Media invitation: British Ecological Society Annual Meeting, Manchester Metropolitan University, 9-11 September 2003
Get more from your trip to this year's BA Festival of Science at Salford! You are invited to attend the UK's premier ecological event, the British Ecological Society's Annual Meeting, being held just a mile away from Salford at Manchester Metropolitan University, 9-11 September 2003. Thousands of ecologists from all four corners of the globe will... view more... (2003-08-20)
Introduced marine species get larger in the invaded region
The transport of species outside their native region through human activities has often had a dramatic impact on the ecosystems into which these species are introduced and on the surrounding economies. The consequences of introduction for the introduced species itself, including changes in body size and shape, are less recognized. Prior studies of... view more... (2003-08-13)
Predators: an overlooked player in plant-pollinator relationships
Biologists have long recognized that predators can help to shape ecological communities -- wolves promote the growth of young trees through predation on moose, otters keep kelp forests thriving by preying on sea urchins, etc. Yet we have seldom considered the consequences of predation on animals that help plants reproduce. Predation on pollinators... view more... (2003-08-13)
University of Kent course run in partnership with modern wonder of the world
The news that Kew Gardens is to join the likes of the Taj Mahal and the Great Wall of China as a modern wonder of the world has been welcomed by teachers on the University of Kent's MSc Programme in Ethnobotany. Together with the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), the Department of Anthropology and the Royal Botanic Gardens... view more... (2003-07-11)
Media invitation: Insects matter more than ever
Insects are a rapid reaction force. They evolve, whether following Darwin's ideas on natural selection or in response to changing circumstances, and the integral role they play in our world is changing too. Top scientists from across the globe are coming to Reading, Berkshire in July to share their research on how these changes affect our own... view more... (2003-07-09)
Predetermined winners and losers in the Ice Age extinction game
The Quaternary ice ages caused severe decimation of the European tree flora. Of the diverse pre-Ice Age tree flora only a minority of the genera are still widespread in Europe. Most of the remainder have been lost altogether from the European flora and now only occurs in Asia and/or North America, although some persist as relicts in southern... view more... (2003-07-02)
Habitat loss and reserve network selection
What is the minimum combination of areas needed to protect at least one population of every species in a region? - This is a problem commonly addressed when aiming at cost-effective reserve networks. However, because the stress on reserve cost, the properties of the reserve-network for species persistence are often overlooked, typically resulting... view more... (2003-07-02)
Grazer diversity counteracts plant diversity effects on ecosystem functioning in seagrass beds
Several influential experiments have shown that high plant diversity enhances ecosystem productivity, animal diversity, and invasion resistance. Yet theory predicts that plant and herbivore diversity, which often co vary in nature, should have countervailing effects on ecosystem properties. In the July issue of Ecology Letters, Duffy, Canuel, and... view more... (2003-07-02)
University of Sussex launches world's first degree programme in 'seed banking'
Biologists are being offered the chance to help save the planet by enrolling in an innovative new postgraduate degree at the University of Sussex this autumn. Together with the world-renowned Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the University is to offer the world's first degree programme in 'seed banking', which includes strategies for safeguarding the... view more... (2003-05-30)
All species are not created equal when assessing the impacts of species loss on ecosystems
Numerous studies have shown that when species are randomly lost from communities, ecosystem function declines. But such patterns of species loss do not reflect those in natural communities where major drivers of change, such as stress and disturbance, cause preferential loss of rare and uncommon species. In the June issue of Ecology Letters, Smith... view more... (2003-05-22)
An unexpected outcome of atmospheric CO2 enrichment
Unseen belowground interactions impact the composition of natural plant communities. Mycorrhizae, symbiotic associations between soil fungi and plant roots, help plants acquire soil nutrients but also drain substantial carbon from plants. Whether mycorrhizae help or hinder plant growth depends upon the balance between nutrient benefits and carbon... view more... (2003-05-22)
Roadsigns for Rodents: Creation of signposts detected in the first non-human species
Humans are not alone in creating 'signposts' to help them find their way, according to new research published in the open access journal BMC Ecology. Wood mice, say scientists, move objects from their environment around using them as portable signposts whilst they explore. view more (2003-04-28)
Good housekeeping: why do shelter-dwelling caterpillars fling their frass?
Caterpillars of the silver-spotted skipper butterfly ballistically eject their individual fecal pellets (frass) as far as 40 body lengths away from their resting places in leaf shelters. Why do these and many other shelter-dwelling caterpillars go to such great lengths to distance themselves from their waste? In a paper to appear in the April... view more... (2003-04-08)
Regional warming-induced species shift in NW Mediterranean marine caves
The north-western Mediterranean Sea has a high biodiversity reflecting a mixture of temperate and subtropical species. But this basin already shows signs of large-scale warming. Marine cave communities with endemic and specialised species are particularly at risk since they are naturally fragmented and more sensitive to perturbations. In the... view more... (2003-04-08)
Human reproductive rates follow biological scaling rules
In nations with high per capita energy consumption, women have fewer children. This phenomenon is an unexpected consequence of the biological scaling relationship between metabolism and reproductive rate: larger species of mammals have higher metabolism but lower birth rates. In the April 2003 issue of Ecology Letters, Moses and Brown show that... view more... (2003-04-08)
Biodiversity and resilience of coral reefs
With over 3000 fish species, Indo-Pacific coral reefs represent one of the most diverse ecosystems on the globe. It is easy to assume that the loss of one or two species from these systems would have little impact. However, in an article in the April issue of Ecology Letters, Bellwood and colleagues document major changes in Indo-Pacific coral... view more... (2003-04-08)
Deep-sea Ecosystem Engineers
Tube worms living at deep-sea oil seeps in the Gulf of Mexico significantly alter their habitat, similar to beavers altering the flow of a river. Researchers from Pennsylvania State University have just published an important finding in the journal Ecology Letters. A computer model of tube worm aggregations was created for Lamellibrachia luymesi,... view more... (2003-03-12)
Could Bt transgenic crops have nutritionally favourable effects on insects?
Researchers from Imperial College, England have just shown in a forthcoming article in the journal Ecology Letters, that insect larvae can use an engineered toxin (Cry1Ac) as a supplementary food source. They found that toxin-resistant larvae of the Diamondback Moth developed faster and had a greater pupal weight in the presence of the toxin.... view more... (2003-03-12)
Ecological replacement of native red squirrels by invasive greys driven by disease
The traditional explanation for the replacement of the native red squirrel by the introduced grey over much of the United Kingdom is that the grey out-competes the red for food resources. A new study published in the March issue of Ecology Letters demonstrates that a virus introduced with the grey may also be a crucial component. The research team... view more... (2003-03-11)
Cybersense Biosystems raises £225,000 for technology to beat contamination
THE OXFORDSHIRE INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY NETWORK A company that is adapting the latest bioluminescent biosensor technology for industrial applications has raised over £225,000 from one of Europe's leading technology business angel networks. The funding will enable Cybersense Biosystems Ltd, based at Oxford's Institute of Ecology and Hydrology,... view more... (2003-02-24)
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