Showing 20 articles starting at article 581

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Biology: Marine, Environmental: Biodiversity

Return to the site home page

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Increased salinity usually spells trouble for freshwater insects like mayflies. A new study finds that the lack of metabolic responses to salinity may explain why some freshwater insects often struggle in higher salinity, while other freshwater invertebrates (like mollusks and crustaceans) thrive. 

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Acoels have been found to host a wide diversity of symbiotic, photosynthetic microalgae.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Rivers across England have seen a significant improvement in river invertebrate biodiversity since 1989, shows a new study.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The increasingly urgent climate crisis has led to a boom in commercial tree plantations in an attempt to offset excess carbon emissions. However, authors argue that these carbon-offset plantations might come with costs for biodiversity and other ecosystem functions. Instead, the authors say we should prioritize conserving and restoring intact ecosystems.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A shift in the way we think about the benefits mangroves provide to coastal regions could yield significant economic and biodiversity gains and protect millions from flooding, research has revealed.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Commercial whaling in the 20th century decimated populations of large whales but also appears to have had a lasting impact on the genetic diversity of today’s surviving whales, new research shows.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Along the Asian coast lines there are many areas where rural communities experience alarming rates of sea level rises due to land subsidence up to 10 cm per year. This causes tremendous challenges on how to live there and protect these coasts. Scientists have now investigated the potential and limitation of mangrove restoration as a cost-effective and sustainable solution for coastal protection in rapidly subsiding areas.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Surprising findings on the development of sea anemones suggest that a predatory lifestyle molded their evolution and had a significant impact on the origin of their nervous system. The researchers were able to show that the young life stages (larvae) of the small sea anemone Aiptasia actively feed on living prey and are not dependent on algae. To capture its prey, the anemone larvae use specialized stinging cells and a simple neuronal network.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using an innovative new approach to sampling corals, researchers are now able to create maps of coral biochemistry that reveal with unprecedented detail the distribution of compounds that are integral to the healthy functioning of reefs.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Paleontologists discover possible DNA remains in fossil turtle that lived 6 million years ago in Panama, where continents collide.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

For decades, fish-eating killer whales in the Pacific Northwest have been observed harassing and even killing porpoises without consuming them —- a perplexing behavior that has long intrigued scientists.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new article has analyzed another understudied behavior in baleen (filter-feeding) whales such as humpback whales in different populations across the northern and southern hemispheres. They appeared to roll around and 'play' with clumps of kelp and seaweed at the water's surface. The research also emphasizes that the behavior was similar in different individuals, regardless of where in the world it occurred.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Plastic waste that accumulates on land eventually ends up in the ocean as microplastics. However, it is now speculated that microplastics are also present in the atmosphere, contained in clouds. In a new study, researchers analyzed cloud water samples from high-altitude mountains in Japan to ascertain the amount of microplastics in them. They also shed light on how these airborne particles influence cloud formation and their negative impact on the climate.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Past cycles of climate change, along with human exploitation, have led to only small and isolated stocks of Atlantic walrus remaining. The current population is at high risk of the same issues affecting them severely, according to a new study.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Protecting large swaths of Earth's land can help stem the tide of biodiversity loss -- especially when those protected areas are in less disturbed landscapes and in countries with effective national governance. A new study looked at how amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds fared in protected versus unprotected areas worldwide. Vertebrate abundance decreased five times more slowly inside protected areas, offering much-needed support for the United Nations' '30 by 30' conservation initiative.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

New research has validated at scale, one of the theories that has underpinned ecology for over half a century. In doing so, the findings raise further questions about whether models should be revised to capture human impacts on natural systems.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research represents the first combined analysis of microplastics in water, sediment and air around a major river system. It found significant quantities of microplastics trapped in riverbed sediments, and also found they were being transported through the air and the flow of the river.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Ocean acidification will likely almost triple by the end of the century -- a drastic environmental change that could impact important marine species like fleshy seaweeds, algae that grow vertically and promote biodiversity in more than a third of the world's coastline. To get a better idea of how seaweeds might fare in a rapidly acidifying ocean, a team of marine scientists subjected a common fleshy seaweed species to the acidification levels expected by the end of the century. They report that increased acidification impacted the seaweed's chemical balance, made both its structure and its tissues weaker, and reduced its overall chances of survival.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have identified the threat greenwashing poses to a 'nature positive' world, one where environmental decline halts and biodiversity outcomes improve.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have mapped the reproductive strategies and life cycle of an endangered coral species, the purple cauliflower soft coral Dendronephthya australis. Lab-grown larvae have been successfully introduced back into the wild.