In 75 years’ time, the UK could be plagued by fly populations 250% up on today’s levels if forecasts of climate change prove accurate, ecologists have warned. Writing in a special climate change issue of the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Applied Ecology, Dave Goulson and colleagues from the University of Southampton found that if the worst case scenario for climate change occurs – a 5 deg C rise in temperature by 2080 – house fly numbers in the UK could explode.
Studie
Authors call for urgent reform of agency practices to improve ecological monitoring
Massive dredge-and-fill projects have become a common method of combating shoreline erosion as sea level rises and major storms become more common. Such “beach nourishment” projects deposit millions of cubic meters of fill in beach systems. This can bury shallow reefs and degrade other beach habitats, depressing nesting in sea turtles and reducing the densities of prey for shorebirds, fishes, and cra
Australian researchers have found Envisat’s MERIS sensor can detect coral bleaching down to ten metres deep. This means Envisat could potentially monitor impacted coral reefs worldwide on a twice-weekly basis.
Coral bleaching happens when symbiotic algae living in symbiosis with living coral polyps (and providing them their distinctive colours) are expelled. The whitening coral may die with subsequent impacts on the reef ecosystem, and thus fisheries, regional tourism and
For the first time ever, scientists have observed and photographed wild gorillas using tools, in one instance employing a stick to test the depth of a pool before wading into it, according to a study by the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and other organizations. Up to this point, all other species of great apes, including chimpanzees and orangutans, have been observed using tools in the wild, but never gorillas.
“This is a truly astounding discovery,” sai
For many areas of the West, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMS) overestimate the amount of land area within the 100-year floodplain. New research suggests a way to improve the maps.
The new three-pronged approach combines a new numerical computer model with two additional methods, satellite-image analysis and field observations. Each method serves as a check on the other two. The research team focused on the floodplains for a 10-year f
Placing shredded tires on top of — rather than in — landfills can save money and benefit the environment, researchers from the University of Illinois say.
Timothy Stark, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Krishna Reddy, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago, recently evaluated the use of shredded tires as a drainage material in waste-containment systems. Shredding tires i
Just released analyses by USDA Forest Service researchers reveal underlying patterns in wildland arson. Research forester Jeff Prestemon and economist David Butry, both from the FS Southern Research Station economics unit at Research Triangle Park, NC, have developed a model that can help law enforcement agencies better predict where and when fires might be set in wildland areas and adopt strategies to reduce the risk of arson.
Over 1.5 million fires are set by arsonists each
Based on the analysis of the extreme heat wave and drought in Europe during the summer of 2003, CEA-CNRS and INRA researchers have studied the impact of climatic change on terrestrial ecosystems. These results were obtained using a unique monitoring network measuring carbon and water fluxes in a representative set of forests and prairies in Europe, and with an atmospheric modelling system. The scientific community generally considers that global warming in the 21st century will lead to an i
An idea from a young marine biologist at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton is revolutionising oceanography in the deep oceans. Dr Ian Hudson has been getting the oil industry to sign up to a project that has captured the imagination of companies and oceanographers across the world.
Animals in the deep oceans are now being filmed using robotic vehicles and cameras operated by oil companies. As they seek out new oil reserves on the deep-sea floor or carry out mainten
Daily multispectral observations from Envisat’s MERIS sensor are being combined with a sophisticated processing algorithm and powerful Grid computing to reveal global photosynthesis activity on land. This permits researchers to trace the state of health of terrestrial plant cover, identifying areas under stress and assessing damage from drought or fires.
An algorithm developed by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (EC-JRC) in Ispra, Italy is the basis for gl
“Coastal erosion, global sea-level rise, and the loss of sand dune plant habitats”
Researchers from Texas A&M University created a model to better understand the impacts of development and coastal erosion on plant communities, including plants that grow in the ever-shrinking strip of habitat between land and the ocean. Rusty Feagin, Douglas Sherman, and William Grant simulated varying levels of sea-level rise to understand the effects of erosion and development on sand dune p
An unusual relationship between bacteria and a newly discovered group of marine worms is the only known partnership (or symbiosis) which uses sunken marine mammals as its sole source of nutrition.
In the September issue of Environmental Microbiology, Dr Shana Goffredi and her colleagues reveal this unique partnership between bacteria and the Osedax (bone-devouring) group of marine worms.
Symbiosis, or the living together of different organisms, allows some species to live
Scientists successfully grow ’dwarf belonging to the sea’ in laboratory
Scientists are now revisiting, and perhaps revising, their thinking about how Archaea, an ancient kingdom of single-celled microorganisms, are involved in maintaining the global balance of nitrogen and carbon. Researchers have discovered the first Archaea known to oxidize ammonia for energy and metabolize carbon dioxide by successfully growing the tentatively named, Nitrosopumilus maritimus, in the lab.
Climate models predict warmer temperatures due to global warming and this will mean warmer seas. Cod are essentially a cold-water species so what will warmer waters mean for them?
Based on future predictions of warmer waters, stocks in the Celtic and Irish Seas are expected to disappear while those in the southern North Sea and Georges Bank will decline. Cod will probably spread northward along the coasts of Greenland and Labrador and occupy larger areas of the Barents Sea.
“Biological diversity is a widely under-appreciated resource that is essential for human existence and has a crucial role to play in sustainable development and in the eradication of poverty. Biodiversity provides millions of people with livelihoods, helps to ensure food security, and is a rich source of both traditional medicines and modern pharmaceuticals.” That is how UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan defined biodiversity at the International Day for Biological Diversity in 2003.
An advanced research weather model run by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) is following Hurricane Rita to give scientists a taste of how well forecast models of the future may predict hurricane track, intensity, and important rain and wind features. Tap into the model’s daily storm projection at www.ucar.edu.
With its high-resolution grid of data points just four kilometers (about 2.5 miles) apart, the model can project the location of fine-scale rain bands
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