6 - Old-growth Grasslands

The Rough Woodlouse is an isopod (a type of crustacean) that is probably living in a wet place very near you right now. Nash Turley and Hamilton Boyce discuss various aspects of their biology, talk about a behavioral study, and explore their huge variety of common names from around the world, for example: pill bug, sowbug, slater, rolly polly... 

Owls, loveable nocturnal hunters. Nash Turley, PhD and Hamilton Boyce run through a bunch of owl factoids, talk about an experiment looking at the impacts of noise pollution on owl hunting, and discuss some of the cultural importance of owls. 

Antlions AKA doodlebugs, the insects that make deadly pit traps in the sand. Nash Turley, PhD and Hamilton Boyce talk about the insect order Neuroptera, antlion pit building, and some behavioral ecology experiments. 

Did you know California has a huge area of grassland? Nash Turley, PhD and Hamilton Boyce discuss how this unique ecosystem got taken over by invasive species. 

Nash Turley and Hamilton Boyce talk about old-growth grasslands, the Rodney Dangerfield of ecosystems

Biologists Nash Turley and co-host Hamilton Boyce discuss their recently completed video project about the science zombie ants, an example of a deadly and manipulative parasite. You'll hear the fully scored and sound designed zombie ant story and some deeper discussion about some of the science that didn't make it into the video.  Watch the video at youtube.com/naturistic  Email us with question/comments: [email protected]  For more information about this and other episodes go to nashturley.org/naturistic Follow us: Instagram: @naturisticseries @nashturley @hamiltonboyce Tumblr: @naturisticseries Facebook: facebook.com/NaturisticSeries Twitter: @nashturley

Part 2 of Hamilton Boyce and biologist Nash Turley's discussion on genetically modified Bt crops focusing on pros and cons and the evolution of insect resistance. Email us with question/comments: [email protected]  Thumbnail photo by Jim Buckman Follow us: YouTube: youtube.com/naturistic Instagram: @naturisticseries @nashturley @hamiltonboyce Tumblr: @naturisticseries Facebook: facebook.com/NaturisticSeries Twitter: @nashturley Citations: Recent Trends in GE Adoption. USDA. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/adoption-of-genetically-engineered-crops-in-the-us/recent-trends-in-ge-adoption.aspx    Roh JY, Choi JY, Li MS, Jin BR, Je YH. Bacillus thuringiensis as a specific, safe, and effective tool for insect pest control. Journal of microbiology and biotechnology. 2007.    Shelton AM, Zhao JZ, Roush RT. Economic, ecological, food safety, and social consequences of the deployment of Bt transgenic plants. Annual review of entomology. 2002.   Tsatsakis AM, Nawaz MA, Kouretas D, Balias G, Savolainen K, Tutelyan VA, Golokhvast KS, Lee JD, Yang SH, Chung G. Environmental impacts of genetically modified plants: a review. Environmental research. 2017.   Koch MS, Ward JM, Levine SL, Baum JA, Vicini JL, Hammond BG. The food and environmental safety of Bt crops. Frontiers in plant science. 2015.    Dively GP, Venugopal PD, Bean D, Whalen J, Holmstrom K, Kuhar TP, Doughty HB, Patton T, Cissel W, Hutchison WD. Regional pest suppression associated with widespread Bt maize adoption benefits vegetable growers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2018.    Domingo JL. Safety assessment of GM plants: An updated review of the scientific literature. Food and chemical toxicology. 2016.   Carriere Y, Crowder DW, Tabashnik BE. Evolutionary ecology of insect adaptation to Bt crops. Evolutionary Applications. 2010.   Tabashnik BE, Carrière Y. Surge in insect resistance to transgenic crops and prospects for sustainability. Nature Biotechnology. 2017   Meihls LN, Higdon ML, Siegfried BD, Miller NJ, Sappington TW, Ellersieck MR, Spencer TA, Hibbard BE. Increased survival of western corn rootworm on transgenic corn within three generations of on-plant greenhouse selection. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2008.   Carrière Y, Brown Z, Aglasan S, Dutilleul P, Carroll M, Head G, Tabashnik BE, Jørgensen PS, Carroll SP. Crop rotation mitigates impacts of corn rootworm resistance to transgenic Bt corn. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2020.     van Klink R, Bowler DE, Gongalsky KB, Swengel AB, Gentile A, Chase JM. Meta-analysis reveals declines in terrestrial but increases in freshwater insect abundances. Science. 2020.   If you want to read the full text of any of these articles we suggest copy/pasting the full paper title into the search bar at Sci Hub, that's how we got access to them :)

In this episode Nash Turley and Hamilton Boyce start a two-part discussion on Bt crops (a type of genetically modified organism) with some background on crop domestication and crop pests.     Email us with question/comments: [email protected] Follow us: YouTube: youtube.com/naturistic, Instagram: @naturisticseries @nashturley @hamiltonboyce, Twitter: @nashturley, Tumblr: naturisticseries.tumblr.com, Facebook: facebook.com/NaturisticSeries    References for this episode: Meyer RS, Purugganan MD. Evolution of crop species: genetics of domestication and diversification. Nature reviews genetics. 2013.  Oerke EC. Crop losses to pests. The Journal of Agricultural Science. 2006. EPA. Pesticides Industry Sales and Usage 2008-20012. https://www.epa.gov/pesticides/pesticides-industry-sales-and-usage-2008-2012-market-estimates  Chaplin‐Kramer R, O’Rourke ME, Blitzer EJ, Kremen C. A meta‐analysis of crop pest and natural enemy response to landscape complexity. Ecology letters. 2011. Gould F. The evolutionary potential of crop pests. American Scientist. 1991. Gallun RL. Genetic basis of Hessian fly epidemics. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1977. Turcotte MM, Araki H, Karp DS, Poveda K, Whitehead SR. The eco-evolutionary impacts of domestication and agricultural practices on wild species. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2017. Whitehead SR, Turcotte MM, Poveda K. Domestication impacts on plant–herbivore interactions: a meta-analysis. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2017.  If you want to read the full text of any of these articles we suggest copy/pasting the full paper titles into the search bar at Sci Hub, that's how we got access to them :)   

Nash Turley and Hamilton Boyce discuss bald eagles, what they eat, where they live, their dramatic decline due to DDT, and then their miraculous recovery.     Bald eagle photo by Richard Lee https://unsplash.com/@brock222   References for this episode:    Todd CS, Young LS, Owen Jr RB, Gramlich FJ. Food habits of bald eagles in Maine. The Journal of Wildlife Management. 1982   Andrew JM, Mosher JA. Bald eagle nest site selection and nesting habitat in Maryland. The Journal of Wildlife Management. 1982   Interior secretary repeals ban on lead bullets https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/322058-interior-secretary-repeals-ban-on-lead-ammunition   Heisman R. 2018. Bald Eagle, The Ultimate Endangered Species Act Success Story. American Bird Conservancy. https://abcbirds.org/bald-eagle-the-ultimate-endangered-species-act-success-story/   DDT Regulatory History: A Brief Survey (to 1975). EPA. https://archive.epa.gov/epa/aboutepa/ddt-regulatory-history-brief-survey-1975.html   Watts DB, Therres GD, Byrd MA. Recovery of the Chesapeake Bay Bald Eagle Nesting Population. Journal of Wildlife Management. 2010.    Endangered species act data:  https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/reports/delisting-report  https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/reports/box-score-report   Deatrick E. An Elegy for America's Oldest Bald Eagle  https://www.audubon.org/news/an-elegy-americas-oldest-bald-eagle 

Nash Turley and Hamilton Boyce discuss Lycaenid butterflies (AKA blues and hairstreaks) and their bizarre and complicated interactions with ants that range from mutually beneficial to predatory, and it’s the caterpillars doing the killing!   Music by Hamilton Boyce    References for this episode:    Thomas JA, Schönrogge KA, Elmes GW. Specializations and host associations of social parasites of ants. Insect evolutionary ecology. 2005   Buckley RC. Interactions involving plants, Homoptera, and ants. Annual review of Ecology and Systematics. 1987   Styrsky JD, Eubanks MD. Ecological consequences of interactions between ants and honeydew-producing insects. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2007   Pierce NE, Braby MF, Heath A, Lohman DJ, Mathew J, Rand DB, Travassos MA. The ecology and evolution of ant association in the Lycaenidae (Lepidoptera). Annual review of entomology. 2002   Pierce NE, Mead PS. Parasitoids as selective agents in the symbiosis between lycaenid butterfly larvae and ants. Science. 1981   Lin YH, Liao YC, Yang CC, Billen J, Yang MM, Hsu YF. Vibrational communication between a myrmecophilous butterfly Spindasis lohita (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) and its host ant Crematogaster rogenhoferi (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Scientific reports. 2019   Nash DR, Als TD, Maile R, Jones GR, Boomsma JJ. A mosaic of chemical coevolution in a large blue butterfly. science. 2008