Ecology / Conservation posts
- April 5, 2013
- 11:00 AM
- 117 views
New Journal Celebrates Animal Stalking
by Elizabeth Preston in Inkfish
Christmas arrived early this year for people who love animals carrying transmitters around. A new open-access journal called Animal Biotelemetry launched this week, and it promises to bring new tales of mind-blowing bird migrations and seals that study climate change (without exactly having volunteered for the job). Also, sharks.
Published by BioMed Central, the journal will include all kinds of research having to do with biological data gathered by instruments attached to animals. Thi........ Read more »
Klimley, A. (2013) Why publish Animal Biotelemetry?. Animal Biotelemetry, 1(1), 1. DOI: 10.1186/2050-3385-1-1
- April 4, 2013
- 11:53 AM
- 130 views
Record-breaking 2011 Lake Erie algae bloom may be sign of things to come
by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge
The largest harmful algae bloom in Lake Erie’s recorded history was likely caused by the confluence of changing farming practices and weather conditions that are expected to become more common in the future due to climate change.... Read more »
Jim Erickson. (2013) Record-breaking 2011 Lake Erie algae bloom may be sign of things to come. University of Michigan News. info:/
- April 4, 2013
- 09:16 AM
- 107 views
Breakthrough in hydrogen fuel production could revolutionize alternative energy market
by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge
A team of Virginia Tech researchers has discovered a way to extract large quantities of hydrogen from any plant, a breakthrough that has the potential to bring a low-cost, environmentally friendly fuel source to the world.
“Our new process could help end our dependence on fossil fuels,” said Y.H. Percival Zhang, an associate professor of biological systems engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Engineering. “Hydrogen is one of the most........ Read more »
Zeke Barlow. (2013) Breakthrough in hydrogen fuel production could revolutionize alternative energy market. Virginia Tech News. info:/
- April 3, 2013
- 05:25 PM
- 112 views
How to protect lions?
by Colin Beale in Safari Ecology
Lions: just big kitties really! There have been a couple of lion stories in the news in the last week or two, and enough interest in them that I felt compelled to write something. First there was a paper by Craig Packer and many coauthors about lion populations in Africa, their current declines, and the possible role of fencing in protecting them. Then, shortly after, there was a letter in the New York Times by Tanzania's own Director of Wildlife, asking the US government not to list the lion as........ Read more »
Packer, C., Loveridge, A., Canney, S., Caro, T., Garnett, S., Pfeifer, M., Zander, K., Swanson, A., MacNulty, D., Balme, G.... (2013) Conserving large carnivores: dollars and fence. Ecology Letters. DOI: 10.1111/ele.12091
PACKER, C., BRINK, H., KISSUI, B., MALITI, H., KUSHNIR, H., & CARO, T. (2011) Effects of Trophy Hunting on Lion and Leopard Populations in Tanzania. Conservation Biology, 25(1), 142-153. DOI: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2010.01576.x
- April 3, 2013
- 10:53 AM
- 133 views
Risky Business: Ape Style
by Miss Behavior in The Scorpion and the Frog
The decisions of this chimpanzee living in the Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Sanctuary are affected by his social situation. Photo by Alex Rosati.If you have a choice between a prize that is awesome half the time and totally lame the other half of the time or a mediocre prize that is a sure-thing, which would you choose? Your choice probably depends on your personality somewhat. It may also depend on your needs and your mood. And it can depend on social contexts, like if you’re competing with someone........ Read more »
Rosati, A., & Hare, B. (2012) Decision making across social contexts: competition increases preferences for risk in chimpanzees and bonobos. Animal Behaviour, 84(4), 869-879. DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.07.010
- April 3, 2013
- 09:32 AM
- 103 views
Video Tip of the Week: Phytozome and the Peach Genome
We’ve laughed in the past about a “genome of the day” because there are so many projects each week that we want to explore, and it’s hard to keep up. But recently I wanted to have a look at the peach genome project, because–well, peaches! And the summary papers are nice. But generally I want [...]... Read more »
Verde, I., Abbott, A., Scalabrin, S., Jung, S., Shu, S., Marroni, F., Zhebentyayeva, T., Dettori, M., Grimwood, J., Cattonaro, F.... (2013) The high-quality draft genome of peach (Prunus persica) identifies unique patterns of genetic diversity, domestication and genome evolution. Nature Genetics. DOI: 10.1038/ng.2586
Goodstein, D., Shu, S., Howson, R., Neupane, R., Hayes, R., Fazo, J., Mitros, T., Dirks, W., Hellsten, U., Putnam, N.... (2011) Phytozome: a comparative platform for green plant genomics. Nucleic Acids Research, 40(D1). DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkr944
- April 1, 2013
- 04:17 PM
- 55 views
Rebellion! Enslaved ants fight back against their captors
by Sam Hardman in Ecologica
Parasitism is the most common lifestyle on earth, be it plant, animal or fungi virtually all species are affected by it. It may be slightly morbid but there is something [...]... Read more »
Pamminger Tobias, Leingärtner Annette, Achenbach Alexandra, Kleeberg Isabelle, Pennings Pleuni S., & Foitzik Susanne. (2013) Geographic distribution of the anti-parasite trait “slave rebellion”. Evolutionary Ecology, 27(1), 39-49. DOI: 10.1007/s10682-012-9584-0
- April 1, 2013
- 11:29 AM
- 128 views
Why Fish Raise Foster Kids (and Give Up Their Own)
by Elizabeth Preston in Inkfish
A fish swims along a sandy lake bottom, carrying one of its babies in its mouth. It approaches the nesting cave of another family of fish. With a furtive "ptooey," it leaves the baby behind for adoption. For certain fish, this seems to be a common scene: giving up your young and taking on others' may be the best way to ensure your offspring grow past snack size.
The fish in question is Neolamprologus caudopunctatus, a type of cichlid (pronounced like a compliment for someone's hat).* Ju........ Read more »
Schaedelin, F., van Dongen, W., & Wagner, R. (2012) Nonrandom brood mixing suggests adoption in a colonial cichlid. Behavioral Ecology, 24(2), 540-546. DOI: 10.1093/beheco/ars195
- March 31, 2013
- 07:45 AM
- 144 views
How to Catch A Dragon
by Gunnar de Winter in United Academics
How do you catch a dragon? Do you go looking for a brave knight to send forth on a difficult quest? Or a legendary hunter without fear?
No. You use cameras to capture their image.
To be clear, the dragons we’re talking about here are Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis), the largest living lizards, which can be found on some Indonesian islands and can reach a length of 3 meters. Their size, along with the absence of large mammalian carnivores on the islands, makes them apex predators........ Read more »
Ariefiandy, A., Purwandana, D., Seno, A., Ciofi, C., & Jessop, T. (2013) Can Camera Traps Monitor Komodo Dragons a Large Ectothermic Predator?. PLoS ONE, 8(3). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0058800
- March 29, 2013
- 07:15 PM
- 132 views
Getting to the Roots (and Fungi) of Carbon Sequestration
by Melissa Chernick in Science Storiented
This week, I found a paper that I’m calling the best of both worlds. Well, for me at least. This paper combines my past (and lingering) interest in island biogeography with a current interest in climate change and carbon storage.If you have been reading my blog long enough then you already know my love of islands. They are just so darn useful. In the past, I have focused on oceanic islands, but lake islands are also really neat. These types of islands typically form when lower lying land........ Read more »
Clemmensen, K., Bahr, A., Ovaskainen, O., Dahlberg, A., Ekblad, A., Wallander, H., Stenlid, J., Finlay, R., Wardle, D., & Lindahl, B. (2013) Roots and Associated Fungi Drive Long-Term Carbon Sequestration in Boreal Forest. Science, 339(6127), 1615-1618. DOI: 10.1126/science.1231923
- March 29, 2013
- 04:51 PM
- 35 views
Farmed mink escapee?
by Denise O'Meara in A dribble of knowledge
We recently picked up an unusual looking American mink in Waterford, Ireland...... Read more »
C. Douglas Deane and Fergus O'Gorman. (1969) The Spread of Feral Mink in Ireland. The Irish Naturalists' Journal . info:/
Zalewski, A., Michalska-Parda, A., Ratkiewicz, M., Kozakiewicz, M., Bartoszewicz, M., & Brzeziński, M. (2011) High mitochondrial DNA diversity of an introduced alien carnivore: comparison of feral and ranch American mink Neovison vison in Poland. Diversity and Distributions, 17(4), 757-768. DOI: 10.1111/j.1472-4642.2011.00767.x
- March 29, 2013
- 09:21 AM
- 100 views
The Wisdom of Wolves: A Reason for Hope
by Kimberly Moynahan in Endless Forms Most Beautiful
As the reader will discover, the wolves—given just a fragment of chance and space—wove a story while we, with our supposedly vast powers of imagination, did well to just sit back and watch and learn. –Rick Bass, Preface to the Mariner Books edition of The Ninemile Wolves (2003) This post is a final analysis of [...]... Read more »
Axelsson, E., Ratnakumar, A., Arendt, M., Maqbool, K., Webster, M., Perloski, M., Liberg, O., Arnemo, J., Hedhammar, �., & Lindblad-Toh, K. (2013) The genomic signature of dog domestication reveals adaptation to a starch-rich diet. Nature, 495(7441), 360-364. DOI: 10.1038/nature11837
- March 28, 2013
- 06:10 AM
- 138 views
Message in a bottle
by Perikis Livas in Tracing Knowledge
The oceans have long accumulated the waste products of civilization. Dumping at sea is banned, but to protect the marine environment we must also monitor litter on coastal lands and rivers.... Read more »
Nature Geoscience Editorial. (2013) Message in a bottle. Nature Geoscience, 6(4), 241-241. DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1798
- March 26, 2013
- 06:00 PM
- 99 views
Wildlife Wednesday: Whio ducklings
by Amy Whitehead in Amy Whitehead's Research
These whio (pronounced “fee-0”) ducklings were just a few days old when I took this photo. They were some of the lucky ones, hatching in a river valley where introduced predators were kept at low numbers due to the hard … Continue reading →... Read more »
WHITEHEAD, A., EDGE, K-A., SMART, A., HILL, G., & WILLANS, M. (2008) Large scale predator control improves the productivity of a rare New Zealand riverine duck. Biological Conservation, 141(11), 2784-2794. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2008.08.013
WHITEHEAD, A., ELLIOTT, G., & MCINTOSH, A. (2010) Large-scale predator control increases population viability of a rare New Zealand riverine duck. Austral Ecology, 35(7), 722-730. DOI: 10.1111/j.1442-9993.2009.02079.x
- March 26, 2013
- 11:32 AM
- 153 views
Good Coot Parents Let Kids Starve, Make It Up to Them Later
by Elizabeth Preston in Inkfish
Too many mouths to feed? Just make your babies fight each other to the death! That's a strategy some bird parents have been using since even before The Hunger Games was popular. It means the strongest chicks get stronger while the weakest ones conveniently stop showing up to the table.
One type of bird takes this family drama a step further: after letting the biggest chicks bully their siblings for a while, parents suddenly decide the runts are their favorites and begin beating up ........ Read more »
Shizuka, D., & Lyon, B. (2013) Family dynamics through time: brood reduction followed by parental compensation with aggression and favouritism. Ecology Letters, 16(3), 315-322. DOI: 10.1111/ele.12040
- March 25, 2013
- 01:11 PM
- 147 views
How Eating Monkey Meat Leads to Less Fruit
by Katja Keuchenius in United Academics
In Africa people eat monkey meat for the protein it contains. You can guess this is bad news for the monkey population, but it actually has far bigger consequences for the whole forrest and eventually for humans themselves. It could lead to less fruits and nuts, typically those that men also eat, like mango’s.... Read more »
Effiom EO, Nuñez-Iturri G, Smith HG, Ottosson U, & Olsson O. (2013) Bushmeat hunting changes regeneration of African rainforests. Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society, 280(1759), 20130246. PMID: 23516245
- March 25, 2013
- 11:55 AM
- 149 views
Clean Coal Gets a Sponge
by Whitney Campbell in Green Screen
Over the course of hundreds of millions of years, the combustible, black rock we call coal was formed from the vast peat bogs of flooded forests. For centuries, people have burned lumps of coal for smoky fuel, such that opposition to its pollution had been voiced as early as the fourteenth century. Today, as anti-coal movements emphasize a role in climate change and miners cope with unemployment, a novel, microporous material may challenge objections to coal by cleaning up its carbon emissions.... Read more »
Lyndon R, Konstas K, Ladewig BP, Southon PD, Kepert PC, & Hill MR. (2013) Dynamic photo-switching in metal-organic frameworks as a route to low-energy carbon dioxide capture and release. Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English). PMID: 23401101
Baxter PJ, Kapila M, & Mfonfu D. (1989) Lake Nyos disaster, Cameroon, 1986: the medical effects of large scale emission of carbon dioxide?. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 1437-1441. PMID: 2502283
Ahern MM, Hendryx M, Conley J, Fedorko E, Ducatman A, & Zullig KJ. (2011) The association between mountaintop mining and birth defects among live births in central Appalachia, 1996-2003. Environmental research, 838-46. PMID: 21689813
Hendryx M, Wolfe L, Luo J, & Webb B. (2012) Self-reported cancer rates in two rural areas of West Virginia with and without mountaintop coal mining. Journal of community health, 320-327. PMID: 21786205
- March 24, 2013
- 02:25 PM
- 275 views
Demystifying De-Extinction
by David Steen in Living Alongside Wildlife
The following article is a guest post by David Jachowski. Dr. Jachowski is an instructor at Virginia Tech and conducts research in the United States, Africa and southeast Asia on the conservation and restoration of wildlife. You can find more information about his research on his website:
So maybe genetically recreating the Woolly Mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) is a bad
idea. Long ... Read more »
Hansen, D., Donlan, C., Griffiths, C., & Campbell, K. (2010) Ecological history and latent conservation potential: large and giant tortoises as a model for taxon substitutions. Ecography. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0587.2010.06305.x
Josh Donlan C, Berger J, Bock CE, Bock JH, Burney DA, Estes JA, Foreman D, Martin PS, Roemer GW, Smith FA.... (2006) Pleistocene rewilding: an optimistic agenda for twenty-first century conservation. The American Naturalist, 168(5), 660-81. PMID: 17080364
- March 22, 2013
- 07:08 PM
- 167 views
Wind Turbine Noise Is Harmless, Study Shows
by dailyfusion in The Daily Fusion
A new study, done by scientists at The University of Nottingham, however, has found no link between the ‘measured’ level of noise from small and micro wind turbines and reports of ill health.... Read more »
Taylor, J., Eastwick, C., Lawrence, C., & Wilson, R. (2013) Noise levels and noise perception from small and micro wind turbines. Renewable Energy, 120-127. DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2012.11.031
Taylor, J., Eastwick, C., Wilson, R., & Lawrence, C. (2013) The influence of negative oriented personality traits on the effects of wind turbine noise. Personality and Individual Differences, 54(3), 338-343. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2012.09.018
- March 22, 2013
- 03:36 PM
- 155 views
Study Looks At Costs & Benefits of Switchgrass
by dailyfusion in The Daily Fusion
A new study by U.S. Department of Agriculture scientists provides an extensive analysis of costs and benefits of replacing home oil heating systems with switchgrass pellets powered ones.... Read more »
Wilson, T., McNeal, F., Spatari, S., G. Abler, D., & Adler, P. (2012) Densified Biomass Can Cost-Effectively Mitigate Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Address Energy Security in Thermal Applications. Environmental Science , 46(2), 1270-1277. DOI: 10.1021/es202752b
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