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Categories: Ecology: Endangered Species, Energy: Nuclear

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Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Nature Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
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360-million-year-old Irish fossil provides oldest evidence of plant self-defense in wood      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have discovered the oldest evidence of plant self-defense in wood in a 360-million-year-old fossil from south-eastern Ireland. Plants can protect their wood from infection and water loss by forming special structures called 'tyloses'. These prevent bacterial and fungal pathogens from getting into the heartwood of living trees and damaging it. However, it was not previously known how early in the evolution of plants woody species became capable of forming such defenses. Published today in Nature Plants is the oldest evidence of tylosis formation from Late Devonian (360-million-year-old) fossil wood from the Hook Head Peninsula area, Co. Wexford, Ireland.

Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Sea Life Paleontology: Climate
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African penguins: Climate refugees from a distant past?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Imagine the view from the western coastline of southern Africa during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) over twenty thousand years ago: in the distance you would see at least fifteen large islands -- the largest 300 square kilometers in area -- swarming with hundreds of millions of marine birds and penguin colonies.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Ecology: Endangered Species
Published

Fluorescent blue coumarins in a folk-medicine plant could help us see inside cells      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Plants that glow under ultraviolet (UV) light aren't only a figment of science fiction TV and movies. Roots of a traditional medicine plant called the orange climber, or Toddalia asiatica, can fluoresce an ethereal blue hue. And now, researchers have identified two coumarin molecules that could be responsible. These natural coumarins have unique fluorescent properties, and one of the compounds could someday be used for medical imaging.

Biology: Botany Biology: General Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Trees Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Paleontology: Climate
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The diversity of present tree species is shaped by climate change in the last 21,000 years      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new global survey of 1000 forest areas shows how climate change since the peak of the last ice age has had a major impact on the diversity and distribution of tree species we see today. The results can help us predict how ecosystems will react to future changes, thus having an impact on conservation management around the globe.

Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
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Less ice, fewer calling seals      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

For several years, a team of researchers used underwater microphones to listen for seals at the edge of the Antarctic. Their initial findings indicate that sea-ice retreat has had significant effects on the animals' behavior: when the ice disappears, areas normally full of vocalizations become very quiet.

Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Nature Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Earth Science Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
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How can a pollinating insect be recognized in the fossil record?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Insect pollination is a decisive process for the survival and evolution of angiosperm (flowering) plants and, to a lesser extent, gymnosperms (without visible flower or fruit). There is a growing interest in studies on the origins of the relationship between insects and plants, especially in the current context of the progressive decline of pollinating insects on a global scale and its impact on food production. Pollinating insects can be recognized in the fossil record, although to date, there has been no protocol for their differentiation. Fossil pollinators have been found in both rock and amber deposits, and it is in rock deposits that the first evidence of plant pollination by insects is being studied across the globe. But how can we determine which was a true insect pollinator in the past?

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires
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Wildfires and animal biodiversity      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Wildfires. Many see them as purely destructive forces, disasters that blaze through a landscape, charring everything in their paths. But a new study reminds us that wildfires are also generative forces, spurring biodiversity in their wakes.

Biology: Botany Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Invasive Species Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
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Professor unearths the ancient fossil plant history of Burnaby Mountain      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research led by a paleobotanist provides clues about what plants existed in the Burnaby Mountain area (British Columbia, Canada) 40 million years ago during the late Eocene, when the climate was much warmer than it is today.

Anthropology: General Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
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Oldest bat skeletons ever found described from Wyoming fossils      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have described a new species of bat based on the oldest bat skeletons ever recovered. The study on the extinct bat, which lived in Wyoming about 52 million years ago, supports the idea that bats diversified rapidly on multiple continents during this time.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Endangered Species Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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Multifunctional patch offers early detection of plant diseases, other crop threats      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed an electronic patch that can be applied to the leaves of plants to monitor crops for different pathogens -- such as viral and fungal infections -- and stresses such as drought or salinity. In testing, the researchers found the patch was able to detect a viral infection in tomatoes more than a week before growers would be able to detect any visible symptoms of disease.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Landslides Geoscience: Severe Weather
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Increased droughts are disrupting carbon-capturing soil microbes, concerning ecologists      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Soil stores more carbon than plants and the atmosphere combined, and soil microbes are largely responsible for putting it there. However, the increasing frequency and severity of drought, such as those that have been impacting California, could disrupt this delicate ecosystem. Microbial ecologists warn that soil health and future greenhouse gas levels could be impacted if soil microbes adapt to drought faster than plants do.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Environmental: Biodiversity Geoscience: Earth Science
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British flower study reveals surprise about plants' sex life      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A study of Britain's native flowering plants has led to new insights into the mysterious process that allows wild plants to breed across species -- one of plants' most powerful evolutionary forces.  When wild flowering plants are sizing up others they may often end up in a marriage between close relatives rather than neighbors, a new study has revealed.

Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Nature
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Study predicts poor survival rates if Ebola infects endangered mountain gorillas      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

If infected with the Ebola virus, less than 20 percent of Africa's endangered mountain gorillas would be expected to survive more than 100 days, finds a new study.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: General Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species
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Early crop plants were more easily 'tamed'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Borrowing a page from what we know about animal behavior, archaeologists say that we should reassess our understanding of the process of plant domestication.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Energy: Fossil Fuels Energy: Nuclear Energy: Technology Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
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Shutting down nuclear power could increase air pollution      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study shows that if U.S. nuclear power plants are retired, the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas to fill the energy gap could cause more than 5,000 premature deaths.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Genetics Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
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Rooting out how plants control nitrogen use      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Nitrogen is such a crucial nutrient for plants that vast quantities of nitrogen-containing fertilizers are spread on farmlands worldwide. However, excess nitrogen in the soil and in drainage run-off into lakes and rivers causes serious ecological imbalances. A recent study has uncovered the regulatory mechanisms at work when plants utilize nitrogenous fertilizers in their roots, a positive step in the quest to generate crops that require less fertilizer while still producing the yields needed to feed the world.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature
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Scientists show how we can anticipate rather than react to extinction in mammals      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Most conservation efforts are reactive. Typically, a species must reach threatened status before action is taken to prevent extinction, such as establishing protected areas. A new study shows that we can use existing conservation data to predict which currently unthreatened species could become threatened and take proactive action to prevent their decline before it is too late.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Nature Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Sierra squirrels find their niche amid a changing climate      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study of squirrels in California's Sierra Nevada mountains finds that climate is just one factor impacting where species make their homes in a changing world.