Showing 20 articles starting at article 481
< Previous 20 articles Next 20 articles >
Categories: Environmental: Biodiversity, Geoscience: Volcanoes
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 Rising river temperatures hold important clues about climate and other human impacts
(via sciencedaily.com) An improved global understanding of river temperature could provide an important barometer for climate change and other human activities.
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 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 Using spiders as environmentally-friendly pest control
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Groups of spiders could be used as an environmentally-friendly way to protect crops against agricultural pests. That's according to new research which suggests that web-building groups of spiders can eat a devastating pest moth of commercially important crops like tomato and potato worldwide.
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 Biodiversity engine for fishes: Shifting water depth
(via sciencedaily.com) Fish, the most biodiverse vertebrates in the animal kingdom, present evolutionary biologists a conundrum: The greatest species richness is found in the world's tropical waters, yet the fish groups that generate new species most rapidly inhabit colder climates at higher latitudes. A new study helps to explain this paradox. The researchers discovered that the ability of fish in temperate and polar ecosystems to transition back and forth from shallow to deep water triggers species diversification. Their findings suggest that as climate change warms the oceans at higher latitudes, it will impede the evolution of fish species.
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 How does biodiversity change globally? Detecting accurate trends may be currently unfeasible
(via sciencedaily.com) Existing data are too biased to provide a reliable picture of the global average of local species richness trends.
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.
Published Exact magma locations may improve volcanic eruption forecasts
(via sciencedaily.com) Cornell University researchers have unearthed precise, microscopic clues to where magma is stored, offering a way to better assess the risk of volcanic eruptions.
Published Marine reserves unlikely to restore marine ecosystems
(via sciencedaily.com) Protected marine areas are one of the essential tools for the conservation of natural resources affected by human impact -- mainly fishing --, but, are they enough to recover the functioning of these systems? A study now highlights the limitations of marine reserves in restoring food webs to their pristine state prior to the impact of intensive fishing.
Published Global wetlands losses overestimated despite high losses in many regions
(via sciencedaily.com) New analysis shows the U.S. has accounted for more wetland conversion and degradation than any other country. Its findings help better explain the causes and impacts of such losses and inform protection and restoration of wetlands.
Published A fossil fruit from California shows ancestors of coffee and potatoes survived cataclysm that killed the dinosaurs
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The discovery of an 80-million-year-old fossil plant pushes back the known origins of lamiids to the Cretaceous, extending the record of nearly 40,000 species of flowering plants including modern-day staple crops like coffee, tomatoes, potatoes and mint.
Published Long-term restoration of a biodiversity hotspot hinges on getting seeds to the right place at the right time
(via sciencedaily.com) New research shows that degraded savanna ecosystems can reap lasting benefits from a single seeding of native understory plants. Once a diverse understory of savanna plants became established, its long-term persistence was relatively unaffected by environmental factors -- with one exception. Higher temperatures during the height of the growing season were associated with poorer long-term survival among some species, indicating one threat posed by a warming climate.
Published Pacific Northwest heat dome tree damage more about temperature than drought, scientists say
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Widespread tree scorch in the Pacific Northwest that became visible shortly after multiple days of record-setting, triple-digit temperatures in June 2021 was more attributable to heat than to drought conditions, researchers say.
Published Small isolated wetlands are pollution-catching powerhouses
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Small isolated wetlands that are full for only part of the year are often the first to be removed for development or agriculture, but a new study shows that they can be twice as effective in protecting downstream lake or river ecosystems than if they were connected to them.
Published Protected areas fail to safeguard more than 75% of global insect species
(via sciencedaily.com) Insects play crucial roles in almost every ecosystem -- they pollinate more than 80% of plants and are a major source of food for thousands of vertebrate species -- but insect populations are collapsing around the globe, and they continue to be overlooked by conservation efforts. Protected areas can safeguard threatened species but only if these threatened species actually live within the areas we protect. A new study found that 76% of insect species are not adequately covered by protected areas.
Published Mixing between species reduces vulnerability to climate change
(via sciencedaily.com) New research provides rare evidence that natural hybridization can reduce the risk of extinction of species threatened by climate change. Researchers have identified genes that enable Rainbowfish to adapt to climate variations across the Australia using environmental models to work out how much evolution will likely be required for populations to keep pace with future climate change.