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Individual variation in the behavior of harvester ant (Messor andrei) colonies
Ants live in complex societies. The behavior of an ant colony, such as foraging for food, emerges from the actions of the workers comprising it. Colony behavior arises from local rules that each individual ant follows with no single individual ordering others and no global control. Both workers and colonies vary in their behavior. Because colonies are the reproductive unit, i.e., colonies produce more colonies, but workers do not produce more workers, variation at the colony level is evolutionarily important. Variation among colonies in how they respond to their environment can lead to variation in how many offspring they produce.
Messor andrei, the black seed harvester ant, is abundant in serpentine grasslands at Jasper Ridge. Their nest mounds are conspicuous because they are covered with seed chaff that the ants discard. These ants are active from early spring to late fall and can be seen foraging, mostly for seeds, in the mornings and evenings. Interestingly, M. ... Read More
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JRBP Annual Report
The 2013 - 2014 Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve Annual Report is now available online in PDF format.
Download the Annual Report.
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Local teacher receives Presidential award
Jasper Ridge and Eastside Field Studies collaborating teacher, Alma Suney Park, has been
honored with the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching!
Congratulations to Suney and all of the hardworking students from Eastside.
The Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching is awarded annually to outstanding K-12 science and mathematics teachers from across the country.
Chris Field honored with Max Planck Research Prize
Climate scientist Chris Field, Jasper Ridge faculty director and the Melvin and Joan Lane Professor in Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies at Stanford,
has been honored with a Max Planck Research Prize for his contributions to expanding our knowledge of the impact and consequences of global warming.
The prize ceremony will take place in Berlin in November.
Read the full announcement on the Max Planck Institute website
Stanford student talks about new JR solar home at TEDx
The Stanford Solar Decathlon home -- designed and built by a team of Stanford students and part of a nationwide competition -- is coming to Jasper Ridge as the future home of the resident ranger family.
Derek Ouyang, the student project manager, appeared at a recent TEDx talk to share the team's vision for the home they are building.
See a video of the full talk at YouTube
Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve Celebrates 40 Years
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve. Since 1973, research conducted at the preserve has transformed fundamental ecology science.
Now, interdisciplinary studies are providing more guidance than ever on how to apply that work to help conserve the planet.
Read full article at Stanford News
Reimagining Science's Public Image
Scientists have their work cut out for them when it comes to communicating with the public, according to distinguished speakers at a
recent panel celebrating the fortieth anniversary of
Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve.
"The messenger is just as important as the message," said Jane Lubchenco, former NOAA head. Scientists need to be "bilingual" in
"the language of science and the language of lay people," and tell compelling stories with clear metaphors and analogies, she said.
The panel also included Chris Field, biology professor and Stanford Woods Institute senior fellow, and Adam Lowry, co-founder of Method home care products.
Read full article at Woods Institute for the Environment
Tad Fukami & Bio44Y class win Science Prize for Inquiry-Based Instruction
Stanford's Biology 44Y – an innovative undergraduate class that meets at Jasper Ridge – helps students do science by practice, with a focus on plant-pollinator-microbe interactions as a model system.
AAAS Video and News Release
Read Fukami's essay Integrating Inquiry-Based Teaching with Faculty Research at Science.
Learn more about Fukami's research
JRBP ant survey – keeping an eye on ants for 20 years
Long-running research project at Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve now uses volunteers to track the spread of invasive Argentine ants and
monitor their impact on populations of native ant species.
Full story at San Jose Mercury News
| Learn about the project
Chris Field speaks at U.S. Senate hearing on climate change
Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve faculty director Chris Field spoke August 1 at a U.S. Senate hearing where
he warned of the increased risk of heat waves, droughts and heavy precipitation due to climate change.
"It is critical to understand that the link between climate change and the kinds of extremes that lead to disasters is clear," said Field in his testimony before the Senate.
Field is a Senior Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment fellow, Stanford professor of biology and environmental Earth system science, and director of the Department of Global Ecology at the Carnegie Institution for Science.
He is also co-chair of an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) working group.
Read full article at Stanford News |
Climate research at Jasper Ridge
JRBP wildlife cameras and wireless network featured on KGO-TV
"Life after dark in a Bay Area forest," produced by ABC7 News/KGO-TV, takes a look at camera trapping and the outdoor wireless network at Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve.
Watch video
Performance artist Ann Carlson offers unique view of Jasper Ridge
Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve recently hosted Picture Jasper Ridge: A Performance Hike –
a 70-minute "tableau vivante" experience combining a walk in the preserve with actors recreating historic photos near the actual locations where the photos were taken.
Picture Jasper Ridge is the work of Ann Carlson, an American dancer, choreographer, and performance artist. Carlson is currently in residence with
the Stanford University Drama Department for the
2011-12 academic year and is the inaugural visiting artist at the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve during the Winter Quarter.
Read more at Stanford News
Successful prescribed burn at JRBP
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), in collaboration with Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve,
conducted a small, prescribed burn inside the preserve's main entrance on Sand Hill Road on Monday, July 18, 2011.
The prescribed burn was confined to just 1.2 acres of grassland and provided a range of benefits for management and research.
More information, including videos and photos, is available at jrbp.stanford.edu/fire.php.
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JRBP Mission Statement
The mission of Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve is to contribute to the understanding
of the Earth's natural systems through research, education, and protection of the
Preserve's resources. More |
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