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Categories: Ecology: Endangered Species, Paleontology: General

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Biology: Botany Computer Science: General Ecology: Endangered Species
Published

AI drones to help farmers optimize vegetable yields      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

For reasons of food security and economic incentive, farmers continuously seek to maximize their marketable crop yields. As plants grow inconsistently, at the time of harvesting, there will inevitably be variations in quality and size of individual crops. Finding the optimal time to harvest is therefore a priority for farmers. A new approach making heavy use of drones and artificial intelligence demonstrably improves this estimation by carefully and accurately analyzing individual crops to assess their likely growth characteristics.

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

Honeybees are more selective in their choices for nutrition than previously thought      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international research group examined which plants honeybees favor when collecting nectar and pollen. The choices honeybees make have an impact on their health and also on humans, as honeybees pollinate important crop plants.

Anthropology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Zoology Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
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Insights into early snake evolution through brain analysis      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Recent study sheds new light on the enigmatic early evolution of snakes by examining an unexpected source: their brains. The results emphasize the significance of studying both the soft parts of animals’ bodies and their bones for understanding how animals evolved.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Botany Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Trees
Published

Timing plant evolution with a fast-ticking epigenetic clock      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Recent discoveries in the field of epigenetics, the study of inheritance of traits that occur without changing the DNA sequence, have shown that chronological age in mammals correlates with epigenetic changes that accumulate during the lifetime of an individual. In humans, this observation has led to the development of epigenetic clocks, which are now extensively used as biomarkers of aging. While these clocks work accurately from birth until death, they are set back to zero in each new generation. Now, an international team shows that epigenetic clocks not only exist in plants, but that these clocks keep ticking accurately over many generations.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Sea Life Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Why are killer whales harassing and killing porpoises without eating them?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

For decades, fish-eating killer whales in the Pacific Northwest have been observed harassing and even killing porpoises without consuming them —- a perplexing behavior that has long intrigued scientists.

Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
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New study removes human bias from debate over dinosaurs' demise      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers tried a new approach to resolve the scientific debate over whether it was a giant asteroid or volcanoes that wiped out the dinosaurs -- they removed scientists from the debate and let the computers decide. The researchers created a model powered by 130 interconnected processors that, without human input, reverse-engineered the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction until they reached a scenario that matched the fossil record. The model determined that while a meteorite contributed to the cataclysm, the outpouring of climate-altering gases from the nearly 1-million-year eruptions of volcanoes in western India's Deccan Traps would have been sufficient to trigger the extinction and clear the way for the ascendance of mammals.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: General Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Trees
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New research reveals dynamic factors shaping biodiversity at small scales      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers studying arboreal ants in a Florida forest explore the fundamental question of how resource availability and competition shape biodiversity.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: General Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water
Published

How to save plants from climate change? Just ask them      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Climate change and a range of human-caused factors have disrupted the habitats of many California native trees and other plant species. Efforts to protect or relocate plant species would be bolstered by understanding which habitats are best suited for each species. A new study identified a range of characteristics from more than 100 types of plants that can be analyzed to determine each species' preferred temperature and rainfall amount.

Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Botany Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Endangered Species Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Genetically engineering associations between plants and nitrogen-fixing microbes could lessen dependence on synthetic fertilizer      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plant growth, but the overuse of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture is not sustainable. A team of bacteriologists and plant scientists discuss the possibility of using genetic engineering to facilitate mutualistic relationships between plants and nitrogen-fixing microbes called 'diazotrophs.' These engineered associations would help crops acquire nitrogen from the air by mimicking the mutualisms between legumes and nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature
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Caribbean parrots thought to be endemic are actually relicts of millennial-scale extinction      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

For the first time, researchers have extracted ancient DNA from Caribbean parrot fossils and archaeological specimens, showing that species thought to be endemic to particular islands were historically more widespread and diverse.

Biology: Botany Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: General Ecology: Research Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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Despite being properly treated and highly diluted, wastewater still impacts on the river ecosystem      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An experiment using water from a large wastewater treatment plant has shown that this water continues to affect river diversity and the trophic web (food web) despite being properly treated and highly diluted before discharge. The study shows that the limits currently in place and the procedures used to treat wastewater may not be sufficient to protect the natural properties of food webs.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Pollen analysis suggests peopling of Siberia and Europe by modern humans occurred during a major Pleistocene warming spell      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study appearing in Science Advances compares Pleistocene vegetation communities around Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia, to the oldest archeological traces of Homo sapiens in the region. The researchers use the 'remarkable evidence' to tell a compelling story from 45,000-50,000 years ago with new detail: how the first humans migrated across Europe and Asia.

Biology: Botany Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Nature
Published

AI increases precision in plant observation      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Artificial intelligence (AI) can help plant scientists collect and analyze unprecedented volumes of data, which would not be possible using conventional methods. Researchers have now used big data, machine learning and field observations in the university's experimental garden to show how plants respond to changes in the environment.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Ecology: Endangered Species Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Conversations with plants: Can we provide plants with advance warning of impending dangers?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Plant scientists have engineered a light-controlled gene expression system (optogenetics system) from a prokaryotic system into a eukaryotic system that is tailored for plants.

Biology: Botany Ecology: Endangered Species Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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We could sequester CO2 by 're-greening' arid lands, plant scientists say      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Reducing CO2 levels in the atmosphere will take more than cutting emissions -- we will also need to capture and store the excessive volumes of already-emitted carbon. A team of plant scientists argue that arid lands such as deserts could be one answer to the carbon-capture problem.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Nature Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

This parasitic plant convinces hosts to grow into its own flesh--it's also an extreme example of genome shrinkage      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Balanophora shed one third of its genes as it evolved into a streamlined parasitic plant -- an extreme degree of genome shrinkage even among parasites. Along the way this subtropical plant developed the ability to induce the host plant to grow into the parasite's own flesh -- forming chimeric organs that mix host and parasite tissues.