Bumblebees Thrive in the City but Struggle on the Farm

As many may know, bumblebees are beneficial to the pollination of flowers and crops. Curiously enough, more bumblebees have been noticed around populated cities rather than vast agricultural fields. The reason for this is that city parks and gardens provide a wide variety of flowers throughout the seasons whereas agricultural fields only offer one type of flower for a short period of time. In a study performed by Ash Samuelson, a graduate student at Royal Holloway University, she transferred more than a hundred colonies of wild queen bees into London’s cities, suburbs and farms. The results concluded that the city bees thrived more than the country bees. It is possible that agricultural fields are not as advantageous because farms offer fewer flowers and potentially have more pesticides.

Samuelson’s research suggests that by planting more wildflowers around crops could increase pollination and foraging opportunities. It is a natural way that could replace other crop enrichment methods. I find this research helpful for farmers who are looking to enhancing their crop population, however, I think the downside to planting more flowers is the possibility of welcoming more animals that may eat the crops.

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New Species of Galápagos Tortoise: Chelonoidis donfaustoi

 

 

Last month scientist discovered a new species of Galapagos tortoise. These are the giants that helped inspire Darwin’s theory of evolution. This new species of Galapagos tortoise lives in eastern Santa Cruz, also known as Cerro Fatal or Deadly Hill, due to its arid and lava-laced environment. This is confirmed as the 14^th Galapagos tortoise. The new species goes by the name, Chelonoisis donfaustoi, after Fausto Llerena Sanchez who just retired after forty-three years of helping to save the endangered tortoises.

The species evidently has more in common genetically with species of tortoise on other islands and less in common with Santa Cruz’s main tortoise. Although it is not common for separate species to breed with each other, the genetic evidence shows that the two Santa Cruz species have mated. The genetic analysis that compared Cerro Fatal DNA with DNA from all known species showed that the Reserva specimen contained traces of Cerro Fatal DNA, which indicated that the two species can actually interbreed but have a tendency not to. Cerro Fatal has about two-hundred and fifty tortoises, while La Reserva, a moister and elevated part of Santa Cruz has about two-thousand tortoises. Reserva tortoises have been in existence for one and three-quarter million years, unlike the Cerro Fatal tortoises which have only existed for less than half a million years.

Although the two tortoise types shared an island, genetic analysis revealed that the closest relatives the two species have in common are from San Cristolbal which is the most eastern Galapagos island. This analysis also revealed that they are not each other’s sister species and that the Cerro Fatal tortoises evolved much more recently. Tortoise expert, Peter Paul van Dijk stated that the “results suggest that Cerro Fatal tortoise probably drifted to Santa Cruz during a once-in-a-decade or once-in-a-century extreme weather event.”

This discovery gives scientists hope that the new species designation will allow them to raise money to further study Cerro Fatal tortoises and more importantly to better protect their habitat and surroundings.

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