Work and life in dynamic equilibrium.

We reframe the idea of balancing career and non-career interests for ecologists specifically. We introduce the concept of a dynamic work-life equilibrium (WLE) and draw parallels between ecological processes and processes affecting our continuously fluctuating sense of balance, with an aim at encouraging self-reflection and improving WLE mentoring in ecological disciplines.

Large Mammals Have More Powerful Antibacterial Defenses Than Expected from Their Metabolic Rates.

AbstractTerrestrial mammals span seven orders of magnitude in body size, ranging from the <2-g Etruscan pygmy shrew () to the >3,900-kg African elephant (). Although body size profoundly affects the behavior, physiology, ecology, and evolution of species, how investment in functional immune defenses changes with body size across species is unknown. Here, we (1) developed a novel 12-point dilution curve approach to describe and compare antibacterial capacity against three bacterial species among >160 terrestrial species of mammals and (2) tested published predictions about the scaling of immune defenses.

Snap-freezing in the Field: Effect of Sample Holding Time on Performance of Bactericidal Assays.

Comparative analyses in biology rely on the quality of available data. Methodological differences among studies may introduce variation in results that obscure patterns. In the field of eco-immunology, functional immune assays such as antimicrobial capacity assays are widely used for among-species applications.

Physiological effects of capture and short-term captivity in an invasive snake species, the Burmese python (Python bivittatus) in Florida.

It is important to evaluate the role of captivity as a potential stressor. An understanding of stress responses to capture and transition to captivity may inform the limitations of laboratory studies on wild animals, aid in understanding the consequences of introducing animals into captive environments, and help predict which species may be successful invasives. We investigated physiological effects of captivity by comparing at-capture blood variables in wild Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) in Florida to pythons recently brought into captivity (1-109 days).