What we're reading: Grouper spawning, pollinator-mediated isolation, and ambivalent advice about grad school

Librarian

In the journals
Almany, G.R., Hamilton, R.J., Bode, M., Matawai, M., Potuku, T., Saenz-Agudelo, P., et al. 2013. Dispersal of grouper larvae drives local resource sharing in a coral reef fishery. Current Biology 23: 626–630. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.03.006.

Using genetic parentage analysis, we measured larval dispersal from a single, managed spawning aggregation of squaretail coral grouper (Plectropomus areolatus) and determined its contribution to fisheries replenishment within five community tenure areas up to 33 km from the aggregation at Manus Island, Papua New Guinea.

Moe, A.M. & Weiblen, G.D. 2012. Pollinator-mediated reproductive isolation among dioecious fig species (Ficus, Moraceae). Evolution 66: 3710–21. doi: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2012.01727.x.

Selection on pollinators maintaining host specificity appears to be an important mechanism of contemporary reproductive isolation among these taxa that could potentially influence their diversification.

In the news
On the mounting costs of the U.S. “sequester” for science funding.
NSF pushes back on Congressional prying into peer review.
“I’m very glad that I went to graduate school—my life would be different, and definitely worse, without it. But when I’m asked to give students advice about what they should do, I’m stumped.”

About Jeremy Yoder

Jeremy B. Yoder is an Associate Professor of Biology at California State University Northridge, studying the evolution and coevolution of interacting species, especially mutualists. He is a collaborator with the Joshua Tree Genome Project and the Queer in STEM study of LGBTQ experiences in scientific careers. He has written for the website of Scientific American, the LA Review of Books, the Chronicle of Higher Education, The Awl, and Slate.
This entry was posted in linkfest. Bookmark the permalink.