Consequences of inbreeding often undetectable prior to release into wild
Comparative studies of captive breeding strategies conducted at Rice University bolster the case for costly and sometimes troublesome breeding programs that preserve maximum genetic variability in small populations of endangered species.
Worldwide, zoos spend millions of dollars each year transporting rare animals thousands of miles in order to breed them with their most distantly related relativ
A report issued by the Royal Society in the U.K. sounds the alarm about the world’s oceans. “If CO2 from human activities continues to rise, the oceans will become so acidic by 2100 it could threaten marine life in ways we can’t anticipate,” commented Dr. Ken Caldeira, co-author of the report and a newly appointed staff scientist at the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology in Stanford, California.* The report on ocean acidification was released today by the Royal S
Researchers have discovered a new universal biological law whilst looking in holes in trees near Oxford according to a paper published in the journal Science on 24 June 2005.
The scientists from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and University of Oxford found that patterns of abundance and genetic diversity of microorganisms living in water-filled holes in trees were similar to patterns found in higher animal and plant communities.
The study looked at the relationship
Billions of tonnes of sediment are clogging up the world’s coastal zones, rivers and estuaries with devastating results to the environment, say scientists attending an international meeting organised by the Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ) project, a global network of coastal and marine scientists.
Nutrient-laden mud, gravel and sand, pushed downstream by large rivers and estuaries, are changing the shape of coastlines, destroying aquatic life and even filling u
During the most recent period in Earth’s past with a climate warmer than today, the tropical Pacific was in a stable state of El Niño-like conditions, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Whether this represents a likely scenario for the future, given the current rise in global temperatures, is uncertain. Nevertheless, the study has important implications for scientists trying to understand the global climate system and how it mi
A new deadly disease, carried by an invasive fish species, is threatening European fish diversity according to a paper published in the journal Nature on 23 June 2005.
Lead author Rodolphe Gozlan from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) said: “We have found a parasite that may pose a severe threat to some freshwater fish species in Europe. This discovery has major biological implications and may have economic implications.”
The scientists working for CEH and the Cent
Researchers have discovered that a parasite carried by an invasive species of minnow is responsible for the dramatic declines and localized extinctions of a different minnow species in Europe during the past 40 years.
This parasite, which scientists have found can almost totally destroy the spawning success of the small sunbleak minnow, Leucaspius delineatus, may pose threats to the diversity and stability of freshwater ecosystems, and is genetically very similar to a parasite that c
Accounts of the tsunami that killed over a quarter of a million people in Southeast Asia on the 26th of December, 2004, slowly disappear from the media, but the event is nevertheless heavily burned into the memories of those who are directly involved. In the aftermath of the disaster, academics and politicians alike are trying to investigate how the number of casualties could have been reduced and, more important, how such severe damage can be avoided if a tsunami ever strikes again. In an essa
Cutting edge research will be on display at The Royal Academy of Engineering’s annual Summer Soirée at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS), on Monday 27 June, hosted by the University of Southampton.
Highlights include:
Ocean floor energy: the University of Southampton and NOCS are at the forefront of research on methane hydrates, ice-like deposits occurring in deep ocean sediments. These show promise as a major source of energy but could also trigger a
Quad bikes and jet skis, as well as computer models, are being used by scientists and engineers to measure and predict storm damage.
Every winter hundreds of British homes are at risk from being flooded when storms hit our shores. Global warming is expected to make matters worse for the future.
Environmental scientists from the University of East Anglia and maritime computer modellers from the University of Liverpool have been collaborating on a project – funded b
Virginia Tech’s Freshwater Mussel Conservation Center and Virginia’s Aquatic Wildlife Conservation Center in Marion, Va., released several thousand mussels that have been propagated into the Clinch River. Partners in this replenishing project include the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Town of Cedar Bluff, where the restocking took place. The site along Rt. 460 is owned by The Nature Conservancy.
Dick Neves,
Rare and fragmented chalk grasslands may take at least half a century to recover from the damage done to them by military training, according to new research published in the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Applied Ecology.
Working with historical aerial photographs taken on the Salisbury Plain Training Area between 1945 and 1995, Dr Rachel Hirst and colleagues from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and the University of Liverpool identified 82 sites from which th
Rising dust storms a health problem, even continents away; infant mortality worst in drylands: Report
Growing desertification worldwide threatens to swell by millions the number of poor forced to seek new homes and livelihoods. And a rising number of large, intense dust storms plaguing many areas menace the health of people even continents away, international experts warn in a new report.
Thick storms rising out of the Gobi Desert affect much of China, Korea and Japan and
Results of latest survey show tiger numbers in Russia stable
Results of the latest full range survey indicate that tiger numbers in Russia appear to be stable, say the coordinators of a 2005 winter effort to count the animals, led by the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society. After a massive winter endeavor to determine distribution and abundance of tigers in the Russian Far East, the last stronghold of Siberian tigers, researchers report that approximately 334-417 adult t
Foreign affairs and WCS offer a ’one world, one health’ solution
The threat of potential pandemics such as Ebola, SARS, and avian influenza demands a more holistic approach to disease control, one that prevents diseases from crossing the divide between humans, their livestock, and wildlife, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in the most recent issue of the journal Foreign Affairs. This “One World, One Health” concept, as described by WCS veterinary st
Continued Freshening of the North Atlantic Could Slow the Conveyor in the 21st Century
Large regions of the North Atlantic Ocean have been growing fresher since the late 1960s as melting glaciers and increased precipitation, both associated with greenhouse warming, have enhanced continental runoff into the Arctic and sub-Arctic seas. Over the same time period, salinity records show that large pulses of extra sea ice and fresh water from the Arctic have flowed into the North Atl
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