that brings scientists and nonscientists together with the key objects and places of their shared concerns across time

Biological Earth observation with animal sensors

Space-based tracking technology using low-cost miniature tags is now delivering data on fine-scale animal movement at near-global scale. Linked with remotely sensed environmental data, this offers a biological lens on habitat integrity and connectivity for conservation and human health; a global network of animal sentinels of environmen-tal change

Reproductive ecology, seedling performance, and population structure of Parkia pendula in an Atlantic forest fragment in Northeastern Brazil

The reproductive ecology, seedling performance, and population structure of Parkia pendula (Mimosaceae) were studied in an Atlantic Forest fragment in Northeastern Brazil. The developmental phases from buds to ripe pods, capitulum and flower morphology, breeding system, floral odour, nectar production and nectar sugar and amino acid composition, as well as the mammalian flower visitors were studied in detail during this 2-years lasting investigation. Furthermore, edge effects on the population phenology, seed production, secondary seed dispersal and predation, germination, seedling establishment and population structure were investigated

The seedpod gum of Parkia pendula (Fabaceae) as a deadly trap for vertebrates

In the literature, it has been mentioned that the seedpod gum of Parkia pendula is used for catching birds. Here we present an observation of a Tropidurus hispidus individual that died after being glued to the substrate by the gum of P. pendula in the Atlantic Forest of Pernambuco State. This observation proves the enormous gluing performance of this gum, which can be considered as a potential danger for small vertebrates.publishe

Flower and fruit development of Parkia pendula (Fabaceae, Mimosoideae)

Parkia pendula occurs in Brazil in Amazonia and in the northeastern Atlantic Forest. In the latter, its buds, nectar, and seedpod gum are discussed to be keystone resources for the mammalian fauna. To enhance the knowledge about these important nourishment sources, the aim of this study was to detect and describe distinct phases in the flower and pod development. The study was conducted in a 306 ha forest fragment in Igarassu, Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil. Six morphometrical variables were measured weekly at five inflorescences of two individuals from September 2003 to January 2004. Eleven distinct developmental phases were identified in the 21 weeks lasting development from the very first inflorescences to mature pods and are described in detail. These phases are good predictors for the flowering and fruiting phenology of P. pendula, since they are easily distinguishable from the forest floor. Furthermore, highly synchronized abortions of inflorescences, buds, and pods were observed which support the previously assumed predator satiation defense strategy in Parkia.publishe

The seedpod gum of Parkia pendula (Fabaceae) as a deadly trap for vertebrates

In the literature, it has been mentioned that the seedpod gum of Parkia pendula is used for catching birds. Here we present an observation of a Tropidurus hispidus individual that died after being glued to the substrate by the gum of P. pendula in the Atlantic Forest of Pernambuco State. This observation proves the enormous gluing performance of this gum, which can be considered as a potential danger for small vertebrates