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Categories: Ecology: General, Space: Astronomy
Published Coastal fisheries show surprising resilience to marine heat waves
(via sciencedaily.com) New research found that marine heat waves -- prolonged periods of unusually warm ocean temperatures -- haven't had a lasting effect on the fish communities that feed most of the world. The finding is in stark contrast to the devastating effects seen on other marine ecosystems cataloged by scientists after similar periods of warming, including widespread coral bleaching and harmful algal blooms.
Published Telescopes help unravel pulsar puzzle
(via sciencedaily.com) With a remarkable observational campaign that involved 12 telescopes both on the ground and in space, including three European Southern Observatory (ESO) facilities, astronomers have uncovered the strange behavior of a pulsar, a super-fast-spinning dead star. This mysterious object is known to switch between two brightness modes almost constantly, something that until now has been an enigma. But astronomers have now found that sudden ejections of matter from the pulsar over very short periods are responsible for the peculiar switches.
Published Neptune's disappearing clouds linked to the solar cycle
(via sciencedaily.com) Astronomers have uncovered a link between Neptune's shifting cloud abundance and the 11-year solar cycle, in which the waxing and waning of the Sun's entangled magnetic fields drives solar activity.
Published Broken by bison, aspen saplings having a tough time in northern Yellowstone
(via sciencedaily.com) In northern Yellowstone National Park, saplings of quaking aspen, an ecologically important tree in the American West, are being broken by a historically large bison herd, affecting the comeback of aspen from decades of over-browsing by elk.
Published Soils forming on the branches of trees are an overlooked forest habitat
(via sciencedaily.com) A study on 'canopy soils' on old trees in Costa Rica shows they are important habitats and carbon stores that cannot easily be replaced.
Published Mysterious Neptune dark spot detected from Earth for the first time
(via sciencedaily.com) Using ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have observed a large dark spot in Neptune's atmosphere, with an unexpected smaller bright spot adjacent to it. This is the first time a dark spot on the planet has ever been observed with a telescope on Earth. These occasional features in the blue background of Neptune's atmosphere are a mystery to astronomers, and the new results provide further clues as to their nature and origin.
Published National parks support wildlife inside and outside their borders
(via sciencedaily.com) Fresh research suggests that national parks enhance bird diversity inside their borders. Large parks also support higher diversity of both birds and mammals in nearby unprotected areas.
Published Ice-free preservation method holds promise to protect reefs
(via sciencedaily.com) An interdisciplinary team of researchers demonstrated that coral can be preserved through a new technique called isochoric vitrification. This process takes the selected coral fragments through the stages of cryopreservation and subsequent revival.
Published Deforestation limits nesting habitat for cavity-nesting birds
(via sciencedaily.com) A new study of cavity-nesting birds in Ecuador shows the influence of deforestation on their habitat and reproductive success. Nest boxes could help.
Published Researchers unearth a new process by which algae pass on nurtrients to their coral host
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have identified a new pathway by which sugar is released by symbiotic algae. This pathway involves the largely overlooked cell wall, showing that this structure not only protects the cell but plays an important role in symbiosis and carbon circulation in the ocean.
Published Biodiversity protects against invasions of non-native tree species
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers combined human and ecological factors to analyze the global scale of non-native tree species invasions. Human activity in hotspots of global trade, such as maritime ports, is linked to an increased likelihood of non-native tree species invasions. However, a high diversity of native tree species can help to curb the intensity of such invasions.
Published Detecting a vast diversity of rainforest animals by swabbing their DNA from leaves
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers demonstrate that a vast multitude of birds and mammals can be detected by simply swabbing the DNA left behind by animals from leaves. They showcased the power of this approach in an ecosystem that hosts a ton of wildlife and where detecting animals has historically proven extremely challenging -- the tropical rainforest.
Published Pollutants are important to biodiversity's role in spread of wildlife diseases
(via sciencedaily.com) Conventional wisdom among ecologists holds that the more species there are inhabiting an ecosystem, the less vulnerable any one species will be to a threat like a parasite. A new study of tadpoles illustrates how overlapping biological and environmental factors can complicate how we value protecting diverse animal communities. The researchers found that environmental pollutants like road salt influence whether increased biodiversity helps or hinders disease outbreaks in wildlife, which can complicate how we value protecting diverse animal communities.
Published World's deepest coral calcification rates measured off Hawaiian Islands
(via sciencedaily.com) In the waters off the Hawaiian Islands, rates of calcification were measured in the deepest coral colonies.
Published Harnessing big data reveals birds' coexisting tactics
(via sciencedaily.com) Birds likely hold smart insights about coexisting in popular habitats -- especially as climate change looms. Scientists peel back layers of big data to tease out real-life answers.
Published Using supernovae to study neutrinos' strange properties
(via sciencedaily.com) In a new study, researchers have taken an important step toward understanding how exploding stars can help reveal how neutrinos, mysterious subatomic particles, secretly interact with themselves.
Published Hundred-year storms? That's how long they last on Saturn
(via sciencedaily.com) Megastorms regularly appear on Saturn, marring the relatively bland surface before disappearing. But radio observations show that the storms have long-lasting effects deeper in the atmosphere, in particular in the distribution of ammonia. Using NRAO's Very Large Array, astronomers see such impacts from storms that happened hundreds of years ago. The findings will help explain the differences between storms on the gas giants Saturn and Jupiter.
Published After seventeen years, a spacecraft makes its first visit home
(via sciencedaily.com) On Aug. 12, 2023, NASA's STEREO-A spacecraft will pass between the Sun and Earth, marking the first Earth flyby of the nearly 17-year-old mission. The visit home brings a special chance for the spacecraft to collaborate with NASA missions near Earth and reveal new insights into our closest star.
Published Webb reveals colors of Earendel, most distant star ever detected
(via sciencedaily.com) NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has followed up on observations by the Hubble Space Telescope of the farthest star ever detected in the very distant universe, within the first billion years after the big bang. Webb's NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument reveals the star to be a massive B-type star more than twice as hot as our Sun, and about a million times more luminous.
Published Pause in recent coral recovery on much of Great Barrier Reef
(via sciencedaily.com) In-water monitoring shows hard coral cover across the Great Barrier Reef remains at similar levels to that recorded in 2022, with small decreases in the Northern, Central and Southern regions. AIMS' Annual Summary Report on Coral Reef Condition for 2022/23 found that while some reefs continued to recover, their increased hard coral cover was offset by coral loss on other reefs. Most reefs underwent little change in coral cover.