Rats are unwelcome visitors, and for most people getting rid of them means putting down poison, such as anticoagulant compounds based on warfarin.
Recent estimates suggest that rat populations are on the increase, and continued reliance on rodenticides as the only means of controlling rats may be building big problems for the future. The use of warfarin and similar poisons can present problems of its own, killing other wildlife and domestic pets and leading to ‘hotspots’ of super-r
An accidental discovery may provide insights into the creation of tubular structures such as those found in caves and at hydrothermal vents.
While doing some electroplating work for a class project, David Stone stumbled upon a way to grow tiny tubes that look like the cave formations known as soda straws. At the time, Stone, a former sculptor and foundry worker, had just returned to school.
“I botched the experiment. I can still remember being in my carport, picking up the
A University of Surrey spin-out company, Cybersense Biosystems Ltd, has developed a portable toxicity screening device. The ROTAS system can be literally wheeled on to a brown field site and carry out field-based screening of contaminated soils and waters and results can be read within minutes. It is especially relevant with the Government’s vision to see more contaminated industrial land made safe for housing.
“The key benefit of ROTAS is its ability to dramatically reduce the cost of sit
Forest ecologists have long wondered why forests decline in the absence of catastrophic disturbances. A new study, in part funded by the British Ecological Society, and published in this week’s Science, has shed new light on this problem.
This study investigated natural forested stands across each of six ’chronosequences’ or sequences of soils of different ages since the most recent major disturbance. These sequences were located in a range of climatic zones, including northern Sweden (a se
“When I started at Rolls-Royce last September, I didn’t think I would have the chance to work on a new engine concept.” Angel Gallo, graduate trainee, Rolls-Royce. Researchers from Cambridge University and graduate trainees from Rolls-Royce are currently working together in a quest to explore possible future designs for a completely new type of aircraft engine.
Engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce is a partner in the Cambridge-MIT Institute’s ‘Silent Aircraft’ Initiative. This is a unique thre
Several Montana State University researchers will present their findings at the 89th annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America. The Aug. 1-6 meeting in Portland, Ore. is expected to be the group’s largest meeting ever. Some topics that may interest you are listed below.
Camping impacts
Camping in the mountains leads to major ecological changes, including loss of vegetation and trampled soil. Researchers studied disturbed, undisturbed and restored campsites
Here is a list of Montana State University researchers who are conducting studies in Yellowstone National Park.
Yellowstone wildlife
Scott Creel, ecology professor, monitors elk-wolf interactions and trends in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem. http://www.montana.edu/wwwbi/staff/creel/creel.html#Creel’s
See news story at http://www.montana.edu/commserv/csnews/nwview.php?article=352
Robert Garrott, ecology professor, examines predator-prey dynamics in a wol
Current conservation planning may be hindering not helping endangered wildlife – opportunistic land purchases may be best bet for highly threatened species
A new study published in the August issue of the journal Ecology Letters shows that elaborate modeling efforts used to guide land conservation result in plans that are rarely achievable in the real world–and may actually be counter-productive to achieving long term protection of plants and animals.
“Conservation agen
Snow quality may affect the Canadian lynx’s ability to kill its prey, according to new research suggesting climate may be impacting one of the most fascinating ecological systems to intrigue biologists for decades. The University of Alberta’s Dr. Stan Boutin is part of a research team to study the relationship between the lynx and the snowshoe hare—an interaction that has grave implications on the dynamics of the whole boreal forest.
Boutin teamed up with other researchers from Canada, the U
A new approach that is one of the first to successfully store carbon dioxide underground may have huge implications for global warming and the oil industry, says a University of Alberta researcher. Dr. Ben Rostron is part of an extensive team working on the $28 million International Energy Agency Weyburn CO2 Monitoring and Storage Project—the largest of its kind—that has safely buried the greenhouse gas and reduced emissions from entering the atmosphere.
“It’s one thing to say that undergrou
One of the largest environmental research centres in Europe opens in Lancaster this week. The £25 million Lancaster Environment Centre brings together around 300 researchers and lecturers, all working to find solutions to major environmental problems.
This joint venture between the Natural Environment Research Council’s Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and the University of Lancaster is housed in a state-of-the-art laboratory on the University campus. It provides cutting-edge equipme
The International Society for Reef Studies has launched an ambitious programme to communicate the results of scientific research in order to improve policies and practices impacting on coral reef conservation around the world. The ISRS was founded in 1980 by international marine scientists to promote the production and dissemination of scientific knowledge on coral reefs, both living and fossil.
To help build more effective management policies for the world’s endangered reef ecosystems, ISRS s
Rapid urbanization in southeastern China in the past 25 years is responsible for an estimated warming rate much larger than previous estimates for other periods and locations, according to a new study funded by NASA.
Researchers led by the Georgia Institute of Technology report that the mean surface temperature in the region has risen 0.09 degrees Fahrenheit (0.05 degrees Celsius) per decade since 1979. Also, nighttime low temperatures have risen much faster than the daytime high temperatur
Just after 3 a.m. on July 10, University of Colorado at Boulder researcher John Gille expects to watch a new NASA satellite blast into orbit from the dark California coastline on a mission to study Earth’s protective ozone layer, climate and air quality changes with unprecedented detail.
Gille, principal investigator on the satellite’s High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder (HIRDLS) instrument, said he and his sleep-deprived colleagues will probably only get to watch the rocket for
Researchers have shown that Darwin’s finches on smaller islands in the Galapagos archipelago have weaker immune responses to disease and foreign pathogens—findings that could help explain why island populations worldwide are particularly susceptible to disease.
A paper, written by University of Michigan researcher Johannes Foufopoulos, an assistant professor at the School of Natural Resources and Environment who specializes in disease ecology, and collaborators from Princeton Univers
After receiving the brunt of powerful hurricanes in 1996 and 1999, the Neuse River and Estuary and western Pamlico Sound in eastern North Carolina appear to have suffered few long-term ill effects from the storms, and have actually benefited ecologically in some ways from the storms’ scouring effects.
Those are the findings of a team of North Carolina State University scientists and collaborators from various North Carolina universities and government agencies.
Dr. JoAnn Burkholder,
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