The Best Biome – Details, episodes & analysis

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The Best Biome

Grassland Groupies

Science

Frequency: 1 episode/27d. Total Eps: 70

Three prairie biologists make the ever-growing argument for why grasslands are the world's best biome. Features hosts Rachel Roth, Nicole Brown, and Allan Saylor of Kansas-based nonprofit Grassland Groupies.

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Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.

Apple Podcasts

🇨🇦 Canada - nature
15/06/2026
#97
🇨🇦 Canada - nature
14/06/2026
#84
🇨🇦 Canada - nature
13/06/2026
#74
🇨🇦 Canada - nature
12/06/2026
#60

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Links found in episode descriptions and other podcasts that share them.

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https://www.grasslandgroupies.org/
67 shares
https://grasslandgroupies.org/the-best-biome
37 shares
https://pinecast.com/dashboard/podcast/the-best-biome/mailto:info@grasslandgroupies.org
33 shares

https://www.facebook.com/GrasslandGroupies
69 shares

https://www.twitter.com/GrasslandsRule
56 shares
https://twitter.com/pleistocenepark/
1 share
https://twitter.com/DulcineaGroff
1 share

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RSS feed quality

Good

Score global : 79%

Publication history

Monthly episode publishing history over the past years.

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Latest published episodes

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[S3E7] Bees Know Everything

Season 3 · Episode 7

Thursday, August 8, 2024 • Duration 43:45

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

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[S3E6] Sandyland Groupies

Season 3 · Episode 6

Thursday, July 11, 2024 • Duration 50:23

Desertification is a major threat to many grasslands, so let's study the best real-world example: The Horqin Grassland, aka the Horqin Sandy Lands. How has this landscape changed over time, what can it teach us about the future of arid grasslands, and which approaches by Inner Mongolia and China to fight desertification give us hope? We love a hopeful story, and this certainly is one.

Primary Sources:

Visual timeline of land deterioration and reversals. (Image)
https://www.scitepress.org/PublishedPapers/2021/110202/110202.pdf
Song, C., Wang, S., & Lu, W. (2021). Landscapes in the Horqin Sandy Land: Patterns And Processes. Proceedings of The International Conference on Water Resource and Environment. https://doi.org/10.5220/0011020200003354
Huang, W., He, Y., Wang, H., Zhao, X., & Zhu, Y. (2023). Long-term effects of restoration on the links between above-and belowground biodiversity in degraded Horqin Sandy Grassland, northern China. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2023.1128187
Chen, Q., Yang, X., Kwon, S., Li, Y., Liu, J., & Zhang, K. (2023). Woody plant cover trends and potential drivers in the Horqin Temperate Steppe, Northeast China: Remote Sensing-based computation and modeling. Ecological Indicators, 146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.109789
Serod, Tsedevdorj. (2018). Population changes behind grassland degradation in Horqin region of Inner Mongolia , China. Research of One Health. https://www.academia.edu/109077058/Population_changes_behind_grassland_degradation_in_Horqin_region_of_Inner_Mongolia_China

Contact: Website Facebook Twitter TikTok info@grasslandgroupies.org

Support us: Bonfire Merch Store Or donate: Donorbox

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[S2E21] Grasshopper Mice: Small but Fierce

Season 2 · Episode 21

Thursday, August 3, 2023 • Duration 01:01:57

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

[S2E20] Sneeze if You Love Painted Dogs

Season 2 · Episode 20

Thursday, July 20, 2023 • Duration 01:02:46

Nicole talks painted dogs: a surprisingly wholesome and fun-loving animal. They are excellent hunters, take care of not just their pups but their elderly, and rarely squabble amongst themselves.

Photos and more are at our site.

Primary Sources:

Painted Dog Conservation website.
Painted Dog Research Trust website.
Robert L. Robbins. (2000). Vocal Communication in Free-Ranging African Wild Dogs (Lycaon pictus). Behaviour, 137(10), 1271–1298.
COZZI, G., BEHR, D. M., WEBSTER, H. S., et al (2020). African Wild Dog Dispersal and Implications for Management. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 84(4), 614–621.

Contact Website Facebook Twitter TikTok info@grasslandgroupies.org

Support us: Bonfire Merch Store Or donate: Donorbox

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[S2E19] 1 Lie, 2 Truths, 3 Idiots

Season 2 · Episode 19

Thursday, July 6, 2023 • Duration 01:00:47

Enjoy this episode of very good facts and very good nonsense. We revisit a nice game of stump the podcast host, this time with more bug viscera and talking ourselves out of an obvious answer.

Our Info: Website Facebook Twitter info@grasslandgroupies.org

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[S2E18] Paramo's Strongest: Hummingbirds

Season 2 · Episode 18

Thursday, June 22, 2023 • Duration 01:03:05

In the Páramo grasslands of South America is a cloud covered land where a unique ecosystem thrives. Allan tells us all about a plant that drinks clouds plus the miraculous little hummingbirds that call this place home.

Photos and more are at our site.

Primary Sources:

Luteyn, J. 1999. Páramos: A Checklist of Plant Diversity, Geographical Distribution, and Botanical Literature. Taxon, Vol. 48, No. 3.
Buytaert, W et al. 2005. Clay mineralogy of the soils in the south Ecuadorian paramo region. Geoderman Vol 127, Iss 1-2.
Carrington, D. 2019. In the land of El Dorado, clean water has become ‘blue gold’. The Guardian.

Contact Website Facebook Twitter TikTok info@grasslandgroupies.org

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[S2E17] Murderous Meerkats

Season 2 · Episode 17

Thursday, June 8, 2023 • Duration 52:50

Did you know meerkats are far more murderous than they seem or that their burrows can be as wide as a Purple Worm's? All this and more as we delve underground and find out why they can be so aggressive and who would win in a fight: 1000 meerkats or Nicole.

Primary Sources:

Gómez, J., Verdú, M., González-Megías, A., Méndez, M. 2016. The phylogenetic roots of human lethal violence. Nature 538, 233-237.
Dyble, M., Houslay, T., Manser, M., Clutton-Brock, T. 2019. Intergroup aggression in meerkats. Proc. R. Soc. B. 286: 20161993.
Young A., and Clutton-Brock, T. 2006. Infanticide by subordinates influences reproductive sharing in cooperatively breeding meerkats. Biol. Lett.2385–387.

Contact Website Facebook Twitter info@grasslandgroupies.org

Merch Store!

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[S2E16] Good Vibes Only

Season 2 · Episode 16

Thursday, May 25, 2023 • Duration 58:17

Conservation can be DEPRESSING, so for Mental Health Month we decided to share ONLY positive news and stories (after taking a little break for our brains). Rewire those neurons everybody, because it's not all bleak.

Good news so far in May:

Biden-Harris Administration announced $36 million for national forests and grasslands
Dakota Prairie Grasslands received $464,000 of that to improve access.
US Department of Agriculture and the Interior announced $2.8 billion in funding for 2024 authorized by the Great American Outdoors Act to improve access to management and recreation opportunities on national forests and grasslands.
Proposed CRP Reform Act of 2023
TNC funding 9 grasslands research projects thru 2023 JE Weaver Small Grands Awards
Arizona is restoring migration routes for pronghorn and mule deer
South Dakota spending $1 mil restoring grasslands
No-Mow-Summer in Dengibghshire County, Wales
Earless Dragon burrows (Video)

[S2E15] The Best of Nest (A DEFINITIVE LIST)

Season 2 · Episode 15

Thursday, April 27, 2023 • Duration 01:22:54

Wherein Rachel makes a definitive list of best bird nests in North American grasslands.

Primary Sources:

A Field Guide to Birds Nests by Hal Harrison
The Birder's Handbook by Paul R. Ehrlich
Madison Audubon's Into the Nest

Contact Website Facebook Twitter info@grasslandgroupies.org

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[S2E14] Ostrich: Winner Takes All (of the Children)

Season 2 · Episode 14

Thursday, April 13, 2023 • Duration 01:01:26

Ostriches are one of the strangest birds we've ever talked about. They are the world's biggest bird and toughest survivor. They nest together, have radiators for necks, and can drink saltwater.

Photos and more are at our site.

Primary Sources:

"Strangest Bird Alive". 2016. National Geographic. Documentary.
Schou, M.F., Bonato, M., Engelbrecht, A. et al. Extreme temperatures compromise male and female fertility in a large desert bird. Nat Commun 12, 666 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-20937-7
Knut Schmidt-Nielsen, John Kanwisher, Robert C. Lasiewski, Jerome E. Cohn, William L. Bretz, Temperature Regulation and Respiration in the Ostrich, The Condor, Volume 71, Issue 4, 1 October 1969, Pages 341–352, https://doi.org/10.2307/1365733

Contact Website Facebook Twitter info@grasslandgroupies.org

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The Best Biome – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

The Best Biome – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other99+

Facebook1

Twitter4

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other99+

Facebook1

Twitter4