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Categories: Ecology: Animals, Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published Behavior is the secret to success for a range expansion



While many species are undergoing drastic declines in their numbers and geographic ranges, other species seem to be thriving. Researchers investigating the great-tailed grackle, a bird that has been establishing new populations across North America in the past few decades, reveal that behavior might play a key role in their success. They found that the population on the range's edge is more persistent and has more variability in flexibility, and that this species has shifted toward living more in urban, arid environments.
Published Researchers issue urgent call to save the world's largest flower -Rafflesia -- from extinction



A new study finds that most Rafflesia species, which produce the world's largest flowers, face extinction. Lack of protection at local, national, and international levels means that remaining populations are under critical threat.
Published Study shows life near the golf course isn't easy for alligators



Living on a golf course dramatically changes alligator feeding habits.
Published Range of pesticides, including neonicotinoids, found in pollen of different bee species



New research paints a worrying picture for the different species of bees that provide multi-million-euro pollination services in Ireland each yea. The work raises concerns about the potential wide-spread exposure to multiple chemicals from two pesticide categories (fungicides and neonicotinoid insecticides) and indicates that different bee species may be exposed differently to pesticides -- meaning that assessments of pesticide risk to honey bees may not be easily extrapolated to other bees.
Published RNA for the first time recovered from an extinct species



A new study shows the isolation and sequencing of more than a century-old RNA molecules from a Tasmanian tiger specimen preserved at room temperature in a museum collection. This resulted in the reconstruction of skin and skeletal muscle transcriptomes from an extinct species for the first time. The researchers note that their findings have relevant implications for international efforts to resurrect extinct species, including both the Tasmanian tiger and the woolly mammoth, as well as for studying pandemic RNA viruses.
Published Incubator or barrier? Exploring the links between agriculture, biodiversity and the spread of pathogens


Many pathogens, including the virus that causes COVID-19, are thought to have originated in wild animals before spilling into human populations.
Published Almost half of koala habitats will be under high bushfire threat by 2070


The research team generated a series of fire susceptibility maps. These show the proportion of Australia experiencing 'high' or 'very high' fire susceptibility increasing from 14.9% now to 15.66% by 2070 -- while fire susceptibility of areas suitable for the plants that koalas depend on is tipped to jump from 39.56% to 44.61% by 2070.
Published Pearl Harbor: Bombed battleships' boost for climate science



A new research paper tells the story of the recovery of World War II weather data from 19 US Navy ships thanks to the hard work of over 4,000 volunteers.
Published Cars, chlamydia and canines are biggest koala killers



A database tracking hospital admissions and deaths reveals the devastating impact cars, disease and dogs are having on the South East Queensland koala population.
Published Clever lapwings use cover to hide in plain sight



Ground-nesting birds called lapwings use the shape of their nests and surroundings to hide from predators, new research shows.
Published Vocal learning linked to problem solving skills and brain size



The better a songbird is at working its way around obstacles to retrieve a snack, the more complex its vocal learning ability will be.
Published Pollination by more than one bee species improves cherry harvest



To obtain the biggest cherry harvest, trees should be pollinated by both honey bees and mason bees. This new study shows yet another benefit of biodiversity.
Published Lack of maternal care affects development, microbiome and health of wild bees



Most wild bees are solitary, but one tiny species of carpenter bees fastidiously cares for and raises their offspring, an act that translates into huge benefits to the developing bee's microbiome, development and health, found researchers. Without maternal care the pathogen load of these developing bees ballooned -- 85 per cent of were fungi, while eight per cent were bacteria -- which can impact their microbiome, a critical component of bee health, as well as their development, immune system and gene expression.
Published Some spiders can transfer mercury contamination to land animals


Sitting calmly in their webs, many spiders wait for prey to come to them. Arachnids along lakes and rivers eat aquatic insects, such as dragonflies. But, when these insects live in mercury-contaminated waterways, they can pass the metal along to the spiders that feed on them. Now, researchers have demonstrated how some shoreline spiders can move mercury contamination from riverbeds up the food chain to land animals.
Published Ohio's droughts are worse than often recognized, study finds



A new type of analysis suggests that droughts in Ohio were more severe from 2000 to 2019 than standard measurements have suggested.
Published More Texas owls are testing positive for rat poisons


New research suggests that owls in Texas have high rates of anticoagulant rodenticides (AR) -- blood thinning rat poisons -- in their systems.
Published Largest historic fire death toll belongs to aftermath of 1923 Japan Earthquake



Fires that raged in the days following the 1 September 1923 magnitude 7.9 Kant earthquake killed roughly 90% of the 105,000 people who perished in and around Tokyo, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in history -- comparable to the number of people killed in the World War II atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The story of the conflagration, not well-known outside of Japan, holds important lessons for earthquake scientists, emergency response teams and city planners, according to a new article.
Published Movement sensors can detect disease in wild boar



Accelerometers reading the behavior of wild boars can pick up when animals are infected with a fatal virus.
Published New super-fast flood model has potentially life-saving benefits


Researchers have developed a new simulation model, which can predict flooding during an ongoing disaster more quickly and accurately than currently possible.
Published Climate change is reducing global river water quality



A review of almost 1000 studies on the effects of climate change and extreme weather events on rivers around the world has found an overall negative effect on water quality in rivers globally. An international team of experts sourced from every continent, conducted between 2000-2022.