The acoustic niche hypothesis suggests that vocal signals of sympatric animal species are structured so as to minimize acoustic interference and facilitate communication. Accordingly, each species attempts to establish its own acoustic bandwidth so that intra-species signals are not masked. Detecting a non-random partitioning of the frequency spectrum among sympatric species could constitute evidence for the existence of acoustic avoidance behaviour. However, results from previous studies have been mixed or inconclusive, possibly as a consequence of overlooking the importance of physiological and ecological constraints. Here we introduce an improved test that incorporates prior information on body mass to account for the allometric correlation between mass (size) and vocalization frequency. By correcting for the bias induced by this correlation, the new test uncovers evidence of acoustic niche partitioning as a function of frequency in several tropical bird communities that would not be detected under a more standard test. Separately, we introduce a spatial version of the acoustic partitioning test which, in theory, could prove effective when data are collected from multiple sites located in close spatial proximity.

Plecia longiforceps Duda (Diptera: Bibionidae) is reported for the first time from Korea. P. longiforceps has been previously known from the East Asian subtropics, south of the 33rd parallel, including southeastern China, Taiwan, and the Ryukyu Islands of Japan. An integrative taxonomic approach based on morphological examination of male genitalia and molecular analysis of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene sequences confirms the species identification. The recent outbreak of P. longiforceps in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, Korea, documented herein represents the northernmost record of this species and suggests its possible range expansion into the temperate zone. Similar to the range expansion and outbreak history of Plecia nearctica Hardy (Diptera: Bibionidae) in North America around the Gulf of Mexico in the 1960–1970s, P. longiforceps may become a new invasive pest in temperate East Asia. Here, we evaluate range expansion and invasion potential of P. longiforceps through Ensemble species distribution modeling and show that a great portion of Northeast Asia and Japan will likely become habitable for P. longiforceps in the next 50 years.

The rich history of silk production (or sericulture) spans over five millennia. The sericulture industry supports jobs, economic development and health and begins with cultivation of mulberry trees with their manifold uses, including production of leaves as food for silkworms. Sericulture culminates in the production of high-quality silk thread as well as high-protein food for humans and animals. It depends, in turn, on one of the most versatile plants known, with additional benefits ranging from enhancing human health to soil conservation. Sericulture represents a rare end-to-end sustainable industry with minimal ecological impact when care is taken with supply chain management. Silk itself is a naturally versatile polymer, known as poly-fibroin, with the versatility of plastic and the advantage of biodegradability. With new developments in (bio)-harvesting technology, markets can now gain access to the single protein monomer, silk fibroin, solubilized in water, at large production scales. We can therefore envision a sustainable silk-derivatives industry that supports the replacement of petrochemicals with compounds derived from fibroin, in applications ranging from common everyday health and wellness products to advanced biopharmaceuticals and implants.