SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT: EFFECT OF OIL SPILLS ON ENVIRONMENT Dr. Richard E. Dodge Professor and Dean, NSU Oceanographic Center Executive Director, National Coral Reef Institute Contact Dr. Dodge Cell phone 954.629.2134
McGill Biologist Dr. Frédéric Guichard says marine life can communicate over thousands of kilometres, calling into question current fishery management and marine preservation practices.
Two Baylor University researchers have published a paper on their creation of a new equation for estimating rainfall amounts in ancient ecosystems.
The Titan Arum, known as the Corpse Flower, housed in the Western Illinois University Botany Greenhouse began blooming during the afternoon and evening hours Sunday, May 2.
A team of international researchers has brought the primary component of mammoth blood back to life using ancient DNA preserved in bones from Siberian specimens 25,000 to 43,000 years old.
Using DNA samples and images from Earth-orbiting satellites, conservationists from Columbia University, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the American Museum of Natural History, and Fundación AquaMarina, are gathering new insights about the franciscana—a poorly known coastal dolphin species of eastern South America—in an effort to understand populations and conserve them.
Disappearing coral reefs are among a host of ecological markers that showcase how promises to protect the planet’s biodiversity are not being met, according to a study this week in the journal Science. The findings are an assessment of targets made at the 2002 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). UNC marine scientist John Bruno is a study co-author.
Survival of the gray wolf in the northern Rocky Mountains of the United States depends not as much on the wolves as on people. Humans are both predators and protectors of this species, which has been reintroduced into parts of Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. Humans were responsible for eradicating gray wolves from this area by the 1930s. Annual survival was considered adequate to sustain the present population, but killing, both legal and illegal, continues and should be monitored to ensure their survival.
The growing oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico could void years of conservation work to save a species of turtle that calls the Alabama Gulf Coast home, say the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) biologists who are behind the effort.
Biologists have discovered that, contrary to their name, hermit crabs may find new housing using previously unknown social networking skills. These behaviors may shed light on other animals that rely on discrete, reusable resources, from hole-nesting woodpeckers to city apartment dwellers.
A rare flower housed in Western Illinois University's Biological Sciences Botany Greenhouse is set to bloom within the next week, making it part of a relatively small elite group of such flowers that have bloomed in cultivation since the 1880s.
Catch-and-release is a familiar concept in fishing but is more contentious when it comes to cats. To deal humanely with feral cat populations, some advocate a trap–neuter–release approach. Wild cats are allowed to continue living freely, with food provided for them, but have been sterilized and will not continue to reproduce and add to the unwanted pet population.
Cornell University researchers discover that fragmentation of natural habitats by roads – even smaller, low-traffic highways – has had a significant effect on genetic structure of timber rattlesnakes, as has been noted with other species. The study underlines concerns over habitat fragmentation and species survival.
Fungi fuel hungry humans, cure infections and have changed the course of history, says a University of Arkansas biology professor in his new book on this little examined kingdom.
Working in a rare, “natural seafloor laboratory” of hydrothermal vents that had just been rocked by a volcanic eruption, scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and other institutions have discovered what they believe is an undersea superhighway carrying tiny life forms unprecedented distances to inhabit the post-eruption site.
Researchers are hopeful that the new core they drilled through an ice field on the Antarctic Peninsula will contain ice dating back into the last ice age. If so, that record should give new insight into past global climate changes.
The Wildlife Conservation Society released a list of critically endangered species dubbed the “Rarest of the Rare” – a group of animals most in danger of extinction, ranging from Cuban crocodiles to white-headed langurs in Vietnam.
The vivid colors and designs animals use to interact with their environments have awed and inspired since before people learned to draw on the cave wall.
Rangelands—Exotic plant species are invading the world’s rangelands at an unprecedented rate, imposing both ecological and economic costs. Identifying the causes of invasive plant expansion can contribute to the planning and execution of successful management techniques. Collaboration between resource managers and research scientists is needed to offer future generations more effective strategies to prevent and control invasive plant species.
In a paper to appear in the May issue of American Naturalist, paleontologists explore how the ecological information provided by fossil assemblages is determined by their process of accumulation.
Although thousands of birds and mammals were killed immediately following the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989, the long-term effects of oil exposure on the region’s wildlife remain a concern.
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced an agreement to create a new marine protected area in Argentina that will safeguard one of the country’s most unique seascapes for both people and wildlife—including the only colony of Southern rockhopper penguins on continental Argentina’s 3,000-mile coast.
In research published in the March 29, 2010 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers describe how two species of stream salamanders find new homes by moving both within streams and over land to adjacent streams during multiple life stages, and how this movement may help to stabilize their populations.
Dolphins, whales and porpoises have extraordinarily small balance organs, and scientists have long wondered why. Now a study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has contradicted a leading theory, which held that the animals moved their heads so vigorously that they had to have smaller, less responsive balance organs to avoid overwhelming their senses.
The Olympic Games are not just for humans anymore. Researchers in Australia put two species of venomous snakes through a competition that included sprint trials in a racetrack and wrapping around, thrashing, tongue flicking, and biting when held—and then scored the snakes’ responses. The results? If you were to come across one of these snakes in the wild, you might prefer it to be the small-eyed snake—it is more likely to flee than fight.
Two recently diverged populations of a southern California songbird produce unique odors, suggesting smell could contribute to the reproductive isolation that accompanies the origin of new bird species. The Indiana University Bloomington study of organic compounds present in the preen oils of Dark-eyed Juncos is described in this month's Behavioral Ecology.
South Dakota entomologists have discovered a way to preserve & grow rare, captive lady beetles that could help farmers fight invasive aphids harmful to their crops. It's all a matter of paying attention to diet & enlisting help from citizen scientists.
A young Hawaiian monk seal is providing researchers at UC Santa Cruz a rare opportunity to study the physiology of this critically endangered species.
Biologists have known since Galileo’s time that bird bones are hollow, but many people are surprised to learn that bird skeletons do not weigh less than those of similar-sized mammals. New work now explains how bird skeletons can be both delicate and heavy.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) today formally announced the reclassification of beluga sturgeon in the Caspian Sea as “critically endangered” on its Red List, providing strong evidence that fishing and international trade should be halted and a stock-rebuilding plan should be initiated immediately.
The jobs-vs.environment frame did not hold up in one of the nation's most contentious regions
Cattle producers preparing to work spring-born calves should be taking steps now to protect their animals from the respiratory diseases, infectious bovine rhinotracheitis and bovine viral diarrhea virus.
K-State's Dr. Kenneth Harkin of Kansas State University said there is an unknown water soluble compound in the Easter lily, as well as in the tiger lily and the Asiatic hybrid lily, that makes it harmful for cats.
Presenters at this event will review trends in sturgeon trade regulation over time, the history of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species interventions, and the current status of sturgeons and paddlefishes globally.
A team of conservationists writing in Science says relaxing a current moratorium on ivory sales to allow one-time sales by Zambia and Tanzania could lead to increased slaughter of elephants throughout Africa.
A Texas Tech University professor says this crocodile occasionally robbed from the Cradle of Mankind in Africa’s Olduvai Gorge.
Paul D. Curtis, Cornell University associate professor of Natural Resources, comments on the recent appearances of coyotes in Chelsea, on the Columbia University campus and other areas of New York City.
Observing the aerial maneuvers of fruit flies, Cornell University researchers have uncovered how the insects – when disturbed by sharp gusts of wind – right themselves and stay on course. Fruit flies use an automatic stabilizer reflex that helps them recover with precision from midflight stumbles.
Biologist Scott McRobert, Ph.D., professor of biology at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, Pa., developed "Fish Cam," an online site for students of all ages to research shoaling (grouping) behavior in fish.
Chris Palmer, director of American University’s Center for Environmental Filmmaking, is available to discuss whether wild animals—especially predators—should be kept in captivity.
Rangelands—During the past century, food production in the United States has achieved a remarkable degree of efficiency and the cost of food has remained low, but some of the conditions that made such a system possible are changing. Rising human population, water shortages, and depletion of fossil fuels all threaten current food production systems. In short, the era of cheap food may well be coming to an end.
A first-of-its-kind study of a Caspian Sea beluga sturgeon (Huso huso) fishery demonstrates current harvest rates are four to five times higher than those that would sustain population abundance. The study’s results, which will be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Conservation Biology, suggest that conservation strategies for beluga sturgeon should focus on reducing the overfishing of adults rather than heavily relying upon hatchery supplementation.
Georgia Tech researchers conducted the first field study showing how endangered loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings use their limbs to move quickly on a variety of terrains in order to reach the ocean.
Commentary in The Journal of Wildlife Management: Many state wildlife agencies are dependent, financially and politically, on a single user group—hunters. Although this group should continue to be an integral part of wildlife conservation, agencies should adhere to the foundation upon which they were built—stewardship of the public trust. The Public Trust Doctrine postulates that wildlife is owned by no one and held in trust for the benefit of all.
Which would be the most frightening to encounter in an African reserve—a pride of lions, a bus full of tourists, or a herd of cattle? In the case of spotted hyenas, the approach of livestock most often puts them on alert. But it is the human connection—herders bringing their livestock to graze—that is the root of the hyenas’ unease.
Winter Olympians have amazing physical abilities, but for wild animals, strength, speed, agility and endurance are a matter of survival. National Wildlife Federation offers some “Wildlife Olympians” with gold medal-worthy abilities!
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have peered deep into the eye of the chicken and found a masterpiece of biological design. Scientists discovered that receptors were laid out in interwoven mosaics that maximized the chicken's ability to see color.
Bees prefer nectar with small amounts of nicotine and caffeine over nectar that does not comprise these substances at all, a study from the University of Haifa reveals. "This could be an evolutionary development intended, as in humans, to make the bee addicted," states Prof. Ido Izhaki, one of the researchers who conducted the study.
New research by Mount Holyoke College professor Gary B. Gillis demonstrates toads anticipate the timing and impact of their landings and adjust the use of their arm muscles accordingly.
New research from the Weizmann Institute reveals that bats, which “see” with beams of sound waves, skew their beams off-center when they want to locate an object. The study shows that this strategy is the most efficient for locating objects.
RSS
Medicine keyboard_arrow_right
Sciencekeyboard_arrow_right
Life keyboard_arrow_right
Business keyboard_arrow_right
Journal News keyboard_arrow_right
By Location keyboard_arrow_right
Meetings, Grants, and Events keyboard_arrow_right