Ecology / Conservation posts
- June 23, 2011
- 06:45 PM
- 887 views
Brown Long-Eared Bat Rediscovered on Isles of Scilly
by Anne-Marie Hodge in Endless Forms
What is better than catching an animal that belongs to a species thought to have been extirpated for half a century? Discovering that the animal is a pregnant female, of course. With species going extinct at unprecedented rates across the...... Read more »
Eklof, J. (2003) Use of vision in prey detection by brown long-eared bats, Plecotus auritus. Animal Behaviour, 66(5), 949-953. DOI: 10.1006/anbe.2003.2272
- June 23, 2011
- 05:00 AM
- 912 views
Beads Fall Into Burrows: Can You Dig It?
by Megsie in Fishpond Fever
While we are busying ourselves aboveground, marching around, measuring things, and generally living our terrestrial lives, there is a whole lot of activity going on beneath our feet: an underworld bristling with burrowers, both on land and at sea. This world is fascinating, and we also have a hard time truly comprehending it, or seeing what goes on. Burrowing also has an incredible important role in ecology.
The term “bioturbator” refers to any animal that moves sediment.
In soft s........ Read more »
Smith, C.R., & Kukert, H. (1996) Macrobenthic Community Structure, Secondary Production, and Rates of Bioturbation and Sedimentation at the Kane'ohe Bay Lagoon Floor. Pacific Science, 50(2), 211-229. info:/
- June 22, 2011
- 09:03 AM
- 1,139 views
Fighting Cancer with Bacteria
by Paige Brown in From The Lab Bench
With this second post in a blog series covering the St. Louis Imaging Sciences Pathway (ISP) Retreat, we will see the research of a graduate student who works on a particularly bug-y form of cancer diagnosis and treatment. By bug-y, I don't mean problematic; I mean the actual use of bacteria to track down and potentially even treat tumors in the human body.... Read more »
Flentie KN, Qi M, Gammon ST, Razia Y, Lui F, Marpegan L, Manglik A, Piwnica-Worms D, & McKinney JS. (2008) Stably integrated luxCDABE for assessment of Salmonella invasion kinetics. Molecular imaging, 7(5), 222-33. PMID: 19123992
Leschner S, & Weiss S. (2010) Salmonella-allies in the fight against cancer. Journal of molecular medicine (Berlin, Germany), 88(8), 763-73. PMID: 20526574
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- June 21, 2011
- 01:59 PM
- 1,286 views
Can Cottonmouths Bite Underwater?
by David Steen in Living Alongside Wildlife
Yes.
A few years ago, I was asked to comment on a proposed snake exhibit in a local nature-themed education center. The exhibit was going to be a large swampy area, complete with water snakes, Cottonmouths, and various other wetland reptiles, like turtles. Although I personally would have enjoyed viewing such a display, I warned those at the nature center that ... Read more »
Vincent, S., Herrel, A., & Irschick, D. (2004) Sexual dimorphism in head shape and diet in the cottonmouth snake (Agkistrodon piscivorus). Journal of Zoology, 264(1), 53-59. DOI: 10.1017/S0952836904005503
- June 21, 2011
- 01:09 PM
- 838 views
The oceans rise, even as they decline... so long, fish!
by Madhu in Reconciliation Ecology
Two interesting, alarming reports this week about what's happening (no small thanks to us) to the dominant habitat on this watery planet. First, that habitat is becoming even more dominant: a paper...
... Read more »
Kemp, A., Horton, B., Donnelly, J., Mann, M., Vermeer, M., & Rahmstorf, S. (2011) Climate related sea-level variations over the past two millennia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1015619108
- June 21, 2011
- 12:44 PM
- 694 views
What can cities do about climate change?
by James Keirstead in James Keirstead.ca
A review of actions taken by the C40 Cities network shows that not all cities own and operate key parts of their urban infrastructure. This means that if they are going to achieve their ambitious climate change and energy policy goals, then they will need to work together with other levels of government, private sector partners, and civil society.... Read more »
Keirstead, J., & Schulz, N. (2010) London and beyond: Taking a closer look at urban energy policy. Energy Policy, 38(9), 4870-4879. DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2009.07.025
- June 21, 2011
- 12:28 PM
- 480 views
The oceans rise, even as they decline... so long, fish!
by Madhusudan Katti in a leafwarbler's gleanings
Two interesting, alarming reports this week about what's happening (no small thanks to us) to the dominant habitat on this watery planet. First, that habitat is becoming even more dominant: a paper in PNAS meticulously reconstructs global sea-levels over the past two millenia to show that the oceans have been steadily rising, in concert with climatic changes, and that their rise has accelerated in recent years. This figure ought to worry you:
via realclimate.org
Meanwhile, though........ Read more »
Kemp, A., Horton, B., Donnelly, J., Mann, M., Vermeer, M., & Rahmstorf, S. (2011) Climate related sea-level variations over the past two millennia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1015619108
- June 21, 2011
- 12:28 PM
- 514 views
The oceans rise, even as they decline... so long, fish!
by Madhusudan Katti in a leafwarbler's gleanings
Two interesting, alarming reports this week about what's happening (no small thanks to us) to the dominant habitat on this watery planet. First, that habitat is becoming even more dominant: a paper in PNAS meticulously reconstructs global sea-levels over the past two millenia to show that the oceans have been steadily rising, in concert with climatic changes, and that their rise has accelerated in recent years. This figure ought to worry you:
via realclimate.org
Meanwhile, though........ Read more »
Kemp, A., Horton, B., Donnelly, J., Mann, M., Vermeer, M., & Rahmstorf, S. (2011) Climate related sea-level variations over the past two millennia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1015619108
- June 21, 2011
- 12:05 PM
- 790 views
Carbon dioxide could fight global warming
by Charles Harvey in Charles Harvey - Science Communicator
Carbon sequestration and geothermal energy could be combined together in a system that could produce electricity with a negative carbon footprint.... Read more »
Randolph, J., & Saar, M. (2011) Combining geothermal energy capture with geologic carbon dioxide sequestration. Geophysical Research Letters, 38(10). DOI: 10.1029/2011GL047265
- June 21, 2011
- 07:45 AM
- 853 views
Share it or spare it?
by Julie Craves in Coffee & Conservation
Intensifying production while conserving biodiversity Food security and the ability of agricultural lands to feed over 9 billion people by 2050 is an increasingly-discussed topic. Part of this issue is [...]
... Read more »
Fischer, J., Brosi, B., Daily, G., Ehrlich, P., Goldman, R., Goldstein, J., Lindenmayer, D., Manning, A., Mooney, H., Pejchar, L.... (2008) Should agricultural policies encourage land sparing or wildlife-friendly farming?. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 6(7), 380-385. DOI: 10.1890/070019
Green, R. (2005) Farming and the Fate of Wild Nature. Science, 307(5709), 550-555. DOI: 10.1126/science.1106049
Phalan, B., Balmford, A., Green, R.E., & Scharlemann, J.P.W. (2011) Minimising the harm to biodiversity of producing more food globallystar, open. Food Policy. info:/dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2010.11.008
Rice, R. (1999) A Place Unbecoming: The Coffee Farm of Northern Latin America. Geographical Review, 89(4), 554. DOI: 10.2307/216102
- June 20, 2011
- 10:41 PM
- 1,439 views
101 Uses of Shark Puke
by Chuck in Ya Like Dags?
Earlier today WhySharksMatter and I had a little light-hearted smack talk about new-school (stable isotopes) vs. old-school (gastric lavage or straight-up dissection) methods of measuring the diet of sharks. These are the things you could be privy to if you were following me on that newfangled Twitter thing (at “press time” I only have 113 followers so there’s still room to get in on the ground floor). This coincided with/provided procrastination during one of my occasional l........ Read more »
Link, J., & Ford, M. (2006) Widespread and persistent increase of Ctenophora in the continental shelf ecosystem off NE USA. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 153-159. DOI: 10.3354/meps320153
Markaida, U., & Sosa-Nishizaki, O. (2010) Food and feeding habits of the blue shark Prionace glauca caught off Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, with a review on its feeding. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 90(05), 977-994. DOI: 10.1017/S0025315409991597
- June 20, 2011
- 04:33 PM
- 875 views
Are Rattlesnakes Rattling Less Because of Hogs?
by David Steen in Living Alongside Wildlife
In the past few months, I’ve received the following e-mail (or some similar version) several times. Generally, the scene is set in Texas (Coleman), but recently the location was switched to Georgia (Ohoopee River, Vidalia, or Lyons).
“We have killed 57 rattlesnakes on two separate ranches this year. 24 @South bend & 33 @ Murray , since mid May. Not one has buzzed! We provoked one fair sized boy ... Read more »
Means, D., & Travis, J. (2007) Declines in Ravine-inhabiting Dusky Salamanders of the Southeastern US Coastal Plain. Southeastern Naturalist, 6(1), 83-96. DOI: 10.1656/1528-7092(2007)6[83:DIRDSO]2.0.CO;2
Jolley, D., Ditchkoff, S., Sparklin, B., Hanson, L., Mitchell, M., & Grand, J. (2010) Estimate of herpetofauna depredation by a population of wild pigs. Journal of Mammalogy, 91(2), 519-524. DOI: 10.1644/09-MAMM-A-129.1
Place, A., & Abramson, C. (2008) Habituation of the Rattle Response in Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes, Crotalus atrox. Copeia, 2008(4), 835-843. DOI: 10.1643/CE-06-246
- June 19, 2011
- 08:15 AM
- 1,241 views
Malaria: Visually charting our progress
by bug_girl in Bug Girl's Blog
When I was looking up something for last week’s rant, I discovered this map, which shows the progress that has been made in fighting Malaria. Sometimes, I think it’s easy to forget that while a lot remains to be done, there also has been a lot of success. The top map (a) is the extent [...]... Read more »
Gething, P., Smith, D., Patil, A., Tatem, A., Snow, R., & Hay, S. (2010) Climate change and the global malaria recession. Nature, 465(7296), 342-345. DOI: 10.1038/nature09098
- June 18, 2011
- 02:09 PM
- 901 views
Sizing up the world’s major biofuel crops
by Paul Spraycar in Agriculture & Land Use Forum
With demand for biofuels expected to soar in the coming decades, it’s worth asking whether the environmental benefits of biofuels are really all they’re cracked up to be.
Varied production systems, climates and growing conditions make apples to apples comparisons difficult, but a recent paper, published in Biomass & Bioenergy in January 2010, attempts to answer the question of which biofuel crops are environmentally sustainable.
The analysis considers only commonly used (&lsquo........ Read more »
de Vries, S., van de Ven, G., van Ittersum, M., & Giller, K. (2010) Resource use efficiency and environmental performance of nine major biofuel crops, processed by first-generation conversion techniques. Biomass and Bioenergy, 34(5), 588-601. DOI: 10.1016/j.biombioe.2010.01.001
- June 18, 2011
- 11:40 AM
- 1,218 views
Soybean industrial production is bulldozing pre-Columbian archaeological sites in the Bolivian Amazon and nobody gives a damn
by Umberto in Up and Down in Moxos
The journal Applied Geography and the journal Land Use Policy have recently published two papers, “Spatiotemporal modeling of the expansion of mechanized agriculture in the Bolivian lowland forests” and “Deforestation dynamics and policy changes in Bolivia’s post-neoliberal era” respectively, that depict a desolating panorama. The rate of deforestation under Evo Morales’ government is even higher than it was during the previous governments. Muller et al. say that “While overall dyn........ Read more »
Daniel Redo, Andrew C. Millington, & Derrick Hindery. (2011) Deforestation dynamics and policy changes in Bolivia’s post-neoliberal era. Land Use Policy. info:/10.1016/j.landusepol.2010.06.004
Robert Müller, Daniel Müller, Florian Schierhorn, & Gerhard Gerold. (2011) Spatiotemporal modeling of the expansion of mechanized agriculture in the Bolivian lowland forests. Applied Geography. info:/10.1016/j.apgeog.2010.11.018
Umberto Lombardo, & Heiko Prümers. (2010) Pre-Columbian human occupation patterns in the eastern plains of the Llanos de Moxos, Bolivian Amazonia. Journal of Archaeological Science. DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2010.02.011
- June 17, 2011
- 10:34 PM
- 1,463 views
Seven new species of Philippine forest mice (Genus: Apomys) discovered
by nath in Imprints of Philippine Science
In early 2000, a team of Filipino and American scientists headed by L.R. Heaney conducted a comprehensive survey of Luzon mammals. Recently, they presented seven new species in the genus Apomys which were identifed from this expedition. They also proposed a new subgenus Megapomys based on the morphological and DNA data of the 10 already known species and the 7 new ones.... Read more »
Heaney, L., Balete, D., Rickart, E., Alviola, P., Duya, M., Duya, M., Veluz, M., VandeVrede, L., & Steppan, S. (2011) Chapter 1: Seven New Species and a New Subgenus of Forest Mice (Rodentia: Muridae: Apomys) from Luzon Island. Fieldiana Life and Earth Sciences, 1-60. DOI: 10.3158/2158-5520-2.1.1
- June 14, 2011
- 08:56 AM
- 1,263 views
The Circle of Life (and how Jellyfish screw it up)
by Holly Bik in Deep Sea News
Mufasa was right. We’re all intertwined. Whether we humans like to admit it or not, every action by a living organism on Earth has repercussions. (And yes, you can lump in viruses and prions because I’m not getting into a philosophical debate about what constitutes ‘living’). Run, Harry! You don't want to catch Irukandji . . . → Read More: The Circle of Life (and how Jellyfish screw it up)... Read more »
Condon, R., Steinberg, D., del Giorgio, P., Bouvier, T., Bronk, D., Graham, W., & Ducklow, H. (2011) Jellyfish blooms result in a major microbial respiratory sink of carbon in marine systems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1015782108
Richardson, A., Bakun, A., Hays, G., & Gibbons, M. (2009) The jellyfish joyride: causes, consequences and management responses to a more gelatinous future. Trends in Ecology , 24(6), 312-322. DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2009.01.010
Parsons, T.R., & Lalli, C.M. (2002) Jellyfish population explosions: revisiting a hypothesis of possible causes. La Mer, 111-121. info:/
- June 14, 2011
- 05:28 AM
- 1,184 views
Highlights from ISIE 2011
by James Keirstead in James Keirstead.ca
Last week was the biennial conference of the International Society of Industrial Ecology, held at the lovely University of California Berkeley. At four days, plus an extra workshop for the Sustainable Urban Systems section, it was a long event but the week went quickly with a number of excellent talks and interesting attendees. Here are some of my highlights.... Read more »
Steinberger, J., & Roberts, J. (2010) From constraint to sufficiency: The decoupling of energy and carbon from human needs, 1975–2005. Ecological Economics, 70(2), 425-433. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2010.09.014
- June 13, 2011
- 11:33 PM
- 1,226 views
Computers and Electrifying Bacteria
by Paige Brown in From The Lab Bench
Computer-based simulations that use an organism's hereditary information are revealing previously unknown but essential life functions of special bacteria that can be modified to help clean our water and produce electricity for our alternative energy needs... Read more »
Mahadevan R, Palsson BØ, & Lovley DR. (2011) In situ to in silico and back: elucidating the physiology and ecology of Geobacter spp. using genome-scale modelling. Nature reviews. Microbiology, 9(1), 39-50. PMID: 21132020
- June 13, 2011
- 04:31 PM
- 782 views
Protecting Fishermen, not just fish
by Rebecca Nesbit in The birds, the bees and feeding the world
Creating a marine protection area isn't just about protecting fish stocks and keeping people out; it's about the livelihoods of fishermen and their communities. Food security and incomes depend on their careful management.
... Read more »
Peterson A, & Stead S. (2011) Rule breaking and livelihood options in marine protected areas. Environmental Conservation. info:/10.1017/S0376892911000178
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