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Categories: Ecology: General, Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology

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Researchers have developed an algorithm that uses computer vision techniques to accurately measure trees almost five times faster than traditional, manual methods.

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Deforestation is resulting in reduced rainfall across large parts of the tropics, according to new research. People living in tropical forest communities have often complained that the climate gets hotter and drier once trees are cleared but until now, scientists have not been able to identify a clear link between the loss of tree cover and a decline in rainfall.

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Ants play a key role in forest regeneration, according to a new article.

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Australia's rarest bird of prey -- the red goshawk -- is facing extinction, with Cape York Peninsula now the only place in Queensland known to support breeding populations.

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Dinosaur claws had many functions, but now a team has shown some predatory dinosaurs used their claws for digging or even for display.

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By exploring the stability and collapse of marine ecosystems during the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, researchers gain insights into modern biodiversity crisis.

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New research suggests aquatic plants can be utilized as a tool to enhance the co-existence between aquatic invertebrates and their fish predators in urban ponds.

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A recent excavation in Megiddo, Israel, unearthed the earliest example of a particular type of cranial surgery in the Ancient Near East -- and potentially one of the oldest examples of leprosy in the world.

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To reduce biodiversity loss in agricultural landscapes, more sustainable and environmentally friendly agricultural practices are needed. A research team has investigated how ecosystem services such as pollination could be improved in macadamia plantations. The scientists showed that a certain design of plantations -- for instance, how the rows of trees are arranged, the varieties, and the integration of semi-natural habitats in and around the plantations -- can increase the pollination performance of bees.

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Researchers created maps showing where warmer weather has left trees in conditions that don't suit them, making them more prone to being replaced by other species. The findings could help inform long-term wildfire and ecosystem management in these 'zombie forests.'

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An improved global understanding of river temperature could provide an important barometer for climate change and other human activities.

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The world's forests are losing their ability to absorb carbon due to increasingly 'unstable' conditions caused by humans, a landmark study has found.

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Aquaculture, or the farming of aquatic plants and animals, contributes to biodiversity and habitat loss in freshwater and marine ecosystems globally, but when used wisely, it can also be part of the solution, new research shows.

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Missouri is home to an array of natural resources, with forests among the state's most valuable ecosystems. As warmer temperatures fueled by climate change affect ecosystems globally, forests are under stress to adapt to these changes and ensure their survival in a warmer world. Researchers now introduce the 'ecosystem wilting point' concept, which explains how whole forests respond to drought.

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Climate change is aggravating the impact of droughts -- one of the factors that only affect plant physiology -- on all plant ecosystems worldwide. Although new tools have been developed to detect and assess drought stress in plants -- transcriptomic or metabolomic technologies, etc. -- they are still difficult to apply in natural ecosystems, especially in remote areas and developing countries.

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A new study explores 'balancing selection' by analyzing thousands of modern human genomes alongside ancient hominin groups, such as Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes. The research has 'implications for understanding human diversity, the origin of diseases, and biological trade-offs that may have shaped our evolution,' says evolutionary biologists.

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Most land-based mammals in the Brazilian Amazon are threatened by climate change and the savannization of the region.

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The world's oldest scientifically-confirmed European hedgehog has been found in Denmark by a citizen science project involving hundreds of volunteers. The hedgehog lived for 16 years, 7 years longer than the previous record holder.

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Researchers have reconstructed the brains and inner ears of two British spinosaurs, helping uncover how these large predatory dinosaurs interacted with their environment.

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Soil is the Earth's second-biggest carbon storage locker after the ocean, and a research collaboration has shown that it's moisture, not temperature or mineral content, that's the key to how well the soil carbon warehouse works.