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Categories: Ecology: Research, Mathematics: Modeling
Published Researcher discovers threshold that triggers drought response in forests
(via sciencedaily.com) 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.
Published Detecting the impact of drought on plants with user-friendly and inexpensive techniques
(via sciencedaily.com) 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.
Published Geckos know their own odor
(via sciencedaily.com) Geckos can use their tongue to differentiate their own odor from that of other members of their species, as researchers have shown in a new experimental study. The findings show that geckos are able to communicate socially, meaning that they are more intelligent than was previously assumed.
Published Beyond memorization: Text generators may plagiarize beyond 'copy and paste'
(via sciencedaily.com) Language models that generate text in response to user prompts plagiarize content in more ways than one, according to a research team that conducted a study to directly examine the phenomenon.
Published AI analyzes cell movement under the microscope
(via sciencedaily.com) Using artificial intelligence (AI), researchers can now follow cell movement across time and space. The method could be very helpful for developing more effective cancer medications.
Published Computational modeling sheds light on human cognition and the origins of brain disorders
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers used computational modeling to uncover mutations in the human genome that likely influenced the evolution of human cognition. This groundbreaking research in human genomics could lead to a better understanding of human health and the discovery of novel treatments for complex brain disorders. The study is to be published in Science Advances.
Published Amazon mammals threatened by climate change
(via sciencedaily.com) Most land-based mammals in the Brazilian Amazon are threatened by climate change and the savannization of the region.
Published Moisture the key to soils' ability to sequester carbon, research shows
(via sciencedaily.com) 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.
Published Coral reefs in the Eastern Pacific could survive into the 2060s
(via sciencedaily.com) Scientists found that some reefs in the tropical Pacific Ocean could maintain high coral cover into the second half of this century by shuffling the symbiotic algae they host. The findings offer a ray of hope in an often-dire picture of the future of coral reefs worldwide.
Published Urban gardens are good for ecosystems and humans
(via sciencedaily.com) Traditionally, it has been assumed that cultivating food leads to a loss of biodiversity and negative impacts on an ecosystem. A new study defies this assumption, showing that community gardens and urban farms positively affect biodiversity, local ecosystems and the well-being of humans that work in them.
Published Scientific AI's 'black box' is no match for 200-year-old method
(via sciencedaily.com) A new study finds that a 200-year-old technique called Fourier analysis can reveal crucial information about how the form of artificial intelligence called deep neural networks (DNN) learn to perform tasks involving complex physics. Researchers discovered the technique can directly connect what a DNN has learned to the physics of the complex system the DNN is modeling.
Published AI supports doctors' hard decisions on cardiac arrest
(via sciencedaily.com) When patients receive care after cardiac arrest, doctors can now -- by entering patient data in a web-based app -- find out how thousands of similar patients have fared. Researchers have developed three such systems of decision support for cardiac arrest that may, in the future, make a major difference to doctors' work.
Published Computer model IDs roles of individual genes in early embryonic development
(via sciencedaily.com) Computer software can predict what happens to complex gene networks when individual genes are missing or dialed up more than usual. Mapping the roles of single genes in these networks is key to understanding healthy development and finding ways to regrow damaged cells and tissues. Understanding genetic errors could provide insight into birth defects, miscarriage or even cancer.
Published Fossil discovery reveals complex ecosystems existed on Earth much earlier than previously thought
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source About 250 million years ago, the Permian-Triassic mass extinction killed over 80 per cent of the planet's species. In the aftermath, scientists believe that life on earth was dominated by simple species for up to 10 million years before more complex ecosystems could evolve. Now this longstanding theory is being challenged by a team of international researchers.
Published How giants became dwarfs
(via sciencedaily.com) In certain Lake Tanganyika cichlids breeding in empty snail shells, there are two extreme sizes of males: giants and dwarfs. Researchers have analyzed the genomes of these fish and found out how the peculiar sizes of males and females evolved in conjunction with the genetic sex determination mechanism.
Published Endangered Bahamas bird may be lost from island following hurricane
(via sciencedaily.com) The endangered Bahama Warbler may be surviving on just one island following Hurricane Dorian's devastation in 2019, according to researchers. A new study shows the bird's distribution and ecology on Grand Bahama before the hurricane struck. But the team says that the warbler may now only survive on neighboring Abaco island, after hurricane Dorian destroyed the bird's forest habitat on Grand Bahama. The research comes from the same team that found what is thought to have been the last living Bahama Nuthatch, previously thought to have been extinct.
Published Marine reserves unlikely to restore marine ecosystems
(via sciencedaily.com) Protected marine areas are one of the essential tools for the conservation of natural resources affected by human impact -- mainly fishing --, but, are they enough to recover the functioning of these systems? A study now highlights the limitations of marine reserves in restoring food webs to their pristine state prior to the impact of intensive fishing.
Published Solving a machine-learning mystery
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have explained how large language models like GPT-3 are able to learn new tasks without updating their parameters, despite not being trained to perform those tasks. They found that these large language models write smaller linear models inside their hidden layers, which the large models can train to complete a new task using simple learning algorithms.
Published Optimal layout for a hospital isolation room to contain COVID-19 includes ceiling vent
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers recently modeled the transmission of COVID-19 within an isolation room at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, U.K. Their goal was to explore the optimal room layout to reduce the risk of infection for health care staff.
Published Long-term restoration of a biodiversity hotspot hinges on getting seeds to the right place at the right time
(via sciencedaily.com) New research shows that degraded savanna ecosystems can reap lasting benefits from a single seeding of native understory plants. Once a diverse understory of savanna plants became established, its long-term persistence was relatively unaffected by environmental factors -- with one exception. Higher temperatures during the height of the growing season were associated with poorer long-term survival among some species, indicating one threat posed by a warming climate.