One problem confronting the oil industry is that extracted mineral oil (due to increasing scarcity) is becoming heavier and ’dirtier’. This is reflected, for instance, in a higher content of aromatics (which among other things lead to soot emissions during combustion in diesel engines) and of sulphur (which among things causes acid rain). At the same time, the global ceilings for aromatics and sulphur content in fuels are becoming increasingly strict.
The Delft-based PhD studen
Like an armada of small rototillers, female salmon can industriously churn up entire stream beds from end to end, sometimes more than once, using just their tails.
For decades ecologists have believed that salmon nest-digging triggered only local effects. But a University of Washington researcher writes in this month’s BioScience journal that the silt, minerals and nutrients that are unleashed have ecosystemwide effects, causing changes in rivers and lakes far from the nests.
Ecologists used to think of prey as the most important factor governing the structure of predator communities. However, over the past twenty years, they have increasingly recognized the importance of interspecific killing – carnivores killing carnivores – in determining ecology and behavior. A new study by Emiliano Donadio and Steven W. Buskirk (University of Wyoming), forthcoming from The American Naturalist, explores which carnivores are most likely to participate in these interactions, and w
Effects could extend from base of food chain to native hunters
Physical changes–including rising air and seawater temperatures and decreasing seasonal ice cover–appear to be the cause of a series of biological changes in the northern Bering Sea ecosystem that could have long-range and irreversible effects on the animals that live there and on the people who depend on them for their livelihoods.
In a paper published March 10 in the journal Science, a team of U.S. and
Natural rubber is currently technically unavoidable for some purposes, despite the competition from synthetic rubber. Most notably, it accounts for 75% of the rubber used in the tyre industry. However, although Hevea brasiliensis originated in the Amazon Basin, rubber growing has only really developed in Asia and Africa. In Latin America, “South American leaf disease”, caused by the fungus Microcyclus ulei, has until now totally prevented the development of rubber growing, or at least almost tota
Oil palm is the most widely produced and consumed vegetable oil in developing countries. With around 3.3 tonnes per hectare per year, it is 7 or 8 times more productive than soybean oil. Palm and soybean are the most widely consumed oils worldwide. Indonesia and Malaysia are the world’s leading palm oil producers, with 12 and 14 million tonnes of oil per year respectively. However, a soil fungus, Ganoderma boninense, which causes basal stem rot in oil palms, devastates thousands of hectares
In a guest editorial published in the March-April issue of the international journal Ground Water, hydrologists in Louisiana suggest adoption of evolving management plans that recognize engineering, economic and hydrologic realities is key to sustainable development of the Louisiana coastline.
Authors Richard F. Keim and William J. Blanford state that historical hydrological management of the Mississippi River and its delta is partially responsible for the increased vulnerabilit
At the behest of the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority SFT), a 20-year long study of ecotoxins in seabird eggs has been carried out by the Norwegian Polar Institute in collaboration with Tromsø Museum (of the University of Tromsø), the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science and the National Veterinary Institute of Norway.
Eggs from herring gulls (Larus argentatus), glaucus gulls (L. hyperboreus), black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) and puffins (Fratercula arctica), collected fr
A major conservation effort, led by Dr Brendan Godley of the University of Exeter, has just got underway to help protect endangered leatherback turtles which nest in Gabon, West Africa. The region is thought to be the animals’ last global stronghold, as pacific populations dwindle precariously.
It’s hoped the project, to tag and track the animals, will uncover their migratory secrets and provide the basis for efforts to safeguard them. After fitting them with satelli
An international team, composed of Malagasy and European researchers, has just discovered three new species of lemurs, small primates endemic to Madagascar.
The work carried out by this international team has enabled the identification of three new species of lemur based on the characteristics of their mitochondrial DNA : Lepilemur randrianasoli, L. aeeclis and L. sahamalazensis. They were discovered in the West and North West of Madagascar, bringing the number of species of lemu
Threatened species are characterized by declining and eventually small numbers of individuals. Once a population has been reduced below a certain level, its chances of recovery are slim.
This size is commonly referred to as a ‘minimum viable population’, or MVP. But is there one size that fits all species, or are MVPs more idiosyncratic?
Many have shown that the relative susceptibility of species to human-caused decline and extinction can be predicted by traits such as body size
Conservationists should be acting now to protect mammals such as North American reindeer which risk extinction in the future as the human population grows, according to research published today.
The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals areas with the potential to lose species that are not presently in danger. Species in these ’hotspots’ have a latent risk of extinction; that is, they are currently less threatened than thei
An international team of researchers has headed into the field for one of the most complex campaigns ever undertaken in atmospheric chemistry: a month-long investigation of air pollution as it flows downwind from Mexico City.
The scientists expect that their assessment of the pollution’s impact on regional and global air quality, climate and ecosystems will be applicable to megacities–cities with 10 million or more inhabitants–in locations around the world.
The p
An extensive study on the Indo-Pacific coral reefs, about to be published in the 2nd of March issue of the journal Nature[1] challenges the present conservation protocols for these organism and calls for important changes in the way that protected areas are being established all over the world, in order to be able to stop the present (fast) rate of extinction observed in coral reefs.
A major ongoing discussion in ecology is what determines the biodiversity (which species and i
A team of researchers from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and other institutions is heading to Mexico City to participate in one of the most complex field campaigns ever undertaken in atmospheric chemistry. From March 1 to 29, the team will make multiple research flights in the NSF/NCAR C-130 aircraft and operate ground instruments to investigate the chemical and physical transformation of air pollution as it flows downwind from Mexico City.
The team’s goa
A fake peregrine and a radar-activated cannon work better at keeping birds away from oil sands tailings than the current system, says new research from the University of Alberta.
Oil sands mining is one of several industrial activities that produces waste dangerous to waterfowl. The birds, such as ducks, geese and swans, are attracted to freshwater ponds for foraging, roosting and nesting, and as stopover sites during migration. Spring migration is a particular problem in nort
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