Over the past few centuries, human activities have driven a number of changes to the earth’s ecosystems, some of which have resulted in the collapse breaking down of reproductive barriers between species long considered to be separate, thus leading to the formation of hybrid organisms. In this article, I review the current literature on ways in which invasive species and climate change drive hybridization events in plants and how these events impact both the species directly involved directly and the larger ecosystems in which they live. I then explore examine some of the implications that these events have for species conservation and argue for the importance of developing a flexible research and policy framework for responding to these events when they happen.

Our goal in this study was to examine the effects of odor on frass, or feces, production in crickets. Cricket frass contains nutrients that can serve as a fertilizer for soil, so we were interested in determining if there is a way to increase frass production. The results of our study showed that neither the sweet orange nor peppermint scent increased frass production among the crickets. The findings of this study may be significant for commercial cricket vendors, as these companies could generate income from frass converted to fertilizer instead of sending it to waste.