ScienceDaily: Top Environment News |
- Do parasites upset food web theory?
- X-rays reveal new picture of 'dinobird' plumage patterns
- Is a sleeping climate giant stirring in the Arctic?
- Why fruit ripens and spoils: Thousands of plant genes activated by ethylene gas
- Brown tide has emerged off Long Island, NY in Moriches, Quantuck and Shinnecock Bay, but not in Great South Bay
- Wood not so green a biofuel? Logging may have greater impact on carbon emissions than previously thought
- Tillage and reduced-input rotations affect runoff from agricultural fields
- Fetal neuromaturation associated with mother's exposure to DDT and other environmental contaminants
- Plunging fish numbers linked to dam releases
- Potential disease-transmission sources in animals ID'd by calculating risk using social network mathematics
- Fukushima accident raised levels of radioactive strontium off the east coast of Japan by up to 100 times
- How to stop a trunk and start a tail? The leg has the key
- Fractal patterns spontaneously emerge during bacterial cell growth
- Modern humans did not settle in Asia before eruption of Sumatra volcano 74,000 years ago, study finds
- Nine genes account for pigmentation in the fruit fly
- Sperm wars ruled by females? Females play active, pivotal role in postcopulatory processes
| Do parasites upset food web theory? Posted: 11 Jun 2013 05:46 PM PDT Parasites comprise a large proportion of the diversity of species in every ecosystem, but are rarely included in analyses or models of food webs. If parasites play different roles from other predators and prey, however, their inclusion could fundamentally alter our understanding of how food webs are organized. A new article has shown that including parasites does alter the structure of food webs, but most changes occur because of an increase in diversity and complexity. |
| X-rays reveal new picture of 'dinobird' plumage patterns Posted: 11 Jun 2013 05:45 PM PDT The first complete chemical analysis of feathers from Archaeopteryx, a famous fossil linking dinosaurs and birds, reveals that the feathers of this early bird were patterned – light in colour, with a dark edge and tip to the feather – rather than all black, as previously thought. |
| Is a sleeping climate giant stirring in the Arctic? Posted: 11 Jun 2013 11:43 AM PDT Permafrost zones occupy nearly a quarter of the exposed land area of the Northern Hemisphere. NASA's Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment is probing deep into the frozen lands above the Arctic Circle in Alaska to measure emissions of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane from thawing permafrost -- signals that may hold a key to Earth's climate future. |
| Why fruit ripens and spoils: Thousands of plant genes activated by ethylene gas Posted: 11 Jun 2013 11:33 AM PDT It's common wisdom that one rotten apple in a barrel spoils all the other apples, and that an apple ripens a green banana if they are put together in a paper bag. Ways to ripen, or spoil, fruit have been known for thousands of years -- as the Bible can attest -- but now the genes underlying these phenomena of nature have been revealed. Scientists have now traced the thousands of genes in a plant that are activated once ethylene, a gas that acts as a plant growth hormone, is released. |
| Posted: 11 Jun 2013 10:09 AM PDT A brown tide has emerged within some, but not all, of Long Island's south shore estuaries. Monitoring has revealed that a brown tide has developed in eastern Moriches Bay, Quantuck Bay, and western Shinnecock Bay. |
| Posted: 11 Jun 2013 09:21 AM PDT Using wood for energy is considered cleaner than fossil fuels, but a new study finds that logging may release large amounts of carbon stored in deep forest soils. |
| Tillage and reduced-input rotations affect runoff from agricultural fields Posted: 11 Jun 2013 09:20 AM PDT A new study provides information about runoff under different management practices and can help farmers choose the practice that is best for them. |
| Fetal neuromaturation associated with mother's exposure to DDT and other environmental contaminants Posted: 11 Jun 2013 08:15 AM PDT A has for the first time found that a mother's higher exposure to some common environmental contaminants was associated with more frequent and vigorous fetal motor activity. Some chemicals were also associated with fewer changes in fetal heart rate, which normally parallel fetal movements. |
| Plunging fish numbers linked to dam releases Posted: 11 Jun 2013 07:23 AM PDT An Australian study has thrown cold water on the notion that large dam releases compensate for the effects of interrupting natural water flows. |
| Posted: 11 Jun 2013 07:20 AM PDT Scientists have successfully identified animal species that can transmit more diseases to humans by using mathematical tools similar to those applied to the study of social networks like Facebook or Twitter. Their research describes how parasite-primate interactions transmit diseases like malaria, yellow fever or AIDS to humans. Their findings could make an important contribution to predicting the animal species most likely to cause future pandemics. |
| Posted: 11 Jun 2013 05:42 AM PDT Researchers in Spain have studied the spread of radioactive strontium in the coastal waters of eastern Japan during the three months following the Fukushima nuclear accident, which happened in March 2011. The samples analysed show the impact of the direct release of radioactive materials into the Pacific Ocean, and indicate that the amount of strontium-90 discharged into the sea during those three months was between 90 and 900 Tbq (terabecquerels), raising levels by up to two orders of magnitude. The highest concentrations were found to the north of the Kuroshio current, which acts as a barrier preventing radioactive material from being carried to lower latitudes. |
| How to stop a trunk and start a tail? The leg has the key Posted: 11 Jun 2013 05:42 AM PDT A new study reveals the mechanisms behind trunk to tail transition in vertebrates. |
| Fractal patterns spontaneously emerge during bacterial cell growth Posted: 11 Jun 2013 05:41 AM PDT Despite bacterial colonies always forming circular shapes as they grow, their cells form internal divisions which are highly asymmetrical and branched. These fractal (self-similar) patterns are due to the physical forces and local instabilities that are a natural part of bacterial cell growth, a new study reveals. The research has important implications for the emerging field of synthetic biology. |
| Posted: 11 Jun 2013 05:41 AM PDT When did modern humans settle in Asia and what route did they take from humankind's African homeland? New research refutes a recent theory that there is archaeological evidence for the presence of modern humans in southern Asia before the super-eruption of the Mount Toba volcano in Sumatra. |
| Nine genes account for pigmentation in the fruit fly Posted: 11 Jun 2013 05:40 AM PDT Individuals of a particular species generally differ from one another. We are clearly most adept at recognizing members of our own species, although dog and cat owners will be ready to confirm that their pets look unique. Differences within species relate to characteristics such as size and shape but also to color: it is not only humans that show a wide range of skin pigmentation. Nevertheless, the cause of the variation in skin color in animals has remained largely a matter for conjecture. Recent work sheds light on the topic. |
| Sperm wars ruled by females? Females play active, pivotal role in postcopulatory processes Posted: 10 Jun 2013 04:29 PM PDT Females play a larger role in determining paternity than previously thought, say biologists. The findings have major implications for the study of sexual selection, sexual conflict and the coevolution of male and female reproductive traits. |
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