Showing 20 articles starting at article 1181

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Environmental: Ecosystems, Mathematics: Statistics

Return to the site home page

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

By the end of this century, permafrost in the rapidly warming Arctic will likely emit as much carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere as a large industrial nation, and potentially more than the U.S. has emitted since the start of the industrial revolution. A new study forecasts cumulative emissions from this 'country of permafrost' through 2100 under low, medium, and high warming scenarios.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A major new project will help benchmark biodiversity change in the Arctic Ocean and guide conservation efforts by identifying unique species and assessing their extinction risk.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Stumbling upon a new source of underwater caffeine was just an added bonus of a new study examining the impact of chemical compounds that corals release into the seawater.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study indicates previously unknown high altitude contests between two of America's most sensational mammals -- mountain goats and bighorn sheep -- over access to minerals previously unavailable due to the past presence of glaciers which, now, are vanishing due to global warming.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The strong winds and torrential rains that accompany a cyclone do tremendous damage to ecosystems, and this damage can make them more prone to future wildfires. As intense cyclones are projected to become more frequent worldwide, a team of researchers examines the links between cyclones and forest fires, how they fuel one another, and why we may see fires burning in unlikely places in the future.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

People often wonder why one nutritional study tells them that eating too many eggs, for instance, will lead to heart disease and another tells them the opposite. The answer to this and other conflicting food studies may lie in the use of statistics, according to a new report.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study shows that losing a particular group of endangered animals -- those that eat fruit and help disperse the seeds of trees and other plants -- could severely disrupt seed-dispersal networks in the Atlantic Forest, a shrinking stretch of tropical forest and critical biodiversity hotspot on the coast of Brazil.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Current protected areas only poorly cover the places most relevant for conserving soil ecological values. To assess global hotspots for preserving soil ecological values, an international team of scientists measured different facets of soil biodiversity (local species richness and uniqueness) and ecosystem services (like water regulation or carbon storage). They found that these facets peaked in contrasting regions of the world. For instance, temperate ecosystems showed higher local soil biodiversity (species richness), while colder ecosystems were identified as hotspots of soil ecosystem services. In addition, the results suggest that tropical and arid ecosystems hold the most unique communities of soil organisms. Soil ecological values are often overlooked in nature conservation management and policy decisions; the new study demonstrates where efforts to protect them are needed most.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

The amazing survival strategies of polar marine creatures might help to explain how the first animals on Earth could have evolved earlier than the oldest fossils suggest according to new research. These first, simple and now extinct, animals might have lived through some of the most extreme, cold and icy periods the world has ever seen.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

How healthy are coral reefs? And how are they responding to climate change? After more than 10 years of monitoring the Great Barrier Reef, geoscientists have developed a technique that allows them to answer these questions using satellites. And it all relies on sand aprons.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

There's more bad news for planet earth if climate change continues unabated. New research reveals that, under a worst-case scenario, half of coral reef ecosystems worldwide will permanently face unsuitable conditions in just a dozen years.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new scientific review article captures the unique and dynamic characteristics of coastal lagoon ecosystems in the Arctic Beringia Region, and discusses how climate change effects and human development could alter these habitats.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Ocean temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea are on pace to surpass critical thresholds for coral health by mid-century, but rapid action to significantly reduce emissions could slow warming, giving corals and coral conservation programs as much as 20 more years to adapt, according to new research.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A proposal to cover Arctic sea ice with layers of tiny hollow glass spheres about the thickness of one human hair would actually accelerate sea-ice loss and warm the climate rather than creating thick ice and lowering the temperature as proponents claim. Sea ice, by reflecting the majority of the sun's energy back to space, helps regulate ocean and air temperatures and influences ocean circulation. Its area and thickness is of critical importance to Earth's climate.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Corals live symbiotically with a variety of microscopic algae that provide most of the energy corals require, and some algae can make coral more resilient to heat stress. In assessing one of the main reef builders in Hawai'i, Montipora capitata or rice coral, researchers found that the symbiont community in those corals varied significantly in different parts of Kaneohe Bay.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study provides a novel framework for identifying broad coral disease resistance traits and examines the fundamental processes behind species survival.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

How can we boost the resilience of the world's coral reefs, which are imperiled by multiple stresses including mass bleaching events linked to climate warming?

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Today, more snow than rain falls in the Arctic, but this is expected to reverse by the end of the century. A new study shows the frequency of rainy days in the Arctic could roughly double by 2100.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

An international team of climate and lake scientists has demonstrated that crossing frozen lakes with heavy trucks may soon be a thing of the past.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Existing ways of calculating biodiversity dynamics are not very effective in detecting wholesale species community change due to the effects of ocean acidification.