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Categories: Ecology: Research, Geoscience: Geography
Published The ocean is becoming too loud for oysters, research finds



Baby oysters rely on natural acoustic cues to settle in specific environments, but new research reveals that noise from human activity is interfering with this critical process.
Published How well does tree planting work in climate change fight? It depends



Using trees as a cost-effective tool against climate change is more complicated than simply planting large numbers of them, an international collaboration has shown.
Published Whale shark tracked for record-breaking four years



Researchers have been tracking a 26-foot endangered whale shark -- named 'Rio Lady' -- with a satellite transmitter for more than four years -- a record for whale sharks and one of the longest tracking endeavors for any species of shark.
Published Butterflies accumulate enough static electricity to attract pollen without contact



Butterflies and moths collect so much static electricity whilst in flight, that pollen grains from flowers can be pulled by static electricity across air gaps of several millimeters or centimeters.
Published Researchers warn of unprecedented arsenic release from wildfires



The wildfire season of 2023 was the most destructive ever recorded in Canada and a new study suggests the impact was unprecedented. It found that four of the year's wildfires in mine-impacted areas around Yellowknife, Northwest Territories potentially contributed up to half of the arsenic that wildfires emit globally each year.
Published Heat-sensitive trees move uphill seeking climate change respite



Trees in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest are migrating in search of more favourable temperatures with species in mountain forests moving uphill to escape rising heat caused by climate change.
Published Hot traces in rock



Fluids circulating underground change rocks over the course of time. These processes must be taken into account if they are to be used as a climate archive. Researchers have used 380-million-year-old limestones from Hagen-Hohenlimburg to show in detail which climate information is still preserved in the rock.
Published Tropical plant species are as threatened by climate change as widely feared, study confirms



Biologists who set out to better understand the effects of climate change on plant species in tropical mountain regions found that even small variations in temperature and moisture can have massive impacts, threatening not only plants that live there, but also the ecosystems they support. A study based on labor-intensive fieldwork and analysis in tropical mountain regions shows that a warmer and drier climate will lead to massive losses of plant species.
Published Ecologists discover rare fiddler crab species on Hong Kong coast highlighting the impact of climate change and coastal development



Researchers have made an exciting discovery on the Hong Kong coast. They have identified two fiddler crab species: Tubuca dussumieri, previously recorded in old literature but never confirmed in recent times, and Tubuca. coarctata, which has never been seen in Hong Kong. These findings not only confirm the presence of these insular species in Hong Kong but also explore the potential impact of climate change on their distribution.
Published Deep-ocean floor produces its own oxygen



An international team of researchers has discovered that metallic minerals on the deep-ocean floor produce oxygen -- 13,000 feet below the surface. Discovery challenges long-held assumptions that only photosynthetic organisms generate Earth's oxygen. Minerals at the abyssal seafloor appear to act like geobatteries to produce oxygen in a process that does not require sunlight.
Published How pollution may remain in water after oil spill cleanups



The way oil drops break up at the water's surface means some oil may not get cleaned up after a spill.
Published Rural belts around cities can reduce urban summer temperatures by up to 0.5°C



The key to cooling 'urban heat islands' may lie in the countryside, according to a new study.
Published Sea ice's cooling power is waning faster than its area of extent



As sea ice disappears and grows less reflective, the Arctic has lost around a quarter of its cooling power since 1980, and the world has lost up to 15%, according to new research.
Published The most endangered fish are the least studied



The most threatened reef fishes are also the most overlooked by scientists and the general public. Scientists measured the level of human interest in 2,408 species of marine reef fish and found that the attention of the scientific community is attracted by the commercial value more than the ecological value of the fishes. The public, on the other hand, is primarily influenced by the aesthetic characteristics of certain species, such as the red lionfish (Pterois volitans) and the mandarinfish (Synchiropus splendidus).
Published Reef pest feasts on 'sea sawdust'



Researchers have uncovered an under the sea phenomenon where coral-destroying crown-of-thorns starfish larvae have been feasting on blue-green algae bacteria known as 'sea sawdust'.
Published Diatom surprise could rewrite the global carbon cycle



When it comes to diatoms that live in the ocean, new research suggests that photosynthesis is not the only strategy for accumulating carbon. Instead, these single-celled plankton are also building biomass by feeding directly on organic carbon in wide swaths of the ocean. These new findings could lead to reduced estimates regarding how much carbon dioxide diatoms pull out of the air via photosynthesis, which in turn, could alter our understanding of the global carbon cycle, which is especially relevant given the changing climate.
Published Discovery of a hybrid lineage offers clues to how trees adapt to climate change



The discovery of a hybrid population of poplar trees in western Wyoming has provided insight into how natural hybridization informs the evolution of many plant species, according to researchers. They also said their discovery suggests that genetic exchange between species may be critical for adaptation to environmental change.
Published Logged forests can still have ecological value -- if not pushed too far



Researchers have analysed data from 127 studies to reveal 'thresholds' for when logged rainforests lose the ability to sustain themselves. The results could widen the scope of which forests are considered 'worth' conserving, but also show how much logging degrades forests beyond the point of no return.
Published Nature-based solutions to disaster risk from climate change are cost effective



A new global assessment of scientific literature finds that nature-based solutions (NbS) are an economically effective method to mitigate risks from a range of disasters -- from floods and hurricanes to heatwaves and landslides -- which are only expected to intensify as Earth continues to warm.
Published Scientists use machine learning to predict diversity of tree species in forests



Researchers used machine learning to generate highly detailed maps of over 100 million individual trees from 24 sites across the U.S. These maps provide information about individual tree species and conditions, which can greatly aid conservation efforts and other ecological projects.