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One of the strengths of a new biodiversity modeling framework developed by Michigan State University researchers is its ability to combine data frame various sources. The researchers demonstrated this strength using a case study involving 10 Midwestern butterfly species, including the Peck’s skipper, or Polites peckius.

October 26, 2023

MSU unveils tools, techniques that can inform conservation efforts for data-poor species

Integrative biologist Elise Zipkin and her team at Michigan State University have developed a framework that can help scientists understand trends in biodiversity by using data from well-characterized species to provide insights on data-deficient species. They’re using information from well-quantified animals to reveal insights about less common, harder-to-observe species. Now, they’re sharing their methods with the wider research and conservation community in the Journal of Animal Ecology.

The western United States and mountains, such as those found in Colorado, are home to a large area of refugia for terrestrial biodiversity.

January 12, 2023

The United States is committed to conservation. Now, how do we do it?

When the U.S. government committed last January to conserving 30 percent of the United States’ natural land and water by the year 2030, the decision was embraced by the majority of Americans. Now, Michigan State University ecologists are part of a team that’s sharing data to help inform those choices throughout the United States and beyond. Their research identified North America’s climate change refugia, habitats that will be the most likely to support the persistence of the greatest amount of biodiversity in the face of a changing climate.

MSU Associate Professor Kevin Liu (left) and MSU Assistant Professor Elizabeth Heath-Heckman (right) stand in the Heath-Heckman Symbiosis Lab. Credit: Derrick L. Turner

October 20, 2022

How teamwork, in nature and the lab, can teach us about climate change

Michigan State University and the University of California, Merced, are working to get a better handle on the huge problem of climate change with the help of some very small organisms. With $12.5 million from the National Science Foundation, MSU researchers Elizabeth Heath-Heckman and Kevin Liu are teaming up with UC Merced’s Michele Nishiguchi to launch an institute that focuses on a new angle in climate change.

August 19, 2022

Forecasting the future to protect monarchs

August 24, 2021

Mapping the lake trout genome to ensure the species' future

Lake trout is an iconic native species to the Great Lakes. MSU integrative biology doctoral student Seth Smith is leading an effort along with his professor and an international team of researchers from the U.S. and Canada to create a reference genome for lake trout to support state and federal agencies with reintroduction and conservation efforts. The research from the team was published on Aug. 5 in the journal Molecular Ecology Resources.