image: A new report in Ecosphere documents, for the first time, moths feeding on the tears of a moose.
Credit: Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife
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 a method to rehabilitate coral reefs, new observations of masquerading behavior in a deep-sea squid, the expansion of Sphagnum peat patches across Alaska’s North Slope, trade-offs between protected areas and sustainable development goals, a first-time observation of moths drinking a moose’s tears and the harmful effects of blind spots in early education on environmental decision making.
From Ecosphere:
Tear-drinking moths caught on camera sipping moose tears
Author contact: Laurence A. Clarfeld (laurence.clarfeld@uvm.edu)
Researchers in Vermont have captured the first known evidence of a moth or butterfly drinking the tears of a wild moose. While tear-feeding (or “lachryphagy”) on birds, reptiles and livestock has been widely observed in tropical regions, this behavior is extremely rare outside the tropics with only one other known sighting occurring in Arkansas, USA. On June 19, 2024, trails cameras in the Green Mountain National Forest recorded a sequence of images showing moths visiting a bull moose’s eyes. These images came from a larger Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department survey comprising over 247,000 moose photos across New England. Tear-drinking is thought to provide moths and butterflies with essential minerals, especially sodium in temperate regions, while tropical species often seek proteins. Although this behavior offers a unique source of minerals for moths, the authors suggest that it could pose health risks for moose, potentially spreading eye infections or adding to the stress of existing parasites, such as winter ticks.
Read the article: Observations of tear-drinking by lepidopterans on moose (Alces americanus americanus) in northeastern North America
From Ecology:
Masquerade behavior documented in deep-sea squid for the first time
Author contact: Alejandra Mejía-Saenz (alejandra.mejia-saenz@uhi.ac.uk)
Scientists exploring the deep seafloor in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, an area targeted for seabed mining in the central Pacific, have recorded a never-before-seen behavior in a deep-sea squid. At 4,100 meters below the surface, an underwater robot spotted a whiplash squid buried upside-down in the mud, with only its tentacles and siphon exposed. Squid are not known to burrow, and this burying position has never been documented in deep-sea cephalopods (the group that includes squids and octopuses). The researchers postulate that the squid may have been camouflaging itself to look like common seafloor structures such as sponge stalks or worm tubes. This disguise could help it avoid predators or attract small crustaceans that gather around these structures, making it either a defensive tactic or a clever way to hunt. Because deep-sea squids are so rarely seen, this ability to self-disguise may explain why they are often missed and why their diversity may be underestimated. The finding underscores how little we know about abyssal ecosystems and why studying them is essential as mining and climate pressures increase.
Read the article: Discovery of a mud-covering cephalopod evidences the complex life habits in the abyss
From Ecological Monographs:
Recent peat growth transforming Alaskan ecosystems
Author contact: Alexis R. Stansfield (alexisstans98@gmail.com)
Sphagnum moss has been present on Alaska’s North Slope for thousands of years, but scientists have discovered that the dense peat patches of these mosses that now dot the region’s tundra are younger than expected, with most having formed within the past 150 to 200 years. To investigate their origins, researchers sampled peat cores from nine sites spanning a 300-kilometer stretch of Alaska’s North Slope and radiocarbon-dated the layers to see when Sphagnum moss took hold. They found that the patches of Sphagnum peat largely established after the late 1800s, with the fastest expansion unfolding since the 1960s. These surprisingly recent origins align with a period of regional warming. As temperatures rise and growing seasons lengthen, Sphagnum moss gains a strong ecological advantage, allowing Sphagnum peat patches to expand. The shift is transforming microbial communities and is likely increasing the carbon storage potential of the landscape, and the authors assert that understanding how and why these peat patches form is crucial for predicting future tundra changes and their impact on carbon cycling in the Arctic.
Read the article: Recent Sphagnum expansion into the tundra on the North Slope of Alaska
From Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment:
Trade-offs for protected areas and sustainable development goals
Author contact: Aline Gaglia Alves (alinegaglia@gmail.com)
Protected areas (PAs), such as national parks and marine reserves, cover more than 52 million square kilometers worldwide and are intended to protect nature while supporting human well-being. However, their effects on local economies and communities can be mixed, sometimes limiting jobs or restricting access to traditional lands. A global review of 33 studies found that PAs generally benefit environmental, social and economic outcomes, particularly for marine ecosystems, but that they can sometimes conflict with economic growth. For example, some protected areas were linked to reductions in jobs and industrial development, highlighting a mismatch between conservation goals and local economic opportunities. Notably, positive social outcomes often occurred even when economic impacts were negative, emphasizing the need to balance multiple objectives. The effectiveness of PAs depends heavily on local management and community involvement. Most research focuses on environmental outcomes, leaving social and economic effects less understood. Experts recommend more integrated, context-specific studies that include multiple stakeholders to ensure protected areas support sustainable development across all dimensions.
Read the article: Disentangling the potential of protected areas to promote sustainable development
From Ecological Applications:
A scalable strategy to regrow coral reefs
Author contact: Christopher Doropoulos (christopher.doropoulos@csiro.au)
Coral reef recovery depends on young corals successfully settling and growing, but on many degraded reefs too few coral larvae are finding spots to attach and thrive—making natural recovery unlikely without help. Efforts to boost coral numbers by releasing larvae over large areas have shown limited success, in part because the larvae are difficult to distribute effectively at scale. A new study on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef introduces a promising solution. Researchers developed a “larval seedbox,” a modular device that slowly releases coral larvae into the surrounding water, allowing natural currents to disperse them. Over the course of the study, five seedboxes delivered 14 million larvae across two hectares of severely bleached reef. Within 48 hours, more than 85% of monitored points around the seedboxes had newly settled corals, at densities up to 56 times higher than background levels and within the range known to support reef recovery. Although long-term outcomes remain to be measured, this method offers a scalable, field-ready approach to accelerating coral reef restoration.
Read the article: Larval seedboxes: A modular and effective tool for scaling coral reef restoration
From Earth Stewardship:
Early classroom lessons shape treatment of Indigenous communities
Author contact: Ryan E. Emanuel (ryan.emanuel@duke.edu)
A new study highlights major educational gaps among environmental professionals regarding Indigenous peoples, and shows how those gaps can impact real-world decisions. The paper reports on discussions with 19 environmental professionals working in North Carolina state agencies. Participants described growing up with stereotypes, fragmented lessons or near-total omissions of Indigenous histories and cultures. Many said their K-12 curriculum treated Native peoples as figures of the distant past, portrayed mainly through trauma or reduced to classroom crafts and caricatures. The authors note that when agency staff lack accurate knowledge, they are less likely to meaningfully engage Tribal nations, especially those without full federal recognition (and that are thereby not always covered by consultation laws). For example, the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline was planned without consultation with any affected North Carolina Tribes despite its disproportionate impacts: approximately 25% of the state's Indigenous population lived along the pipeline route. Addressing these gaps in education is essential for environmental justice, the authors conclude, because decision-making that overlooks Indigenous presence and expertise will continue to reinforce past harms and undermine efforts to protect land, water and culturally significant places.
Read the article: Indigenous invisibility: Gaps in education about Indigenous peoples among environmental decision-makers
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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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