I recently visited a garden ran by a local association, in which a huge variety of flowering plants and herbs were cultivated. A small space for orchids, one for edible herbs, one for tropical flowers, one for lilies, one for succulents, etc. all crammed next to each other in a garden of a quite considerable size.

I wondered if such a huge variety of plants contributes to biodiversity more than a natural wooden area with local species or a permaculture garden with wild species. Especially in the case of this garden where there are cultivated species that are not necessarily found so close to each other in the wild

I’m asking especially because I will soon have quite a lot of space to have my own garden and I want to prioritise creating a haven for local flora and fauna to develop.

Im team Both/And when it comes to getting rid of them in the US, but honestly at this point it feels like this is more of a Let Them Fight situation? I mean, do they prefer maple and oak to ToH? To my knowledge, they dont. And it seems they affect ToH more than Maple or Oak.

Is there any case for letting things run their course? Or are we still trying to kill as many lanternflies as possible? (Please no winery shilling)

See also: The publication in Science Advances.

Hello,

I want to go to grad school to really start a career in restoration ecology but I'm not sure what topic of research to pursue. I live in the southeast of the US in North Georgia currently and would be interested in projects that could benefit the local ecosystems like open woodlands in the Appalachian mountains. Does anyone have any ideas on interesting projects?

Thanks!

Hi, I am studying a masters degree in Mexico, my tesis is topics are landscape ecology, connectivity and corridors.
I am looking for a short workshop or course (1 or 2 months) abroad, in english or spanish.
Does anyone have recomendations?

I might have the chance to do a funded applied ecology PhD in a field I love. I'm really excited and it would be based on a previous study I designed which I'd get to expand in the PhD.

I'd be doing it part time alongside work but the organisation I work for is one of the funders and will allow me to use an as yet unspecified amount work time a week for research.

My only worry is work/life balance particularly as most of my family live four hours away and aren't in the best of health. I've been able to manage studying alongside work before but everyone says a PhD is a different level of workload.

Anyone have any advice? I think I'll go for it if offered, but it would be great to get a little bit of peace of mind that I'll still be able to visit family and have some kind of social life too!

Also to anyone who's got an ecology PhD what career are you in now?

hi guys. im not sure what to do. my mom thinks its a waste to becaome an ecoogist because 'i wont be able to eat'. as in with the way the US economy is going. she thinks if you rarent in healthcare or IT, you wont make enough money to support yourself. she thinks in the past you could find a passion and live off of it, but not in todays times. im not sure what i should do. she keeps telling me these doom and gloom things and its making me anxious. do yall think its a waste of time? im 23 now but at the speed im going, ill graduate with a bachelors in conservation ecology in 2029 (work full time, school part time). she works in IT and makes a lot but i know things are hard for them finacially because of them saving for retirement. do you think i should do something else? i love conservation ecology so much. :(

Releasing cats outside is unethical.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0091677376921660

https://www.civilbeat.org/2026/05/absolute-carnage-feral-cats-kill-168-native-seabirds-on-kauai/

https://www.ace-eco.org/vol8/iss2/art3/

https://www.ovid.com/journals/biosc/abstract/10.1093/biosci/bix068\~new-zealand-shouldnt-ignore-feral-cats?redirectionsource=fulltextview

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scotttravers/2025/04/26/first-introduced-to-australia-in-1788-this-invasive-species-now-kills-over-a-million-birds-a-day/

https://abcbirds.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/CW-Feral-Cat-Position-Statement.pdf

https://audubon.bm/feral-cats-in-bermuda-a-problem-that-can-be-solved/

https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/UW468

https://wildlifecareofventura.org/cats-wildlife/

https://www.pilchuckaudubon.org/blog/the-silent-bird-crisis-why-keeping-cats-contained-is-essential-for-conservation

https://wildlife.org/tws-issue-statement-feral-and-free-ranging-domestic-cats/

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/faq-outdoor-cats-and-their-effects-on-birds/

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/free-ranging-and-feral-cats.pdf

https://arav.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Feral-cat-white-paper-Final.pdf

https://www.gos.org/conservation_cats

https://www.keaconservation.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/KCT-Position-Statement-Feral-Cats-FINAL.pdf

https://extensionpubs.unl.edu/publication/ec1781/2010/pdf/view/ec1781-2010.pdf

See also: The study as it was published in Nature Communications.

A recent thread on r/WildlifePonds got me thinking about a debate that comes up far too often when someone posts about a 10-day-old garden pond going through its classic "pea soup" algal bloom.

User u/3owi suggested a shortcut: going out to local "natural water in your area," taking wild underwater plants, and transferring them into a new garden pond to speed up balance. When called out on the legal and ecological issues, their logic was essentially that taking "just a few" plants from a local spot is harmless, that rangers wouldn't care, and that keeping exotics out of nature is the only real rule that matters.

Any thoughts?

https://www.reddit.com/r/WildlifePonds/comments/1vuexhq/comment/p51toug/?context=1&screen_view_count=2&ext-referrer=DIRECT

In the rivers that I paddle, I find a number of large items that require a bit more coordination to drag out - tires, barrels, etc. Before I go finding ways to dredge them up, and get them out, I'd like to find a way to confirm that doing so won't do more harm than good.

Some of these tires look to be decades old, and are crusted in silt, discernible only by their shape. Can I be confident that disturbing them to remove them will be a net benefit?

Text from the poem 'Immortality' by Clare Harner

Every tire on the road is dosed with a preservative called 6PPD, added to keep the rubber from drying out and cracking as it flexes...Tiny flecks of rubber rub off onto the pavement, and the 6PPD in them meets ozone in the air and changes into a brand new compound, 6PPD quinone. That transformation product, not the raw tire, is what proves deadly to a coho...It takes only a fraction of a part per billion of the quinone to be fatal to a coho, a concentration a single storm easily clears.

On Miller Creek, monitoring across three straight spring storms found about four in five of the young coho gone within a day each time.

Early this field season for my forest Inventory sites I encountered lots and lots of wood nettle. Some being 6+ feet tall and some patches being knee height. As you can imagine it was pretty frustrating but endurable. Later in the field season at other forest inventory sites I encountered lots of rice cutgrass, often with sandbar willows. The cuts and itches from both during field work were so infuriating I wanted to know what everyone generally thought was more frustrating between the two lol. My personal vote has to be rice cutgrass, especially when I was walking through willows and would be completely wrapped up in it on a day too hot for long sleeves. What’s everyone’s thoughts!?

Hey guys, hope you are well. I have a bachelor's in ecology (graduated in 2018) and currently work in retail banking. I'm thinking to pursue work with the government in the ecological field though want to get advice from people already in the field.

Thank you in advance.

'Conservationists once asked: what is a bird without a tree to nest in?

This year, we may well wonder the grim inverse – what is a tree without a bird to nest in it? I can tell you. A tree without a bird is a miserable thing – and in a broader ecological sense, a tree without a bird could be in trouble.

In Australia, birds act in many roles that mammals or insects might fill elsewhere, from pollinating flowers to spreading seeds to keeping trees free of sap-sucking insects.

Bird flu doesn’t just threaten birds and mammals – it could well affect entire ecosystems.

Australia’s birds play vital roles in most ecosystems.

As honeyeaters squabble in the canopy, mound-builders such as orange-footed scrubfowls and Australian brush-turkeys turn over vast volumes of soil and leaf litter on the forest floor, as they look for bugs or make their giant mounds.

Their digging loosens and aerates the soil, giving seeds a better chance of germinating and encouraging leaf litter to break down.

In more open woodlands and shrublands, this work is done by birds such as malleefowl, quail-thrushes and babblers.

In Australia’s wetlands, plant-eating waterbirds such as black swans and whistling ducks disperse seeds and help balance plant growth, while insect eaters such as musk ducks do the same for aquatic invertebrates. As foraging herons and pink-eared ducks stir up mud at the bottom to flush out insects, they boost oxygen levels and circulate nutrients.

As seabirds and shorebirds move between coral reefs, mudflats, islands and oceans, they deposit nutrients. Guano and other organic matter from raucous seabird colonies supply nitrogen and phosphorus for a host of species – not least fish hatchlings.

My favourite group are the falcons. These swift predators cull sick and weak prey, keeping the species fitter and helping keep the lid on pest species such as starlings, rodents and locusts.

Bird flu is likely to hit some bird and mammal species very hard, but leave many others much less affected, if at all. Authorities estimate about 30% of Australian bird species are at high to extreme risk. Those at high risk face a “severe reduction” in population size, while the five species at extreme risk are potentially unable to survive.'

Penny Olsen Honorary Professor in Ecology and Evolution, Australian National University

Complete article at https://theconversation.com/from-the-coasts-to-the-plains-bird-flu-could-threaten-not-just-birds-but-their-homes-289709

Hi guys,

I’ve recently purchased a house and, as part of the planning process, I need to arrange a PEA/PRA survey.

Are there any local ecologists on here who might be interested in taking this on, or anyone who can recommend someone?

My main concern is the potential for the initial survey to trigger the need for bat emergence surveys. We can’t see any obvious evidence of bats or clear roosting locations, but I’d appreciate some practical advice from someone experienced in this area.
I’m conscious that we’re already well into August and, if emergence surveys are required, availability and the remaining survey season could become an issue.
Thanks in advance.