Biodiversity Blog

Thursday, 01 March 2018

Social Media Leads Researchers to New Eel Discoveries in Texas

   American eels This was written by Nicole Elmer, Melissa Casarez, and Dean Hendrickson Citizen-science and social networking outreach efforts often yield benefits for researchers. This is no more evident than here in the University of Texas’ Hendrickson Lab (home of the Fishes of Texas project) with a recent surprising discovery of...

Thursday, 15 February 2018

The Value of the Billie L. Turner Plant Resources Center (PRC) for Teaching Plant Systematics

Every fall semester the PRC Director, Dr. Robert K. Jansen, teaches an undergraduate course in Plant Systematics.  The course includes lectures, labs, field trips and student access to the dried plant specimens in the PRC.  The main focus of the labs/field trips is to introduce students to angiosperm families with an emphasis on those tha...

Wednesday, 07 February 2018

Towards a periodic table of niches or exploring the lizard niche hypervolume

Authors: Eric R. Pianka, Laurie J. Vitt, Nicolás Pelegrin, Daniel B. Fitzgerald, and Kirk O. Winemiller Ecologists begin to construct a Periodic Table of Niches    Redsands study area in the Great Victoria Desert of Western Australia – 55 species of lizards, including the thorny devil Moloch horridus, occur in sympatry here.(Cre...

Tuesday, 11 July 2017

Students of Texas Lutheran University visit the Plant Resources Center

  We at the Plant Resources Center had the pleasure of receiving Dr. Alan Lievens' class from Texas Lutheran University to talk to them about The Plant Resources Center and the importance of Natural History collections. Students were very enthusiastic and learned about historical and ecological importance of specimens, and the history of the P...

Tuesday, 06 June 2017

BFL is proud to host Science Under the Stars

Starlight twinkles through the trees and crickets serenade in the distance as families, students and others with a thirst for knowledge gather outside at The University of Texas at Austin's Brackenridge Field Laboratory (BFL) for another evening of Science Under the Stars. The free, monthly public lecture series was founded and is run completely by...

Thursday, 30 March 2017

Wildflowers of Texas: The pink evening primrose - Oenothera speciosa

The pink evening primrose is a native Texas favorite that is sown by the highway department in most parts of the state; either scattered or in great masses, it is an integral part of the spring roadside floral displays. A fairly small, generally sprawling plant, it is also quite happy in diverse other open habitats, including lawns. The flowers, wh...

Tuesday, 21 March 2017

The Daily Species: Bumble Bee Fly (Laphria macquarti)

On the left is a bumble bee. On the right is... not a bumble bee. Laphria macquarti is one of the larger and more spectacular mimics of common bumble bees in the southeastern United States. These agile predatory insects are in the robber fly family Asilidae, and like most robber flies, they catch prey in mid-air. Their beelike appearance likely det...

Thursday, 09 March 2017

The Rough-stem Rosinweed - Silphium integrifolium var. asperrimum

This rather tall sunflower is found primarily along streams on the Edwards Plateau and in north-central Texas. Although the leaves are sandpapery to the touch, they are relished by deer and other browsing wildlife. Flowering months: July and August. Photo: Dexter image collection, Plant Resources Center.Wildflowers of Texas project: http://www...

Thursday, 23 February 2017

Wildflowers of Texas: The angel trumpet, Datura Wrightii

A large white flower with a long tube is usually the telltale sign of a flower that blooms at night, since it is often adapted to pollination by long-tongued hawkmoths that only fly in the near-dark. Such is the case of the impressive (to about eight inches long) and beautiful flower of this species of jimsonweed. The fruit it produces is like a sp...

Thursday, 16 February 2017

Wildflowers of Texas: The prairie nymph, Herbertia lahue

This gorgeous flower makes a brief springtime appearance in Texas coastal prairies. It varies on color from blue to lavender. Flowering months: March, April, May. Photo: Dexter image collection, Plant Resources Center.Wildflowers of Texas project: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/exhibits/wildflowers/index.html

Monday, 04 January 2016

A new microsporidian is the first described pathogen of tawny crazy ants

A new study describing the first pathogen to be found in tawny crazy ants has been published by the Invasive Species Research group at BFL and is co-authored by USDA scientists. This is an important discovery given the national prominence and attention of these invasive ants. The pathogen is a new genus of microsporidian parasites that infects the ...

Friday, 01 January 2016

National Report Highlights Brackenridge Field Lab

Brackenridge Field Lab’s national reputation—as a premiere site for research on invasive species, evolution and behavior, biodiversity, climate change and drought, as well as for education and outreach—was underscored with the lab’s inclusion in a report by the National Academy of Sciences on the critical role of field stations.   Th...

Thursday, 11 July 2013

Regents approve plan to expand Stengl Lost Pines Biological Station

The UT Board of Regents approved a plan to expand the 208-acre Stengl Lost Pines Biological Station. Read more at My Statesman >>