Holiday gift ideas for gardeners and cold-weather garden tips
Texas A&M AgriLifeWhether Santa needs some ideas for you or there’s a gardener you’re stumped shopping for, a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service expert has some holiday gift ideas.
Whether Santa needs some ideas for you or there’s a gardener you’re stumped shopping for, a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service expert has some holiday gift ideas.
Trees planted in urban areas can provide shade and contribute to a lower air temperature. For these services to be optimal, it is important to let asphalt give way to trees, according to research from the University of Gothenburg. The role of trees in the urban climate is an issue that has grown in importance in the wake of climate change, where average temperatures are expected to rise.
A team of sustainability scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently announced in the journal PLOS ONE that they have developed a community-based framework, founded on extensive local and traditional knowledge, to help assess and respond to the kinds of ecological threats that are widely dispersed across a varied landscape and whose solutions are not immediately obvious.
New research has found that two similar species of birds – both capable of displaying self-control through delayed gratification – behave very differently around their favourite food when they have company.
Tropical coral reefs are among our most spectacular ecosystems, yet a rapidly warming planet threatens the future survival of many reefs.
This innovation in forest biometrics introduces advanced models for accurately predicting the size and carbon-storing capacity of American forests, playing a key role in combating climate change and guiding sustainable forest management efforts.
One of the most enduring questions of life is: How does it happen? One line of scientific inquiry lies in understanding gastrulation — the stage at which embryo cells develop from a single layer to a multidimensional structure. New research suggests that the same physical principles behind multicellular self-organization may have evolved across vertebrate species.
The electric eel is the biggest power-making creature on Earth. It can release up to 860 volts, which is enough to run a machine. In a recent study, a research group from Nagoya University in Japan found electric eels can release enough electricity to genetically modify small fish larvae. They published their findings in PeerJ - Life and Environment.
Tree height is an important indicator of a forest’s maturity and overall health. Forest restoration projects rely on tree height as a predictor and measurement of success, but forecasting a forest’s future tree height based on observations alone is almost impossible. There are too many factors that contribute to the growth and health of trees.
Mice typically live two years and monkeys live 25 years, but the brains of both appear to develop their synapses at the same time. This finding, published in a recent study led by neuroscientist Bobby Kasthuri of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and his colleagues at the University of Chicago, is a shock for neuroscientists.
Since 2011, parts of the Indian River Lagoon’s benthic cover has changed from primarily seagrass until 2015, to primarily the green macroalga C. prolifera after 2018. While native to the lagoon, C. prolifera acts as an invasive species that can move into new spaces and dominate due to its competitive ability in impaired habitats.
Scientists have amassed genome data for dozens of “magic mushroom” isolates and cultivars, with the goal to learn more about how their domestication and cultivation has changed them. The findings, published December 4 in the journal Current Biology, may point the way to the production of intriguing new cultivars, say the researchers.
The research team, led by scientists at the University of York, mapped the family tree of the ferocious ambush-predators and their extinct relatives known as Pseudosuchia.
Polar bears are icons of the Arctic, elusive and vulnerable. Detailed monitoring of their populations is crucial for their conservation — but because polar bears are so difficult to find, we are missing critical data about population size and how well connected those populations are
Scientists from Stockholm University have investigated the mechanisms that create cool microclimates beneath forest canopies during warm and dry summer days. The study reveals how canopy shading and water evaporation together create cooler forest microclimates compared to temperatures outside forests.
The following statement was issued by Sushil Raj of the Wildlife Conservation Society, Dr. Myrna Cunningham Kain of the Pawanka Fund, and Roberto Múkaro Agüeibaná Borrero of the Inclusive Conservation Academy:
Recognizing the importance of ecological integrity to biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services, including climate regulation, the Government of the Republic of Congo, represented by the Ministry of Forest Economy, and WCS have initiated a new program to attract investment in the conservation of high-integrity tropical forests.
Top 10 Climate Science Insights Unveiled: Global experts in social and natural sciences unveiled the annual 10 New Insights in Climate Science Report.
A new species of stalked puffball, a gasteroid fungus, has been named after the ‘Shai-Hulud’ sandworms of Frank Herbert's iconic science fiction novel series ‘Dune.’
Annapolis, MD; November 30, 2023—Hung from a common utility pole, a fiber optic cable—the kind bringing high-speed internet to more and more American households—can be turned into a sensor to detect temperature changes, vibrations, and even sound, through an emerging technology called distributed fiber optic sensing.
Researchers have provided new insights into how ancestral elephants developed their dextrous trunks.
Venoms have developed in many animal groups independently of each other. One group that has many venomous species is Hymenoptera, an insect order that also includes aculeates (stinging insects) such as bees, wasps and ants. Hymenoptera is very species-rich, with over 6,000 species of bees alone.
Sharks, rays and skates are the ocean’s most threatened vertebrate group. Research led by the University of Zurich into their functional diversity has now revealed previously overlooked, critical conservation priorities, thereby underscoring the urgent need for targeted action to safeguard the threatened species.
As the 2023 hurricane season comes to a close, the living shorelines of Cedar Key should be considered one of the year’s success stories in fight against impact of climate change.
A DAUCO team finds that silicon is a potential means of promoting plant growth, probably by favoring the absorption of nutrients such as potassium Restrictions on the use of certain agrochemicals, such as fertilizers or pesticides, in the field of agribusiness have boosted interest in looking for alternatives to protect and strengthen crops like olive groves.
Madagascar’s Makira-Masoala wilderness will receive an annual $1 million grant through a new agreement between the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Legacy Landscapes Fund (LLF), with support from Arcadia.
Ed Olsen, an agent at Henrico unit of Virginia Cooperative Extension, shares tips for holiday plant care.
A new kind of "wire" for moving excitons, developed at the University of Michigan, could help enable a new class of devices, perhaps including room temperature quantum computers.
New research suggests that honeybees huddle together to generate heat, not for insulation
McGill biology researchers found that there are patterns regarding the importance of temperature in determining where species live, shedding light on their sensitivity to climate change
Armed with its own eyes, antennae, and swimming bristles, the posterior body part detaches for spawning. UTokyo scientists revealed its developmental mechanism for the first time.
Scientists discover that bladder cells on quinoa plants are not for salt and drought tolerance but for pest and disease protection
Forest modeling by Oregon State University scientists shows that a site’s productivity – an indicator of how fast trees grow and how much biomass they accumulate – is the main factor that determines which time period between timber harvests allows for maximum above-ground carbon sequestration.
Despite public perception, the Antarctic ozone hole has been remarkably massive and long-lived over the past four years, University of Otago researchers believe chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) aren’t the only things to blame.
Whether to find food, reproduce, reduce competition, escape predators or escape winter, migration is a survival mechanism for many animal species.
Long considered myth, freakishly large rogue waves are very real and can split apart ships and even damage oil rigs. Using 700 years’ worth of wave data from more than a billion waves, scientists at the University of Copenhagen and University of Victoria have used artificial intelligence to find a formula for how to predict the occurrence of these maritime monsters. The new knowledge can make shipping safer.
Seasonal rain and termite dispersal flights make protein-rich termites vulnerable to fishing chimpanzees
For over 20 years, a research team at Lund University in Sweden has studied the common bluetail damselfly. Females occur in three different colour forms – one with a male-like appearance, something that protects them from mating harassment. In a new study, an international research team found that this genetic colour variation that is shared between several species arose through changes in a specific genomic region at least five million years ago.
Microbial communities are thought to contain keystone species, which can disproportionately affect the stability of the communities, even if only present in low abundances. Identifying these keystone species can be challenging, especially in the human gut, since it is not feasible to isolate them through systematic elimination.
A new study published this week in Science challenges the notion that only humans are capable of forming strong and strategic cooperative relationships and sharing resources across non-family groups.
Sonja Christensen, an assistant professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife in Michigan State University’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, is focused on protecting deer from disease, specifically chronic waste disease.
Large international study combines satellite and ground data
Researchers found that grizzly bears' internal clocks keep ticking through hibernation, which helps them survive going without food for months.
New research from the University of Oxford has revealed that bumblebees cannot taste pesticides present in nectar, even at lethal concentrations. This means bumblebees are not able to avoid contaminated nectar, putting them at high risk of pesticide exposure
The emergence of rabies in distinct wildlife species is a potential source of human infection and poses life-threatening risks. A 36-year-old farm worker died in May, in Northeast Brazil, only weeks after being bitten by a marmoset
New study reveals huge potential for future waves of invasive species
New study discovers two previously unknown pseudoscorpion families in Israel, expanding our understanding of the region's biodiversity.
Researchers develop deep learning AI tool that generates life-like birdsongs to train bird identification tools. This helps ecologists monitor rare species in the wild.