With a three-year $681,343 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a team of Ohio State scientists plans to develop a widely applicable system for assessing watershed health and determining when a crisis is looming.
Researchers at UCLA and the University of Wisconsin–Madison have confirmed that microscopic fossils discovered in a nearly 3.5 billion-year-old piece of rock in Western Australia are the oldest fossils ever found and indeed the earliest direct evidence of life on Earth.
Rainy weather has long been blamed for achy joints and back pain. Past research has yielded mixed results. New analysis tracking visits to the doctor with daily rainfall found no relationship between the two.
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Ministry of Environment (MoE) announced today that after five weeks of active nest protection by community members, three Black-necked stork chicks have hatched in Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary (KPWS) in the Northern Plains of Cambodia, giving hope to the future conservation of this rare species in the country.
Majoid crabs — known as decorator crabs — adorn themselves with items secured from their surroundings such as sponges, algae and other marine debris. Scientists and students at the University of Delaware are exploring what factors drive this behavior.
Logging of the largest trees in the Sierra Nevada’s national forests ended in the early 1990s after agreements were struck to protect species’ habitat. But new research reported Dec. 6 in the journal Diversity and Distributions by University of Wisconsin–Madison ecologists shows that spotted owls, one of the iconic species logging restrictions were meant to protect, have continued to experience population declines in the forests.
A Tulane University researcher has found that a decline in the number of wood thrushes is probably due to deforestation in Central America.
The first study to actually count the number of cortical neurons in the brains of a number of carnivores, including cats and dogs, has found that dogs possess significantly more neurons than cats.
Lignocellulose-degrading enzyme complexes could improve biofuel production.
When a Cornell-led team of scientists analyzed two dozen environmental factors to understand bumblebee population declines and range contractions, they expected to find stressors like changes in land use, geography or insecticides. Instead, they found a shocker: fungicides, commonly thought to have no impact.
University of Washington psychology professor Peter Kahn describes “environmental generational amnesia” as the idea that each generation perceives the environment into which it’s born, no matter how developed, urbanized or polluted, as the norm. And so what each generation comes to think of as “nature” is relative, based on what it's exposed to. Kahn argues that more frequent and meaningful interactions with nature can enhance our connection to — and definition of — the natural world.
Rural counties continue to rank lowest among counties across the U.S., in terms of health outcomes. A group of national organizations including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National 4-H Council are leading the way to close the rural health gap.
A new study by an international team of scientists reports an analysis of the incredibly diverse “lost world” of Caribbean fossils that includes dozens of ancient mammals. The study reveals that the arrival of humans throughout the islands was likely the primary cause of the extinction of native mammal species there.
The anatomy and mechanisms underlying vocal production are often poorly described, especially in small animals, but thanks to new imaging technology, NAU researchers were able to examine the laryngeal structures of small rodents for the first time.
Soil organisms are diverse, with characteristics that can astound. The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) October 15 Soils Matter blog post explains which soil critters glow—and why.
A study of 300,000 children in 35 nations says kids whose watersheds have greater tree cover are less likely to experience diarrheal disease, the second leading cause of death for children under the age of five.
University of Utah scientists have mapped the near-surface geology around Old Faithful, revealing the reservoir of heated water that feeds the geyser’s surface vent and how the ground shaking behaves in between eruptions. The map was made possible by a dense network of portable seismographs and by new seismic analysis techniques.
Beavers have probably been more influential than humans in altering the ecosystem of the Kabetogama Peninsula which is home to Voyageurs National Park near International Falls, Minnesota.
Every year around this time, nature puts her greens to bed and awakens her autumn colors. That palette of reds, yellows and oranges painting the landscape is part of a very important ecological process.
Organic matter in soil is an important component of soil health. And nematodes are a sentinel organism to flag it. The “Nematode Community Succession: Decomposition Hot Spots” presentation at the Managing Global Resources for a Secure Future ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting in Tampa, FL, will address this important topic.
New research from a team of Florida State University scientists and their collaborators is helping to explain the link between a changing global climate and a dramatic decline in bumble bee populations worldwide.
A growing international movement called “Half Earth” calls for preserving 50 percent of the world’s biodiversity. In today’s Nature News and Views, conservationists pose three questions that need to be answered to make this bold vision a reality.
Students and a scientist at the University of Vermont have discovered 15 new species of 'smiley-faced' spiders--and named them after, among others, Barack Obama, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Bernie Sanders.
Human activities could change the pace of evolution, similar to what occurred 66 million years ago when a giant asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs, leaving modern birds as their only descendants. That's one conclusion drawn by the authors of a new study published in Systematic Biology.
ho knew that it’s possible to predict the fragrance of a flower by looking at its color? This is true for many of the 41 insect-pollinated plant species growing in a Phrygana scrubland habitat on the Greek island of Lesbos. An international research team published their findings Sept. 4 in Nature Ecology & Evolution.
Physicist Gabriel Mindlin has been looking at the phenomena from what is one of the most unifying and potentially enlightening perspectives of the issue: the dynamical physics of birds’ vocal organs. In his work, published this week in the journal Chaos, he explores the role of fundamental physics properties in the acoustic complexity of birdsong, and the relationship they have with neural instructions for their production.
Areas in the Northern New Mexico Jemez Mountains and Valles Caldera National Preserve have been through prescribed burns or forest thins to allow for a less dense canopy, so new grasses and shrubs may grow and so wildfires will be less destructive. The treatments are part of the Southwest Jemez Collaborative Landscape Restoration Project.
Specific modifications to fungi DNA may hold the secret to turning common plant degradation agents into biofuel producers.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet committed on September 9th to create a new marine protected area in Admiralty Sound in Tierra del Fuego. The new “Multiple Use Marine and Coastal Protected Area Seno Almirantazgo” will safeguard rich marine wildlife and the area’s rich cultural heritage, while protecting artisanal fisheries and promoting sustainable tourism.
Environmental researchers have uncovered a wealth of information about a unique part of Australia that offers never-before-seen insights into climate change since the last ice age.
An antimicrobial compound made by honeybees could become the basis for new antibiotics, according to new research at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
A recurring theme in nature documentaries is that of choosy females selecting brightly colored males. A new study shows that, in monogamous mating systems, male birds may select their lifelong mates in much the same way.
Studies examining whether invasive species outcompete native species may reflect bias of researchers. However, rigorous scientific debate and self-criticism may result in self-correction.
Sweeping shots of majestic landscapes. Glaciers, forests and waterfalls. Research published today shows that these images, shown to people deprived of access to nature, can reduce tension, help defuse anger and make some of the harshest environments, like a solitary confinement cellblock in a maximum-security prison, a little easier to bear.
New research, led by the University of Southampton and involving a team of international scientists, suggests that an extreme global warming event 56 million years ago was driven by massive CO2 emissions from volcanoes, during the formation of the North Atlantic Ocean.
In and around the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where five Canadian provinces converge, a string of North American right whale deaths occurred throughout this summer. For scientists like Cornell University’s Charles Greene and Erin Meyer-Gutbrod who study these animals, the whales may represent another casualty of the ongoing climate crisis impacting the world’s oceans.
Northern China’s roadsides are peppered with deciduous phoenix trees, producing an abundance of fallen leaves in autumn. These leaves are generally burned in the colder season, exacerbating the country’s air pollution problem. Investigators in Shandong, China, recently discovered a new method to convert this organic waste matter into a porous carbon material that can be used to produce high-tech electronics. The advance is reported in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy.
Dramatic video released today by the Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) Marine Program shows a group of Bangladeshi fishermen rescuing a pantropical spotted dolphin (Stenella attenuata) that became entangled in their net in the Bay of Bengal.
Today, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) released video of three Endangered white-winged ducklings leaving their Koki tree-hollow home for the first time while their mother patiently waits for them to follow.
Three scientists have proposed a new approach to better understand the role of soil organic matter in long-term carbon storage and its response to changes in global climate and atmospheric chemistry.
Coral skeletons are the building blocks of diverse coral reef ecosystems, which has led to increasing concern over how these key species will cope with warming and acidifying oceans that threaten their stability. New research provides evidence that at least one species of coral build their hard, calcium carbonate skeletons faster, and in bigger pieces, than previously thought.
Texas potato growers may be few in number, but their spuds hit a market window that brings a premium each year at harvest. Now, a new potato scientist for Texas A&M AgriLife Research plans to pack even more value into the commodity through traditional and molecular breeding.
In the megacities that are home to nearly 10 percent of the world’s 7.5 billion people, trees provide each city with more than $500 million each year in services that make urban environments cleaner, more affordable and more pleasant places to live.
The study analyzed multiple species of Inga, a genus of tropical trees that produces defensive chemicals, and their various insect herbivores. The researchers found that closely-related plants evolved very different defensive traits. Additionally, their analysis revealed that herbivores may drive evolution of plant defenses, but may not show coevolutionary adaptations. Instead, they may ‘chase’ plants based on the herbivore’s own traits at the time they encounter a new host.
Nectar, the high-energy ‘honey’ produced by flowers, might be a brilliant distraction technique to help protect a flower’s reproductive parts, according to new research. Rather than merely providing a ‘come-on’ to bees and other insects to attract them to pollinate the flower, nectar could be playing a much more subtle and entrancing role.
A new approach to optical imaging makes it possible to quickly and economically monitor multiple molecular interactions in a large area of living tissue – such as an organ or a small animal; technology that could have applications in medical diagnosis, guided surgery, or pre-clinical drug testing.
To help protect coral reefs, NSU researchers helped identify new anchorage area for Port Miami
Biologists conducted the first large-scale experiment on a Superfund site using poplar trees fortified with a probiotic — or natural microbe — to clean up groundwater contaminated with trichloroethylene, or TCE.
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