The Best Biome

In our final episode of Season 4, The Best Biome team discusses the state of grasslands conservation in the current year (and what an eventful year it has been). We discuss the most significant threats and daunting challenges that we'll need to meet head on to protect our underappreciated and overlooked ecosystems. Topics include rollbacks to the Endangered Species Act, attacks on research funding, extraction on public lands, the truth behind grazing leases, and much, much more. Of course, we have plenty of good news to share as well! Join us as we bid 2025 farewell and get ready for whatever next year will bring. Note: There is some occasional strong language used in this episode, as a result of our passion about these topics. Primary Sources: Rachel's Sources: Jack Hatzimemos, Georgetown Environmental Law Review, "The Single Most Impactful Day of Deregulation in EPA History", Mar. 20, 2025 More Than Just Parks: "Mike Lee is Still Trying to Steal Your Land", Nov. 5, 2025 Inflation Reduction Act Rollback Tracker **** Columbia Law Climate Backtracker Bill McKibben: The Crucial Years, "A Different Kind of Leader Gives A Different Kind of Speech", Oct. 1, 2025 Heather Cox Richardson, "Letters from an American" Oct. 16, 2025 **** Nicole's Sources: Center for American Progress: "The Trump Administration's Expensive Push to Sell Out Public Lands to the Highest Bidder" Sep. 22, 2025 More Than Just Parks: "Trump Administration Decides Endangered Species Act Will No Longer Be Followed" Nov. 21, 2025 Works for Nature: "Voters Deliver Big Wins for Conservation Funding in 2025." Nov. 10, 2025 H.R. 1: The One Big Beautiful Bill Act https://morethanjustparks.substack.com/p/trump-administration-decides-endangered?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share\&utm_medium=web\&triedRedirect=true https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-trump-administrations-expansive-push-to-sell-out-public-lands-to-the-highest-bidder/ Allan's Sources: ProPublica and High Country News, "Wealthy Ranchers Profit from Public Lands", Dec. 2, 2025 Center for Biological Diversity: "Trump Administration sued over attempted removal of BLM's Public Lands Rule" Nov. 10, 2025 NYT: "The US is funding fewer grants in every area of science and and medicine", Dec. 2, 2025. Union for Concerned Scientists: Attacks on Science [Lawfare Litigation Tracker]( This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

In this month's Best Biome, Nicole tells the story of a grassland ecosystem so rare and so endangered that neither of her co-hosts had any idea it existed! We're talking about the once-ubiquitous canebrake ecosystems of the eastern United States, which were quite literally American bamboo forests, complete with their own prehistoric red pandas. Find out what happened to the unique rivercane landscape, and what's being done to save it today. Let the search for 30 ft.-tall grasses become your new obsession! Also, check out these great organizations doing rivercane restoration! Cherokee Preservation Foundation Rivercane Restoration Alliance Chattooga Conservancy Primary Sources: Phylogenetic relationships and natural hybridization among the North American woody bamboos (Poaceae: Bambusoideae: Arundinaria) March 2010 https://bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.3732/ajb.0900244 Campbell, Julian. 2012. Growth of Cane. Bluegrass Woodland Restoration Center. https://bluegrasswoodland.com/uploads/Arundinaria__Growth_of_Cane_.pdf Giant Cane and Other Native Bamboos: Establishment and Use for Conservation of Natural Resources in the Southeast USDA - NRCS 2021 https://bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.3732/ajb.0900244 +++ More of Our Work +++ Website Facebook TikTok Twitch Bluesky +++ Contact Us +++ Text/Call: (316)-512-8933 info@grasslandgroupies.org +++ Support Us +++ Bonfire Merch Store CashApp: $GrasslandGroupies Or... donate directly to our org. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Phytoremediation. A fun word to say, but what does it mean? Turns out it's quite simple: using the superpower many plants naturally have to heal our wonderful Earth from terrible soil contaminants. Allan pulls us off the dark abyss edge that is our current world to deliver a wonderful tale of plants. Primary Sources: Gerhardt KE, Gerwing PD, Greenberg BM. Opinion: Taking phytoremediation from proven technology to accepted practice. Plant Sci. 2017 Mar;256:170-185. Epub 2016 Dec 5. PMID: 28167031. Lee, Jae. (2013). An overview of phytoremediation as a potentially promising technology for environmental pollution control. Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering. 18. +++ More of Our Work +++ Website Facebook TikTok Twitch Bluesky +++ Contact Us +++ Text/Call: (316)-512-8933 info@grasslandgroupies.org +++ Support Us +++ Bonfire Merch Store CashApp: $GrasslandGroupies Or... donate directly to our org.

This month on The Best Biome, Rachel takes us on a trip to the wetter, saltier cousin of grasslands: seagrass meadows! Is she making a desperate reach to connect the dots, or is she absolutely right that "seagrass meadows are the grasslands of the oceans?" Decide for yourself, dear listener, and get ready to think more about seaweed than you have in a while. Plus, there's manatees! A very special episode awaits. Primary Sources: Rundell, Katherine. 2024 Vanishing Treasures. Penguin Random House. ISBN: 9780385550826 - Bookshop Affiliate Link Ocean Portal - Pamela L Reynolds: Seagrass and Seagrass Beds: https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/plants-algae/seagrass-and-seagrass-beds O’Brien, K. R., et al. (2018). Seagrass ecosystem trajectory depends on the relative timescales of resistance, recovery and disturbance. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 134, 166–176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.09.006 de Fouw J, Madden CJ, Furman BT, Hall MO, Verstijnen Y, Holthuijsen S, Frankovich TA, Strazisar T, Blaha M and Van Der Heide T (2024) Reduced seagrass resilience due to environmental and anthropogenic effects may lead to future die-off events in Florida Bay. Front. Mar. Sci. 11:1366939. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1366939 +++ More of Our Work +++ Website Facebook TikTok Twitch Bluesky +++ Contact Us +++ Text/Call: (316)-512-8933 info@grasslandgroupies.org +++ Support Us +++ Bonfire Merch Store CashApp: $GrasslandGroupies Or... donate directly to our org.

In the final episode of the season for The Best Biome we lay out some concerns we have for the conservation of our beloved grasslands under a second term of the Trump administration. It's a hard discussion, but one we felt we needed to have. And boy was it a long one. If you don't feel up to listening now, we understand, though we still recommend you check out the action items at the end (see timestamps below to skip there). Much love to you all, and we'll be back in March. Timestamps: (00:00:00) Introduction (00:04:37) Nicole: Implications of DOI Changes (00:33:00) Brain Bleach Success Stories (00:35:45) Rachel: EPA Changes and the Author of Project 25 (01:09:58) Allan: The Fall of Science (01:41:06) Action Items (01:55:57) Outro Action Items: Learn more about the Monarch conservation plan and show your support (public comment period opens TODAY Dec 12 24): http://fws.gov/monarch Earthjustice Environmental Law - Rapid Response Legal Fund thru Dec 31: https://earthjustice.org/ North American Grasslands Conservation Act: https://actforgrasslands.org/ Engage with Citizen Science in your area: https://scistarter.org Citizen Science Projects by Federal Agencies: https://www.citizenscience.gov/catalog/ Inaction is not an option when it comes to fighting for what you believe in and those you love... but you don't have to do it all. Take care of yourself. Arm Yourself With Knowledge: Surviving Autocracy by Masha Gessen (Bookshop affiliate link) The Endangered Species Act Overview and Impact on Private Property Trilateral Committee’s work on buffalo | grasslands conservation Visitor Spending Effects - Economic Contributions of National Park Visitor Spending EPA Enforcement Data and Results Climate Disinformation Database | Mandy Gunasekara - EPA Project 2025 Author League of Conservation Voters: Lee Zeldin’s score card (incoming EPA admin) EPA Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights: Journey to Justice The Second Trump Administration Will Put Profit Over People and Opinions Over Facts. But We’re Prepared to Fight Back! Union of Concerned Scientists Attacks on Science. Union of Concerned Scientists +++ More of Our Work +++ Grassland Groupies' Website Facebook TikTok Twitch Bluesky +++ Contact Us +++ Text/Call: (316)-512-8933 info@grasslandgroupies.org +++ Support Us +++ Bonfire Merch Store CashApp: $GrasslandGroupies Or... donate directly to our org.

Happy Halloween from your grasslands PR Team! This month, Rachel confronts one of her worst childhood fears to bring us a tale of the strange and slithering: a group of animals so odd and cryptic that the existence of many species was only confirmed after their habitat was bulldozed. We're delving into the fascinating world of worm lizards, a world full of unknowns that still begs to be explored. After all, how can we learn about an animal that's virtually impossible to observe in the wild? A fanged and ferocious creature that creeps below our feet, hearing our every step, and slipping ever deeper into the darkness... Primary Sources: Baeckens, S., García‐Roa, R., Martín, J., Ortega, J., Huyghe, K., & Damme, R. V. (2016). Fossorial and durophagous: implications of molluscivory for head size and bite capacity in a burrowing worm lizard. Journal of Zoology, 301(3), 193–205. Guynup, Sharon. (2021, June 6). “Race against time”: Saving the snakes and lizards of Brazil’s Cerrado. Mongabay Environmental News. García, E. R. (2020). How to maintain underground social relationships? Chemosensory sex, partner and self recognition in a fossorial amphisbaenian. PLoS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237188 García, E. R. (2021). Offspring and adult chemosensory recognition by an amphisbaenian reptile may allow maintaining familiar links in the fossorial environment. Peerj. Ribeiro, L. B., Gomides, S. C., & Costa, H. C. (2020). A New Worm Lizard Species (Squamata: Amphisbaenidae: Amphisbaena) with Non-autotomic Tail, from Northeastern Brazil. Journal of Herpetology, 54(1), 9. Ortega, J. (2021). Going underground: short- and long-term movements may reveal the fossorial spatial ecology of an amphisbaenian. Movement Ecology. +++ More of Our Work +++ Website Facebook TikTok Twitch +++ Contact Us +++ Text/Call: (316)-512-8933 info@grasslandgroupies.org +++ Support Us +++ Bonfire Merch Store CashApp: $GrasslandGroupies Or... donate directly to our org.

Bees know more than you. Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but they definitely know more than you realize! From complex problem solving to tool use to wing-sparkle navigation, bees illuminate our understanding of insect cognition. In this episode, Nicole invites us to perceive the world as our buzzy, bumbly friends might, in beautifully smooth 240 fps. Primary Source: Buchmann, S. 2023. What a Bee Knows: Exploring the Thoughts, Memories, and Personalities of Bees. Island Press. Support us and indie bookstores when you buy the book through this Bookshop.org link! Contact: Website Facebook TikTok info@grasslandgroupies.org Support us: Bonfire Merch Store Or donate: Donorbox

We get patriotic (kinda) in this special episode where all three hosts work together to petition for new national symbols for the US of A. New floral emblem, new national symbol, and a brand new category all-together. Why do we love non-native national symbols? Who knows. Do better, America. Photos and more are at our site. Primary Sources: As if this silly episode could have any. Do let us know who picked the best emblem though. Contact: Website Facebook Twitter TikTok info@grasslandgroupies.org Support us: Bonfire Merch Store Or donate: Donorbox; CashApp: $GrasslandGroupies

Patas Monkeys are weird little guys with fabulous mustaches and very intricate relationships with a special tree on the African savannah. We talk acacias, ants, and the Lorax as Allan tries to make Nicole love just a single primate. Photos and more are at our site. Primary Sources: Palmer, T., Stanton, M., Young T., Goheen, J., Pringle, R., and Karban, R. 2008. Breakdown of an ant-plant mutualism follows the loss of large herbivores from an African savanna. Isbell, L. and Young, T. 2007. Interspecific and temporal variation of ant species within Acacia drepanolobium ant domatia, a staple food of patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas) in Laikipia, Kenya Dr. Seuss and the real Lorax. Dominy, N., Winters, S., Pease, D., Higham, J. 2018. Dr Seuss and the real Lorax. Nature Ecology & Evolution. Contact: Website Facebook Twitter TikTok info@grasslandgroupies.org Support us: Bonfire Merch Store Or donate: Donorbox

The long-legged, sickle claw wielding seriema is a wonderful bird that provides insight into the extinct terror birds of old. Rachel explains the link between past and present and we ponder whether or not scientists ever bother actually looking at birds. Photos and more are at our site. Primary Sources: Oswald, T., Curtice, B., Bolander, M., Lopez, C. January 2023. Observation of Claw Use and Feeding Behavior of the Red-Legged Seriema and Its Implication for Claw Use in Deinonychosaurs. Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science. Contact: Website Facebook Twitter TikTok info@grasslandgroupies.org Support us: Bonfire Merch Store Or donate: Donorbox

It's snowy and getting colder where we're at, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't go outside. Rachel gives a compelling argument as to why winter is the best time of year for birding and gives insight into the Christmas Bird Count: a citizen science project dating back over a hundred years. Learn more about the Christmas Bird Count here. Primary Sources: Gill, F. B., Prum, R. O., & Robinson, S. K. (2019). Ornithology. W.H. Freeman, Macmillan Learning. Sibley, D. (2020). What it’s like to be a bird: From flying to nesting, eating to singing -- what birds are doing, and why. Alfred A. Knopf. Affiliate purchase link. Contact: Website Facebook Twitter TikTok info@grasslandgroupies.org Support us: Bonfire Merch Store Or donate: Donorbox CashApp: $GrasslandGroupies

Grasshopper mice are small but fierce. They howl like wolves, stalk their prey like cats, and finish up with a quick face clean. These solitary animals like to live life dangerously and enjoy even venomous meals. Photos and more are at our site. Primary Sources: Grasshopper Mouse Hunting and Howling [YouTube] Animal Diversity Web. Regents of the University of Michigan. USDA Bulletin: Life History and Habits of Grass-hopper mice, genus Onychomys. (1939). [PDF] Richardson, D., Karczmar, A. G., & Scudder, C. L. (1972). Intergeneric behavioral differences among methamphetamine treated mice. Psychopharmacologia, 25(4), 347–375. Tracey Switek. Onychomys: Tiny Terror of the Western Deserts. Contact: Website Facebook Twitter TikTok info@grasslandgroupies.org Support us: Bonfire Merch Store Or donate: Donorbox