It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Monday, April 28, 2025
Flower strips could save apple farmers pest control costs
Planting wildflowers in apple orchards could save farmers up to £3,000 per hectare a year, according to a new study.
Flower strips create a home for a team of helpful insects – like ladybirds, hoverflies, and lacewings – that eat harmful pests such as aphids. This natural team of pest controllers helps keep apple trees healthy with less need for chemical sprays.
This study, published in Journal of Agricultural Economics, builds onprevious research from a University of Reading team that found flower strips can reduce damage from pests (rosy apple aphids) by up to 32% in bad pest years.
Dr Charlotte Howard, lead author from the University of Reading, said: "Flowers attract helpful insects that work hard to keep pests under control. Farmers could save money while boosting biodiversity and letting nature do some of the heavy lifting in looking after their crops. There's still more to learn about all the benefits of planting flower strips."
Right place, right results
The team looked at real apple orchards over two years - some with flower strips and some without. They counted how many apples were damaged by pests and worked out how much money farmers could save by having fewer damaged apples. In years when there were lots of pests, flower strips helped save a significant amount of money after accounting for costs - up to £2,997 per hectare. Even in years with fewer pests, the flower strips still paid for themselves when planted at the edge of orchards.
The researchers tried different places to put the flower strips - including at the edge of the orchard replacing grass, or at the edge replacing apple trees.. Putting flowers in the right place was more effective at boosting orchard profits than other factors, including government payments for planting flowers, or how many years the flowers lasted before needing to be replanted.
Beyond pest control, flower strips also support bees and other pollinating insects, help to capture more carbon from the atmosphere, and improve the overall health of the farm environment. The research team have created simpleguides to help farmers to plant flower strips on their farms.
This research was conducted by University of Reading, NIAB East Malling, Cranfield University and Syngenta (FoodBiosystems Doctoral Training Partnership). Flower margins were established on orchards in the UK by Avalon Produce, Worldwide Fruit and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.
Thornless, disease-resistant, and tastier blackberries could be on the horizon — thanks to new genetic research from the University of Florida.
New UF blackberry varieties could provide a boon for farmers looking to rebound after the decline of Florida citrus and who see an opportunity to meet the growing demand for blackberries, which have soared in popularity in recent years.
“Overall, this study not only advances our understanding of blackberry genetics, but it sets the stage for significant improvements in blackberry breeding techniques,” said UF/IFAS researcher Zhanao Deng, who led the study that was recently published in journal Horticulture Research. “The end result could be better, more robust blackberry varieties that benefit both growers and consumers worldwide.”
Over the past 20 years,consumer demand for blackberries has increased, leading to farmers growing more of the flavorful fruit in the United States and across the globe.
The United States produces 37 million pounds of processed blackberries and almost 3 million pounds of fresh fruit annually. In Florida, growers produced blackberries on 277 farms and 702 acres, according to the 2022 U.S. Department of Agriculture Census of Agriculture.
The new study delves into the genetic makeup of blackberries, said Deng, a professor of environmental horticulture at the UF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center. He and colleagues have been developing new blackberry varieties using deep insights gained from genome sequencing.
Using a large collection of DNA sequences from an experimental blackberry BL1, the team computationally pieced them together, rebuilding the original sequence of the entire genome of this blackberry.
It starts with understanding that BL1 is a tetraploid fruit, one that comes from a plant with four copies of each chromosome in its cells. That means it has twice the normal number of chromosomes as a typical diploid plant, like a raspberry. Working with a tetraploid is more complex than a diploid, Deng said.
“The release of this tetraploid blackberry genome can contribute to more efficient and targeted breeding, ultimately leading to the development of new cultivars with enhanced fruit quality, and resistance to important diseases,” Deng said. “The reference genome created from this research can be a powerful tool for anyone working with blackberries.”
The genome assembly also uncovers the secrets behind key traits like growing blackberry plants with no thorns and the production of anthocyanin production, which affects the color and health benefits of the fruit.
“This finding can help us understand why blackberries develop their characteristic deep purple/black color over time and how to potentially enhance this process for more nutritious berries” he said.
For Florida, the southeastern United States and regions with similar climates, this research holds huge promise.
By using the genetic insights gained from this study, Deng said it can accelerate the process to create blackberry varieties that are better suited to local growing conditions, enhancing both the yield and the quality of the fruit produced in Florida and globally.
A chromosome-scale and haplotype-resolved genome assembly of tetraploid blackberry
First ever global map of fishmeal and fish oil factories exposes industry's footprint
UBC study has revealed the global distribution of FMFO factories for the first time, shedding light on a critical area of the aquaculture supply chain, identifying where these ingredients are being produced, and who controls the industry’s footprint.
Factories are color-coded by data type. Factories in dark blue represent plants whose locations we were able to verify using satellite imagery and company website information. Green shaded circles represent and are scaled to the number of factories per producing country.
Around the world, millions of tons of small fish are processed into fishmeal and fish oil (FMFO) each year—key ingredients in aquaculture that helps farmed fish, like salmon, grow. A new University of British Columbia (UBC) study has revealed the global distribution of FMFO factories for the first time, shedding light on a critical area of the aquaculture supply chain, identifying where these ingredients are being produced, and who controls the industry’s footprint.
Published in Science Advances, the study delivers the first-ever open-source global map of FMFO factories—506 in total, spread across 63 countries, with Peru, Mauritania, and Chile hosting the highest numbers.
“Production of fishmeal is a major issue in aquaculture. Understanding where FMFO production occurs is essential for addressing its environmental, social, and economic impacts,” said lead author, Lauren Shea, who conducted this research while a Master’s student at UBC’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries. “Knowing that, along with what species are being used and how it affects local environments and economies, can support the development of more transparent and responsible aquaculture practices.”
Over 400 companies operate these factories, with many concentrated in sensitive regions already facing fishery stress. Nearly 40 per cent of FMFO continues to be made from whole wild-caught fish, many of which are critical to marine food webs and human nutrition in low-income coastal communities.
This makes the industry both vital and controversial, according to the study’s authors. On one hand, it supports aquaculture, which is essential for meeting global seafood demand as wild fish stocks decline. On the other hand, its reliance on wild-caught, small-pelagic fish—like anchovies and sardines—which are critical to the dietary backbone for communities in regions like West Africa and Southeast Asia.
“Dependence on the global FMFO trade could undermine food security while fueling unsustainable fishing practices,” explained Dr. Rashid Sumaila, professor at UBC’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries and the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, and senior author on the study. “This is not just an environmental issue—it’s about justice and equity.”
The study used satellite imagery, national databases, and industry certifications to verify factory locations and raw material use. Company websites, government lists, and open-source certification data were also cross-referenced.
The resulting database shows stark patterns. Peru, for example, hosts 125 FMFO factories—the highest in the world—while Mauritania ranks second with 42, many of which have been linked to reduced local fish availability and rising prices. Yet, countries with few factories, like Norway and Denmark, often have disproportionately high production, thanks to better technologies and economies of scale.
The researchers emphasised that the database was just a starting point. Regular updates and deeper dives into factory-level environmental and social impacts are essential next steps, noting that countries like China, a major FMFO player, remain opaque due to language barriers, lack of public reporting, and minimal online presence from producers.
“With more transparent data, governments and organizations can better regulate FMFO sourcing, track environmental impacts, and support alternatives—like plant-based feeds or novel proteins—that reduce pressure on wild fish stocks,” said Shea. “By-products can be a sustainable solution when managed properly. Improved data could further enable traceability, helping ensure that seafood products are sourced responsibly throughout the supply chain.”
Dr. Sumaila agreed, noting that frameworks, like the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI), which encourages governments to publish key data on fish production and trade, are excellent tools to use in conjunction with this map database. He highlights Mauritania, a FiTI member, for its leadership in its publicly accessible factory list.
“Science can only go so far,” said Sumaila. “We need political will, corporate accountability, and community engagement to drive real change. If aquaculture is going to be part of a sustainable food future, we need better data, smarter policies, and ethical sourcing of feed ingredients,” he said.
Example of factory location verification using the Google Maps satellite layer.
All factories had large warehouses and cylindrical tanks for FMFO processing and storage (highlighted in yellow boxes). Factories were typically located on the waterfront and clustered together in industrial zones.
Spatial distribution of fishmeal and fish oil factories around the globe
Article Publication Date
23-Apr-2025
COI Statement
Competing interests: C.C.C.W. provides scientific support to companies in the seafood sector through the Seafood Business for Ocean Stewardship (SeaBOS) initiative (https://seabos.org/). None of the SeaBOS members had any role in the study design, analysis, interpretation of data, or conclusions drawn in this paper. All other authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Rats are more motivated to help their friends
Rats are more motivated to help distressed peers if they affiliate with them socially, and friendliness between rats may be driven by oxytocin signaling in a reward-related brain region
Why are some people more helpful than others? In a new JNeurosci paper, Inbal Bartal, from Tel Aviv University, and colleagues used rats to explore why some individuals may be more receptive to the distress of others and how this information leads to helpful behavior. During a task the researchers previously developed, they observed the behaviors and brain activity of helpful rats compared to less helpful rats. In this task that probes helping behavior, rats are given the option to release a distressed peer trapped in a restrainer. Rats were more likely to come to the aid of others that they had previous positive social interactions with. These helpful rats had increased activity in brain regions associated with empathy and motivation compared to less helpful rats.
The researchers also observed that helper rats had increased oxytocin receptor expression in a brain region that drives motivation compared to the less helpful rats. According to the authors, this could mean that caring for others, more than relating to others’ distresses, contributes to helpfulness. When oxytocin signaling was inhibited, rats were less friendly with others, suggesting oxytocin may support helping by making rats feel attachment to others. “We appear to live in an increasingly polarized society where there is a gap in empathy towards others. This work helps us understand prosocial, or helpful, acts better. We see others in distress all the time but tend to help only certain individuals. The similarity between human and rat brains helps us understand the way our brain mediates prosocial decisions,” says Bartel.
JNeurosci was launched in 1981 as a means to communicate the findings of the highest quality neuroscience research to the growing field. Today, the journal remains committed to publishing cutting-edge neuroscience that will have an immediate and lasting scientific impact, while responding to authors' changing publishing needs, representing breadth of the field and diversity in authorship.
About The Society for Neuroscience
The Society for Neuroscience is the world's largest organization of scientists and physicians devoted to understanding the brain and nervous system. The nonprofit organization, founded in 1969, now has nearly 35,000 members in more than 95 countries.
Scientists have long wondered whether evolution would follow the same path if history had a chance for a “do-over.” New research suggests that it does, when it comes to the brain and its regulation of behavior — one of nature’s most complex traits. This discovery sheds new light on the origin of behavioral variation.
Together, the team found that bird species who nest in hard-to-get tree cavities have independently evolved heightened aggression, particularly in females. Even more striking, researchers found this behavioral similarity across lineages mirrored molecular similarity in the birds’ brains.
To conduct this work, researchers observed wild birds and measured their aggressive response to a stuffed decoy and a speaker playing aggressive calls. They replicated this territorial challenge for hundreds of birds across five branches of the bird family tree: swallows, wood warblers, sparrows, thrushes and wrens.
In each lineage, they focused on two closely related species: one obligate cavity-nester, and one with a more flexible nesting strategy. Obligate cavity-nesters cannot reproduce without securing a hole in a tree or another similar structure. The team expected that these species would be more aggressive due to their nesting constraints.
“I have been studying cavity-nesters, like tree swallows and bluebirds, for over 20 years,” Rosvall said. “We knew they fiercely defend their nesting territories, including those human-made bird boxes you might see in your local park. Now we know this ever-present competition also shapes their brain evolution.”
Out of over 10,000 genes expressed in the brains of all 10 species, the team found a set of genes that were consistently altered in their expression in the cavity-nesters’ brains. Each time a lineage evolved higher aggression, its brain independently had the same changes as other cavity-nesting lineages.
“It’s a small number of genes,” Rosvall said. “But it’s exciting because evolution did repeat itself. We knew this could happen for physical traits but not for a complex behavior like aggression.”
The team also identified a larger set of genes that was associated with aggressiveness along two or three branches of the bird family tree, showing — as Rosvall and Lipshutz like to say — “There may be many ways to build an aggressive bird.”
This study is a major advance because it shows that behavioral evolution can arise from a combination of independent changes in the brain, layered atop re-use of the same genetic toolkit.
“If you asked five artists to paint the same landscape, you might expect to recognize each painting as the same scene, even if they also look a bit different,” Rosvall said. “Our results are like that, except the artist is natural selection, repeatedly dialing up aggression over the last 25 million years.”
The findings highlight both the predictability and creativity of evolution, but they also may inform human health.
“Our results did not flag the stereotypical ‘aggression’ genes, like those related to testosterone,” Rosvall said. “Instead, we saw convergent increases in aggression linked to genes with connections to neurodegenerative disorders.
“This doesn’t mean aggressive birds are going to get Alzheimer’s. It just means evolution has repeatedly tweaked these genes to shift brain function and behavior. And understanding why might help us develop evolution-inspired support for people.”
Rosvall specializes in behavioral ecology, neurobiology and genomics. Her lab uses natural variation to understand how animals solve problems in their environment, including habitat limitation and climate change. Both Rosvall and Lipshutz were supported by the National Science Foundation.
