In the most comprehensive survey ever undertaken of the massive ice sheets covering both Greenland and Antarctica, NASA scientists confirm climate warming is changing how much water remains locked in Earth’s largest storehouse of ice and snow.

Other recent studies have shown increasing losses of ice in parts of these sheets. This new survey is the first to inventory the losses of ice and the addition of new snow on both in a consistent and comprehensive way throughout an entire

Ecologists used to think of prey as the most important factor governing the structure of predator communities. However, over the past twenty years, they have increasingly recognized the importance of interspecific killing – carnivores killing carnivores – in determining ecology and behavior. A new study by Emiliano Donadio and Steven W. Buskirk (University of Wyoming), forthcoming from The American Naturalist, explores which carnivores are most likely to participate in these interactions, and w

Effects could extend from base of food chain to native hunters

Physical changes–including rising air and seawater temperatures and decreasing seasonal ice cover–appear to be the cause of a series of biological changes in the northern Bering Sea ecosystem that could have long-range and irreversible effects on the animals that live there and on the people who depend on them for their livelihoods.

In a paper published March 10 in the journal Science, a team of U.S. and

Between January and March 2006, researchers from the CIRAD Animal Production and Veterinary Medicine Department (CIRAD-EMVT) are having a blitz on bird flu in North, East and West Africa, the Middle East, and eastern Europe and the Caucasus, the zones covered by the five FAO-TCPs.

As Emmanuel Camus, Director of CIRAD-EMVT, points out: “the primary aim is to work with our partners in the field to see whether migrating birds introduced the virus at their overwintering sites thi

The end of the post-colonial conflicts in Africa and the rebuilding of both States and societies have considerably improved the lives of both individuals and communities. However, in many cases, the state of peace achieved is very fragile, and conflicts often recur. One common denominator of the situation in these countries is the failure of post-conflict reconstruction to address the issue of land. Land is a primary, fundamental resource that is also highly symbolic for most Africans, and plays

Cotton is one of the main cogs in the machinery of the African economy: it accounts for 60% of agricultural export revenue and 5 to 10% of GDP in producing countries, and supports 10 million people, including 3.3 million in Mali. Moreover, excluding subsidies, the cotton sector is competitive and exports more than 90% of what it produces. However, over the past ten years or so, the huge subsidies granted to producers in the United States (US$ 2.3 billion in 2001/2002), China ($ 1.2 billion in 2001/20

Natural rubber is currently technically unavoidable for some purposes, despite the competition from synthetic rubber. Most notably, it accounts for 75% of the rubber used in the tyre industry. However, although Hevea brasiliensis originated in the Amazon Basin, rubber growing has only really developed in Asia and Africa. In Latin America, “South American leaf disease”, caused by the fungus Microcyclus ulei, has until now totally prevented the development of rubber growing, or at least almost tota

Oil palm is the most widely produced and consumed vegetable oil in developing countries. With around 3.3 tonnes per hectare per year, it is 7 or 8 times more productive than soybean oil. Palm and soybean are the most widely consumed oils worldwide. Indonesia and Malaysia are the world’s leading palm oil producers, with 12 and 14 million tonnes of oil per year respectively. However, a soil fungus, Ganoderma boninense, which causes basal stem rot in oil palms, devastates thousands of hectares

In a guest editorial published in the March-April issue of the international journal Ground Water, hydrologists in Louisiana suggest adoption of evolving management plans that recognize engineering, economic and hydrologic realities is key to sustainable development of the Louisiana coastline.

Authors Richard F. Keim and William J. Blanford state that historical hydrological management of the Mississippi River and its delta is partially responsible for the increased vulnerabilit

At the behest of the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority SFT), a 20-year long study of ecotoxins in seabird eggs has been carried out by the Norwegian Polar Institute in collaboration with Tromsø Museum (of the University of Tromsø), the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science and the National Veterinary Institute of Norway.

Eggs from herring gulls (Larus argentatus), glaucus gulls (L. hyperboreus), black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) and puffins (Fratercula arctica), collected fr

A major conservation effort, led by Dr Brendan Godley of the University of Exeter, has just got underway to help protect endangered leatherback turtles which nest in Gabon, West Africa. The region is thought to be the animals’ last global stronghold, as pacific populations dwindle precariously.

It’s hoped the project, to tag and track the animals, will uncover their migratory secrets and provide the basis for efforts to safeguard them. After fitting them with satelli

Robots are on the march again into the last bastion of labour intensive industry – farming and horticulture. Research engineers and horticulture specialists at the University of Warwick are working together to devise a suite of robots and automated systems which could transform farming and horticulture over the next decade.

The researchers from the University of Warwick’s horticultural arm, Warwick HRI, and its manufacturing engineering section, Warwick Manufacturing Group, are working

An international team, composed of Malagasy and European researchers, has just discovered three new species of lemurs, small primates endemic to Madagascar.

The work carried out by this international team has enabled the identification of three new species of lemur based on the characteristics of their mitochondrial DNA : Lepilemur randrianasoli, L. aeeclis and L. sahamalazensis. They were discovered in the West and North West of Madagascar, bringing the number of species of lemu

The wood shavings from sawmills can be used to produce an organic substrate for use in intensive crop growth in containers. Moreover, this substrate has the advantage that it can be recycled and is more economic than other, imported ones such as peat or coconut fibre.

These are the findings of researchers at the Public University of Navarre who, jointly with the Aralur company in Ziordia (Navarre), have developed this substrate material. The product has already been patented and marketed

The Volvo Ocean Race yachts have safely rounded Cape Horn on the fourth leg of their round-the-world adventure thanks to the help of radar satellites steering them away from dangerous icebergs.

While all the legs of the race have their unique dangers, Volvo Ocean Race Meteorologist Chris Bedford said leg four is arguably the most dangerous. “The boats have to face 50-knot storms, massive seas and possible ice, and if something happens on the leg, help is many hours and, more li

Advanced plane called HIAPER makes its first science mission

Today, the nation’s most-advanced research aircraft will take flight on its first science mission. Scientists aboard will study a severe type of atmospheric turbulence that forms near mountains and endangers planes flying in the vicinity. The mission will last two months, ending on April 30, 2006.

Owned by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and operated by the National Center for Atmospheric Research