The Ecological Society of America (ESA) presents a roundup of five 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 airplane–bird collisions, the slowing of leaf decomposition by a fungal pathogen, plant diversity in India’s sacred forests, the impacts of subsistence hunting on mammals, and giant otter latrines in Brazil.
From Ecological Applications :
Predator-prey science meets aviation safety
Author contact: Ryan B. Lunn ( rlunn@purdue.edu )
Can bird strikes by airplanes be minimized, if not avoided altogether? That question drives a new study that adapts years of research on animals’ antipredator behavior to aviation safety. Building on models originally developed to explain how prey escape approaching predators, and later cars, the researchers created a two-phase framework to predict bird-aircraft collisions. First, the model asks whether a bird has enough time to escape an airplane’s path. If not, a second phase estimates collision risk based on the size and shape of the plane and the bird’s position within the flight trajectory. Applied to encounters between Canada geese and a Boeing-737, the model predicts that when a goose is within an aircraft’s course, the chances of a collision are nearly 50/50, with highest risk when the goose is in the very center of the plane’s trajectory. The model also shows how antipredator responses can be exploited to reduce that risk. Onboard signal lights reduce the odds of a collision, with blue lights (tuned to the Canada goose visual system) cutting risk by 32%. By translating predator-prey theory into an aviation context, the study offers a flexible framework for designing bird-strike mitigation strategies across aircraft types and bird species.
Read the article: A model to quantify the probability of collision between birds and aircraft: Applications for onboard lighting
From Ecology :
Diseased leaves slow nature’s recycling
Author contact: Brett R. Lane ( brlane@ksu.edu )
Decomposition controls how quickly nutrients return to the soil, so anything that slows this process can ripple through ecosystems. A new study shows that plant pathogens can do exactly that, even after their hosts have died. Researchers in Indiana focused on invasive Japanese stiltgrass and its fungal disease, Bipolaris leaf spot, to ask whether diseased leaves break down differently than healthy ones. Experiments showed that 80% of leaf litter from diseased grass remained intact well into summer months, compared to just 54% from healthy plants. The difference was not due to changes in leaf chemistry, which was similar in both cases. Instead, the fungal communities of the two litters differed considerably, suggesting that the pathogen slows litter breakdown by rearranging the microbes present in the litter. This slowdown benefits the fungus by prolonging its survival and increasing opportunities to infect new hosts. For the grass and surrounding ecosystem, however, the effects compound — disease damages living plants, delays nutrient release and promotes future infections. The findings highlight that plant pathogens can disrupt ecosystem processes long after leaves fall.
Read the article: Foliar pathogen epidemic slows decomposition of invasive plant litter
From Earth Stewardship :
India’s sacred forests also harbor biodiversity
Author contact: Subhani Rath ( subhani.rath@gmail.com )
Undeveloped land set aside for cultural and spiritual reasons can also be important for biodiversity conservation and resource management. In a study from eastern India, researchers combined ecological surveys with social science methods to examine 10 sacred forests in the tribal‑dominated district of Mayurbhanj, Odisha. The research team documented plant species present in these community-managed groves and conducted interviews with 148 local residents about how the forests are used, valued and protected. The surveys revealed that at least 28 plant species collected from the groves are routinely used as medicine and in religious rituals. Unlike formal protected areas, these sites persist without legal designation or government oversight. Rather, they are maintained through rituals, taboos and locally enforced rules rooted in long-standing belief systems. The authors argue that such cultural regulation can be as effective as conventional conservation approaches, and they also note that combining ecological and anthropological approaches with traditional knowledge could deepen understanding of biodiversity conservation in culturally protected settings worldwide.
Read the article: Community values and management of sacred groves in Mayurbhanj, Odisha, India
From Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment :
Subsistence use and mammal decline worldwide
Author contact: Jacob E. Hill ( jearl.hill98@gmail.com )
Wild mammals provide food, income and cultural value for millions of people, but a new global analysis shows that some forms of use carry higher conservation risks than others. Researchers examined International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List accounts for 1,723 land mammals worldwide, comparing population trends with documented subsistence uses. Mammals hunted for food or taken as pets were at greater risk of population decline and even extinction, while harvest for clothing, medicine or cultural customs, such as ornaments and crafts, had little impact on animals’ population trends. Subsistence hunting for food affected nearly two-thirds of the species analyzed and was especially prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa and southwest Asia, while pet collection was more common in South America. The researchers point out that harvest does not act in isolation — habitat loss, which both drives declines and increases human access to wildlife, remains a dominant and complicating factor. Overall, the analysis shows that subsistence harvests, particularly for food and pets, are associated with declining mammal populations worldwide, underscoring the need for conservation strategies that balance species protection with recognition of and respect for traditional practices and livelihoods.
Read the article: Subsistence harvest for food and pets associated with declining global mammal populations
From Ecosphere :
Otter outhouses alter other animal behaviors
Author contact: Evan P. Olden ( cheney.evan.olden@gmail.com )
Animals inhabiting the Brazilian Pantanal, one of the world’s largest tropical wetland regions, often modify their behavior when encountering latrines created by giant otters, suggests a new study. The shared otter latrines serve as pungent territorial boundary markers, the otter version of posting “keep out” signs. To study their effects, researchers deployed motion-activated camera traps across flooded grasslands and forests, tracking wildlife activity before and after new latrines formed and comparing those sites to nearby control areas. The results showed that the latrines act as both attractants and repellants to other animals. Although slightly more species were recorded after latrine establishment, visits were dominated by a few frequent users. Scavenging birds like curassows, caracaras and vultures were especially common, attracted by abundant insects drawn to the otter waste and by undigested fish remains in otter feces. Once on the threshold of extinction, giant otters are now on the road to recovery, and their expanding populations may add an odiferous new twist to species interactions in Pantanal ecosystems.
Read the article: Vertebrate community composition and activity at giant otter latrines in the northern Pantanal
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