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Categories: Ecology: Nature
Published From roots to resilience: investigating the vital role of microbes in coastal plant health
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Understanding how salt marsh grass stays healthy is of crucial ecological importance, and studying the ways bacteria interact with these plants is key. Thanks to recent advances in genomic technology, biologists have begun to reveal never-before-seen ecological processes.
Published Access to gardens and citizen science helps encourage conservation among children, study shows
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Access to gardens and citizen science projects at school can help promote pro-conservation behaviour among pupils, a new study shows.
Published Scientists want to know how the smells of nature benefit our health
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Spending time in nature is good for us. And knowing more about nature's effects on our bodies could not only help our well-being, but could also improve how we care for land, preserve ecosystems and design cities, homes and parks. Many studies have focused on how seeing nature affects us. A team of scientists from around the world wants to understand what the nose knows. They are calling for more research into how odors and scents from natural settings impact our health and well-being.
Published Bees and butterflies on the decline in western and southern North America
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Bee and butterfly populations are in decline in major regions of North America due to ongoing environmental change, and significant gaps in pollinator research limit our ability to protect these species, according to a new study.
Published Summers warm up faster than winters, fossil shells from Antwerp show
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In a warmer climate, summers warm much faster than winters, according to research into fossil shells. With this knowledge we can better map the consequences of current global warming in the North Sea area.
Published Climate change is most prominent threat to pollinators
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new article has found that climate change is the most prominent threat to pollinators -- such as bumblebees, wasps, and butterflies -- who are essential for biodiversity conservation, crop yields and food security. The research suggests that many of the threats to pollinators result from human activities.
Published First 'warm-blooded' dinosaurs may have emerged 180 million years ago
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The ability to regulate body temperature, a trait all mammals and birds have today, may have evolved among some dinosaurs early in the Jurassic period about 180 million years ago. The new study looked at the spread of dinosaurs across different climates on Earth throughout the Mesozoic Era (the dinosaur era lasting from 230 to 66 million years ago), drawing on 1,000 fossils, climate models and the geography of the period, and dinosaurs' evolutionary trees.
Published How wildfires change soil chemistry
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Severe wildfires can drive chemical changes in soil that affect ecosystem recovery and risks to human health. A new study finds broader surveillance and modeling of these changes could inform strategies for protecting lives, property and natural resources, and managing wildlife.
Published Island birds more adaptable than previously thought
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The researchers found that birds were more evolutionarily similar on smaller, more isolated islands than on larger, less remote places. The team had expected to find that forested areas had more numerous and more varied species of birds compared to farmland areas. But they were surprised to find that the opposite was true: Areas with farms and human settlements had more species of birds and greater diversity than forested areas.
Published Scientists unlock key to breeding 'carbon gobbling' plants with a major appetite
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The discovery of how a critical enzyme 'hidden in nature's blueprint' works sheds new light on how cells control key processes in carbon fixation, a process fundamental for life on Earth. The discovery could help engineer climate resilient crops capable of sucking carbon dioxide from the atmosphere more efficiently, helping to produce more food in the process.
Published New light shed on carboxysomes in key discovery that could boost photosynthesis
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A research team has discovered how carboxysomes, carbon-fixing structures found in some bacteria and algae, work. The breakthrough could help scientists redesign and repurpose the structures to enable plants to convert sunlight into more energy, paving the way for improved photosynthesis efficiency, potentially increasing the global food supply and mitigating global warming.
Published Ocean biodiversity work needs improvement
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international collaboration says the world's largest marine protected areas aren't collectively delivering the biodiversity benefits they could be because of slow implementation of management strategies and a failure to restrict the most impactful human activities.
Published Rapid oyster reef restoration gives hope for repairing the sea
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source After a century of functional extinction on the Australian mainland, a Flat oyster reef has been successfully restored along a metropolitan Adelaide coastline.
Published New record holder for smallest dispersers of ingested seeds: Woodlice
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Even bugs as small as woodlice can disperse seeds they eat, setting a new record for smallest animal recorded to do so. The discovery underscores the crucial yet often overlooked role that small invertebrates play in ecosystems.
Published Scientists find ancient, endangered lamprey fish in Queensland, 1400 km north of its previous known range
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have confirmed the identity of an unusual, ancient and Endangered species of fish that is living in the coastal rivers of Queensland, about 1400 km north of where it was previously known to live.
Published Acceptance of animals in urban environments
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source How do city residents feel about animals in their immediate surroundings? A recent study shows how different the acceptance of various wild animals in urban areas is. Important factors are the places where the animals are found and their level of popularity -- squirrels and ladybugs come out on top here. The results have important implications for urban planning and nature conservation.
Published Limited adaptability makes freshwater bacteria vulnerable to climate change
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Freshwater bacteria with small genomes frequently undergo prolonged periods of adaptive stagnation. Based on genomic analyses of samples from European lakes, researchers uncovered specific evolutionary strategies that shape these bacteria's lifestyles. Understanding the evolutionary dynamics of aquatic microbial communities is key to safeguarding ecosystem services.
Published Genomes of 'star algae' shed light on origin of plants
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Land plants cover the surface of our planet and often tower over us. They form complex bodies with multiple organs that consist of a broad range of cell types. Developing this morphological complexity is underpinned by intricate networks of genes, whose coordinated action shapes plant bodies through various molecular mechanisms. All of these magnificent forms burst forth from a one-off evolutionary event: when plants conquered Earth's surface, known as plant terrestrialization.
Published For microscopic organisms, ocean currents act as 'expressway' to deeper depths
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Some of the ocean's tiniest organisms get swept into underwater currents that act as a conduit that shuttles them from the sunny surface to deeper, darker depths where they play a huge role in affecting the ocean's chemistry and ecosystem, according to new research.
Published Artificial intelligence enhances monitoring of threatened marbled murrelet
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Artificial intelligence analysis of data gathered by acoustic recording devices is a promising new tool for monitoring the marbled murrelet and other secretive, hard-to-study species.