Species hitch a ride on birds and the wind to join green roof communities

Date:

April 6, 2018

Source:

University of Portsmouth

Summary:

New research suggests that species that live on green roofs arrived by hitching lifts on birds or by riding air currents.

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This is sedum on the green roof.

Credit: Heather Rumble, University of Portsmouth

Wind moves microinvertebrates across desert

Evidence collected over five years might have implications for freshwater systems

Date:

March 13, 2018

Source:

The University of Texas at El Paso

Summary:

Research has yielded the first evidence of how waterborne microinvertebrates move across vast expanses of arid desert. A new study details for the first time how high desert winds disperse small invertebrates and how they colonize hydrologically disconnected basins throughout the region.

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A tray of marbles sits on the roof of the Biology Building on the campus of The University of Texas at El Paso. Trays like this were used to collect dust as part of a study by UTEP faculty and students to determine how microinvertebrates were carried across vast expanses of desert by wind. The marbles mimic the rolling surface of desert terrain. Blowing dust skims right over most surfaces but will occasionally become lodged in gaps. Researchers took this dust and rehydrated it to determine if microinvertebrates in dormant, developmental stages were present.

Credit: UTEP Communications