Latest Biological dispersal Stories

University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Prairie dogs pull up stakes and look for a new place to live when all their close kin have disappeared from their home territory--a striking pattern of dispersal that has not been observed for any other species. This is according to a new study published in Science by behavioral ecologist John Hoogland, Professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's Appalachian Laboratory. He has been studying the ecology...

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online When Darwin first formed his theory of evolution, he noted how physical isolation due to geographic barriers could result in the development of specialized adaptations. These novel adaptations were then selected and passed on to future generations. Eventually a new species would evolve. While many researchers are focused on how physical barriers and isolation can lead to new species on land, a pair of LSU biologists are more...

New findings by Virginie Stevens (CNRS), Jean Clobert (CNRS), Michel Baguette (Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle) and colleagues show that interactions between dispersal and life-histories are complex, but general patterns emerge. The study was published as open access paper in the journal Ecology Letters. As dispersal plays a key role in gene flow among populations, its evolutionary dynamics under environmental changes is particularly important. The inter-dependency of dispersal with...

The astonishing diversity of avian movement patterns, reproductive tactics, and survival rates creates rich opportunities for study, but also presents enormous challenges for explaining variation among life-history traits and dispersal. Dispersal decisions shape the genetic structure of populations and thus can be of considerable importance in processes such as speciation. Moreover, a better understanding of dispersal and movement among populations remains fundamental for effective...