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kazohashilab.bsky.social
Kaz Ohashi
@kazohashilab.bsky.social
820 followers 600 following 110 posts
Pollinator foraging behavior and its consequences for floral ecology and evolution | Assistant Professor @UofTsukuba | AE @jpollecol.bsky.social | ohashilab.com
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kazohashilab.bsky.social
Kaz Ohashi @kazohashilab.bsky.social · Aug 22
Enjoy my latest talk at #IBC2024 held in Madrid, Spain!🌸🌹💐🐝
bit.ly/IBC2024_KO

We discuss how #AdaptiveGeneralization for a certain pollinator community has led to phenotypic convergence or syndromes in flowers.

Based on Ohashi et al. (2021): bit.ly/TradeoffMiti...
The title slide of my talk, 'Trade-off mitigation: a key concept to understand the evolution and function of convergent floral phenotypes'
Reposted by Kaz Ohashi
kdarragh.bsky.social
I'm looking for PhD students to join the lab starting August 2026. We study the evolution of insect chemical signals so if you're interested in evolutionary biology, chemical ecology, molecular biology, behavior, or genetics, this could be a good fit for you! More info here: tinyurl.com/mrxchwfm
Green butterfly sat on a flower.
September 11, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Reposted by Kaz Ohashi
newphyt.bsky.social
#Viewpoint: Exploring the importance of aromatic #plants' extrafloral volatiles for #pollinator attraction

Kantsa et al. 👇

📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#LatestIssue #PlantScience
Known and proposed ecological functions of aboveground aromatic emissions (i.e. constitutive volatile emissions from vegetative plant tissues) in mediating biotic interactions with arthropods, other plants, and microorganisms.
September 22, 2025 at 6:35 AM
Reposted by Kaz Ohashi
samillingworth.com
🐜 Ants on flowers

A meta-analysis shows protective ants reduce flower visits, especially by bees, but usually do not harm plant reproduction. Effects depend on nectary location and visitor type.

🔗 doi.org/10.1111/1365...

#SciComm 🧪 #Ecology #Pollination
Ants on flowers: Protective ants impose a low but variable cost to pollination, moderated by location of extrafloral nectaries and type of flower visitor
Individuals who engage in multiple mutualisms often have to pay indirect costs because of the interference of one mutualism on another. We found that protective ants had a low but variable impact on ....
doi.org
September 17, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Reposted by Kaz Ohashi
jpollecol.bsky.social
"The fate of pollen in two morphologically contrasting buzz-pollinated Solanum flowers" by Vasquez-Castro et al. freshly published! doi.org/10.26786/192...
September 17, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Reposted by Kaz Ohashi
jeffollerton.bsky.social
A new review gives us a deeper understanding of the evolution of plant-pollinator interactions!

A brilliant critical review of the Grant–Stebbins model of how plants evolve by Kathleen Kay and Bruce Anderson just published.

Read more about it here: jeffollerton.co.uk/2025/09/12/a...
A new review gives us a deeper understanding of the evolution of plant-pollinator interactions
If you’ve read my book Birds & Flowers: An Intimate 50 Million Year Relationship, you’ll know that I spend a few pages discussing the long-standing paradigm of how interactions betw…
jeffollerton.co.uk
September 12, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Reposted by Kaz Ohashi
martingiurfa.bsky.social
See last article on "The cognitive side of communication in social insects", just published in @TrendsCognSci . Free access under this link!
authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...
September 10, 2025 at 7:18 AM
Reposted by Kaz Ohashi
macstronach.bsky.social
Spent hours being spellbound by Convolvulus Hawk Moths last night as they nectared on Nicotiana plants in my highland garden!. Up to 3 feeding at a time, their entire abdomens glowing red hot in the thermal from flight muscle use!! #teammoth @migrantmothuk.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social
September 8, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Reposted by Kaz Ohashi
sloanevolab.bsky.social
The Department of Biology at Colorado State University is hiring an Assistant Professor in the area of plant-microbe interactions! Please spread the word!

jobs.colostate.edu/postings/165...
Assistant Professor Plant-Microbe Interactions
We seek a creative, collaborative, and visionary plant biologist to establish an internationally recognized research program at the forefront of plant-microbe interactions aimed at understanding how t...
jobs.colostate.edu
September 8, 2025 at 3:45 PM
kazohashilab.bsky.social
Scott Loarie talks about #iNaturalust at #TED | The surprising power of your nature photos

www.ted.com/talks/scott_...

#Wildlife #CitizenScience #Conservation #Biodiversity
The surprising power of your nature photos
Scott Loarie has a challenge for you: go outside and take a picture of a living thing. He introduces the global community of people building a living atlas of the natural world by sharing their nature...
www.ted.com
August 24, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Reposted by Kaz Ohashi
kathleenmkay.bsky.social
Is the Most Effective Pollinator Principle a zombie idea? How do plants adapted to one pollinator shift to another without traversing an adaptive valley? How should we measure fitness in pollinator selection studies? We explore these questions and more in a new review doi.org/10.1093/aob/...
Beyond the Grant–Stebbins model: floral adaptive landscapes and plant speciation
AbstractBackground. Floral diversity, a striking feature of angiosperm evolution, provides the impetus and rationale for linking pollinator-driven selectio
doi.org
August 8, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Reposted by Kaz Ohashi
gypsumbotany.bsky.social
🚨🚨 New tenure track position in #ConservationBiology @oberlincollege.bsky.social in the #Biology department--come join us, and contribute to our brand new Environmental Science major too! #biologyjobs #ecologyjobs

jobs.oberlin.edu/postings/16671
Assistant Professor of Biology
The Biology Department at Oberlin College invites applications for a full-time tenure track faculty position in the College of Arts and Sciences in conservation ecology. Initial appointment to this po...
jobs.oberlin.edu
August 5, 2025 at 4:24 PM
kazohashilab.bsky.social
Even more fascinating after reading ‘Birds and flowers’ book by @jeffollerton.bsky.social
#BirdPollination #Generalists #Ecology
kazohashilab.bsky.social Kaz Ohashi @kazohashilab.bsky.social · Aug 8
🐦🐝 In Banksia menziesii, excluding birds cut fruit set, seed viability, and genetic diversity, while inbreeding rose. Honeybees moved plenty of pollen but increased selfing. Birds proved the most effective pollinators, with genetic gains that may drive bird-pollinated flowers. bit.ly/4fuAz58
Exclusion of bird pollinators impacts mating system and reduces offspring fitness in a pollination-generalist tree
AbstractBackground and Aims. Compared to pollinating insects and non-flying mammals (NFM), nectarivorous birds may display behaviours leading to greater po
bit.ly
August 8, 2025 at 9:55 PM
kazohashilab.bsky.social
🐦🐝 In Banksia menziesii, excluding birds cut fruit set, seed viability, and genetic diversity, while inbreeding rose. Honeybees moved plenty of pollen but increased selfing. Birds proved the most effective pollinators, with genetic gains that may drive bird-pollinated flowers. bit.ly/4fuAz58
Exclusion of bird pollinators impacts mating system and reduces offspring fitness in a pollination-generalist tree
AbstractBackground and Aims. Compared to pollinating insects and non-flying mammals (NFM), nectarivorous birds may display behaviours leading to greater po
bit.ly
August 8, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Reposted by Kaz Ohashi
asn-amnat.bsky.social
Are specializations evolutionary dead ends? Morrison et al. reveal that in bird carotenoid evolution, continuity and stability are two sides of the same coin.

Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
This is a photo of a brown and red bird to the left of a flowering cactus, it is set against a blue sky.
July 19, 2025 at 1:27 AM
Reposted by Kaz Ohashi
newphyt.bsky.social
✨ Paper spotlight ✨

(🧵 1/3) Evolution of petal patterning: blooming floral diversity at the microscale
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Fig.3 Micropatterns on the petal surface are created by variation in epidermal cell pigment, shape and cuticle textures.
July 15, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Reposted by Kaz Ohashi
oceanfilly.bsky.social
Are you a PI in a biology field looking for postdocs? Here is a Starter Pack of early career biologists currently seeking postdoctoral positions! (Also if you are searching for a postdoc, let me know if you want to be added!) go.bsky.app/8zZNEGV
July 16, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Reposted by Kaz Ohashi
nikogeldner.bsky.social
We have a unique opportunity for a junior researcher, PhD student or postdoc, to use a revolutionary technique for mineral nutrient imaging and tracing in plants. Please re-post! Interested candidates should apply through the portal at the link below:

career5.successfactors.eu/career?compa...
Career Opportunities: Postdoc or PhD student position in Plant Physiology (22260)
career5.successfactors.eu
May 29, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Reposted by Kaz Ohashi
dickmerrill.bsky.social
Interested in a PhD connecting sensory ecology and evolutionary genetics? Applications are now open for a project on the Speciation Genomics of Eye Size Variation in Heliconius Butterflies in our lab at LMU Munich: www.evol.bio.lmu.de/research/mer... Please repost!
May 6, 2025 at 11:40 AM
kazohashilab.bsky.social
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Convergent acquisition of disulfide-forming enzymes in malodorous flowers
Identifying the metabolic and genetic changes that confer evolutionary novelty is essential for understanding the factors facilitating or constraining the occurrence of traits. We show that dimethyl d...
www.science.org
May 12, 2025 at 7:16 AM
kazohashilab.bsky.social
Glad to see the clear-wing hawkmoth (Cephonodes hylas) is back in our garden! The way they quickly and accurately find their food plants (Gardenia jasminoides) and lay eggs is simply mind-blowing. #Hawkmoths
A clear-wing hawkmoth (Cephonodes hylas) oviposits on a young shoot of Gardenia jasminoides, its larval host plant. The moth’s body is sharply lit against the glossy green foliage, emphasizing its fuzzy yellow thorax and striped abdomen. In mid-air, a clear-wing hawkmoth (Cephonodes hylas) hovers with wings outstretched.
May 6, 2025 at 11:36 AM
kazohashilab.bsky.social
A marmalade hoverfly on a multiflora-rose flower. I love photography as it constantly reminds me of the breathtaking beauty of the creatures that inhabit our world. #Hoverflies #NativeFliwers
A close-up photograph of a Rosa multiflora blossom being visited by a hoverfly, Episyrphus balteatus. The fly’s translucent wings and vivid orange-and-black striped abdomen contrast beautifully with the delicate white petals and bright yellow stamens of the flower.
May 6, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Reposted by Kaz Ohashi
itaiyanai.bsky.social
In today's episode of the Night Science Podcast we talk with Martin Schwartz from Yale about the importance of stupidity in science: while learning science makes you feel smart, true scientific discovery often involves feeling stupid, because it means venturing into the unknown.
April 21, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Reposted by Kaz Ohashi
photopidge.bsky.social
Super happy! Published teaching module: Understanding Natural Selection: Definitions, Historical Development, Mechanisms, and Usage in Contemporary Times qubeshub.org/publications... @juleyvc.bsky.social @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social @tyandresbray.bsky.social 🧪🧬👩‍🔬 #newPI #RIE2 #TeachingEvolution
Understanding Natural Selection: Definitions, Historical Development, Mechanisms, and Usage in Contemporary Times
This module brings scientific scholarship on natural selection in conversation with the history and philosophy of science, providing undergraduate students with the scientific and critical tools to ex...
qubeshub.org
April 19, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Reposted by Kaz Ohashi
evoecoamy.bsky.social
I'm seeking graduate students interested in studying nectar evolutionary ecology. Masters or PhD. Sep 2025 or Jan 2026 start. Interested students encouraged to apply by May 5 to be eligible for additional scholarships. #gradschool #flower #evolution #nectar #pollination
Masters or PHD student – nectar evolutionary ecology Amy Parachnowitsch’s Floral Evolutionary Ecology Lab University of New Brunswick I am seeking a motivated student(s) to examine the role of anthropomorphic change in nectar evolutionary ecology. Potential projects include: 1) assessing how anthropogenic change affects nectar evolution, 2) quantifying phenotypic selection on nectar traits and assessing the ecological contexts where it is a target of selection, and 3) determining the ecological and genetic contributions to nectar variation to allow a predictive framework for evolutionary change. Project details will be determined with the student. Likely systems will be fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium) or white clover (Trifolium repens). More about the Biology program at UNB: https://www.unb.ca/fredericton/science/depts/biology/graduate/index.html Requirements: 4-year undergraduate degree in Biology or similar / research Masters degree for PhD position. Undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 or higher. English language proficiency. Research experience an asset (e.g. honours thesis). Deadline: recruitment will continue until filled, however applications before May 5, 2025 can apply for recruitment scholarships to top up salary. Sept 2025 or Jan 2026 start date Salary: UNB Biology base stipend $13500 plus tuition and fees (includes teaching assistant position for 2 semesters/year). Apply: send a cover letter of research interests, CV, and transcripts (can be unofficial) to aparachn@unb.ca (application to UNB will follow recruitment) Note: Qualified international applicants are welcome to apply but may face additional requirements (e.g. proof of language proficiency, etc).
April 17, 2025 at 10:01 AM
kazohashilab.bsky.social
A huge Gentiana zollingeri 😍 #NativePlants #Spring
A huge ground blue gentian with more than ten flowers.
April 15, 2025 at 8:51 PM