RefBan

Referral Banners

Thursday, July 4, 2013

ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

ScienceDaily: Top Environment News


Powerful animal tracking system helps research take flight

Posted: 03 Jul 2013 01:06 PM PDT

Call it a bird's eye view of migration. Scientists have created a new animal tracking system using a big data approach.

Great ape genetic diversity catalog frames primate evolution and future conservation

Posted: 03 Jul 2013 11:05 AM PDT

A catalog of great ape genetic diversity, the most comprehensive ever, elucidates the evolution and population histories of great apes from Africa and Indonesia. The resource will aid in conservation efforts to preserve natural genetic diversity in populations. Scientists and wildlife conservationists from around the world assisted the genetic analysis of 79 wild and captive-born great apes. They represent all six great ape species: chimpanzee, bonobo, Sumatran orangutan, Bornean orangutan, eastern gorilla, and western lowland gorilla, and seven subspecies, as well as 9 humans.

Declines in ecosystem productivity fueled by nitrogen-induced species loss

Posted: 03 Jul 2013 11:05 AM PDT

Humans have been affecting their environment since the ancestors of Homo sapiens first walked upright, but never has their impact been more detrimental than in the 21st century. Human-driven environmental disturbances, such as increasing levels of reactive nitrogen and carbon dioxide, have multiple effects, including changes in biodiversity, species composition, and ecosystem functioning. Pieces of this puzzle have been widely examined but this new study puts it all together by examining multiple elements.

Development of hands and feet may help unlock evolution's toolkit

Posted: 03 Jul 2013 11:02 AM PDT

Thousands of sequences that control genes are active in the developing human limb and may have driven the evolution of the human hand and foot, a comparative genomics study has found.

First supper is a life changer for lizards

Posted: 03 Jul 2013 11:02 AM PDT

For young lizards born into this unpredictable world, their very first meal can be a major life changer. So say researchers who report evidence that this early detail influences how the lizards disperse from their birthplaces, how they grow, and whether they survive. A quick or slow meal even influences the lizards' reproductive success two years later in a surprising way.

Military sonar can alter blue whale behavior: Human-made noises cause ocean giants to move away from feeding spots

Posted: 03 Jul 2013 09:06 AM PDT

Some blue whales off the coast of California change their behavior when exposed to the sort of underwater sounds used during US military exercises. The whales may alter diving behavior or temporarily avoid important feeding areas, according to new research.

Remarkable 32 new wasp species from the distinctive Odontacolus and Cyphacolus genera

Posted: 03 Jul 2013 08:35 AM PDT

Scientists have described a remarkable 32 new Odontacolus and Cyphacolus wasp species, providing extensive morphological phylogenetic analysis of these previously understudied genera. The wasps from these groups are among the most distinctive species because of the peculiar hump-like formation on the rear part of their bodies.

No comments: