Research news on Organismal, population, evolutionary & ecological systems

Organismal, population, evolutionary and ecological systems is a research area that investigates biological organization and processes from the level of individual organisms to interacting populations and communities, integrating mechanisms of evolution and ecological dynamics. It encompasses studies of organismal physiology, behavior and life histories; population structure, demography and genetics; evolutionary processes such as selection, drift, gene flow and speciation; and ecological interactions including competition, predation, mutualism and ecosystem functioning. This area emphasizes quantitative, often model-based approaches to understanding how traits, genes, environments and interactions shape biodiversity patterns, adaptive change and the stability and resilience of biological systems across spatial and temporal scales.

The cost of memory: How organisms balance thinking and sensing

Remembering the past can help living organisms make better decisions, but memory comes at a cost. Whether it is an animal searching for food or a single cell responding to its surroundings, storing and using information requires ...

How insect submariners survive the depths without imploding

Deep-diving insect larvae are challenging a long-held idea about why there are almost no insects in the ocean, thanks to sturdy air sacs. In Lake Malawi in East Africa, billions of lake fly larvae (Chaoborus edulis) make ...

Children and monkeys share common understanding of geometry

With their ability to use tools, remember faces and even learn how to communicate with humans through sign language, nonhuman primates are considered to be among the smartest creatures on Earth. However, some concepts—geometry, ...

page 1 from 12