Males and females of many species are often visibly different from one another. Scientists call these differences ‘sexual dimorphism’ and it has been studied extensively by evolutionary biologists all of the way back to Charles Darwin. But what is not yet clearly understood is how these differences impact an entire ecosystem.
Read more
The extinction of mammoths, ground sloths and other large plant-eaters thousands of years ago triggered shifts in global habitats and changes in ecosystems, says University of Maine paleoecologist Jacquelyn Gill.
Read more
As many University of Maine students and faculty headed home for Fall Break, one group of academics was back on campus, bright and early, Monday morning. They are members of the UMaine Faculty Fellows Program, and instead of hunkering down in their offices and research labs, they rolled up their sleeves and buckled in for […]
Read more
The American eel, Anguilla rostrata, is one of three species of freshwater eels found around the globe and is the only species found in North America. According to the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, the species has survived multiple ice ages and is considered to have the broadest diversity of habitats of any fish species […]
Read more
The director of the University of Maine Darling Marine Center says ecosystem-based approaches to restore ocean health provide a flexible framework for marine management and allow scientists and stakeholders to move beyond reactive and piecemeal solutions.
Read more
Heather Leslie, director of the University of Maine Darling Marine Center, is leading a research project to deepen her interdisciplinary investigations of ecological and human dimensions of small-scale fisheries in Mexico’s Baja peninsula. A $1.79 million award from the National Science Foundation’s Coupled Natural and Human (CNH) Systems Program funds the three-year project. “My studies […]
Read more
Science magazine published a feature article on Aram Calhoun, a professor of wetland ecology at the University of Maine, and her efforts to protect vernal pools. Calhoun is leading an innovative effort to overcome two of the tougher challenges in conservation biology in the United States: protecting vernal pools that are critical to the survival […]
Read more
Dorina Grezda and Nehat Dobratiqi, two Kosovar students supported by the Transformational Leadership Program — Scholarships and Partnerships (TLP-SP), analyzed data from a survey of Mainers to examine the factors that encourage people’s recycling and other environmental behaviors. Professor Mario Teisl, adviser of the students, presented their work at an UNITWIN/UNESCO-sponsored conference on food waste […]
Read more
Researchers at the University of Maine have received a $1 million federal grant from the U.S Department of Agriculture to continue their efforts in boosting organic grain production in northern New England. “We are very excited by this new USDA award in that it recognizes the impact of the work we’ve done with farmers, millers […]
Read more
University of Maine scientists have deployed an ocean-observing buoy at the mouth of the Damariscotta River to help scientists understand how different types and scales of aquaculture can fit into Maine’s multi-use working waterfront. The buoy is part of a National Science Foundation’s Sustainable Ecological Aquaculture Network (SEANET) project geared to assist the aquaculture sector […]
Read more