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Bird Nesting in Cities: The More Concrete, the Fewer Chicks

The more urban spaces are covered in concrete, the fewer birds successfully raise their young. A new study led by Prof. Marta Szulkin from the Faculty of Biology at the University of Warsaw not only confirms this link but also provides precise data that policymakers can use. The findings were recently published in Conservation Letters.

Range of European forest plants

“Understanding the mechanisms responsible for the rate and direction of changes in the range of species is extremely important. It allows us to understand the evolution of biodiversity and may contribute to ensuring its effective protection,” Prof. Bogdan Jaroszewicz from the Białowieża Geobotanical Station of the UW’s Faculty of Biology said.

Discoveries in Miedary

Dozens of well-preserved shark teeth, a complete skull with Nothosaurus’s teeth and bones of terrestrial reptiles from the Procolophon group are the most important discoveries of a team of scientists, which included researchers from the Faculty of Biology at the University of Warsaw, following the tenth excavation season in Miedary.

Mice capable of intentional deception

The international research team observed highly flexible dodging behaviour in wild rodents. Similar cognitive performance used to be attributed to corvidae or higher primates. Scientists from the UW Faculty of Biology concurred in the study and their findings were published in “Royal Society Open Science”.

Exotic tick species in Europe

Exotic Hyalomma ticks that can transmit Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus have appeared in Europe. So far, no adult specimens have been confirmed in Poland. The UW researchers are asking anyone who spots the arachnid to report such cases to them.

Extreme neck elongation in archosaurs

Tanystropheus is a six-meter, 230 million-year-old reptile. Its extremely long neck reached the size of half of its body. Dr Mateusz Tałanda and Adam Rytel from the UW Faculty of Biology, among other researchers, investigated the secretes of the length of the neck of the extinct reptile. Their work results are published in “Royal Society Open Science”.

The future of biodiversity

Prof. Marta Szulkin from the Faculty of Biology, the University of Warsaw, co-authored an article on the impact of climate change and urbanisation on the state of biodiversity. The conclusions presented by the scientists in “Nature Climate Change” may help to design spaces better adapted to the changing environment in the future.

Fish personalities

Fish within a species differ in their capability of effective upstream or downstream passage through fishways across barriers. Prof. Barbara Pietrzak and Alicja Fudali from the UW’s Faculty of Biology investigated fish individualities and their impact on management and conservation issues.

New perspectives in tumour treatment

Biologists from the University of Warsaw made a breakthrough discovery during the research on glioblastoma. The results were presented in the journals “EMBO Reports” and “Cell Death and Disease”.

On the habits of mammals during the pandemic

Increased activity and a more frequent nocturnal lifestyle – these were the habits of mammals during lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the results of the study conducted by a team of scientists with the participation of researchers from the University of Warsaw. The findings were published in “Nature Ecology & Evolution”.

Hermit crabs need to protect their soft abdomen in shells. They have recently begun to use plastic and other anthropogenic materials in this role, as scientists from the University of Warsaw and Poznań University of Life Sciences report in Science of the Total Environment.

Various nematodes

Prof. Agnieszka Kloch from the UW Faculty of Biology contributed to the research on the genomes of nematodes – invertebrates that are parasites found in both animals and plants. The results show that two species of closely related nematodes, which were previously thought to be identical, are separated by millions of years of independent evolution.

Monitoring fungal biodiversity

A team of researchers from the UW’s Faculty of Biology, led by Prof. Julia Pawlowska, has been recognised in the BiodivMon competition of the European Biodiversity Partnership Biodiversa+. The UW scientists’ project concerns the monitoring of fungal diversity in the context of nature conservation.

Opening of the Masurian Center for Biodiversity and Nature Education in Urwitałt

“Today, we have opened a teaching and research centre that will also contribute to the nature protection. The University must shape the life culture and cooperation,” said Prof. Alojzy Z. Nowak, Rector of the University of Warsaw, at the opening ceremony of the KUMAK Masurian Center for Biodiversity and Nature Education in Urwitałt.

Representatives of the Indian university visiting UW

On 9th August, Prof. Alojzy Z. Nowak, the Rector of the University of Warsaw, hosted the meeting with representatives of the Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University from India. The main aim of the visit was to launch the research and didactic collaboration between the UW and the university from Hisar.

Biologists’ Night 2023

Why should you care? Investigating the evolution of parental care in fishes or Biophoto cells and algae: green economy – these are just two examples of the events which took place during this year’s edition of the Biologists' Night organised by the UW Faculty of Biology.

Evolution of lizards at the era of dinosaurs

“This little fossil lets us see the evolution in action. In palaeontology you rarely have an occasion to work with such complete, well-preserved fossils,” Dr Mateusz Tałanda, the Faculty of Biology of the University of Warsaw, said. The discovery of Bellairsia gracilis in Scotland has become a source of information about the early evolution of lizards at the era of dinosaurs.

Forest microclimate

Prof. Bogdan Jaroszewicz from the Białowieża Geobotanical Station of UW is a co-author of research articles on forest microclimate published in "Science" and "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences".

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