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Categories: Ecology: Animals, Environmental: Wildfires
Published Vegetarian diet of corals explains age-old mystery dating back to Darwin
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study has revealed why coral reefs can thrive in seemingly nutrient poor water, a phenomenon that has fascinated scientists since Charles Darwin.
Published Despite fears to the contrary, Canadian wildfire smoke exposure was not much worse than a bad pollen day in New York City
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New Yorkers can apparently breathe a sigh of relief, at least for now. Their exposure to the smoke in June 2023 from Canadian wildfires led to only a slightly higher bump in visits to New York City hospital emergency departments for breathing problems or asthma attacks than what is seen on days when pollen counts are high. However, authors of a new study say other possible health effects, such as possible heart attacks and stroke, still need to be investigated.
Published Fire, disease threatening sanctuary plants for Australian wildlife
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research has revealed Australia's iconic grasstrees -- known as 'yaccas' -- play a critical role in protecting wildlife from deadly weather extremes, thereby ensuring their survival. But the grasses themselves are under threat due to back burning, clearing and disease.
Published Hundreds of Andean bird species at risk due to deforestation: New research shows how to protect them
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Birds native to the tropical Andes are threatened by increasing agricultural development in the region. A new study combines a meta-analysis of papers on birds across the Andes with five years of fieldwork in Peru, revealing that open farmlands result in up to a 60% decline in the number of species in an area. The study documents how specific species are affected and provides tailored guidance for conservationists trying to protect them.
Published As city heat rises, bird diversity declines
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A study done on 336 cities in China concludes that heat-retaining buildings and paved surfaces are directly related to a loss in bird diversity. It is likely that the patterns documented in this study are occurring in other large cities across the globe that have abundant asphalt, steel, and concrete with little green vegetation.
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 It all depends on the genetic diversity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research shows that a single mutation that has immediate effects on plant fitness is maintained over the long term in natural plant populations, despite theories predict the contrary. The researchers located and identified the gene that regulates the amount of an active defense hormone. Mutants in this gene are susceptible to herbivore attack. However, they compensate for impaired defenses through robust genetic networks. When fewer herbivores attack, they even grow faster and produce more offspring.
Published REBURN: A new tool to model wildfires in the Pacific Northwest and beyond
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have developed a new tool, REBURN, that can simulate large forest landscapes and wildfire dynamics over decades or centuries under different wildfire management strategies. The model can simulate the consequences of extinguishing all wildfires regardless of size, which was done for much of the 20th century and has contributed to a rise in large and severe wildfires, or of allowing certain fires to return to uninhabited areas to help create a more 'patchwork' forest structure that can help lessen fire severity. REBURN can also simulate conditions where more benign forest landscape dynamics have fully recovered in an area.
Published Scientists zero in on timing, causes of ice age mammal extinctions in southern California
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Radiocarbon dating on bones in the La Brea Tar Pits lead archaeologists to warn that history may be repeating itself.
Published Urban great tits have paler plumage than their forest-living relatives
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study shows that urban great tits have paler plumage than their countryside counterparts. Since the yellow pigment of the breast feathers of great tits comes from the food they eat, the paler yellow plumage of urban birds indicates that the urban environment affects the entire food chain.
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 Without aggressive climate action, U.S. property values will take a hit from escalating wildfire risk and tree mortality, study finds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Research attempts to quantify the value of U.S. property at risk in forested areas exposed to increased ecological disturbance associated with climate change, such as wildfire and tree mortality. Property exposed to such climate risks, especially in California, is project to climb substantially if emission-reduction measures are not taken.
Published It's not just humans: City life is stressful for coyotes, too
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Though cars are the biggest threat to coyotes taking up residence in U.S. cities, a new study suggests urban living poses a different kind of hazard to coyote health -- in the form of chronic stress. Researchers examined the concentration of the stress hormone cortisol in the hair of almost 100 coyotes living in the Chicago Metropolitan Area. Results showed that coyotes that lived in the most-developed areas had higher cortisol levels -- a proxy for chronic stress -- than animals living in suburban or natural areas.
Published Dry lightning can spark wildfires even under wetter conditions
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Dry lightning can still be disastrous even when conditions aren't so dry, a study has found. These cloud-to-ground strikes during little to no rainfall were previously thought to pose wildfire danger only if occurring with less than 2.5 mm of rain in a day (about 0.10 inches). A new study of lightning-ignited wildfires in the U.S. West found the strikes caused wildfires despite up to 7.7 mm (about 0.3 inches) of precipitation. While still a low amount of rain, the more accurate estimation could help responders detect fires earlier, especially those known as 'holdovers,' which can smolder for many days before exploding into full-blown wildfires.
Published Wildfires and farming activities may be top sources of air pollution linked to increased risk, cases of dementia
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source No amount of air pollution is good for the brain, but wildfires and the emissions resulting from agriculture and farming in particular may pose especially toxic threats to cognitive health, according to new research.
Published Wildfires emit potent climate-warming organic particles
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers found that wildfires are causing a much greater warming effect than has been accounted for by climate scientists. The work, which focuses on the role of 'dark brown carbon' -- an abundant but previously unknown class of particles emitted as part of wildfire smoke -- highlights an urgent need to revise climate models and update approaches for the changing environment.
Published Scientists dig into wildfire predictions, long-term impacts
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Wildfires are an ancient force shaping the environment, but they have grown in frequency, range and intensity in response to a changing climate. Scientists are working on several fronts to better understand and predict these events and what they mean for the carbon cycle and biodiversity.
Published Research supports use of managed and prescribed fires to reduce fire severity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists found that fires in America's dry conifer forests are burning hotter and killing more trees today than in previous centuries. The main culprit? Paradoxically, a lack of fires.
Published Picturing where wildlands and people meet at a global scale
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have created the first tool to map and visualize the areas where human settlements and nature meet on a global scale. The tool could improve responses to environmental conflicts like wildfires, the spread of zoonotic diseases and loss of ecosystem biodiversity.
Published Understanding the many different ways animals are evolving in response to fire could help conservation efforts
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In our modern era of larger, more destructive, and longer-lasting fires -- called the Pyrocene -- plants and animals are evolving quickly to survive. By synthesizing the wide body of research about rapid animal evolution in response to fire, a multidisciplinary team of ecology experts hopes to leverage what we already know to help foster evolution-informed conservation plans. In this way, they suggest, we can try to harness the ways in which fire impacts animals to protect vulnerable species -- working with evolution instead of against it.