Ecology, The Environment and Conservation
This complex theme deals primarily with interactions between organisms and the environmental factors that impact them, but to a greater extent between individual inanimate environmental factors.
innovations-report offers informative reports and articles on topics such as climate protection, landscape conservation, ecological systems, wildlife and nature parks and ecosystem efficiency and balance.
Microbes active in Colorado snows fuel tundra ecosystem
Populations of fungi blanketed by Colorado’s snows are more active and diverse than previously thought, and are likely responsible for the productivity of the tundra ecosystem they are a part of, according to findings by scientists funded through the National Science Foundation (NSF)’s Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) and Microbial Observatories programs. The researchers have published their results in this week’s issue of the journal Science.
Christopher Schadt, now of t
Look into the future … and then vote on it
Crystal ball gazing has long been part of what scientists do, whether it’s forecasting the weather or predicting long term climate change, but now researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) will be able to present people with highly realistic visions of what the future might look like and then ask them to vote on which one they prefer.
In a set up unique in the UK academic world, a state-of-the-art, purpose built virtual reality theatre has been installed at UEA, coupled to a ‘decisi
Recycled carpet waste
The University of Bradford and the Bolton Institute have been given more than £150,000 for a joint project to consider ways to recycle carpet waste into novel underlays.
Part of the funding, given to the University’s School of Engineering, Design and Technology, will be used will help investigate and test the characteristics of different materials.
The two-year project will utilise industrial carpet process waste resulting from edge cuts, mismatches and rejects to produce underlay
Nanoscale Iron Could Help Cleanse the Environment
The ultrafine particles will flow underground and destroy toxic compounds in place
An ultrafine, “nanoscale” powder made from iron, one of the most abundant metals on Earth, is turning out to be a remarkably effective tool for cleaning up contaminated soil and groundwater-a trillion-dollar problem that encompasses more than 1000 still-untreated Superfund sites in the United States, some 150,000 underground storage tank releases, and a staggering number of landfills, abandoned mines
Where there’s muck there’s grass
The oldest ecological experiment in the world, set up almost 150 years ago to see whether inorganic fertilisers could produce more grass than traditional animal manures, is becoming an important source of evidence on the impact of climate change on genetic variation in plants.
Speaking at the British Ecological Society’s Annual Meeting, being held at Manchester Metropolitan University on 9-11 September 2003, Professor Jonathan Silvertown of the Open University will explain what the Park Gra
Scientists find key to ocean bacterium that helps control greenhouse gas
Scientists are a step closer to understanding how the world’s oceans influence global warming – as well supply us with the oxygen we breathe.
A study led by Imperial College London has revealed how the most abundant ocean bound photosynthetic bacterium helps control levels of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide.
Reporting in Nature the researchers provide new detail on how Prochlorococcus cyanobacteria traps atmospheric carbon dioxide and stores it in the deep sea.
Wo