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Categories: Ecology: Animals, Environmental: Ecosystems
Published Scientists assemble a richer picture of the plight and resilience of the foothill yellow-legged frog
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Up to only a few inches in length, with a lemon-hued belly, the foothill yellow-legged frog may seem unassuming. But its range once stretched from central Oregon to Baja California. In 2023, it was listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. Its rapidly decreasing range is due in part to a fungal pathogen called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, or Bd, that has devastated amphibians around the world.
Published Reforestation schemes are not enough to recover the carbon created by harvesting wood
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Forests have a critical role to play in capturing and storing carbon from the Earth's atmosphere -- but some models exaggerate their carbon removal potential by almost three-fold, according to a leading professor of forest economics.
Published Birds and bee lessons as Pacific field trips also solve 'Michener's mystery'
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Eight new Pacific bee species and new insights into Fijian bird behaviour on Viti Levu Island have been described in new scientific studies. The research highlights the potential for species discovery, ecological and conservation knowledge and cultural engagement from Asia-Pacific research collaborations.
Published Robots, monitoring and healthy ecosystems could halve pesticide use without hurting productivity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Smarter crop farming that combats weeds, insect pests and plant diseases by integrating modern technologies like AI-based monitoring, robotics, and next-generation biotechnology with healthy and resilient agricultural ecosystems.
Published Predatory fish use rapid color changes to coordinate attacks
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Striped marlin are some of the fastest animals on the planet and one of the ocean's top predators. When hunting in groups, individual marlin will take turns attacking schools of prey fish one at a time. Now a new study helps to explain how they might coordinate this turn-taking style of attack on their prey to avoid injuring each other. The key, according to the new work, is rapid color changes.
Published Common plant could help reduce food insecurity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An often-overlooked water plant that can double its biomass in two days, capture nitrogen from the air -- making it a valuable green fertilizer -- and be fed to poultry and livestock could serve as life-saving food for humans in the event of a catastrophe or disaster, a new study suggests.
Published Streams connected to groundwater show improved detoxification and microbial diversity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Streams with ample connections to shallow groundwater flow-paths have greater microbial diversity and are more effective at preventing toxic forms of metals -- often products of upstream mining -- from entering and being transported downstream.
Published Killer instinct drove evolution of mammals' predatory ancestors
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The evolutionary success of the first large predators on land was driven by their need to improve as killers, researchers suggest.
Published Side effects of wide scale forestation could reduce carbon removal benefits by up to a third
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The side effects of large-scale forestation initiatives could reduce the CO2 removal benefits by up to a third, a pioneering study has found.
Published Cooler, wetter parts of Pacific Northwest likely to see more fires, new simulations predict
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Forests in the coolest, wettest parts of the western Pacific Northwest are likely to see the biggest increases in burn probability, fire size and number of blazes as the climate continues to get warmer and drier.
Published Carbon emissions from the destruction of mangrove forests predicted to increase by 50,000% by the end of the century
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The annual rate of carbon emissions due to the degradation of carbon stocks in mangrove forests is predicted to rise by nearly 50,000% by the end of the century, according to a new study. Mangroves in regions such as southern India, southeastern China, Singapore and eastern Australia are particularly affected.
Published Mice surprise: Researchers discover new native species
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Australia can lay claim to two new species of native rodent thanks to a new study. The aptly named delicate mouse was previously thought to be a single species spanning a massive stretch of the country from the Pilbara in Western Australia, across parts of the Northern Territory and through Queensland down to the New South Wales border. We now know there are three distinct species.
Published Stronger storms free more nutrients from mud flats
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source If storms become stronger in the future due to climate change, more nitrogen may be released from the bottom of coastal seas.
Published Modeling tree masting
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The effects of a phenomenon called tree masting on ecosystems and food webs can be better understood thanks to new theoretical models validated by real world observations.
Published Does Russia stand to benefit from climate change?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source There exists a narrative about climate change that says there are winners and losers -- with Russia being one of the countries that stand to benefit from its effects. In a new study, researchers found that Russia is suffering from a variety of climate change impacts and is ill-prepared to mitigate or adapt to those climate impacts. And, as the rest of the world transitions to renewable energy sources, Russia's fossil-fuel-dependent government is not willing or ready to make alternative plans for the country, changes that could potentially benefit the whole of their society.
Published Weedy rice gets competitive boost from its wild neighbors
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Weedy rice is an agricultural pest with a global economic impact. It is an aggressive weed that outcompetes cultivated rice and causes billions of dollars in yield losses worldwide. A study offers new insights into genetic changes that give weedy rice its edge over cultivated rice in tropical regions of the world.
Published Citizen science to mitigate the environmental crisis in the marine environment
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Citizen science can help to improve conservation and management strategies for Mediterranean marine ecosystems, and to mitigate the impact of the environmental crisis.
Published Converting rainforest to plantation impacts food webs and biodiversity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Every day, new areas of rainforests are converted into plantations, drastically changing tropical biodiversity and the way the ecosystem functions. Yet, the current understanding of the consequences is fragmentary: previous studies tended to examine either biodiversity or the ecosystem. An international research team brings these threads together in this study. They analyzed organisms ranging from microscopic mites and earthworms in the soil, to beetles and birds in tree canopies, comparing tropical rainforest with rubber and oil palm plantations in Sumatra, Indonesia.
Published Mercury levels in tuna remain nearly unchanged since 1971
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Tuna is one of the most popular seafoods worldwide. But this protein-rich fish can build up high levels of methylmercury from feeding on contaminated prey, like smaller fish or crustaceans. Despite efforts to reduce mercury emissions into the environment, researchers report that levels in tuna appear to be unchanged since 1971. They warn that more aggressive emission reduction targets are needed to start nudging down tuna mercury levels.
Published Toxic elements found in stranded whales, dolphins over 15 years
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers evaluated the prevalence, concentration and tissue distribution of essential and non-essential trace elements, including heavy metal toxicants in tissue (blubber, kidney, liver, skeletal muscle, skin) and fecal samples collected from 90 whales and dolphins stranded in Georgia and Florida from 2007 to 2021.