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Categories: Ecology: Endangered Species, Energy: Fossil Fuels

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Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: General Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species
Published

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
Published

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
Published

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
Published

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.

Energy: Fossil Fuels Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Moving towards 3 degrees of warming -- the phasing out of coal is too slow      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The use of coal power is not decreasing fast enough. The Paris Agreement's target of a maximum of 2 degrees of warming appear to be missed, and the world is moving towards a temperature increase of 2.5 -- 3 degrees. At the same time it is feasible to avoid higher warming.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Fossil Fuels Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Sailing cargo ships can benefit from new aerodynamic tech      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A research team has demonstrated a unique method that reduces the aerodynamic resistance of ships by 7.5 per cent. This opens the way for large cargo ships borne across the oceans by wind alone, as wind-powered ships are more affected by aerodynamic drag than fossil-fueled ones.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Trees Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems
Published

Insect decline also occurs in forests      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The number of insects has been declining for years. This has already been well documented for agricultural areas. In forests, however, temporal trends are mostly studied for insect species that are considered pests. Now, a research team has studied the trends of very many insect species in German forests. Contrary to what the researchers had suspected, the results showed that the majority of the studied species are declining.

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

DELLA proteins could hold key to the next Green Revolution      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A family of 'promiscuous' proteins found in all land plants is responsible for many different plant functions, despite remaining relatively unchanged for over 450 million years.

Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General
Published

Can cities make room for woodpeckers?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers are deploying the latest mapping techniques to identify the most important suburban habitat for North America's largest woodpecker. Wildlife habitat in congested places is becoming increasingly fragmented as forests give way to new construction. Eventually, this could spell trouble to an animal with specific habitat needs like the pileated woodpecker.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Nature Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Ants took over the world by following flowering plants out of prehistoric forests      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Today, ants are pretty much everywhere. To learn more about how these insects conquered the world, scientists used a combination of fossils, DNA, and data on the habitat preferences of modern species to piece together how ants and plants have been evolving together over the past 60 million years. They found that when flowering plants spread out from forests, the ants followed, kicking off the evolution of the thousands of ant species alive today.

Biology: Botany Biology: Zoology Ecology: Endangered Species Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Scientists analyze sounds emitted by plants      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have recorded and analyzed sounds distinctly emitted by plants. The click-like sounds, similar to the popping of popcorn, are emitted at a volume similar to human speech, but at high frequencies, beyond the hearing range of the human ear.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Endangered Species Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

How plants cope with the cold light of day -- and why it matters for future crops      (via sciencedaily.com) 

New research has discovered a cold 'coping' mechanism that is under the control of the plant biological clock and could offer solutions to breeding more resilience into crops less suited to cold climates.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Marine Biology: Molecular Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Sea Life
Published

How whale shark rhodopsin evolved to see, in the deep blue sea      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A group of researchers discovered that the rhodopsin -- a protein in the eye that detects light -- of whale sharks has changed to efficiently detect blue light, which penetrates deep-sea water easily. The amino acid substitutions -- one of which is counterintuitively associated with congenital stationary night blindness in humans -- aid in detecting the low levels of light in the deep-sea. Although these changes make the whale shark rhodopsin less thermally stable the deep-sea temperature, allows their rhodopsin to keep working. This suggests that the unique adaptation evolved to function in the low-light low-temperature environment where whale sharks live.

Biology: General Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Even Sonoran Desert plants aren't immune to climate change      (via sciencedaily.com) 

In North America's hottest, driest desert, climate change is causing the decline of plants once thought nearly immortal and replacing them with shorter shrubs that can take advantage of sporadic rainfall and warmer temperatures.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Turtles and crocodiles with unique characteristics are more likely to go extinct      (via sciencedaily.com) 

New study demonstrates that the most endangered turtles and crocodile species are those that have evolved unique life strategies. Many of the most threatened species carry out important ecosystem functions that other species depend on. Habitat loss was identified as the key overall threat to turtles and crocodiles, followed by climate change and global trade. Unique species faced additional pressure from local consumption, diseases, and pollution.