NASA satellite data was used for the first time to analyze the biology of hot spots along the coast of Antarctica. The biological oases are open waters, called polynyas, where blooming plankton support the local food chain.
The research found a strong association between the well being of Adelie Penguin populations in the Antarctic and the productivity of plankton in the polynyas. Polynyas are areas of open water or reduced ice cover, where one might expect sea ice. They are usually created
Some seed gene banks contain more higher plant species per square meter than anywhere else on the planet’, write Simon Linington and colleagues of the Millenium Seed Bank, Kew, in the October issue of Biologist. This helps to ‘ensure plant diversity is available long term for use in development or habitat restoration’, they explain.
Although genetically uniform crop varieties can produce good yields, the plants may be more vulnerable to new diseases than traditional varieties. Seed banks un
The building industry could significantly reduce materials-related CO2 emissions, through greater innovation within the industry itself together with action by governments to further stimulate existing processes towards environmentally friendly construction. This is the main thrust of Tessa Goverse’s dissertation, entitled “Building a Climate for Change – Reducing CO2 emissions through materials innovation in the European building industry”, which she will defend on Thursday 9 October at the Vri
Wetlands are nature’s water filters. They collect water around river mouths and marshes, and whole communities of plants and micro-organisms feed off detritus in these murky depths.
Conventional chemical treatments of industrial waters consume cash, energy and time. Wetlands, by contrast, grow and clean themselves while they act as super-efficient absorbers of phosphates, nitrates and other environmental hazards.
The INDCONWET project applies these natural abilities to industrial w
For the second time in 26 months, a massive iceberg has clogged a large portion of Antarctica’s Ross Sea, causing what could turn out to be a devastating loss of penguins and other marine life, according to a NASA-funded study by Stanford scientists.
Using satellite data, geophysicists Kevin Arrigo and Gert L. van Dijken monitored the movements of a giant iceberg named “C-19,” which calved off the western face of the Ross Ice Shelf in May 2002. C-19 is one of the largest icebergs ever
Exploit Plant Defenses, Build Local Drug Discovery Industry
Misty-eyed idealism alone will not save Earth’s dwindling tropical rainforests. But a five-year, $3 million study in Panama indicates rainforests can be protected if the pharmaceutical industry establishes Third World laboratories and hires local researchers to look for new medicines extracted from plants that evolved defenses against insects.
“Until now, efforts to find drugs in the rainforest haven’t really led to
IBISCA’s push to understand insect habitats in the tropical forest
Of the 10 million plus species thought to exist on this planet, a mere 2 million are known to science. Others dwell in inaccessible locations–deep sea vents or hard-to-reach tropical treetops. To collect the best information available to date on tropical forest insects and their habitats, thirty researchers will use state-of-the-art canopy access techniques to sample nine 400m2 patches of Panamanian rainforest fr
Emerging geochemical and biological evidence from Alaskan lake sediment suggests that slight variations in the sun’s intensity have affected sub-polar climate and ecosystems in a predictable fashion during the last 12,000 years.
Researchers at six institutions report the findings in the Sept. 26 issue of the journal Science. The data, they say, help to explain past changes on land and in freshwater ecosystems in northern latitudes and may provide information to help project the future.
More than half of Australia’s carbon dioxide emissions come from power stations. Storing these harmful gases underground can drastically reduce the rate of emission build-up in our atmosphere.
CSIRO’S Dr Lincoln Paterson says that it is possible to capture the gases emitted by these stationary sources, and strip out the carbon dioxide in order to pump it back underground.
“Oil, gas and coal all come from underground in the first place,” says Paterson. “We’re looking a
’Fresh’ shellfish in markets still alive enough to spawn
The global live seafood trade is barely regulated even though it could be a significant conservation threat. New research shows that “fresh” shellfish sold in markets are still alive enough to feed – and so presumably to spawn. This suggests that the seafood trade could spread invasive non-native marine species around the world.
It wouldn’t take much. “Introduced species can spread throughout entire ecos
Shrike conservation threatened foxes on a California island
Because loggerhead shrikes on San Clemente Island are critically endangered, the foxes that prey on their nestlings should be controlled. Right? Wrong. The problem is that the foxes are also at-risk. A new analysis shows that instead of pitting the shrike against the fox, both species could have been protected with an ecosystem-wide conservation plan.
“This endangered species conflict might have been avoided through
The growing popularity of farm-raised salmon has plunged the commercial fishing industry in the Pacific Northwest into a state of crisis, according to a new report by Stanford University researchers.
Writing in the October issue of ENVIRONMENT magazine, the research team found that, since the late 1980s, worldwide production of farm salmon has increased fivefold, while the market share of wild-caught salmon from Alaska, British Columbia and Washington state has steadily declined.
New research shows how extraction of whales has resulted in broad and devastating ecosystem impacts
A new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences hypothesizes that overfishing of whales in the North Pacific Ocean triggered one of the longest and most complex ecological chain reactions ever described, beginning in the open oceans 50 years ago, and leading to the decimation of Alaska’s kelp forest ecosystems today.
The paper, Sequential mega
A NERC-funded researcher is tracking a number of migrating marine turtles which could be sent off-course or washed ashore by Hurricane Isabel. Updates on the turtles’ progress can be followed on the web.
Dr Brendan Godley and colleagues from the University of Exeter are using satellite technology to track the endangered green and loggerhead turtles as they leave their nesting beaches in North Carolina and the Cayman Islands and start the long journey to their winter foraging grounds. They at
Do you really know what you are breathing when sitting at home? Europeans spend 90% of their time indoors. But closed environments are not always the healthiest. The latest studies on human exposure to indoor pollution, released today by the European Commission at its Joint Research Centre (JRC) facilities in Ispra (Italy), reveal that indoor environments pose their own threats to health and, in some cases, can be at least twice as polluting as outdoor environments. Hundreds of volatile components
Taking a proactive stance to address environmental concerns, leading engineers from business, academia, and government have united to draft principles to guide their trade.
Nine tenets of Green Engineering (below) were developed during a May 18-22, 2003, multidisciplinary conference entitled “Green Engineering: Defining the Principles” held in Sandestin, Florida.
Attendees from such diverse entities as the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, NSF, Siemans, and the
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