Showing 20 articles starting at article 481

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Ecology: Trees, Offbeat: Earth and Climate

Return to the site home page

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Climate change presents a mismatch for some breeding songbirds, finds a new study using a decade of nestbox data.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Disturbances to Earth's magnetic field can lead birds astray -- a phenomenon scientists call 'vagrancy' -- even in perfect weather, and especially during fall migration. While other factors such as weather likely play bigger roles in causing vagrancy, researchers found a strong correlation between birds that were captured far outside of their expected range and the geomagnetic disturbances that occurred during both fall and spring migrations.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A study examined the effects of anthropogenic noise on cognition, beak color, and growth in the zebra finch. Researchers first tested adult zebra finches on a battery of cognition assays while they were exposed to playbacks of urban noise versus birds tested without noise. Urban noises caused the birds to take longer to learn a novel foraging task and to learn an association-learning task. Urban noise exposure also resulted in treated males to develop less bright beak coloration, and females developed beaks with brighter orange coloration, respectively, than untreated birds. Findings suggest that urban noise exposure may affect morphological traits, such as beak color, which influence social interactions and mate choice.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Despite recent, torrential rains, most of Southern California remains in a drought. Accordingly, many residents plant trees prized for drought tolerance, but a new study shows that these trees lose this tolerance once they're watered.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Tropical forests recovering from logging are sources of carbon for years afterwards, contrary to previous assumptions, finds a new study.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A study of vegetation across New York City and some densely populated adjoining areas has found that on many summer days, photosynthesis by trees and grasses absorbs all the carbon emissions produced by cars, trucks and buses, and then some. The surprising result, based on new hyper-local vegetation maps, points to the underappreciated importance of urban greenery in the carbon cycle.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Taking Hong Kong's famous Peak Tram up to Victoria Peak offers stunning views of its central business district, Victoria Harbor, and the surrounding islands. But a team of international scientists has recently discovered that the trams winding journey provides a previously unrecognized situation where our vertical perception gets distorted.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed accurate nation-wide mapping of the carbon content of trees based on aerial images.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

New research shows that glassfrogs -- known for their highly transparent undersides and muscles -- perform their 'disappearing acts' by stowing away nearly all of their red blood cells into their uniquely reflective livers. The work could lead to new avenues of research tied to blood clots, which the frogs somehow avoid while packing and unpacking about 90 percent of their red blood cells into their livers on a daily basis.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

New research reveals that the animals that perceive time the fastest are those that are small, can fly, or are marine predators.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

UK forests could store almost double the amount of carbon than previous calculations suggest, with consequences for our understanding of carbon stocks and humanity's response to climate change, according to a new study.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Research finds orangutans communicate using a complex repertoire of consonant-like calls, more so than African apes. Previous research has only linked the evolution of human language with the voiced-vowel sounds produced by non-human primates, despite human language being composed of vowel and consonant sounds. Orangutans' tree-dwelling nature means they use their mouth, lips and jaw as a 'fifth hand', unlike ground-dwelling African apes. Their sophisticated use of their mouths, mean orangutans communicate using a rich variety of consonant sounds.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

An international research team examines a rich fossil bed in the renowned Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park in Nevada's Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, where many 50-foot-long ichthyosaurs (Shonisaurus popularis) lay petrified in stone. The study offers a plausible explanation as to how at least 37 of these marine reptiles came to meet their ends in the same locality -- a question that has vexed paleontologists for more than half a century. The research presents evidence that these ichthyosaurs died at the site in large numbers because they were migrating to this area to give birth for many generations across hundreds of thousands of years.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers didn't know what to make of sunken pieces of wood that were so thoroughly chewed-up by clams that the wood crumbled in their hands. It turns out, the super-chewer wood-eating clams had a secret weapon for forcing out other species. The clams, who have special adaptations that let them survive in dirty, low-oxygen water, built chimneys out of their own feces, making the wood a 'crappy' home for any animal except them.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Short-term, heavy feeding by adult spotted lanternflies on young maple trees inhibits photosynthesis, potentially impairing the tree's growth by up to 50 percent, according to a new study.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Though plants can serve as a source of food, oxygen and décor, they're not often considered to be a good source of electricity. But by collecting electrons naturally transported within plant cells, scientists can generate electricity as part of a 'green,' biological solar cell. Now, researchers have used a succulent plant to create a living 'bio-solar cell' that runs on photosynthesis.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Discoveries at a major new fossil site in Morocco suggest giant arthropods -- relatives of modern creatures including shrimps, insects and spiders -- dominated the seas 470 million years ago.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Without clocks or modern tools, ancient Mexicans watched the sun to maintain a farming calendar that precisely tracked seasons and even adjusted for leap years.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Analysis of teeth of extinct lemurs has revealed fascinating clues to the evolution of humans, a new study has found.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers calculated that 74 metric tons of microplastics are dropping out of the atmosphere onto the city annually, the equivalent of more than 3 million plastic bottles falling from the sky.