For centuries, cod were the backbone of New England’s fisheries and a key species in the Gulf of Maine ecosystem. Today, cod stocks are on the verge of collapse, hovering at 3-4% of sustainable levels. Even cuts to the fishery have failed to slow this rapid decline, surprising both fishermen and fisheries managers.
According to a study led by MIT, Volkswagen's emissions cheat on their diesel vehicles will cause 60 people in the U.S. To die 10 to 20 years prematurely.
To understand and harness the capabilities of Earth’s microbial ecosystems, nearly fifty scientists from Department of Energy national laboratories, universities, and research institutions propose a national effort called the Unified Microbiome Initiative.
A group of leading scientists representing a wide range of disciplines has formed a unified initiative to support basic research, technological development and commercial applications to better understand Earth’s vast systems of microorganisms.
"The fact that we found these two with little effort suggests there are a lot more new and undescribed fungal species that we walk over all the time."
Recent research on the electric eel by Vanderbilt University biologist Ken Catania has revealed that it is not the primitive creature it has been portrayed. Instead, it has a sophisticated control of the electrical fields it generates that makes it one of the most remarkable predators in the animal kingdom.
“Climate Change Policy and Public Health,” the sixth and final Massive Open Online Course offered by the University of Wisconsin-Madison this year, launches Nov. 9. The course will be taught by Jonathan Patz, a professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences and the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.
Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) and collaborators announce the results of a three-year, multi-state project that fills significant ecological data gaps on bird, marine mammal, and sea turtle distributions and movements.
Seals are not threatening commercial fishing stocks in Irish waters, with the possible exception of wild Atlantic salmon, according to new research led by Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK.
Researchers find that permafrost organic material is so biodegradable that as soon as it thaws, the carbon is almost immediately consumed by single-cell organisms called microbes and then released back into the air as carbon dioxide, feeding the global climate cycle. Their findings are laid out in an article published today by the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences.
In the past, whales, giant land mammals, and other animals played a vital role in keeping the planet fertile by transporting nutrients via their feces. However, massive declines and extinctions of many of these animals has deeply damaged this planetary nutrient recycling system, threatening fisheries and ecosystems on land, a team of scientists reports.
According to a study published the journal Nature Climate Change, by 2100, parts of the Persian Gulf could be hit by waves of heat and humidity so severe that simply being outside for several hours could be life threatening.
The mushroom nicknamed "death cap” made headlines this summer when it poisoned Syrian refugees fleeing through Eastern Europe. But it was cooperation, not toxicity, that attracted Anne Pringle to Amanita phalloides.
According to a University of British Columbia study, only four percent of the ocean lies within marine protected areas. Their research was published in the journal Oryx.
As permafrost thaws and old carbon is released, the carbon feedback cycle may be accelerated.
A new species of giant Galapagos tortoise, revealed this week in a study conducted by scientists at Yale University, also happened to be lurking in the collections of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Zoological Museum, it turns out.
FSU's internationally recognized experts are available to provide commentary on Hurricane Patricia.
In May 2007, hundreds of freshwater drum — also known as sheepshead — turned up dead in Lake Winnebago and nearby Little Lake Butte des Morts, both inland lakes near Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The fish were splotched with red and their eyes were swollen and bulging. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) launched a quick response and, working with the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (WVDL), quickly learned that a deadly virus was responsible: viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus, or VHSv.
NAU researcher leads project to measure effects of severe boreal wildfires and the loss of permafrost on ecosystems. The NASA-funded research is part of the Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment.
A study published in Nature Communications suggests that the weather patterns known as El Nino and La Nina could lead to at least a doubling of extreme droughts and floods in California later this century.
A research team working in the Galapagos Archipelago has discovered there are two species of giant tortoises — not just one, as had been long believed — living on the island of Santa Cruz in the center of the Galapagos Archipelago.
Beavers, once valued for their fur, may soon have more appreciation in the Northeastern United States. There they are helping prevent harmful levels of nitrogen from reaching the area’s vulnerable estuaries. By creating ponds that slow down the movement of water, they aid in removing nitrogen from the water.
In the 250-million-year evolutionary history of turtles, scientists have seen nothing like the pig nose of a new species of extinct turtle discovered in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by a team from the Natural History Museum of Utah.
The term “rational use,” as applied to fishing rights in Antarctic waters, has been misused by certain countries, an analysis by a team of researchers has concluded.
The iconic sugar maple, one of the most economically and ecologically important trees in the eastern United States and Canada, shows signs of being in a significant decline, according to research results published today (Oct. 21, 2015) in the open-access journal “Ecosphere.”
A new "geospeedometer" that can measure the amount of time between the formation of an explosive magma melt and an eruption confirms that the process took less than 500 years in several ancient super-eruptions.
A new study documents that trees play a minor role in offsetting carbon emissions in urban areas. Researchers examined carbon emissions and trees' carbon storage in the Twin Cities (Minnesota) and found hotspots where more trees could yield benefits. Findings published online in the journal PLOS One.
A new study funded by the National Science Foundation shows that abandoned oil and gas wells near fracking sites can be conduits for methane escape not currently being measured, a significant finding given the current debate over new EPA rules regulating fracking-related release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
Nearly 100 fossil species pulled from a flooded cave in the Bahamas reveal a true story of persistence against all odds — at least until the time humans stepped foot on the islands.
As part of an multi-disciplinary study, a team of Baylor researchers found that climatic changes, an increase in agricultural land use and population growth in the Himalaya Mountain basins could have negative impacts on water availability, further stressing a region plagued by natural disasters and food insecurity.
Engines, laptops and power plants generate waste heat. Thermoelectric materials can recover heat and improve energy efficiency. Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory explored the fundamental physics of the world’s best thermoelectric material.
In polluted environments, diesel fumes may be reducing the availability of almost half the most common flower odours that bees use to find their food, research has found.
A study of zircons from a gigantic meteorite impact in South Africa, now online in the journal Geology, casts doubt on the methods used to date lunar impacts.
As meteorologists monitor the El Nino condition currently gaining strength in the Pacific Ocean, Californians look with hope to the much-needed rain and snow it could yield. But if we’re going to make the most of the precipitation, we need to put a LID on it.
Toxic methane appears to be bubbling up from plumes off of the Washington and Oregon coast. Methane is believed to be the second-largest greenhouse gas contributor to climate change.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory this week released a pair of studies on the efficiency of shale oil production excavation. The reports show that shale oil production generates greenhouse gas emissions at levels similar to traditional crude oil production.
Tourists in San Francisco witnessed a Great White Shark feeding on a seal in the bay while waiting to depart on the Alcatraz Ferry. A camera atop the ferry captured the attack in full.
Myanmar’s protected areas are facing critical funding shortages, with several unable to cover the costs of essential equipment, maintenance, and operational activities, in addition to needing more dedicated staff with increased technical capacities.
Because sea turtles don’t have an X or Y chromosome, their sex is defined during development by the incubation environment. Warmer conditions produce females and cooler conditions produce males. The shift in climate is shifting turtles as well, because as the temperature of their nests change so do their reproduction patterns.
The very act of tolerating some forms of soil pollution may give trees an advantage in the natural world, says University of Montreal plant biologists. Their findings were published this week in BMC Plant Biology.
An international team of scientists have identified potential ‘tipping points’ where abrupt regional climate shifts could occur due to global warming.
The location of bubble plumes off the Pacific Northwest coast supports the idea that gradual ocean warming at about a third of a mile depth may be releasing frozen methane in the seafloor, causing it to release bubbles from the seafloor.
Trees may be the overlooked workhorses of green infrastructure. In a study published in the Journal of Environmental Quality, these tree species were the best at removing storm water from bioswales and back into the atmosphere—a process known as water cycling.
Experiments with monarch butterfly caterpillars and the milkweed plants on which they feed have shown for the first time that interactions across four biological kingdoms can influence disease transmission.
Virginia Tech fluid dynamics research explores why some plankton can breach the air-water interface while others can't
Water-dependent wildlife populations in sensitive African dryland regions need continued access to limited surface water — even as human development increases — because restricting access and concentrating wildlife populations along riparian regions can impact water quality and, potentially, human health, according to Virginia Tech research.
UF/IFASis hosting a workshop from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Friday, Oct. 16, at the Anna Maria Public Library to help residents understand the precautions they can take to reduce coyote encounters.
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