November research news from the Ecological Society of America

Ecological Society of America

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New research in Ecological Monographs finds that trees team up with different soil fungi as they age, with older tree roots partnering with fungi like this one, which hunt for soil nutrients over short distances.

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Credit: Zeqing Ma & Gaigai Ding

The Ecological Society of America (ESA) presents a roundup of six research articles recently published across its esteemed journals. Widely recognized for fostering innovation and advancing ecological knowledge, ESA’s journals consistently feature illuminating and impactful studies. This compilation of papers explores urban pollinator navigation, the relationship between aging tree roots and soil fungi, sea urchin “halos”, gaps in international agreements for migratory birds, the impacts of an introduced prawn and the power of environmental education.

 

From Ecological Applications:

A long and winding road for urban pollinators
Author contact: Matthew J. Lundquist (mlundquist@mmm.edu)

Like humans making the daily commute into the city, urban pollinators must routinely thread their way through the maze of steel and concrete in search of food, shelter and mates. To explore the navigational challenges faced by city-dwelling insects, researchers in New York City modeled the shortest flight paths connecting green spaces throughout the city. They discovered that buildings often force pollinators to take the roundabout way, lengthening travel distance by as much as 20%; this extra flight time poses a particular challenge for solitary native bees and other insects that tend to stick close to home. Given that most properties in the study did not have enough plants to support pollinators throughout their life cycles, bugs are therefore compelled to spend a great deal of time and energy foraging. Increasing the overall amount of green space and creating islands of small habitat patches to improve connectivity between larger sites is therefore vital for conserving pollinators and maintaining urban biodiversity.    

Read the article: Bug roads: Modeling the green space connectivity and pollinator habitat in a large city using open GIS data and tools

 

From Ecological Monographs:

Roots and mycorrhizal fungi mellow as trees mature
Author contact: Zeqing Ma (mazq@igsnrr.ac.cn)

Trees and soil fungi reinvent their partnership as forests age, according to a new study. The research reveals that the way tree roots and their fungal allies hunt for nutrients in the soil shifts dramatically over time. Experimental manipulation of soil nitrogen in stands of young, middle-aged and mature larch trees showed that forest age had a far greater impact on root traits than did nitrogen levels. Young trees deploy long, fast-growing roots that burn energy to scour the soil, while older trees rely on thicker, tougher, shorter roots that are cheaper to maintain and better protected. These physical differences matter — roots of different ages form different alliances with mutualistic soil fungi, which in turn shape how trees acquire nutrients. In younger forests, roots pair with fungi that specialize in long-distance nutrient foraging, but as trees mature, the partnership pivots to fungi that work closer to home. Together, these shifts create a continuum of strategies — from aggressive nutrient hunting in youth to resource conservation in old age — that drives the underground economy of forests as they grow.

Read the article: Root-mycorrhizal foraging strategies shift with forest age more than with nitrogen manipulation

 

From Ecology:

Reading the rings: halos signal ecosystem vulnerability
Author contact: Mario Minguito-Frutos (mminguito@ceab.csic.es)

When predators disappear and nutrients surge, plant-eating animals often take over, stripping ecosystems bare. But a recent study suggests that under the sea the relationship between grazing and collapse may not be so straightforward. Researchers looked for an easy-to-spot warning sign of trouble: sea urchin “halos” — bare patches left behind as urchins graze algae and kelp. These halos directly reflect how much the urchins eat and how quickly algae and plants can grow. Measuring more than 1,200 halos at 31 sites across the Mediterranean Sea, the team found that halo size varies widely depending on local conditions. Some urchin species and habitats produce bigger halos than others, and halos grow larger in deeper, nutrient-poor waters. Notably, halos are smaller within marine protected areas, where predators are more abundant and keep urchins in check. Despite global threats, the findings show that vulnerability to overgrazing depends on local ecological and environmental factors, underscoring the need for flexible conservation and management strategies that can be readily adapted to regional contexts.   

Read the article: Grazing halos reveal differential ecosystem vulnerabilities in vegetated habitats

 

From Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment:

International agreements are for the birds
Author contact: Marina Corella Tor (corella.marina@gmail.com)

Multinational agreements are failing to safeguard migratory birds, new research shows. Although the 49 agreements currently in effect may seem nearly comprehensive on the surface, covering 187 countries and nearly 90% of the world’s migratory bird species, diving deeper into the details reveals protection to be highly uneven across countries, regions and species. Large, affluent countries with many migratory species and many neighbors were found to participate in more agreements than smaller, lower-income and more isolated countries, while agreements also tended to prioritize non-threatened over threatened species. Strikingly, a mere 28% of migratory birds are protected by international agreements along the full course of their migratory routes, while 14% have no such protection at all. Existing agreements have done much to help conserve migratory birds, but more extensive international cooperation is needed to expand coverage and ensure the future survival of species that cross national borders.

Read the article: Spatial and taxonomic coverage of international migratory bird agreements

 

From Ecosphere:

DNA detectives uncover a giant prawn’s Amazonian appetite
Author contact: Quentin Mauvisseau (quentin.mauvisseau@nhm.uio.no)

Giant river prawns were first brought to Brazil in 1977 for aquaculture farming, but escapees quickly established viable populations in the freshwaters of the Amazon Delta. Yet surprisingly little is known about what impacts the introduced crustacean has had on its new surroundings. To explore the dietary preferences of the invasive prawn in its Amazonian home, researchers turned to metabarcoding, a technique in which DNA present in stomach contents and feces is extracted and analyzed to identify what an animal has been eating. The results revealed that giant prawns consume a broad variety of prey, competing with native prawns for protein-rich fish, flies and other winged insects. In addition to competing with native crustaceans for food, the DNA evidence also hinted at the possibility that the newcomer directly targets at least one native prawn. Solving the long-standing mystery of where exactly the introduced giant river prawn fits into the Amazonian freshwater food web further highlights the usefulness of metabarcoding for monitoring biodiversity, exploring ecological interactions and studying the impacts of non-native species on native ecosystems.

Read the article: Invasive giant river prawns as opportunistic, generalist predators in the Amazon Delta: Insights from metabarcoding

 

From Earth Stewardship:

Sharpening children’s view of nature
Author contact: Milena Holmgren (milena.holmgren@wur.nl)

Environmental education is often assumed to encourage and build on children’s fascination with nature. However, figuring out the most effective ways to foster interest in the natural world among youth can be challenging. In this study, researchers led 120 11- and 12-year-old students on a field trip to the lagoon surrounding Venice, Italy, to explore how outdoor education influences their perception of nature. Activities included observing plants, animals and soil, collecting samples, using magnifying glasses and binoculars and playing games to learn about the local ecosystem. To assess changes in their perspectives of nature, each child completed questionnaires and drew sketches before and after the excursion. Before the program, most children held nature-centered views of the environment, while a smaller group focused on their surroundings’ man-made features. After the trip, more of the human-centered students switched to a nature-centered attitude than vice versa (although most retained their original perspective). Children with nature-centered views expressed greater environmental awareness and stronger emotional connections to the lagoon, suggesting that hands-on exploration and play deepen pre-existing appreciation of natural settings. Tapping into children’s innate sense of wonder through outdoor experiences strengthens positive views of nature — a critical step for fostering transformative societal change in how humans relate to the natural world.

Read the article: Quantifying plasticity of children’s visions of nature

 

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The Ecological Society of America, founded in 1915, is the world’s largest community of professional ecologists and a trusted source of ecological knowledge, committed to advancing the understanding of life on Earth. The 8,000 member Society publishes six journals and a membership bulletin and broadly shares ecological information through policy, media outreach and education initiatives. The Society’s Annual Meeting attracts 4,000 attendees and features the most recent advances in ecological science. Visit the ESA website at https://www.esa.org

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Tracking forever chemicals across food web shows not all isomers are distributed equally

Samples from water, fish, and bird eggs demonstrate the need to measure these unique molecular structures separately

University at Buffalo

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BUFFALO, N.Y. — When University at Buffalo chemists analyzed samples of water, fish, and bird eggs, they weren’t surprised to find plenty of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). After all, these “forever chemicals” turn up nearly everywhere in the environment. 

But they were intrigued that one of the most hazardous PFAS — perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), once used in nonstick pans and firefighting foam — appeared in slightly different structural forms, known as isomers, depending on the sample.

More than half of the PFOS detected in wastewater and supermarket fish were branched isomers, which are spherical and compact and dissolve more easily in water. Yet in the egg yolk of fish-eating birds, PFOS was nearly 90% linear, an elongated form that tends to bind to proteins and remain in tissues longer.

“Taken together, these results suggest that as PFOS moves across the food web — from water to fish to birds — its linear isomers become more prevalent than branched isomers,” says the study’s corresponding author, Diana Aga, PhD, director of the UB RENEW Institute and SUNY Distinguished Professor and Henry M. Woodburn Chair in the UB Department of Chemistry.

Isomers of a given compound maintain the same chemical formula, but the unique arrangement of their constituent atoms can cause them to behave very differently. For example, one isomer of methamphetamine is a controlled substance, another is used in over-the-counter nasal inhalers. 

And yet U.S. and European regulations still advise simply lumping all isomers together when measuring PFAS. 

“Our study is yet another piece of evidence that PFAS isomers can bioaccumulate at different rates and should not be treated as if they were all the same,” Aga says.

Spanning two studies, this work was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation and Environmental Protection Agency. 

Advanced separation techniques help sort isomers

Distinguishing between different isomers of PFAS requires cyclic ion mobility spectrometry. This advanced analytical technique separates isomers based on their shape differences that influence how they move through a tube filled with gas, such as nitrogen.

Say you have two sheets of paper — one flat and one crumpled into a ball — and drop them. They’re made of the same material and weigh the same, yet the crumbled one will hit the ground first.

Similarly, cyclic ion mobility spectrometry distinguishes among isomers of the same molecule based on their drift time, the time it takes for the PFOS isomers to travel through the tube to reach the detector. Branched isomers’ more compact, spherical shapes mean they move faster through the inert gas inside the tube than the elongated linear isomers.

The RENEW Institute's cyclic ion mobility spectrometry instrument, supported by the UB Office of the Senior Vice President for Research, Innovation and Economic Development, analyzed PFAS in seven unfrozen supermarket fish samples. They included both bottom-dwelling benthic fish, such as blue catfish, cod and haddock, and pelagic fish that live in open waters, such as rainbow trout, salmon and tilapia.

Published in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, Aga’s results showed that generally, there are more types of branched PFOS isomers in benthic than in pelagic fish. The benthic fish contained two additional types of branched PFOS isomers not detected in pelagic samples.

The combination of both branched and linear isomers led to benthic fish having a significantly higher total PFOS concentration than pelagic fish. The benthic fish species also generally have higher proportions of longer-chain PFAS, such as PFOA and PFNA, which have eight and nine carbons, respectively.

“These results suggest that consumers who frequently eat bottom-dwelling species may have a higher exposure to PFAS,” says Mindula Wijayahena, a PhD student in Aga’s lab and first author of the study.

Isomer mix flips in birds

Aga’s team identified PFOS isomers in wastewater and bird eggs in a separate study published in the Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry.

The wastewater came from a municipal wastewater treatment facility in Erie County, while the egg yolks were collected from abandoned nests near Buffalo Harbor. The eggs were from double-crested cormorants, a North American aquatic bird that eats fish.

In wastewater samples, more than half of the PFOS was branched. But in the double-crested cormorant egg yolks, nearly 90% of PFOS was linear.

“Although we know linear isomers tend to accumulate more in tissue than branched, the reason why the eggs skewed so heavily to linear warrants further investigation,” says PhD student Jenise Paddayuman, the first author of the study. “Still, the results give insight into the environmental fate of PFOS and suggest that linear isomers persist more as PFOS makes its way through the environment.”

Now that chemists have the tools to distinguish PFAS isomers, Aga says it may be time to examine the differences in their toxicological effects, which could support the need to regulate them differently. 

“For example, if the evidence continues to show that branched isomers don’t bioaccumulate as much as linear, then perhaps we start designing more molecules to take on the branched structure,” she says. “That’s something we can think about in the future.”

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Journal

Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

DOI

10.1021/acs.jafc.5c08608 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

PFAS Isomers Matter: Distribution Patterns of Linear and Branched PFOS and PFOA in Consumed Fish Revealed by Cyclic Ion Mobility SeparationArticle link copied!

 

UC Irvine-led study uses social media for real-time monitoring of heat experiences in state

Machine learning-based approach can help inform targeted public health interventions

University of California - Irvine

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Irvine, Calif., Dec. 2, 2025 — A study led by health communications experts at the University of California, Irvine has yielded a new way to monitor heat equity in real time, facilitating the design of heat warning systems and targeted mitigation efforts in California’s most vulnerable communities.

Researchers at UC Irvine’s Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health explored online posts by Californians about extreme heat to help inform the development of targeted public health interventions. The study was supported by the National Science Foundation, and findings were published in Weather, Climate, and Society.

As California experiences more frequent and intense heat waves, not all residents are prepared to withstand them. The state’s diverse geography and population, combined with disparities in cooling access, create unique challenges in protecting public health. For example, about 20 percent of Los Angeles County households lack air conditioning, compared with less than 7 percent in Riverside County.

These differences reflect California’s varied climate zones and housing patterns: Riverside’s hotter, inland conditions have long driven greater air conditioning use, while many of Los Angeles’ older homes – particularly in coastal and lower-income neighborhoods – were built when cooling was considered unnecessary. The result is a patchwork of cooling access across microclimates, leaving some urban communities more exposed to dangerous heat.

Using a machine learning-based approach, the study analyzed over 7,000 heat-related posts on X (formerly known as Twitter) and linked them to local conditions through the Healthy Places Index – a data tool developed by the Public Health Alliance of Southern California that combines 23 social and economic indicators – and California census tract data.

“Extreme heat is an often-underestimated public health threat,” said corresponding author Suellen Hopfer, associate professor of health, society and behavior at Wen Public Health. “By integrating health equity tools like the Healthy Places Index with social media monitoring, we can better understand how Californians experience and respond to heat and identify where targeted interventions are most needed.”

The analysis found that residents in low Healthy Places Index areas, often characterized by fewer economic resources and limited access to cooling infrastructure, expressed more negative sentiments, venting and warning about the heat in their posts. In contrast, residents in high HPI areas more frequently described coping strategies and expressed relief and positive sentiments when temperatures dropped.

By combining social media analytics, including seven years of data from X, place-based health data and geospatial mapping, the researchers developed a powerful AI-based tool that could help agencies and fire departments monitor real-time conversations and existing data and respond with targeted interventions and resources in locations most affected by heat.

Additional authors included Gomathi B. Sriperumbudur and Yihang Fan, doctoral students in Hopfer’s lab at Wen Public Health; Xiaozhen Liu, doctoral student in computer science, and Chen Li, professor of computer science, at UC Irvine’s Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Sciences; and Mingyu Derek Ma, recent doctoral graduate, and Wei Wang, Leonard Kleinrock Chair Professor in Computer Science, at UCLA.

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation’s top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. The campus has produced five Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UC Irvine has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide. For more on UC Irvine, visit www.uci.edu.

Media access: Radio programs/stations may, for a fee, use an on-campus studio with a Comrex IP audio codec to interview UC Irvine faculty and experts, subject to availability and university approval. For more UC Irvine news, visit news.uci.edu. Additional resources for journalists may be found at https://news.uci.edu/media-resources.

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Journal

Weather Climate and Society

Article Title

How Californians Tweet about Extreme Heat Events on Social Media: A Health Equity Perspective

 

Researchers confirm new rickettsia species found in dogs

North Carolina State University

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Researchers from North Carolina State University have confirmed that a species of Rickettsia first seen in dogs in 2018 is a new species of bacteria. The new species, dubbed Rickettsia finnyi, is associated with symptoms similar to those of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) in dogs, but has not yet been found in humans.

Rickettsia pathogens are categorized into four groups; of those, spotted-fever group Rickettsia (which is transmitted by ticks) is the most commonly known and contains the most identified species. There are more than 25 species of tick-borne, spotted-fever group Rickettsia species worldwide, with R. rickettsii – which causes RMSF – being one of the most virulent and dangerous.

Symptoms of RMSF in dogs and people are similar, including fever, lethargy and symptoms related to vascular inflammation, like swelling, rash and pain.

“We first reported the novel species of Rickettsia in a 2020 case series involving three dogs,” says Barbara Qurollo, associate research professor at NC State and corresponding author of the new study.

“Since then we received samples from an additional 16 dogs – primarily from the Southeast and Midwest – that were infected with the same pathogen. We were also able to culture the new species from the blood of one of the naturally infected dogs in that group.”

To name a new Rickettsial bacterial species, the bacteria must be cultured, its genome sequenced and published, and the cultures must be deposited in two biobanks so that other researchers can also study it. Qurollo’s group successfully cultured the new species from the infected dog.

“Rickettsia species are difficult to culture because these organisms grow inside of cells,” Qurollo says. “While we haven’t been able to confirm which tick species transmit it yet, we think it may be associated with the lone star tick, because a research group in Oklahoma found R. finnyi DNA in a lone star tick.”

The researchers named the new species Rickettsia finnyi, after Finny, the first dog they found it in.

“By naming it after an individual dog, we wanted to honor all companion dogs that have contributed to the discovery of new pathogens that could cause serious illness in both dogs and humans,” Qurollo says.

The work appears in Emerging Infectious Diseases and was supported by the American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation (grant number 02983). Praveen Korla and Michael Karounos, both researchers at NC State, are co-first authors. Other NC State contributors include Sarah Clarke, Cynthia Robveille, James Wilson, Edward Breitschwerdt and Adam Birkenheuer.

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Note to editors: An abstract follows.

“Isolation and Characterization of Rickettsia finnyi, A Novel Pathogenic Spotted Fever Group Rickettsia in Dogs in the United States”

DOI: 10.3201/eid3111.250681

Authors: Praveen Korla, Michael Karounos, Sarah Clarke, Cynthia Robveille, James Wilson, Edward Breitschwerdt, Adam Birkenheuer, Barbara Qurollo, North Carolina State University
Published: Dec. 2, 2025 in Emerging Infectious Diseases

Abstract:
In 2020, a novel spotted fever group Rickettsia was described in three clinically ill dogs in the United States. Using naturally infected canine blood, the novel Rickettsia sp. was isolated in epithelial (Vero E6) and mononuclear cell lines (DH82 and 030D). The sequenced whole genome revealed a 1.27 Mbp circular chromosome with 96.87% identity to Rickettsia raoultii based on average nucleotide identity analysis. A maximum-likelihood phylogeny tree placed the novel Rickettsia in its own branch within the spotted fever group. Immunofluorescence revealed single rods localized along the membrane in epithelial cells and randomly distributed in the cytoplasm of mononuclear cells. We propose the name Rickettsia finnyi sp. nov., strain 2024-CO-Wats, which is available from national and international Rickettsial isolate reference collections. Fever and thrombocytopenia were among abnormalities in the 17 naturally infected dogs we describe, underscoring the pathogenic importance of R. finnyi sp. nov., and its potential public health relevance.

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Journal

Emerging Infectious Diseases

DOI

10.3201/eid3111.250681 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Animal tissue samples

Article Title

Isolation and Characterization of Rickettsia finnyi, Novel Pathogenic Spotted Fever Group Rickettsia in Dogs, United States

Article Publication Date

2-Dec-2025

COI Statement

B.A.Q., A.J.B., and E.E.B. provide continuing education on behalf of IDEXX Laboratories, Inc., and B.A.Q. receives partial salary support from IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. for veterinary medical applications. E.B.B. is the chief medical officer and J.M.W. is an employee of Galaxy Diagnostics. A.J.B. provides continuing education on behalf of Boehringer Ingelheim for veterinary medical applications.