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Your guide to the latest conservation research.
Journal Watch Online
197 posts
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- September 2, 2010
- 11:02 AM
- 9 views
War & Fish
by Journal Watch Online in Journal Watch Online
War isn’t the answer — but it wasn’t so bad if you were a Scottish haddock. A 6-year pause in commercial fishing caused by World War II helped cod, haddock and whiting populations in Europe’s North Sea recover from years of pre-war exploitation, according to a new analysis. The “accidental” reserve suggests that cold-water fish […] Read More »... Read more »
Doug Beare , & Eddie McKenzie . (2010) An unintended experiment in fisheries science: a marine area protected by war results in Mexican waves in fish numbers-at-age. Naturwissenschaften. DOI: 10.1007/s00114-010-0696-5
- September 1, 2010
- 12:42 PM
- 151 views
Green-trification
by Journal Watch Online in Journal Watch Online
Nobody’s against cleaner, greener neighborhoods. But some social scientists have worried that cleaning up could end up clearing out the poor residents who often live around polluted sites. Now, a study from Portland, Oregon looks for a link between gentrification and environmental clean-up.
Researchers have long documented the impact of LULUs — “locally undesirable land […] Read More »... Read more »
Eckerd, Adam. (2010) Cleaning Up Without Clearing Out? A Spatial Assessment of Environmental Gentrification. Urban Affairs Review. DOI: 10.1177/1078087410379720
- August 31, 2010
- 02:58 PM
- 36 views
Unsafe Haven
by Journal Watch Online in Journal Watch Online
Being big and hairy is looking scary. The number of large mammals living in nearly 80 African reserves has dropped by more than half since the 1970s, according to a new study. Some reserves, however, appear to be helping big mammals hang on.
Protected areas (PAs) have become a major focus of conservation efforts around […] Read More »... Read more »
Craigie, I., Baillie, J., Balmford, A., Carbone, C., Collen, B., Green, R., & Hutton, J. (2010) Large mammal population declines in Africa’s protected areas. Biological Conservation, 143(9), 2221-2228. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2010.06.007
- August 30, 2010
- 07:32 AM
- 24 views
Pricing Protection
by Journal Watch Online in Journal Watch Online
Protecting ocean habitat can be a bit like buying laundry detergent: Better to buy in bulk. A first-ever effort to put a price tag on the cost of setting up new marine protected areas (MPAs) finds that costs can vary, but that bigger reserves deliver more bang for the buck. Researchers calculate that planners have […] Read More »... Read more »
McCrea-Strub, A., Zeller, D., Rashid Sumaila, U., Nelson, J., Balmford, A., & Pauly, D. (2010) Understanding the cost of establishing marine protected areas. Marine Policy. DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2010.07.001
- August 27, 2010
- 10:22 AM
- 53 views
Bog Versus Biofuel
by Journal Watch Online in Journal Watch Online
Could our growing thirst for biofuels swamp efforts to restore Europe’s wetlands? Not necessarily, finds a complex new analysis of how conservation, energy and farm policies can collide. But exactly how policymakers set the rules may make a big difference to the cost and effectiveness of efforts to protect and expand mires, marshes and bogs. […] Read More »... Read more »
Schleupner, C., & Schneider, U. (2010) Effects of bioenergy policies and targets on European wetland restoration options. Environmental Science . DOI: 10.1016/j.envsci.2010.07.005
- August 26, 2010
- 10:34 PM
- 29 views
Tadpole Ripples
by Journal Watch Online in Journal Watch Online
Tadpoles can leave ripples in a stream – even when they are gone. With a deadly fungus causing catastrophic declines in tropical frogs, many streams are losing their tadpoles. The loss of the wrigglers can subtly but significantly reorder stream ecosystems, find researchers who are studying the ecological aftermath in Panama.
The chytrid fungus has […] Read More »... Read more »
Colón-Gaud, C., Whiles, M., Lips, K., Pringle, C., Kilham, S., Connelly, S., Brenes, R., & Peterson, S. (2010) Stream invertebrate responses to a catastrophic decline in consumer diversity. Journal of the North American Benthological Society, 29(4), 1185-1198. DOI: 10.1899/09-102.1
- August 25, 2010
- 09:57 AM
- 41 views
Porcupine Laundry
by Journal Watch Online in Journal Watch Online
It’s a longstanding idea: Take pressure off wild animals threatened by overexploitation by encouraging farmers to raise and sell them. A new study from Vietnam, however, suggests that commercial farming is doing more harm than good for a porcupine that’s popular on the dinner plate. That’s partly because some farmers appear to be “laundering” porcupines […] Read More »... Read more »
Brooks, E., Roberton, S., & Bell, D. (2010) The conservation impact of commercial wildlife farming of porcupines in Vietnam. Biological Conservation. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2010.07.030
- August 24, 2010
- 09:03 AM
- 41 views
Flying Blind
by Journal Watch Online in Journal Watch Online
What you can’t see can kill you. Researchers investigating why some birds are especially prone to hitting power lines have discovered that they literally can’t see where they are flying. That means typical anti-collision efforts, such as hanging warning markers on transmission lines, won’t help fowl that fly blind.
The world’s 65 million kilometers of […] Read More »... Read more »
Martin, G., & Shaw, J. (2010) Bird collisions with power lines: Failing to see the way ahead?. Biological Conservation. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2010.07.014
- August 19, 2010
- 09:25 AM
- 48 views
Heroic Fungi
by Journal Watch Online in Journal Watch Online
Talk about your historic biodiversity. A polar hut built by famed Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton turns out to house an extraordinary array of fungi. The discovery could help conservators preserve the landmark structure, and offers new insights into life on a continent once viewed as barren.
Shackleton and his 15-member British Antarctic Expedition erected the […] Read More »... Read more »
Blanchette, R., Held, B., Arenz, B., Jurgens, J., Baltes, N., Duncan, S., & Farrell, R. (2010) An Antarctic Hot Spot for Fungi at Shackleton's Historic Hut on Cape Royds. Microbial Ecology, 60(1), 29-38. DOI: 10.1007/s00248-010-9664-z
- August 18, 2010
- 09:04 AM
- 50 views
Cash, Crops & Climate
by Journal Watch Online in Journal Watch Online
Climate change could hold some surprises for some of the world’s poorest people. Even under scenarios that envision widespread crop failures due to warming, farmers in some poor nations could benefit, according to a new study. The finding highlights how a shifting climate could ripple across the global economy in unexpected ways.
Numerous studies have […] Read More »... Read more »
Hertel, T., Burke, M., & Lobell, D. (2010) The poverty implications of climate-induced crop yield changes by 2030. Global Environmental Change. DOI: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2010.07.001
- August 16, 2010
- 07:40 AM
- 48 views
Beach House Chicks
by Journal Watch Online in Journal Watch Online
What could be better than a nice view of the surf, a little sand — and survival? Australian researchers have found that providing threatened shorebirds with simple A-frame “chick houses” made from plywood can dramatically increase the survival of young birds. But they aren’t sure exactly why the avian architecture helps.
The Hooded Plover (Thinornis […] Read More »... Read more »
MAGUIRE, G., DUIVENVOORDEN, A., WESTON, M., & ADAMS, R. (2010) Provision of artificial shelter on beaches is associated with improved shorebird fledging success. Bird Conservation International, 1-14. DOI: 10.1017/S0959270910000420
- August 15, 2010
- 01:38 PM
- 67 views
Mercury Rising
by Journal Watch Online in Journal Watch Online
Mercury is flowing with the melt. A new study from Sweden finds that thawing permafrost in a northern peat bog is releasing the toxic metal into a nearby lake. That pattern could become widespread as global temperatures rise, the authors warn.
Researchers have long known that the vast peatlands that ring the northern hemisphere are […] Read More »... Read more »
Rydberg, J., Klaminder, J., Rosén, P., & Bindler, R. (2010) Climate driven release of carbon and mercury from permafrost mires increases mercury loading to sub-arctic lakes. Science of The Total Environment. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.06.056
- August 12, 2010
- 01:41 PM
- 67 views
Dung Gone
by Journal Watch Online in Journal Watch Online
Scat. Dung. Droppings. Feces. Call it what you will, excrement is often treasured by wildlife biologists. It can tell scientists what an animal is eating, if it is healthy or sick, and each load carries a trove of identifying DNA. Tracking turds is also a longstanding, non-invasive method for monitoring rare, secretive species, such as […] Read More »... Read more »
Norris, D., & Michalski, F. (2010) Implications of faecal removal by dung beetles for scat surveys in a fragmented landscape of the Brazilian Amazon. Oryx, 44(03), 455-458. DOI: 10.1017/S0030605309990809
- August 11, 2010
- 10:17 AM
- 63 views
From Fire, Coral
by Journal Watch Online in Journal Watch Online
The destruction was epic. When the volcano Krakatau erupted on August 26, 1883 on an island in the Sunda Strait near Indonesia, molten rock flows caused the seas to boil. Layers of lava and ash up to 20 meters thick carpeted the seafloor, snuffing out all marine life within 15 kilometers of the peak. Now, […] Read More »... Read more »
Starger, C., Barber, P., Ambariyanto, ., & Baker, A. (2010) The recovery of coral genetic diversity in the Sunda Strait following the 1883 eruption of Krakatau. Coral Reefs, 29(3), 547-565. DOI: 10.1007/s00338-010-0609-2
- August 4, 2010
- 11:03 AM
- 47 views
In Cold Blood
by Journal Watch Online in Journal Watch Online
Even a big new reserve may not be enough to protect Spain’s threatened lizards, turtles and salamanders from climate change. Warming temperatures could dramatically restrict — or even eliminate – habitat for these cold-blooded “ecotherms,” which can’t regulate their body temperatures like “warm-blood” mammals and birds. The finding suggests conservationists need to take physiological differences […] Read More »... Read more »
Aragón, P., Rodríguez, M., Olalla-Tárraga, M., & Lobo, J. (2010) Predicted impact of climate change on threatened terrestrial vertebrates in central Spain highlights differences between endotherms and ectotherms. Animal Conservation, 13(4), 363-373. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-1795.2009.00343.x
- August 3, 2010
- 06:48 PM
- 54 views
One fish, two fish
by Journal Watch Online in Journal Watch Online
The great count is nearing its end. Marine researchers have unveiled the first tidal wave of data from the Census of Marine Life, a decade-long effort to survey all sea life. The dozen papers, published by PLOS One, begin to detail the thousands of known species – from fish to flatworms — that live in […] Read More »... Read more »
O'Dor, R., Miloslavich, P., & Yarincik, K. (2010) Marine Biodiversity and Biogeography – Regional Comparisons of Global Issues, an Introduction. PLoS ONE, 5(8). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0011871
- July 30, 2010
- 09:01 AM
- 94 views
Dead Zone Entrée
by Journal Watch Online in Journal Watch Online
You already know your carbon footprint. How about your “nitrogen footprint”? Researchers have calculated how much nitrogen pollution is produced by the production of common foods. Ultimately, they hope the approach might help consumers curb nutrient pollution that is creating oxygen-poor “dead zones” in many coastal seas.
Over the last few decades, researchers have documented […] Read More »... Read more »
Xue, X., & Landis, A. (2010) Eutrophication Potential of Food Consumption Patterns. Environmental Science , 2147483647. DOI: 10.1021/es9034478
- July 29, 2010
- 07:56 AM
- 81 views
Petro-cology
by Journal Watch Online in Journal Watch Online
If you thought the environmental problems associated with our dependence on oil were bad enough, just wait – the end of cheap oil could bring new and even more vexing ecological threats. That’s the message from three scholars making a provocative new call for ecologists to get more active in studying the implications of tightening […] Read More »... Read more »
CZÚCZ, B., GATHMAN, J., & McPHERSON, G. (2010) The Impending Peak and Decline of Petroleum Production: an Underestimated Challenge for Conservation of Ecological Integrity. Conservation Biology, 24(4), 948-956. DOI: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2010.01503.x
- July 28, 2010
- 01:03 PM
- 85 views
Plankton Doom?
by Journal Watch Online in Journal Watch Online
Climate change may be taking the bloom off the plankton. Researchers say they’ve found “unequivocal” evidence of long-term declines in the ocean’s teeming populations of microscropic algae, which form the base of the marine food web. Warming surface waters appear to be a main culprit, the researchers report in today’s Nature.
Scientists have long studied […] Read More »... Read more »
Boyce, D., Lewis, M., & Worm, B. (2010) Global phytoplankton decline over the past century. Nature, 466(7306), 591-596. DOI: 10.1038/nature09268
- July 27, 2010
- 01:48 PM
- 79 views
Breathing Fire
by Journal Watch Online in Journal Watch Online
Call it a hot topic. A study suggesting that intentional forest blazes could significantly cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from wildfires in the Western United States has prompted a piquant scholarly quarrel. The exchange highlights the challenge forest managers may face in balancing plans to use fire to restore forest ecosystems with efforts to curb […] Read More »... Read more »
Wiedinmyer, C., & Hurteau, M. (2010) Prescribed Fire As a Means of Reducing Forest Carbon Emissions in the Western United States. Environmental Science , 44(6), 1926-1932. DOI: 10.1021/es902455e
Meigs, G., & Campbell, J. (2010) Comment on “Prescribed Fire As a Means of Reducing Forest Carbon Emissions in the Western United States”. Environmental Science , 2147483647. DOI: 10.1021/es101595t
Hurteau, M., & Wiedinmyer, C. (2010) Response to Comment on “Prescribed Fire As a Means of Reducing Forest Carbon Emissions in the Western United States”. Environmental Science , 2147483647. DOI: 10.1021/es102186b
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