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Categories: Ecology: Sea Life, Geoscience: Geology

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A newly published study describes the response to sea level rise by the silver rice rat, an endangered species only found in the Florida Keys.

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With mighty jaws and plate-like teeth, the globally endangered whitespotted eagle ray can pretty much crunch on anything. Yet, little information is available on critical components of their life history in the U.S., such as their diet. A study is the first use DNA barcoding to uncover the finer-scale feeding patterns of this protected species in Florida. The surprising results have important implications for both shellfish enhancement activities and species management.

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Earth is rapidly warming and scientists are developing a variety of approaches to reduce the effects of climate change. An astronomer has proposed a novel approach -- a solar shield to reduce the amount of sunlight hitting Earth, combined with a tethered, captured asteroid as a counterweight. Engineering studies using this approach could start now to create a workable design that could mitigate climate change within decades.

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Scientists found that trout from lakes stocked decades ago in the Wind River Mountains have higher numbers of gill rakers, which are bony or cartilage structures in the gullets of fish that act as sieves to retain zooplankton and nourish the trout. The difference is likely a result of the trout adapting to the food sources of the once-fishless high-mountain lakes -- a change that has taken place in a relatively short period of time and at a rate that is generally consistent with the historic timing of stocking for each of the lakes.

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The smallest member of the filter-feeding family is one of the only whale species not to embark on seasonal migrations, new research finds.

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Resilient corals, often referred to as 'super corals', have recently been seen as potential saviours in the face of climate change and its detrimental effects on coral reefs. Now, a team of scientists is working to better understand these corals in order to develop strategies to protect fragile ecosystems such as the Great Barrier Reef.

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Arctic terns -- which fly on the longest migrations of any animal on Earth -- may be able to navigate the dangers posed by climate change, new research suggests.

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Miyako Islands are home to various native species of snake and lizards. How these species came to call these islands home has long puzzled scientists. A group of researchers have compiled the latest geological and biological data, proposing that an island once facilitated migration between Okinawa and Miyako Islands.

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Scientists have discovered a new species of marine cryptofauna in the Florida Keys. Cryptofauna are the tiny, hidden, organisms that make up the majority of biodiversity in the ocean. The tiny crustaceans are the first new gnathiid isopod to be discovered from the Floridian ecoregion in 100 years and are named after singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett.

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Much of central Utah's seismic activity comes in groups of small earthquakes. A study by seismologists examines 2,300 quakes occurring 40 'swarms' dating back to 1981, opening a window into Earth's crust in a geothermally active area.

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Plastic waste is a problem on our beaches. Hence, it is largely removed in a coordinated manner within a few weeks. However, it can litter other coasts of the world for many months to years due to unregulated waste disposal. Often the garbage on the beach is simply burned and a special form of plastic waste is created: so-called plastiglomerate. This 'rock' is made up of natural components, such as coral fragments, held together by the melted and reconsolidated plastic. A new study has now demonstrated, using field samples from Indonesia, that such rocks pose an increased environmental risk to coastal ecosystems such as seagrass beds, mangroves or coral reefs. The melted plastic decomposes more quickly into microplastics and is also contaminated with organic pollutants.

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Approximately 99.9% of fish and shark species are 'cold-blooded', meaning their body tissues generally match the temperature of the water they swim in -- but researchers have just discovered the mighty basking shark is a one-in-a-thousand exception. Instead, these sharks keep the core regions of their bodies warmer than the water like the most athletic swimmers in the sea such as great white sharks, mako sharks and tuna.

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In a new study, researchers have found that the restoration efforts of the critically endangered species elkhorn coral depend largely on the animal's location, microbiome, and the right conditions to provide an abundance of food.

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An international team of researchers has chosen the location which best represents the beginnings of what could be a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. The Anthropocene Working Group have put forward Crawford Lake, in Canada, as a Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the Anthropocene. A GSSP is an internationally agreed-upon reference point to show the start of a new geological period or epoch in layers of rock that have built up through the ages.

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Movement in the Earth's tectonic plates indirectly triggers bursts of biodiversity in 36 million-year cycles by forcing sea levels to rise and fall, new research has shown.

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Research shows global cooling of the climate 10 million years ago led to an explosion of diversity in terrestrial orchids.

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Astrophysicists have revealed how the slow and steady lengthening of Earth's day caused by the tidal pull of the moon was halted for over a billion years. They show that from approximately two billion years ago until 600 million years ago, an atmospheric tide driven by the sun countered the effect of the moon, keeping Earth's rotational rate steady and the length of day at a constant 19.5 hours. Without this billion-year pause in the slowing of our planet's rotation, our current 24-hour day would stretch to over 60 hours. The paper offers a new perspective on how global warming will affect the length of our day and validates global circulation models as a climate modelling tool.

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Scientists used seismic data discovered Earth's inner core displays a variety of textures that it acquired will it formed from within the fluid outer core. The data set was generated over the past 27 years by a network of seismometers set up to enforce the nuclear test ban treaty.

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An international research team has discovered that a subduction zone's age affects the ability for it to recycle water between the Earth's surface and its inner layers. The more mature the subduction zone, the bigger the water storage capacity.

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Scientists have wondered what happens to the organic and inorganic carbon that Earth's Pacific Plate carries with it as it slides into the planet's interior along the volcano-studded Ring of Fire. A new study suggests a notable amount of such subducted carbon returns to the atmosphere rather than traveling deep into Earth's mantle.