Science Resources RSS Feeds
|
 |
 |
 |
Ecology Current Events | Ecology News | 7
|
| Page
7 of
11 |
212 Results |
|
|
|
Sort By:
Page Views | Date |
Ecological significance of tool-use in the woodpecker finch Cactospiza pallida
The Woodpecker finch, one of 14 Darwin`s finches of the Galapagos Islands, uses twigs or cactus spines to pry insects and spiders out of tree-holes. The advantage of using tools may seem evident, but empirical evidence is scarce. In a paper soon to appear in Ecology Letters, Tebbich and colleagues present the first study on the ecological... view more... (2002-09-09)
Protecting fish nurseries
A University of Plymouth lecturer and his PhD student are putting Plymouth on the world map for research in a specialist field of marine biology: the importance of seagrass meadows. Seagrass can grow prolifically in outer estuarine areas and is the only flowering plant fully adapted for life in the marine environment. As well as being home to a... view more... (2002-03-21)
Desert woodrats switch one dietary poison for another
As the U.S. Southwest grew warmer between 18,700 and 10,000 years ago, juniper trees vanished from what is now the Mojave Desert, robbing woodrats of their favorite food. view more (2009-04-08)
Insect warning colors aid cancer and tropical disease drug discovery
Brightly colored beetles or butterfly larvae nibbling on a plant may signal the presence of chemical compounds active against cancer cell lines and tropical parasitic diseases, according to researchers at Smithsonian's Tropical Research Institute in Panama. view more (2008-07-09)
Fishing kills Fijian coral reefs
Outbreaks of a coral-eating starfish have occurred in Fiji resulting from overexploitation of the predatory fishes that normally limit its numbers. The impacts of the starfish are dramatic, with previously pristine coral reefs being turned into dull algal mats. Worryingly, Dulvy, Freckleton and Polunin - the authors of a study in the May issue of... view more... (2004-05-04)
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)
Can we keep the cap on transgene escape?
Molecular strategies are being developed to impede the escape of transgenes from transgenic crops into wild relatives, which might become invasive upon acquiring transgenic traits such as resistance to pests or herbicides. For example, to impede escape through pollen, a transgene could be inserted into chloroplast DNA, which in many crops is... view more... (2004-02-24)
Symbiotic fungi promote invasion into diverse plant communities (Rudgers et al.)
The biodiversity of a community can affect its functional properties, such as its productiveness or its ability to resist invasion by exotic species. Many grass species host fungi in their leaves that can render them more resistant to herbivory, drought, and competition. In a forthcoming issue of Ecology Letters, Rudgers, Koslow and Clay... view more... (2003-12-10)
Ecological communities suffer dramatic changes when non-native species are introduced by humans!
Ecological communities suffer dramatic changes when non-native species are introduced by humans. Such introductions have been documented in hundreds of locations and appear to be common in marine and island habitats. One of the best-studied cases of a species that suddenly appeared in the New England intertidal, and subsequently spread rapidly... view more... (2002-07-11)
Bright autumn colouration in trees - a warning signal to insects?
Most deciduous trees change colour in autumn. However, both within and between species, there is considerable variation both in the timing and magnitude of autumn colour change. Hamilton and Brown recently proposed a hypothesis to explain this phenomenon. Their idea was that the bright autumn colouration in trees is a warning signal to insects... view more... (2003-09-17)
Disease opened door to invading species in California
Plant and animal diseases can play a major and poorly appreciated role in allowing the invasion of exotic species, which in turn often threatens biodiversity, ecological function and the world economy, researchers say in a new report. view more (2007-03-13)
Gray wolves feed the masses while hunters feed the few
Gray wolves (Canis lupus) and human hunters both provide resource subsidies to scavengers in Yellowstone National Park, USA, by provisioning them with the remains of their kills. Carrion from wolf versus hunter kills is much more dispersed in both time and space. In the November issue of Ecology Letters, scientists from Berkeley and Yellowstone... view more... (2003-10-08)
Conservation in Canada
Conservation actions could be more efficient if there is similarity among taxa in the distribution of species. In a paper in Ecology Letters, May, by an international research team, patterns in the geographic distribution of five taxa were used to identify nationally important regions for conservation in Canada. There was congruence in both... view more... (2004-05-04)
The emerging scientific discipline of aeroecology
In the history of science and technology, there is an infrequent combination of empirical discoveries, theories and technology developments converge that make it possible to recognize a new discipline. view more (2008-08-04)
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)
Soil fungi affect parasitism of foliage-feeding insects
Recent studies have shown the importance of links between soil organisms and those feeding above-ground. However, to date these have involved two or three trophic levels, because it has been assumed that the effects weaken as one progresses up or down a food chain. In a forthcoming paper in Ecology Letters, Gange, Brown & Aplin show that... view more... (2003-11-24)
Marine pathogens spread much faster than their terrestrial counterparts
It has become increasingly clear that pathogen epidemics are as significant a component of marine systems as they are in terrestrial systems. At an National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) working group on Diseases in the Ocean, McCallum, Harvell and Dobson collated data on epidemic spread from both terrestrial and marine... view more... (2003-11-24)
Migratory bird struggles with climate – pied flycatchers lay their eggs too late
They try very hard, but pied flycatchers are not able to adapt sufficiently to the climate change in Western Europe. Dutch ecologists state this in Nature's issue of May 17 2001. Spring in Western Europe warmed up during the past 20 years and became increasingly ‘early’. However, the migratory flycatchers are still arriving at the same... view more... (2001-05-15)
Genome sequencing is for ecologists, too
An organism widely used for genetics-versus-environment studies has joined the panoply of mice, rats, dogs, humans and other species whose entire genomes have been sequenced. view more (2006-01-18)
Alarm pheromone causes aphids to sprout wings
Chemical communication within insect species is often much more sophisticated than expected. When aphids are attacked by predators such as ladybird beetles, they release an alarm pheromone, (E)-ß-farnesene, that has long been known to cause other aphids to walk around or drop from the plant. view more (2005-05-18)
|
|
| Page
7 of
11 |
212 Results |
|
|
|
Sort By:
Page Views | Date |
|
|
