Showing 20 articles starting at article 621
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Categories: Ecology: Animals, Geoscience: Geography
Published A new origin story for deadly Seattle fault
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The Seattle fault zone is a network of shallow faults slicing through the lowlands of Puget Sound, threatening to create damaging earthquakes for the more than four million people who live there. A new origin story, proposed in a new study, could explain the fault system's earliest history and help scientists improve hazard modeling for the densely populated region.
Published Apex predators not a quick fix for restoring ecosystems
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An experiment spanning more than two decades has found that removal of apex predators from an ecosystem can create lasting changes that are not reversed after they return -- at least, not for a very long time. The study challenges the commonly held belief that the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park restored an ecosystem degraded by their absence.
Published Number of shark bites consistent with recent trends, with small spike in fatalities
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source There was an increase in the number of unprovoked shark attacks worldwide and an uptick in fatalities in 2023 compared to the previous year. A scientific database of global shark attacks, confirmed 69 unprovoked bites in 2023. Although this is higher than the most recent five-year average of 63 attacks, the data remain consistent with long-term trends.
Published Small but mighty -- study highlights the abundance and importance of the ocean's tiniest inhabitants
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research sheds light on tiny plankton, which measure less than 0.02mm in diameter but can make up more than 70% of the plankton biomass found in the ocean.
Published Study challenges the classical view of the origin of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and warns of its vulnerability
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The Circumpolar Current works as a regulator of the planet's climate. Its origins were thought to have caused the formation of the permanent ice in Antarctica about 34 million years ago. Now, a study has cast doubt on this theory, and has changed the understanding of how the ice sheet in Antarctic developed in the past, and what this could mean in the future as the planet's climate changes.
Published How food availability could catalyze cultural transmission in wild orangutans
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The proverb "necessity is the mother of invention" has been used to describe the source from which our cultural evolution springs. After all, need in times of scarcity has forced humans to continually invent new technologies that have driven the remarkable cumulative culture of our species. But an invention only becomes cultural if it is learned and spread by many individuals. In other words, the invention must be socially transmitted. But what are the forces that drive social transmission?
Published Vitamin B12 adaptability in Antarctic algae has implications for climate change, life in the Southern Ocean
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The algae P. antarctica has two forms of the enzyme that makes the amino acid methionine, one needing B12, and one that is slower, but doesn't need it. This means it has the ability to adapt and survive with low B12 availability. The presence of the MetE gene in P. antarctica gives the algae the ability to adapt to lower vitamin B12 availability, giving it a potential advantage to bloom in the early austral spring when bacterial production is low. P. antarctica takes in the CO2 and releases oxygen through photosynthesis. Understanding its ability to grow in environments with low vitamin B12 availability can help climate modelers make more accurate predictions.
Published In a warming world, climate scientists consider category 6 hurricanes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source For more than 50 years, the National Hurricane Center has used the Saffir-Simpson Windscale to communicate the risk of property damage; it labels a hurricane on a scale from Category 1 (wind speeds between 74 -- 95 mph) to Category 5 (wind speeds of 158 mph or greater). But as increasing ocean temperatures contribute to ever more intense and destructive hurricanes, climate scientists wondered whether the open-ended Category 5 is sufficient to communicate the risk of hurricane damage in a warming climate.
Published Permafrost alone holds back Arctic rivers -- and a lot of carbon
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study provides the first evidence that the Arctic's frozen soil is the dominant force shaping Earth's northernmost rivers, confining them to smaller areas and shallower valleys than rivers to the south. But as climate change weakens Arctic permafrost, the researchers calculate that every 1 degree Celsius of global warming could release as much carbon as 35 million cars emit in a year as polar waterways expand and churn up the thawing soil.
Published Clown anemonefish seem to be counting bars and laying down the law
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source We often think of fish as carefree swimmers in the ocean, reacting to the world around them without much forethought. However, new research suggests that our marine cousins may be more cognizant than we credit them for. Fish may be counting vertical bars on intruders to determine their threat level, and to inform the social hierarchy governing their sea anemone colonies.
Published Relocated songbirds can successfully learn the diversity of song they need to survive
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research focused on a population of cirl bunting reintroduced into Cornwall from 2006 as part of a major conservation program. It suggests that if the translocation of nestlings is deemed necessary for conservation purposes, it may not lead to long-term problems for communication and population persistence.
Published Tidal landscapes a greater carbon sink than previously thought
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Mangroves and saltmarshes sequester large amounts of carbon, mitigating the greenhouse effect. New research shows that these environments are perhaps twice as effective as previously thought.
Published Climate change: Fungal disease endangers wheat production
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Climate change poses a threat to yields and food security worldwide, with plant diseases as one of the main risks. An international team of researchers has now shown that further spread of the fungal disease wheat blast could reduce global wheat production by 13% until 2050. The result is dramatic for global food security.
Published Engineers unmask nanoplastics in oceans for the first time, revealing their true shapes and chemistry
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Millions of tons of plastic waste enter the oceans each year. The sun's ultraviolet light and ocean turbulence break down these plastics into invisible nanoparticles that threaten marine ecosystems. In a new study, engineers have presented clear images of nanoplastics in ocean water off the coasts of China, South Korea and the United States, and in the Gulf of Mexico. These tiny plastic particles, which originated from such consumer products as water bottles, food packaging and clothing, were found to have surprising diversity in shape and chemical composition.
Published Climate change threatens older elephants most, jeopardizing African elephants' future
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A collaborative team of researchers has conducted first-of-its kind research into how global climate change affects African elephants. The work shows that older elephants will have markedly decreased chances of survival, which will not only drastically reduce the species' overall ability to weather the changing climate but will send ripple effects throughout the surrounding landscape. The team has also modeled possible mitigation scenarios.
Published Source rocks of the first real continents
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Geoscientists have uncovered a missing link in the enigmatic story of how the continents developed- - a revised origin story that doesn't require the start of plate tectonics or any external factor to explain their formation. Instead, the findings rely solely on internal geological forces that occurred within oceanic plateaus that formed during the first few hundred million years of Earth's history.
Published Floating algae a raft for juvenile pelagic fish
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Floating macroalgal acts as a raft that provides habitat for a diverse array of juvenile oceanic fish a new study has found. The study conducted in the Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area, Western Australia, revealed that fish were more abundant around macroalgal rafts than in open water, with eleven species of juvenile fishes associated with Sargassum rafts, and one species of both juveniles and adults.
Published Unprecedented ocean heating shows risks of a world 3°C warmer
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research examines the causes of the record-breaking ocean temperatures witnessed in 2023.
Published Greenland is a methane sink rather than a source
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have concluded that the methane uptake in dry landscapes exceeds methane emissions from wet areas across the ice-free part of Greenland. The results of the new study contribute with important knowledge for climate models. The researchers are now investigating whether the same finding applies to other polar regions.
Published As sea otters recolonize California estuary, they restore its degraded geology
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source As sea otters recolonize a California estuary, they are restoring its degraded geology by keeping populations of overgrazing marsh crabs in check, a new study shows. The crabs' appetite for plant roots, and their tunneling behavior had caused many of the estuary's marshes and creekbanks to erode and collapse in the otters' absence. Today, erosion has slowed by up to 90% in areas with large otter populations and marshes and streambeds are restabilizing.