from the Frank Lab Website
December 2, 2014
This is an essay I wrote about our research on ecology of urban insects; the results were just published in Global Change Biology.
The first time we came back to an empty cage in Highbridge Park, I thought there was a problem.
This was a cage cobbled together out of a fry basket from a restaurant supply store plus a square of hardware cloth, and it was firmly tacked to the ground with landscape staples. With its snug, quarter-inch mesh, it should let most insects move freely, while keeping vertebrates out. With holes any bigger than a quarter-inch, mice could squirm through.
And they would want to, because the cage held a chunk of Nilla Wafer, a Ruffles Original potato chip, and a slice of Oscar Meyer turkey frank. Yum.
Read more in the original post.
Additional news coverage:
The New York Times “Bugs in Manhattan compete with rats for food refuse” December 2, 2014
CBC Quirks and Quarks “Ants perform street cleaner role on Broadway” December 6, 2014
Science “Bugs in Manhattan eat thousands of kilograms of trash each year” December 2, 2014
More links coming soon!