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Categories: Ecology: Nature, Offbeat: Space
Published Citizen science to mitigate the environmental crisis in the marine environment
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Citizen science can help to improve conservation and management strategies for Mediterranean marine ecosystems, and to mitigate the impact of the environmental crisis.
Published Black hole at center of the Milky Way resembles a football
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way is spinning so quickly it is warping the spacetime surrounding it into a shape that can look like a football, according to a new study. That football shape suggests the black hole is spinning at a substantial speed, which researchers estimated to be about 60% of its potential limit.
Published 'The future is fungal': New research finds that fungi that live in healthy plants are sensitive to climate change
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Findings more than a decade in the making reveal a rich diversity of beneficial fungi living in boreal forest trees, with implications for the health of forests.
Published Giant new snake species identified in the Amazon
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A team of scientists on location with a film crew in the remote Amazon has uncovered a previously undocumented species of giant anaconda.
Published The cultural evolution of collective property rights
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Common pool resources comprise around 65 percent of Earth's surface and vast tracts of the ocean. While examples of successful governance of these resources exist, the circumstances and mechanisms behind their development have remained unclear. Researchers have developed a simulation model to examine the emergence, stability and temporal dynamics of collective property rights.
Published Nature's checkup: Surveying biodiversity with environmental DNA sequencing
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A thousand kilometers south of Tokyo, far into the largest ocean on Earth, lies a chain of small, volcanic islands -- the Ogasawara Islands. Nature has been able to develop on its own terms here, far from both humans and the warm Kuroshio current, which acts like a shuttle, moving marine species from Taiwan, over the Ryukyu Islands, and up the Pacific coast of mainland Japan. With upwards of 70 % of trees and many animal species being endemic to the archipelago, the islands have been dubbed 'the Galapagos of the East', as they are valuable as both a biodiversity hotspot and a cradle of scientific discovery.
Published Spy-satellite images offer insights into historical ecosystem changes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New study advocates the use of more than one million declassified images for ecology and conservation. The images can offer better insights into the historical changes of ecosystems, species populations or changes in human influences on the environment dating back to the 1960s. Collaboration between ecologists, conservationists, and remote sensing experts is necessary to explore the full potential of the data.
Published Scientists may have cracked the 'aging process' in species
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Research shows the relationship between a species' age and its risk of going extinct could be accurately predicted by an ecological model called the 'neutral theory of biodiversity.'
Published Astronomers report oscillation of our giant, gaseous neighbor
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A few years ago, astronomers uncovered one of the Milky Way's greatest secrets: an enormous, wave-shaped chain of gaseous clouds in our sun's backyard, giving birth to clusters of stars along the spiral arm of the galaxy we call home. Naming this astonishing new structure the Radcliffe Wave, the team now reports that the Radcliffe Wave not only looks like a wave, but also moves like one -- oscillating through space-time much like 'the wave' moving through a stadium full of fans.
Published First-ever report of nesting of incredibly rare and endangered giant turtle
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Knowledge from local communities has resulted in the first-ever nesting evidence and discovery of a breeding population of an incredibly rare turtle in India.
Published Genetic insights and conservation challenges of Nara's sacred deer
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In Nara, Japan, the revered sika deer faces a dilemma as their escalating population damages local farmlands. A new study has revealed a complex situation: while the sanctuary's deer upholds a distinct genetic identity, the surrounding areas display a blend of genetic lineages. This exposes a pressing predicament: whether to cull the 'pest' deer around sanctuary or risk losing a sacred genetic legacy.
Published Pollinator's death trap turns into nursery
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In a group of plants that is famous for luring its pollinators into a death trap, one species offers its flowers as a nursery in exchange. The discovery blurs the line between mutualism and parasitism and sheds light on the evolution of complex plant-insect interactions.
Published Viruses that can help 'dial up' carbon capture in the sea
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Armed with a catalog of hundreds of thousands of DNA and RNA virus species in the world's oceans, scientists are now zeroing in on the viruses most likely to combat climate change by helping trap carbon dioxide in seawater or, using similar techniques, different viruses that may prevent methane's escape from thawing Arctic soil.
Published Online digital data and AI for monitoring biodiversity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers propose a framework for integrating online digital data into biodiversity monitoring.
Published Evidence of geothermal activity within icy dwarf planets
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A team found evidence for hydrothermal or metamorphic activity within the icy dwarf planets Eris and Makemake, located in the Kuiper Belt. Methane detected on their surfaces has the tell-tale signs of warm or even hot geochemistry in their rocky cores, which is markedly different than the signature of methane from a comet.
Published How is deforested land in Africa used?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Africa's forested areas -- an estimated 14 % of the global forest area -- are continuing to decline at an increasing rate -- mostly because of human activities to convert forest land for economic purposes. As natural forests are important CO2 and biodiversity reservoirs, this development has a significant impact on climate change and effects the integrity of nature.
Published Reforestation programs could threaten vast area of tropical grasslands
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research reveals the scale of inappropriate reforestation projects across Africa. A new study reveals that an area the size of France is threatened by forest restoration initiatives, such as the AFR100 initiative (African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative), due to inappropriate restoration in the form of tree-planting.
Published Big new idea introduced with the help of tiny plankton
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new model bridges the rules of life at the individual scale and the ecosystem level, which could open new avenues of exploration in ecology, global change biology, and ultimately ecosystem management.
Published Diverse ancient volcanoes on Mars discovered by planetary scientist may hold clues to pre-plate tectonic activity on Earth
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A geologist has revealed intriguing insights into the volcanic activity on Mars. He proposes that Mars has significantly more diverse volcanism than previously realized, driven by an early form of crust recycling called vertical tectonics. The findings shed light on the ancient crust of Mars and its potential implications for understanding early crustal recycling on both Mars and Earth.
Published A star like a Matryoshka doll: New theory for gravastars
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source If gravitational condensate stars (or gravastars) actually existed, they would look similar to black holes to a distant observer. Two theoretical physicists have now found a new solution to Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, according to which gravitational stars could be structured like a Russian matryoshka doll, with one gravastar located inside another.