One of the classics of NZ ecological science is this Auckland study by Sandra Anderson and colleagues. They showed, in extraordinary detail, how the loss of two endemic flower-pollinating birds from mainland Auckland (korimako and hihi), and the relative rarity of another (tūī), have caused the population to falter of the endemic bird-pollinated plant taurepo, Rhabdothamnus solandri.

Plus, Australian silvereyes, now widespread in NZ, were nectar robbers and damaged a lot of the flowers.

Everything is connected, and the effects of species declines can be unexpected and initially easy to overlook.

"Nectar robbing by silvereyes, revealed by slit corolla tubes, was always rare on islands (means 3.2% of flowers near Whangarei and 4.3% near Auckland) compared with the mainland (14.1 and 79.2% in Whangarei and Auckland regions... These data reinforce the conclusion that a shortage of visits by endemic bird pollinators on the mainland is the cause of the failure of seed production and that recently self-introduced silvereyes are not effective substitute pollinators."

Anderson, S. H., Kelly, D., Ladley, J. J., Molloy, S., and Terry, J. 2011. Cascading effects of bird functional extinction reduce pollination and plant density. Science, 331:1068–1071. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1199092

#BirdPollination #nz #TrophicCascade #ecology #SpeciesInteractions

Well, there's some good news.

Four years after her passing ,the Nichelle Nichols Space Camp for girls 14-18 will open next year in Huntsville, Alabama.

Lt. Uhura will live on to inspire a new generation of space explorers.

Representation matters.

https://people.com/late-star-trek-actress-nichelle-nichols-honored-with-space-camp-for-girls-exclusive-11762359

Clark Olofsson has died

Now that he is dead, you are free to abandon the term "#StockholmSyndrome" that he inspired, without fear of reprisal

...This is a subtle joke

One of his hostages Kristin Enmark said this about the term:

"It's a way of blaming the victim. I did what I could to survive"

In the 1973 kidnapping, the hostages' greatest fear was a huge deadly police response

So they behaved in ways to mitigate that possibility

They had no bond with their captors

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp3ly0e0wvpo

Fifty-six years of progress, being undone in less than 6 months. But we persist, and we will rise! Happy Stonewall Day!

#LGBTQIA #TransRightsAreHumanRights #Trans #Transgender #Stonewall