Avid mushroom hunters will tell you that fire is essential for finding morels. These fungi, distinguishable for their dark, honeycomblike caps, pop out of the ground by the bushel in spring after a large wildfire. This ecological knowledge is mostly anecdotal, shared among morel enthusiasts for recreational hunts and commercial harvesting, in what is now a multimillion-dollar, worldwide industry. Yet few scientific studies have actually quantified morels’ abundance after a fire.
Read more at UW Today »Floating DNA reveals urban shorelines support more animal life
Every living thing leaves a genetic trail in its wake. As animals, plants and microbes shed cells and produce waste, they drop traces of their DNA everywhere — in the air, soil and water. Researchers are now able to capture the cells of animals, sequence their DNA and identify which species were present at a point in time. Think of it as genetic fingerprints that leave a trace of past activity.
Read more at UW Today »Big fish — and their pee — are key parts of coral reef ecosystems
A new University of Washington study finds that in coral reefs where fishing occurs, nearly half of the key nutrients found in fish urine are absent from the ecosystem due to there being fewer large-bodied and predator fish present.
Read more at UW Today »Studying sockeye salmon
Each summer, aquatic and fishery sciences professor Daniel Schindler and his students travel to Bristol Bay, Alaska, to observe one of the most valuable fisheries in the world. Get an inside look at the program.
Read more at UW.edu »Jerry Franklin named 2016's 'Eminent Ecologist' by leading ecological group
The School of Environmental and Forest Sciences' Jerry Franklin was named 2016's 'Eminent Ecologist' by the Ecological Society of America.
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