Trophic relationships are key to understanding changes in the distribution of certain species, according to a study led by the US, involving experts from 26 countries An international team led by the University of Seville, La Sapienza University of Rome and the Institute of Nature Conservation in Poland has studied how interactions between species affect the distribution of brown bears in Europe and Turkey. It has been found that the distribution of bears on a continental scale is largely explained…

New analysis of the remains of two ‘puppies’ dating back more than 14,000 years ago has shown that they are most likely wolves, and not related to domestic dogs, as previously suggested. The genetic analysis also proved that the cubs were sisters at the age of around two months, and like modern day wolves had a mixed diet of meat and plants. Researchers, however, were surprised to see evidence of a wooly rhinoceros as part of their last meals, as…

Plant fossils found in the abdomen of a sauropod support the long-standing hypothesis that these dinosaurs were herbivores, finds a study publishing June 9 in the Cell Press journal Current Biology. The dinosaur, which was alive an estimated 94 to 101 million years ago, ate a variety of plants and relied almost entirely on its gut microbes for digestion. “No genuine sauropod gut contents had ever been found anywhere before, despite sauropods being known from fossils found on every continent…

Tiny, hardworking cleaner fish play a role in reef microbial diversity Where do you go when you’re a fish and you need a skincare treatment? Coral reefs contain natural “beauty salons,” lively social hubs of activity where fish “clients” swim up and wait to be serviced by smaller fish cleaners. The little cleaners dart under and around their much bigger clients — even entering their mouths — cleaning their scales of bacteria and parasites like a team of car washers…

Field tests in Florida identify best available treatment to combat coral disease without need for antibiotics Scientists with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History have discovered that a bacterial probiotic helps slow the spread of stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) in already infected wild corals in Florida. The findings, published today in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, reveal that applying the probiotic treatment across entire coral colonies helped prevent tissue loss. The new treatment provides a viable alternative…

A new study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution has found a simple rule that seems to govern how life is organised on Earth. The researchers believe this rule helps explain why species are spread the way they are across the planet. The discovery will help to understand life on Earth – including how ecosystems respond to global environmental changes. At first glance, Earth seems like a collection of wildly different worlds. Each region has its own species and environmental conditions. Yet,…

Potatoes produce a molecule that is converted by microbes and causes potato parasites to hatch. The Kobe University discovery of this three-way relationship not only adds a new perspective to how plants interact with their environment, it also opens an avenue for developing countermeasures against the parasite. The potato cyst nematode is a root parasite in plants like potatoes and tomatoes that can cause large-scale yield loss if left untreated. Their eggs can survive in the soil for up to…

In September 2023, a bizarre global seismic signal was observed which appeared every 90 seconds over nine days – and was then repeated a month later. Almost a year later, two scientific studies proposed that the cause of these seismic anomalies were two mega tsunamis which were triggered in a remote East Greenland fjord by two major landslides which occurred due to warming of an unnamed glacier. The waves were thought to have become trapped in the fjord system, forming…

A combination of stressors, not sea levels alone, cause the demise of reefs New research led by the University of Sydney adds to our understanding of how rapidly rising sea levels due to climate change foreshadow the end of the Great Barrier Reef as we know it. The findings suggest the reef can withstand rising sea levels in isolation but is vulnerable to associated environmental stressors arising from global climate change. Led by Professor Jody Webster from the School of…

Flooding in coastal communities is happening far more often than previously thought, according to a new study from North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The study also found major flaws with the widely used approach of using marine water level data to capture instances of flooding. “Government agencies and researchers use data from tide gauges to measure water levels in coastal areas, then use that data to estimate flood frequency in the region,”…

Frontiers in Ocean Sustainability author Dr. Mary Livingston reflects on her decades-long career as a marine scientist by Dr Mary Elizabeth Livingston In my recently published paper ‘My love affair with the sea’ I describe how from a very early age I fell in love with the sea and pursued that love throughout my younger years and at university, ending up with a 40-year career as a fisheries scientist. Political changes on how women were perceived in the workplace benefitted…

Paper documents the earliest-known example of birds nesting in the polar regions Spring in the Arctic brings forth a plethora of peeps and downy hatchlings as millions of birds gather to raise their young. The same was true 73 million years ago, according to a paper featured on the cover of this week’s edition of the journal Science. The paper documents the earliest-known example of birds nesting in the polar regions. “Birds have existed for 150 million years,” said lead…

New research found 21% of the global ocean had experienced a reduction in the depth of its lit zones, which are home to 90% of all marine life, during the past 20 years More than one-fifth of the global ocean – an area spanning more than 75million sq km – has been the subject of ocean darkening over the past two decades, according to new research. Ocean darkening occurs when changes in the optical properties of the ocean reduce the…

GEOMAR researchers identify systemic weaknesses in EU fisheries management and are calling for quotas to be set independently of national interests As legally required by the European Union, sustainable fisheries may not extract more fish than can regrow each year. Yet, about 70 per cent of commercially targeted fish stocks in northern EU waters are either overfished, have shrunken population sizes or have collapsed entirely. So why does the EU continue to miss its sustainable fisheries targets, despite a wealth…

Researchers from the Federal University of São Paulo used oysters and mussels as sentinel organisms to assess the presence of these pollutants. The results show that even the most restrictive sites for human presence have significant contamination. Despite being considered sanctuaries for biodiversity, Brazil’s marine protected areas (MPAs) are not immune to microplastic contamination. A recent study has shown that even MPAs classified as integral protection areas (APIs), which are the most restrictive to human intervention, are contaminated by this…

UC Riverside study finds real-time household water data reduces consumption A UC Riverside-led study has found that a smartphone app that tracks household water use and alerts users to leaks or excessive consumption offers a promising tool for helping California water agencies meet state-mandated conservation goals. Led by Mehdi Nemati, an assistant professor of public policy at UCR, the study found that use of the app—called Dropcountr—reduced average household water use by 6%, with even greater savings among the highest…