Showing 20 articles starting at article 341

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Biology: Developmental, Ecology: Extinction

Return to the site home page

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The tendency of communities and the species within them to become more similar or more distinct across landscapes -- biotic homogenization and differentiation -- are approximately balanced, according to a new study. This analysis is the first of its kind to provide a comprehensive assessment of how local and regional biodiversity changes combine across landscapes over centuries.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Established treatments for cancer and other diseases often focus on inhibiting harmful enzymes to mitigate their effects. However, a more innovative approach has emerged: harnessing the cell's natural waste disposal system not just to deactivate but to entirely eradicate these proteins. Researchers have previously demonstrated the efficacy of this approach through two distinct methods. Now they unveil a third system capable of targeting and disposing of previously inaccessible proteins.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Divers are essentially tourists who love coral reefs and invest a lot of time and effort to watch them. Unfortunately, divers also cause damage to corals, often unintentionally, through disturbing and resuspending sand, touching them, hitting them with their equipment, and scaring fish away. Artificial reefs have been proposed as a means of diverting diving pressure from the natural reef to alternative sites, thus preserving both dive tourism and the coral reef.

     (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.

     (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.'

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have identified a protein that evolved concurrently with the emergence of cellular compartments crucial for the multiplication of the toxoplasmosis pathogen.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers propose a framework for integrating online digital data into biodiversity monitoring.

     (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.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

When the female gametes in plants become fertilized, a signal from the sperm activates cell division, leading to the formation of new plant seeds. This activation can also be deliberately triggered without fertilization, as researchers have shown. Their findings open up new avenues for the asexual propagation of crop plants.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers report that ancient viruses may be to thank for myelin -- and, by extension, our large, complex brains. The team found that a retrovirus-derived genetic element or 'retrotransposon' is essential for myelin production in mammals, amphibians, and fish. The gene sequence, which they dubbed 'RetroMyelin,' is likely a result of ancient viral infection, and comparisons of RetroMyelin in mammals, amphibians, and fish suggest that retroviral infection and genome-invasion events occurred separately in each of these groups.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A research team has created 20 new recombinant rabies viral vectors for neural circuit mapping that offer a range of significant advantages over existing tools, including the ability to detect microstructural changes in models of aging and Alzheimer's disease brain neurons.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists unveil 145 genes vital for genome health, and possible strategies to curb progression of human genomic disorders.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Corals searching for food in the cold and dark waters of the deep sea are building higher and higher mountains to get closer to the source of their food. But in doing so, they may find themselves trapped when the climate changes.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

While pesticides protect crops from hungry animals, pesky insects, or even microbial infections, they also impact other vital organisms, including bees and earthworms. And today, research reveals that worms are affected by the relatively small amounts of chemicals that can leach out of pesticide-treated seeds. Exposure to nonlethal amounts of these insecticides and fungicides resulted in poor weight gain and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage in the worms.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Global warming may be interacting with regional rainfall and deforestation to accelerate forest loss in the Amazon, pushing it towards partial or total collapse. New research has identified the potential thresholds of these stressors, showing where their combined effects could produce a 'tipping point' -- in which the forest is so fragile that just a small disturbance could cause an abrupt shift in the state of the ecosystem.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Australian birds that live on islands are among the species most at risk of extinction, a first-of-its-kind study has shown. Australia has over 750 native bird species. But many of them are facing an uncertain future.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have pinpointed the group of neurons in the nerve cord -- a structure analogous to our spinal cord -- that produce and pattern the fly's two major courtship songs. They've also measured neuronal activity in these cells while flies were singing to understand how these neurons control each type of song.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research revealed that when coral bleaching occurs, corals release unique organic compounds into the surrounding water that not only promote bacterial growth overall, but select for opportunistic bacteria that may further stress reefs.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The capacity of intestinal stem cells to maintain cellular balance in the gut decreases upon aging. Researchers have discovered a new mechanism of action between the nutrient adaptation of intestinal stem cells and aging. The finding may make a difference when seeking ways to maintain the functional capacity of the aging gut.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Fossils of a marine animal that lived 500 million years ago, combined with computer simulations, informed the design of a new soft robot.