Ecology & Zoology

Disease Opened Door To Invading Species In California

Plant and animal diseases can play a major and poorly appreciated role in allowing the invasion of exotic species, which in turn often threatens biodiversity, ecological function and the world economy, researchers say in a new report. In particular, a pla ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 14 2007 - 11:10pm

Two Iowa State University Botanists And Their Colleague At The University Of North Carolina Have Discovered A New Species Of Nor

Two Iowa State University botanists and their colleague at the University of North Carolina have discovered a new species of North American bamboo in the hills of Appalachia. It is the third known native species of the hardy grass. The other two were disc ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 12 2007 - 11:03pm

Whip Spiders Have A Sociable Family Life

Whip spiders, considered by many to be creepy-crawly, are giving new meaning to the term touchy-feely. In two species of whip spiders, or amblypygids, mothers caress their young with long feelers, siblings stick together until they reach sexual maturity, ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 12 2007 - 11:17pm

UBC Researchers Reveal Dwarf Aquatic Plants' Hidden Ancestry

A team of UBC researchers has re-classified an ancient line of aquatic plants previously thought to be related to grasses and rushes. The discovery clarifies what may be one of the biggest misunderstandings in botanical history. "It’s a classic case ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 15 2007 - 12:30am

Homing Pigeons Get Their Bearings From Their Beaks

It has long been recognized that birds possess the ability to use the Earth’s magnetic field for their navigation, although just how this is done has not yet been clarified. However, the discovery of iron-containing structures in the beaks of homing pigeo ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 15 2007 - 1:11am

A Case Of Mistaken Identity For The Ivory-billed Woodpecker?

Video evidence that an extinct woodpecker is alive and well in Arkansas, USA may prove to be a case of mistaken identity. Research published today in the open access journal BMC Biology shows how fleeting images thought to be the Ivory-billed Woodpecker C ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 15 2007 - 1:52am

Crops Feel The Heat As The World Warms

Over a span of two decades, warming temperatures have caused annual losses of roughly $5 billion for major food crops, according to a new study by researchers at the Carnegie Institution and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. From 1981-2002, warming ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 16 2007 - 11:44am

ESA’s Medspiration Project Branches Out To Support Biodiversity

Maps of the sea surface temperature around Galapagos Islands and Cocos Island in the Pacific Ocean are being produced daily and are available online in full resolution in near-real time as part of the Medspiration project, an ESA-funded effort to represen ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 27 2007 - 11:26am

House With An Ocean View? Don't Sweat Global Warming

Tidal marshes, which nurture marine life and reduce storm damage along many coastlines, should be able to adjust to rising sea levels and avoid being inundated and lost, if their vegetation isn't damaged and their supplies of upstream sediment aren&# ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 29 2007 - 1:23am

Dinosaur Extinction Didn't Cause The Rise Of Present-day Mammals, Claim Researchers

A new, complete 'tree of life' tracing the history of all 4,500 mammals on Earth shows that they did not diversify as a result of the death of the dinosaurs, says new research published in Nature today. The study was undertaken in the UK by scie ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 29 2007 - 1:44am