The Best Biome

The Best Biome

By Rachel Roth and Nicole BrownScienceLife SciencesNatural SciencesNature
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The Best Biome episodes

  • #25 – Disease-ridden Bloodsuckers

    Content Warning: talk of blood. The last of our "spooky"-themed episodes, let's talk about ticks! How do they feed, what kind of diseases do they carry, and how best to prevent getting sick from them. Did you know there are over 900 species of ticks and they live quite literally everywhere? Well, now you do. Be safe out there.

    Thanks for listening to our exploration of why grasslands are the best biome. We'll see you in two weeks!

    Primary Sources: Be sure to check out photos and more at our site!

    • Find the Best Repellant for You. Environmental Protection Agency.
    • Scallan, M. 2015. How do ticks... tick? Smithsonian Institution. Interview.
    • Centers for Disease Control. 2019. Tickborne Diseases of the United States.
    • European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Tick factsheets.
    • Simo, L., Kazimirova, M., et al. 2017. The Essential Role of Tick Salivary Glands and Saliva in Tick Feeding and Pathogen Transmission. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology. 7:281.

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      1 hr 5 min
    • #24 – Bring Out Your Dead (Part 2)

      Content Warning: talk of dead things (not graphic). Old World Vultures have a different set of tricks in order to survive including eating fruit, bones, and garbage. We talk Bearded Vultures, Eurasian Griffons, and more in this part two of our vulture special.

      http://savebellbowlprairie.org - save this Illinois prairie by Nov. 1st! Included is more information on the prairie itself as well as easy actions to take in the next two weeks. Please share to bring awareness before it's too late!

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      Primary Sources: Be sure to check out photos and more at our site!

      • Eurasian Griffons at a feeding station (video).
      • Barcell, M., Benítez, J. R., Solera, F., Román, B., & Donázar, J. A. (2015). Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) Uses Stone-Throwing to Break into a Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus) Egg. Journal of Raptor Research, 49(4), 521–522. https://doi.org/10.3356/rapt-49-04-521-522.1
      • Margalida, A., Schulze-Hagen, K., Wetterauer, B., Domhan, C., Oliva-Vidal, P., & Wink, M. (2020). What do minerals in the feces of Bearded Vultures reveal about their dietary habits? Science of The Total Environment, 138836. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138836
      • Negro, J. J., Grande, J. M., Tella, J. L., Garrido, J., Hornero, D., Donázar, J. A., … Barcell, M. (2002). An unusual source of essential carotenoids. Nature, 416(6883), 807–808. https://doi.org/10.1038/416807a
      • Winkler, D. W., S. M. Billerman, and I.J. Lovette (2020). Hawks, Eagles, and Kites (Accipitridae), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, B. K. Keeney, P. G. Rodewald, and T. S. Schulenberg, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.accipi1.01 (edited)

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        1 hr 15 min
      • #23 – Bring Out Your Dead (Part 1)

        Content Warning: talk of corpses and the eating of them. Vultures are nasty birds which cleanse the landscape of death and disease. In this part of our first ever two part episode we learn about the New World vultures from North and South America and how they fit into their landscapes and interact with each other. Next time: Old World vultures!

        Thanks for listening to our weekly exploration of why grasslands are the best biome. We'll see you next week for part two!

        Primary Sources: Be sure to check out photos and more at our site!

        • Zepeda Mendoza, M. L., Roggenbuck, M., Manzano Vargas, K., Hansen, L. H., Brunak, S., Gilbert, M. T. P., & Sicheritz-Pontén, T. (2018). Protective role of the vulture facial skin and gut microbiomes aid adaptation to scavenging. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica, 60(1). doi:10.1186/s13028-018-0415-3
        • Winkler, D. W., S. M. Billerman, and I.J. Lovette (2020). New World Vultures (Cathartidae), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, B. K. Keeney, P. G. Rodewald, and T. S. Schulenberg, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA.

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          1 hr 19 min
        • #22 – Vampiric Plants

          If you ever find yourself staring at a tangle of orange spaghetti in a grassland, it's probably a dodder plant. These talented, strange parasites have no leaves or roots, but plenty of other tricks to make sure that they succeed. Learn about plant communication systems, haustoria, plus a bonus fun tale of a maiden in a prairie looking for love.

          Thanks for listening to our weekly exploration of why grasslands are the best biome. We'll see you in two weeks!

          Primary Sources: Be sure to check out photos and more at our site!

            1. How to Manage Pests: Dodder. University of California Agriculture & Natural Resources.
            2. Penn State. 2018. Agricultural parasite takes control of host plant's genes. Science X Network.
            3. Shen, G., Liu, N., et at. 2020. _Cuscuta australis_ (dodder) parasite eavesdrops on the host plants’ FT signals to flower. PNAS 117(3).
            4. Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology. 2017. Dodder: A parasite involved in the plant alarm system. Science Daily.

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              52 min
            5. #21 – Chasing the Summer

              A raptor like no other crosses 20,000km across hemispheres every year, chasing summer and bugs and grasslands through the Americas. The Swainson's Hawk is a spectacle, and we're grateful to have them fighting on our side in the looming grasshopper apocalypse.

              Thanks for listening to our weekly exploration of why grasslands are the best biome. We'll see you next time!

              Primary Sources:

              • Bechard, M. J., C. S. Houston, J. H. Sarasola, and A. S. England (2020). Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.swahaw.01
              • Bird Names for Birds; William Swainson

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                49 min
              • #20 – Grasshopper Grazing

                How can grasshoppers save the world? By doing what they do best: eating. But too many grasshoppers might end us all so keep that in mind the next time you turn your nose up at entomophagy.

                Thanks for listening to our weekly exploration of why grasslands are the best biome. We'll see you next time!

                Primary Sources: Be sure to check out photos and more at our site!

                • Carolina Grasshopper poem. A Michigan Menagerie in Poems. YouTube.
                • Zhong, Z. 2014. Positive interactions between large herbivores and grasshoppers, and their consequences for grassland plant diversity. Ecology.
                • Chuck Lyons. 1874: The Year of the Locust. HistoryNet.
                • Huis, A., Itterbeeck, J., et al. 2013. Edible insects: Future prospects for food and feed security. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. PDF.

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                  1 hr 1 min
                • #19 – The Mighty Oak Savanna

                  Rachel takes us on a journey into one of North America's savannas dominated by oak trees. They provide shelter and food for a variety of different animals and (surprise) are critically endangered. One of the biggest causes of decline is a change in land management when European settlers pushed out indigenous land caretakers. This episode is a little long but worth the ride.

                  Primary Sources: Be sure to check out photos and more at our site!

                  • Gucker, Corey L. 2011. Quercus macrocarpa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). [2021, August 2].
                  • Savanna Oak Foundation, http://www.oaksavannas.org/
                  • Nuzzo, V.A. 1986. Extent and status of Midwest oak savanna: presettlement and 1985. Natural Areas Journal 6: 6-36.
                  • McPherson, Guy R. 1997. Ecology and Management of North American Savannas. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.(edited)

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                    1 hr 12 min
                  • #18 – The Cunning Coyote
                    Episode Notes

                    Coyotes are fantastic survivors that no matter how much people hate them (and boy do they hate them) they keep thriving. They are the ultimate flexitarian, can control their litter sizes, and just can't be stopped on their conquest to take over the world. We also dive into the problem of human-coyote conflict and how best to etch out a living alongside these awesome creatures.

                    Thanks for listening to our exploration of why grasslands are the best biome. We'll see you next time!

                    Primary Sources: Be sure to check out photos and more at our site!

                    • Urban Coyote Research Project Website. Cook County Urban Coyote Research Project.
                    • Project Coyote Website. Earth Island Institute.
                    • Worrall, S. 2016. "How the Most Hated Animal in America Outwitted Us All". National Geographic.
                    • Hennessy, C. 2007. "Mating Strategies and Pack Structure of Coyotes in an Urban Landscape: A Genetic Investigation". The Ohio State University.

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                      56 min
                    • #17 – Pleistocene Park

                      The concept behind Pleistocene Park is deceptively simple: rewild the Pleistocene Siberian arctic, slow the effects of climate change in the arctic. All it takes to revive the 10,000-year-old Mammoth Steppe, restore permafrost, and seriously reduce carbon and methane emissions--according to scientists--is releasing long-gone megafauna and watching the ecosystem shift under their influence.

                      The park is an incredible experiment, but more incredible is the paleoscience, climate science, grassland ecosystem development, and the incredible work of Sergey and Nikita Zimov to show that the science can work in practice.

                      Primary Sources: Be sure to check out photos and more at our site!

                      1. Nikita Zimov: Pleistocene Park & Rewilding Siberia to Save the Climate. Webinar hosted by Sustainable Design Masterclass.
                      2. Beer, C., Zimov, N., Olofsson, J. et al. Protection of Permafrost Soils from Thawing by Increasing Herbivore Density. Sci Rep 10, 4170 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-60938-y
                      3. Zimov, S. A., Zimov, N. S., Tikhonov, A. N., & Chapin, F. S. (2012). Mammoth steppe: a high-productivity phenomenon. Quaternary Science Reviews, 57, 26–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.10.005
                      4. Zimov, N. Pleistocene Park. https://pleistocenepark.ru/

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                        1 hr 11 min
                      5. #16 – Trees are Pretty Cool
                        Episode Notes

                        Madagascar... land of the forest and lemurs and definitely not mostly grassland, right? Wrong. Welcome to another case of grassland erasure as we try to set the record straight on the wonderful, beautiful grasslands that blanket this tropical island. We even highlight a very special tree!

                        Thanks for listening to our weekly exploration of why grasslands are the best biome. We'll see you in two weeks!

                        Primary Sources: Be sure to check out photos and more at our site!

                        • Vorontsova, M. S., Besnard, G., Forest, F., et al. 2016. Madagascar’s grasses and grasslands: anthropogenic or natural?. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 283: 20152262.
                        • Solofondranohatra, C., et al. 2020. Fire and grazing determined grasslands of central Madagascar represent ancient assemblages. Proc. R. Soc. B.28720200598.
                        • Gade, D. 1996. Deforestation and its effects in highland Madagascar. Mountain Research and Development, Vol. 16, No. 2.
                        • Petruzzello, M. Baobab. Encyclopedia Britannica.
                        • Venter, S. The Little Big Baobab Book. Baobab Foundation.

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                          1 hr 3 min

                        About The Best Biome

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                        Two prairie biologists make the ever-growing argument for why grasslands are the world's best biome.

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