Mastodawn

Very proud of PhD student Cedric Maforimbo, who successfully defended his PhD thesis in viva today!

Cedric's research work is really interesting - he has piloted some new methods to identify #pollen loads on #bees & match with plants in the field margin. He has also carried out a tonne of fieldwork addressing some of our knowledge gaps around the role of field margins in support crop pollination in African legume systems, given us a load more information about what pollinates common bean (we REALLY need to understand the distribution of Xylocopa spp. and their habitat needs), and been a great colleague.

Pleasure to work with a brilliant supervisory team Phil Stevenson, Angela Mkindi, Steve Harte.

Well done Cedric!

#PollinationEcology #ChemicalEcology #CropPollination #Xylocopa #Kilimanjaro

Academic Europe May 23, 2025

Job - Alert 🌱

🌱 RESEARCH ASSISTANT / PHD STUDENT (ALL GENDERS) - BEHAVIOUR AND CHEMICAL ECOLOGY

Deadline: 2025-06-15
Location: Germany, Darmstadt, Hessen

👉 https://www.academiceurope.com/job/?id=7424

#hiring #Protistology #Microscopy #ChemicalEcology #BehaviouralBiology #LifeSciences #Biology #phd

Academic Europe Apr 15, 2025

Job - Alert 📚

📢 RESEARCH ASSISTANT / PHD STUDENT (ALL GENDERS) - BEHAVIOUR AND CHEMICAL ECOLOGY

Deadline: 2025-05-13

Location: Germany, Darmstadt, Hessen

https://www.academiceurope.com/job/?id=7424

#hiring #PhD #Ecology #Biology #naturalscience #chemicalecology

Planetary Ecologist Nov 10, 2024

Aposematism (Ecology 🏞️)

Aposematism is the advertising by an animal, whether terrestrial or marine, to potential predators that it is not worth attacking or eating. This unprofitability may consist of any defenses which make the prey difficult to kill and eat, such as toxicity, venom, foul taste or smell, sharp spines, or aggressive nature. These adver...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aposematism

#Aposematism #Ecology #ChemicalEcology #SignallingTheory #WarningColoration #AnimalCommunication

Aposematism - Wikipedia

michael Apr 26, 2024

25-APR-2024
Barley plants fine-tune their root microbial communities through sugary secretions
The custom community of beneficial microbes improve the plants’ growth

Different types of #barley recruit distinct communities of soil #microbes to grow around their roots by releasing a custom mix of sugars and other compounds, according to a new study.

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1041362 #science #ecology #microbiota #plants #ChemicalEcology #rhizosphere

Barley plants fine-tune their root microbial communities through sugary secretions

Different types of barley recruit distinct communities of soil microbes to grow around their roots by releasing a custom mix of sugars and other compounds, according to a new study led by Jacob Malone of the John Innes Center, UK, publishing April 25th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology.

EurekAlert!

Dr. Traci Birge Sep 9, 2023

#PhD position #UniversityOfTurku

Chemical ecology in agricultural ecosystems

DEADLINE 30.09.23: contact PI Dr. Benjamin Fuchs:
https://www.utu.fi/en/people/benjamin-fuchs

Key concepts: species interactions (plant-microbe, plant-herbivore, plant-pollinator, herbivore-predator); chemical ecology and related methodologies (LC-MS, GC-MS, metabolomics); R-stats; fungal plant symbionts (incl. endophytic fungi, mycorrhizal fungi)

https://fuchsben.wixsite.com/agricultural-biodive

#EcoEvo #ecoevojobs #PhDPosition #Finland #ChemicalEcology

Benjamin Fuchs

Michal Zweig Sep 4, 2023

#plantscience #biology #metabolomics #chemicalecology #STEM #earlycareerresearchers #botany #science #PhD #PostDoc Fellow researchers, how do you feel the scientific community on Mastodon compares to bigger platforms like LinkedIn or Twitter?

Elzi Volk Jul 26, 2023

“…most of the focus in community ecology has been, up to now, on more obviously functional phenotypes — morphological diversity, and metabolic diversity. They’ve shown that the chemical content of plants’ tissues is more closely related to their phylogenetic history than traits in those categories.”

Excellent review by molecular ecologist Jeremy Yoder on recent paper examining chemical ecology & diversity. #ecology #ChemicalEcology

https://www.molecularecologist.com/2023/07/25/the-key-to-a-productive-plant-community-may-be-the-members-chemistry/

The key to a productive plant community may be the members’ chemistry

A milkweed bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus) on butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), one of the plant species in the experiment. Butterfly weed is part of a plant family that produce cardiac glycosides as…

The Molecular Ecologist

michael Jun 29, 2023

Always good to read about #ManducaSexta, although the mystery stated here isn't one in my opinion, it's just the plant's defence mechanism.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/993988 #science #ecology #TobaccoHornworm #ChemicalEcology

Architects of their own destruction: why do tobacco hornworm caterpillars attract their own predators?

The relationship between caterpillars and plants is incredibly complex and can give rise to fascinating mysteries. One such conundrum involves tobacco hornworm caterpillars and their interaction with the plants on which they feed, which seems, at first glance, to make no sense. Why do these caterpillars cause the plant they are feeding on to send signals which attract their natural predators? Scientists at the University of Amsterdam have now been able to provide new insights into this unusual connection. Their research was published today in Nature Communications.

EurekAlert!

michael May 5, 2023

4-May-2023
Chemical signal protects migratory locusts from cannibalism

Migratory locusts release a toxic substance to fend off their conspecifics
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/987838

#science #ecology #ChemicalEcology #locusts #signalling

Chemical signal protects migratory locusts from cannibalism

In a new study in the journal Science, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, together with partners from China and the University of Halle, Germany, show that the migratory locust Locusta migratoria produces the compound phenylacetonitrile (PAN) to defend itself against feeding attacks by conspecifics as population density increases. Cannibalism rates increased in locusts that could no longer produce PAN. The researchers also identified the odor receptor for PAN in the locusts. They showed in animals with a PAN receptor that was no longer functional that it is necessary for the perception of PAN and the suppression of cannibalistic behavior. The discovery of an anti-cannibalism pheromone offers new approaches for locust control.

EurekAlert!