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Categories: Biology: General, Ecology: Research
Published Deforestation in the tropics linked to a reduction in rainfall
(via sciencedaily.com) Deforestation is resulting in reduced rainfall across large parts of the tropics, according to new research. People living in tropical forest communities have often complained that the climate gets hotter and drier once trees are cleared but until now, scientists have not been able to identify a clear link between the loss of tree cover and a decline in rainfall.
Published Flower power: The role of ants in forest regeneration
(via sciencedaily.com) Ants play a key role in forest regeneration, according to a new article.
Published Australia's rarest bird of prey disappearing at alarming rate
(via sciencedaily.com) Australia's rarest bird of prey -- the red goshawk -- is facing extinction, with Cape York Peninsula now the only place in Queensland known to support breeding populations.
Published New study reveals biodiversity loss drove ecological collapse after the 'Great Dying'
(via sciencedaily.com) By exploring the stability and collapse of marine ecosystems during the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, researchers gain insights into modern biodiversity crisis.
Published Insect bite marks show first fossil evidence for plants' leaves folding up at night
(via sciencedaily.com) Plants can move in ways that might surprise you. Some of them even show 'sleep movements,' folding or raising their leaves each night before opening them again the next day. Now, researchers offer convincing evidence for these nightly movements, also known as foliar nyctinasty, in fossil plants that lived more than 250 million years ago.
Published Urban ponds require attention to ensure biodiversity
(via sciencedaily.com) New research suggests aquatic plants can be utilized as a tool to enhance the co-existence between aquatic invertebrates and their fish predators in urban ponds.
Published Clever orchard design for more nuts
(via sciencedaily.com) To reduce biodiversity loss in agricultural landscapes, more sustainable and environmentally friendly agricultural practices are needed. A research team has investigated how ecosystem services such as pollination could be improved in macadamia plantations. The scientists showed that a certain design of plantations -- for instance, how the rows of trees are arranged, the varieties, and the integration of semi-natural habitats in and around the plantations -- can increase the pollination performance of bees.
Published A fifth of California's Sierra Nevada conifer forests are stranded in habitats that have grown too warm for them
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers created maps showing where warmer weather has left trees in conditions that don't suit them, making them more prone to being replaced by other species. The findings could help inform long-term wildfire and ecosystem management in these 'zombie forests.'
Published Climate 'spiral' threatens land carbon stores
(via sciencedaily.com) The world's forests are losing their ability to absorb carbon due to increasingly 'unstable' conditions caused by humans, a landmark study has found.
Published New research reveals 12 ways aquaculture can benefit the environment
(via sciencedaily.com) Aquaculture, or the farming of aquatic plants and animals, contributes to biodiversity and habitat loss in freshwater and marine ecosystems globally, but when used wisely, it can also be part of the solution, new research shows.
Published Researcher discovers threshold that triggers drought response in forests
(via sciencedaily.com) Missouri is home to an array of natural resources, with forests among the state's most valuable ecosystems. As warmer temperatures fueled by climate change affect ecosystems globally, forests are under stress to adapt to these changes and ensure their survival in a warmer world. Researchers now introduce the 'ecosystem wilting point' concept, which explains how whole forests respond to drought.
Published Detecting the impact of drought on plants with user-friendly and inexpensive techniques
(via sciencedaily.com) Climate change is aggravating the impact of droughts -- one of the factors that only affect plant physiology -- on all plant ecosystems worldwide. Although new tools have been developed to detect and assess drought stress in plants -- transcriptomic or metabolomic technologies, etc. -- they are still difficult to apply in natural ecosystems, especially in remote areas and developing countries.
Published Geckos know their own odor
(via sciencedaily.com) Geckos can use their tongue to differentiate their own odor from that of other members of their species, as researchers have shown in a new experimental study. The findings show that geckos are able to communicate socially, meaning that they are more intelligent than was previously assumed.
Published Amazon mammals threatened by climate change
(via sciencedaily.com) Most land-based mammals in the Brazilian Amazon are threatened by climate change and the savannization of the region.
Published Moisture the key to soils' ability to sequester carbon, research shows
(via sciencedaily.com) Soil is the Earth's second-biggest carbon storage locker after the ocean, and a research collaboration has shown that it's moisture, not temperature or mineral content, that's the key to how well the soil carbon warehouse works.
Published Coral reefs in the Eastern Pacific could survive into the 2060s
(via sciencedaily.com) Scientists found that some reefs in the tropical Pacific Ocean could maintain high coral cover into the second half of this century by shuffling the symbiotic algae they host. The findings offer a ray of hope in an often-dire picture of the future of coral reefs worldwide.
Published Urban gardens are good for ecosystems and humans
(via sciencedaily.com) Traditionally, it has been assumed that cultivating food leads to a loss of biodiversity and negative impacts on an ecosystem. A new study defies this assumption, showing that community gardens and urban farms positively affect biodiversity, local ecosystems and the well-being of humans that work in them.
Published Fossil discovery reveals complex ecosystems existed on Earth much earlier than previously thought
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source About 250 million years ago, the Permian-Triassic mass extinction killed over 80 per cent of the planet's species. In the aftermath, scientists believe that life on earth was dominated by simple species for up to 10 million years before more complex ecosystems could evolve. Now this longstanding theory is being challenged by a team of international researchers.
Published How giants became dwarfs
(via sciencedaily.com) In certain Lake Tanganyika cichlids breeding in empty snail shells, there are two extreme sizes of males: giants and dwarfs. Researchers have analyzed the genomes of these fish and found out how the peculiar sizes of males and females evolved in conjunction with the genetic sex determination mechanism.
Published Endangered Bahamas bird may be lost from island following hurricane
(via sciencedaily.com) The endangered Bahama Warbler may be surviving on just one island following Hurricane Dorian's devastation in 2019, according to researchers. A new study shows the bird's distribution and ecology on Grand Bahama before the hurricane struck. But the team says that the warbler may now only survive on neighboring Abaco island, after hurricane Dorian destroyed the bird's forest habitat on Grand Bahama. The research comes from the same team that found what is thought to have been the last living Bahama Nuthatch, previously thought to have been extinct.