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Categories: Ecology: Nature, Geoscience: Geology
Published Scientists using new sound tech to save animals from extinction
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists are using new technology to help endangered animals by listening to their sounds.
Published North Sea oil and gas extraction spikes pollution by 10,000 percent, study finds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source North Sea oil and gas extraction can cause pollution to spike by more than 10,000 percent within half a kilometer around off-shore sites, a study has found. The research has uncovered the true impact on Britain's seabed life -- with the number of species plummeting nearly 30 percent near platforms.
Published A blue miracle: How sapphires formed in volcanoes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Sapphires are among the most precious gems, yet they consist solely of chemically 'contaminated' aluminum oxide, or corundum. It is widely assumed that these crystals with their characteristically blue color come from deep crustal rocks and accidentally ended up on the Earth's surface as magma ascended. Geoscientists have now been able to show that the sapphire grains found in the Eifel (Germany) formed in association with volcanism.
Published Scientists untangle interactions between the Earth's early life forms and the environment over 500 million years
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The atmosphere, the ocean and life on Earth interacted over the past 500-plus million years in ways that improved conditions for early organisms to thrive. Now, an interdisciplinary team of scientists has produced a perspective article of this co-evolutionary history.
Published Climate is most important factor in where mammals choose to live, study finds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Using data from 6,645 camera traps across the United States, researchers mapped populations of 25 mammal species. They determined that climate, not human activity, was the primary factor in mammals deciding where to live.
Published Thousands of birds and fish threatened by mining for clean energy transition, study finds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Our increasing demand for metals and minerals is putting over four thousand vertebrate species at risk, with the raw materials needed for clean energy infrastructure often located in global biodiversity hotspots, a study has found.
Published The ancestor of all modern birds probably had iridescent feathers
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Birds tend to be more colorful in the tropics, and scientists wanted to find out how they got there: if colorful feathers evolved in the tropics, or if tropical birds have brightly-colored ancestors that came to the region from somwhere else. Scientists built a database of 9,409 birds to explore the spread of color across the globe. They found that iridescent, colorful feathers originated 415 times across the bird tree of life, and in most cases, arose outside of the tropics -- and that the ancestor of all modern birds likely had iridescent feathers, too.
Published New Zealand's flightless birds are retreating to moa refuges
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have found New Zealand's endangered flightless birds are seeking refuge in the locations where six species of moa last lived before going extinct.
Published Ancient marine animal had inventive past despite being represented by few species
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Brachiopods were evolving in new directions but this did not turn into evolutionary success in terms of the numbers of species, researchers have found.
Published Mixed approach to reforestation better than planting or regeneration alone
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Reforestation in low- and middle-income countries can remove up to 10 times more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at lower cost than previously estimated, making it a potentially more effective option to fight climate change. Most current reforestation programs focus on tree planting alone, but the study estimates that nearly half of all suitable reforestation locations would be more effective at sequestering carbon if forests were allowed to grow back naturally.
Published How well does tree planting work in climate change fight? It depends
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Using trees as a cost-effective tool against climate change is more complicated than simply planting large numbers of them, an international collaboration has shown.
Published New study supports stable mantle chemistry dating back to Earth's early geologic history and over its prodigious evolution
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new analysis of rocks thought to be at least 2.5 billion years old helps clarify the chemical history of Earth's mantle -- the geologic layer beneath the planet's crust. The findings hone scientists' understanding of Earth's earliest geologic processes, and they provide new evidence in a decades-long scientific debate about the geologic history of Earth. Specifically, the results provide evidence that the oxidation state of the vast majority of Earth's mantle has remained stable through geologic time and has not undergone major transitions, contrary to what has been suggested previously by other researchers.
Published Trees reveal climate surprise -- bark removes methane from the atmosphere
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Tree bark surfaces play an important role in removing methane gas from the atmosphere.
Published Butterflies accumulate enough static electricity to attract pollen without contact
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Butterflies and moths collect so much static electricity whilst in flight, that pollen grains from flowers can be pulled by static electricity across air gaps of several millimeters or centimeters.
Published A window of opportunity for climate change and biodiversity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source World leaders must take advantage of a pivotal window of opportunity for forging a much-needed joined-up approach to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss, say scientists. Without this, work on tackling either crisis could inadvertently harm progress on the other.
Published Heat-sensitive trees move uphill seeking climate change respite
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Trees in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest are migrating in search of more favourable temperatures with species in mountain forests moving uphill to escape rising heat caused by climate change.
Published Hot traces in rock
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Fluids circulating underground change rocks over the course of time. These processes must be taken into account if they are to be used as a climate archive. Researchers have used 380-million-year-old limestones from Hagen-Hohenlimburg to show in detail which climate information is still preserved in the rock.
Published Using forest resources strengthens food security
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Forests can reduce hunger in rural households while also capturing carbon and advancing sustainability goals for low- and middle-income countries, according to new research.
Published Tropical plant species are as threatened by climate change as widely feared, study confirms
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Biologists who set out to better understand the effects of climate change on plant species in tropical mountain regions found that even small variations in temperature and moisture can have massive impacts, threatening not only plants that live there, but also the ecosystems they support. A study based on labor-intensive fieldwork and analysis in tropical mountain regions shows that a warmer and drier climate will lead to massive losses of plant species.
Published Ecologists discover rare fiddler crab species on Hong Kong coast highlighting the impact of climate change and coastal development
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have made an exciting discovery on the Hong Kong coast. They have identified two fiddler crab species: Tubuca dussumieri, previously recorded in old literature but never confirmed in recent times, and Tubuca. coarctata, which has never been seen in Hong Kong. These findings not only confirm the presence of these insular species in Hong Kong but also explore the potential impact of climate change on their distribution.