It's tempting to think that wild places are only somewhere 'out there', far away from humans and cities. How do these changes affect the plants, animals, and microbial communities that inhabit prairies?Д¬ity parks: wildlife islands in a sea of cementДЄnimals, biodiversity, ecology, urban, island biogeography, parks In addition, land previously covered in prairie is now being used for agriculture. For example, people now work to prevent fires, which allows forest species take over. However, prairies are experiencing many changes. Prairies grow where three environmental conditions come together вЂ“ a variable climate, frequent fires, and large herbivores roaming the landscape. Because serpentine soils have fewer plant nutrients and are drier than non-serpentine soils, Alexandria thought that plants growing in serpentine soils may not invest as much into large root systems.ДЇertilizer and fire change microbes in prairie soilД«iodiversity, diversity, grassland, microbes, plants, prairie, soil

Low levels of water and nutrients found in serpentine soils limit plant growth. Serpentine soils have high amounts of toxic heavy metals, do not hold water well, and have low nutrient levels. When an organism grows in different environments, some traits change to fit the conditions. Soil, plasticity, limiting factors, plants, ecology The most recent bottle was dug up in 2021, and scientists tested how many seeds were still able to germinate after 142 years underground. This map have been passed down from scientist generation to generation. Beal had a question: how long do seeds survive underground? He started an experiment by filling 20 bottles with seeds from 50 plant species, buried them on campus, and creating a map to find them in the future. Over 100 years ago, a scientist named William J. Germination, long-term, plants, seed bank, seed viability When there is food freely available in the environment, are parents able to spend more time caring for their young? In the clown anemonefish, the amount of food available may impact parental care behaviors. The more time spent on care, the less time they have to find food or care for themselves. However, parental care is costly for the parents. Offspring in many animal species rely on parental care the more time and energy parents invest in their young, the more likely it is that their offspring will survive. Raising Nemo: Parental care in the clown anemonefishДЄnimals, behavior, coral reef, ecology, fish, marine, mating, tradeoff, plasticity But, there are actually corals that live in other habitats as well! Does the same species of coral look different depending on where it lives? When you picture coral, you might imagine beautiful reef structures with clear water and colorful corals and fishes. Scientists want to study coral bleaching so they can protect corals and the reefs that provide a home for so many different species.ДЄdaptation, coral reef, mangrove, morphology The algae leave and the corals turn white, called coral bleaching. When the water gets too warm, sometimes the coral and algae can no longer work together. The coral animal and the algae work together to produce food so that corals can grow big. They look brown and green because they have small plants, called algae, that live inside them. Perhaps if there are more vegetarians, like urchins, eating algae on the reef then corals would have less competition and more space to grow.ДЇlower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, TexasД¬limate change, coral reef, marine, mutualism, temperature, animals, algae, adaptation, evolutionД¬orals are animals that build coral reefs. In particular they hate living near algae because the algae and coral compete for the space they both need to grow. But corals only like to live in certain places. Below the table, Data Nuggets are placed on a map to help you search for research conductedВ in your local area!Д¬oral reef, herbivory, marine, sea urchin, water, animals, competitionД¬orals are the most important reef animals since they build the reef for all of the other animals to live in. Click on the Title to open a page displaying the teacher guide, student activities, grading rubric, and associated resources.В The table can be sortedВ using the arrows located next to each column header.В It can also be searchedВ by content area using the search bar, locatedВ to the top right of the table.

Below, you will find a tableВ of all the Data Nugget activities.

Feed and grow fish crab madness