ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Plants use circadian rhythms to prepare for battle with insects
• Explosive evolution need not follow mass extinctions, study of ancient zooplankton finds
• Fish of Antarctica threatened by climate change
• Where big fish take shelter has big impact on their ability to cope with climate change
• What lies beneath: Mapping hidden nanostructures within materials, and perhaps cells
• Potential for incorrect relationship identification in new forensic familial searching techniques
• Hatchery fish mask the decline of wild salmon populations
• Dogs succeed while chimps fail at following finger pointing: Chimpanzees have difficulty identifying object of interest based on gestures
• Most stretchable spider silk reported: Study conducted with egg sacs collected from natural environment
• Not the black sheep of domestic animals: Unprecedented in-depth view of the genetic history of sheep

Plants use circadian rhythms to prepare for battle with insects Posted: 13 Feb 2012 03:56 PM PST In a study of the molecular underpinnings of plants' pest resistance, biologists have shown that plants use circadian rhythms to both anticipate raids by hungry insects and to time the production of defensive hormones that protect against insect attack. The researchers demonstrated that when the plants' timing was shifted, the plants were defenseless against daytime-feeding caterpillars.

Explosive evolution need not follow mass extinctions, study of ancient zooplankton finds Posted: 13 Feb 2012 12:40 PM PST Fossil record of graptoloids challenges the theory that immediately after a mass extinction, species develop new physical traits at a rapid pace.

Fish of Antarctica threatened by climate change Posted: 13 Feb 2012 12:40 PM PST A study of the evolutionary history of Antarctic fish and their "anti-freeze" proteins illustrates how tens of millions of years ago a lineage of fish adapted to newly formed polar conditions -- and how today they are endangered by a rapid rise in ocean temperatures.

Where big fish take shelter has big impact on their ability to cope with climate change Posted: 13 Feb 2012 10:41 AM PST The choices big fish make on where to shelter could have a major influence on their ability to cope with climate change, say scientists. In research aimed at understanding the process of fish population decline when coral reefs sustain major damage, scientists have found that big fish show a marked preference for sheltering under large, flat table corals.

What lies beneath: Mapping hidden nanostructures within materials, and perhaps cells Posted: 10 Feb 2012 07:47 AM PST A new method to map nanostructures within materials may lead to biological imaging of the internal organization of cells.

Potential for incorrect relationship identification in new forensic familial searching techniques Posted: 09 Feb 2012 02:28 PM PST New research suggests that unrelated individuals may be mistakenly identified as genetic family members due to inaccurate genetic assumptions. This is particularly relevant when considering familial searching: a new technique which extends forensic identification to family members of individuals with profiles in offender/arrestee DNA databases. In a new study, researchers show that false familial identification may be more likely for individuals with particular genetic backgrounds; for example, in the USA, those of Asian or Native American descent.

Hatchery fish mask the decline of wild salmon populations Posted: 08 Feb 2012 03:02 PM PST Scientists have found that only about ten percent of the fall-run Chinook salmon spawning in California's Mokelumne River are naturally produced wild salmon. A massive influx of hatchery-raised fish that return to spawn in the wild is masking the fact that too few wild fish are returning to sustain a natural population in the river.

Dogs succeed while chimps fail at following finger pointing: Chimpanzees have difficulty identifying object of interest based on gestures Posted: 08 Feb 2012 03:02 PM PST Dogs are better than chimps at interpreting pointing gestures, according to a new study.

Most stretchable spider silk reported: Study conducted with egg sacs collected from natural environment Posted: 08 Feb 2012 03:02 PM PST The egg sac silk of the cocoon stalk of the cave spider Meta menardi is the most stretchable egg sac silk yet tested, according to a new study.

Not the black sheep of domestic animals: Unprecedented in-depth view of the genetic history of sheep Posted: 07 Feb 2012 05:26 PM PST Mapping the ancestry of sheep over the past 11,000 years has revealed that our woolly friends are stars among domestic animals, boasting vast genetic diversity and substantial prospects for continued breeding to further boost wool and food production for a rising world population. An international research team has provided an unprecedented in-depth view of the genetic history of sheep, one of the world's most important livestock species. The study maps out how humans have moulded sheep to suit diverse environments and to enhance the specialised production of meat, wool and milk.

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