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Species Diversity Current Events | Species Diversity News | 4

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Species detectives track unseen evolution
New species are evading detection using a foolproof disguise - their own unchanged appearance. Research published in the online open access journal, BMC Evolutionary Biology, suggests that the phenomenon of different animal species not being visually distinct despite other significant genetic differences is widespread in the animal kingdom.   view more (2007-07-19)

Female Antarctic seals give cold shoulder to local males
Female Antarctic fur seals will travel across a colony to actively seek males which are genetically diverse and unrelated, rather than mate with local dominant males.   view more (2007-02-08)

Drought sensitivity shapes species distribution patterns in tropical forests
Looking at a rainforest it's easy to see that there are hundreds of different tropical plant species that inhabit the forest. Although the patterns of plant distributions in tropical forests have been widely studied, the reasonings behind these patterns are not as well known.   view more (2007-05-15)

History-hunting geneticists can still follow familiar trail
As the world's first explorers branched away from humanity's birthplace in east Africa some 65,000 years ago, distinct mutations accumulated in the DNA of each population, essentially providing a genetic trail for modern researchers to follow.   view more (2006-12-20)

Species Have Come and Gone at Different Rates than Previously Believed
Diversity among the ancestors of such marine creatures as clams, sand dollars and lobsters showed only a modest rise beginning 144 million years ago with no clear trend afterwards, according to an international team of researchers. This contradicts previous work showing dramatic increases beginning 248 million years ago and may shed light on... view more... (2008-07-07)

Genomics throws species definition in question for microbes
Until a decade ago, scientists categorized microorganisms almost exclusively by their physical characteristics: how they looked, what they ate, and the by-products they produced.   view more (2007-03-27)

Invasive species alter habitat to their benefit
When scientists study habitats that alien species have invaded, they usually find predictable patterns. The diversity of native species declines, and changes occur in natural processes such as nutrient cycling, wildfire frequency and the movement of water through the system.   view more (2006-08-10)

Rainforest conservation worth the cost, University of Alberta shows
The economic benefits of protecting a rainforest reserve outweigh the costs of preserving it, says University of Alberta research-the first of its kind to have conducted a cost-benefit analysis on the conservation of species diversity.   view more (2005-11-01)

Tropical insects 'go the distance' to inform rainforest conservation
The long-held belief that plant-eating insects in tropical forests are picky eaters that stay "close to home" - dining only on locale-specific vegetation - is being challenged by new research findings that suggest these insects feast on a broader menu of foliage and can be consistently found across hundreds of miles of tropical... view more... (2007-08-10)

Rove beetles act as warning signs for clear-cutting consequences
New research from the University of Alberta and the Canadian Forest Service has revealed the humble rove beetle may actually have a lot to tell us about the effects of harvesting on forests species.   view more (2007-06-13)

New study explores beetle species with two forms of females
A fascinating new study from the forthcoming issue of The American Naturalist attempts to explain the mysterious persistence of two forms of females in many diving beetle populations.   view more (2006-01-25)

When Hosts Go Extinct, What Happens to Their Parasites?
Hands wring and teeth gnash over the loss of endangered species like the panda or the polar bear. But what happens to the parasites hosted by endangered species?   view more (2009-06-02)

Vaccine to cope with viral diversity in HIV
The ability of HIV-1 to develop high levels of genetic diversity and acquire mutations to escape immune pressures contributes to our difficulties in producing a vaccine.   view more (2007-04-27)

Why some people are more attractive than others
Researchers believe they have solved a mystery that has puzzled evolutionary scientists for years ... if 'good' genes spread through the population, why are individuals so different?   view more (2007-03-28)

Reforestation using exotic plants can disturb the fertility of tropical soils
In many regions of the world, the impact of human activity on the environment intensified considerably over the past century. The high world population growth rate and the expansion of areas given over to crop production associated with climatic changes (longer periods of drought, irregular rainfall patterns) induced by global warming, have... view more... (2008-05-30)

Field of the future -- ecological experiment simulates conditions in 2100
A new experiment to find out how British plant ecosystems may be affected by future changes to climate and biodiversity is underway at Imperial College London.   view more (2008-09-29)

Longest study finds reef fish need longer break
In the longest running study on how fish populations in coral reef systems recover from heavy exploitation, researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and others have found that the fish can recover, but they need lots of time - decades in some cases.   view more (2007-07-12)

Smithsonian's National Zoo researchers use electronic eggs to help save threatened species
This is an important summer for kori bustards at the Smithsonian's National Zoo. Four chicks of this threatened African bird have hatched in June and July.   view more (2007-07-27)

Characterization of grapevine transposons furthers understanding of in vino variety
The grapevine (Vitis vinifera) is a widely cultivated crop that has been subjected to intensive breeding since the Neolithic period (from ~10,500 to ~6,000 years ago). The domestication of grapevine has undergone a selection for traits important for its cultivation and usage.   view more (2008-09-03)

Birds and plants do not prosper under agri-environment schemes
Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Redshank and Godwit prefer common grasslands. The agri-environmental schemes to improve biodiversity in Dutch agricultural landscapes are not effective. A profound study which compares fields with management agreements with common managed fields, finds no positive effects on plant and bird species diversity. Meadow birds... view more... (2001-10-15)
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