Conservationists concerned about illegal hunting and exploitation of porcupines in Indonesia
Pensoft PublishersPorcupines are frequently traded across Asia, and Indonesia, home to five species, is no exception.
Porcupines are frequently traded across Asia, and Indonesia, home to five species, is no exception.
Researchers at the University of New Hampshire found that to live in hotter more desert-like surroundings, and exist without water, there is more than one genetic mechanism allowing animals to adapt. This is important not only for their survival but may also provide important biomedical groundwork to develop gene therapies to treat human dehydration related illnesses, like kidney disease.
Bats' "supersense" of time
The United States-Mexico border traverses through large expanses of unspoiled land in North America, including a newly discovered worldwide hotspot of bee diversity.
Researchers at the University of Kansas have described a new species of fanged frog discovered in the Philippines that's nearly indistinguishable from a species on a neighboring island except for its unique mating call and key differences in its genome.
The ant came in a small vial of ethanol, sealed in a plastic bag, and packed in a small cardboard box. It was addressed to Yale's Douglas B. Booher.
The images leave no one cold: giant vortices of floating plastic trash in the world's oceans with sometimes devastating consequences for their inhabitants – the sobering legacy of our modern lifestyle. Weathering and degradation processes produce countless tiny particles that can now be detected in virtually all ecosystems. But how dangerous are the smallest of them, so-called nanoplastics? Are they a ticking time bomb, as alarming media reports suggest? In the latest issue of the journal Nature Nanotechnology, a team from Empa and ETH Zurich examines the state of current knowledge – or lack thereof – and points out how these important questions should be addressed.
A proposal to conduct the first comprehensive assessment of groundwater biodiversity in the central and eastern United States has earned a University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) assistant professor of biological science a five-year, $1.029 million National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award.
Scientists from around the world have produced a new analysis—believed to be the most detailed study of specialized ecological data from global forests—that is furthering science’s understanding of species interactions and how diversity contributes to the preservation of ecosystem health.
Amid the extreme aridity of the vast Colorado Desert of eastern San Diego County, a ribbon of greenery allows life to thrive. The Sentenac Cienega area inside Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is more than 100 miles southeast of Irvine. It contains a desert wetland, which is part of the San Felipe Creek watershed that is fed by nearby mountains and ultimately flows into the Salton Sea.
Woods Hole, Mass. (April 28, 2021) --Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) today announced the establishment of the Francis E. Fowler IV Center for Ocean and Climate to seek new knowledge and new solutions at the intersection of oceanography and climate science. A generous gift from Francis E. Fowler IV established the center and will enable it to immediately commence operations.
During the Bronze Age, Mesopotamia was witness to several climate crises. In the long run, these crises prompted the development of stable forms of State and therefore elicited cooperation between political elites and non-elites.
Six feet of social distance may be the new norm between people, but a new WCS report says if you don’t want to disturb wildlife, you need to keep waaaaaaay back.
Indiana University experts in biology and ecology are available to comment on the emergence of the Brood X cicadas, a spectacular event that occurs every 17 years in the eastern United States.
The Andes Mountains of South America are the most species-rich biodiversity hotspot for plant and vertebrate species in the world. But the forest that climbs up this mountain range provides another important service to humanity. Andean forests are helping to protect the planet by acting as a carbon sink, absorbing carbon dioxide and keeping some of this climate-altering gas out of circulation, according to new research published in Nature Communications.
How will climate change affect the world’s dinner plates?
A new study revealed that a drastic reduction of deaths of one of Africa’s rarest primates, the Zanzibar red colobus (Piliocolobus kirkii), followed the installation of four speedbumps along a stretch of road where the species frequently crossed.
University of Georgia and U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers identified bees that were collecting pollen from the flowers of a turfgrass called centipedegrass. The researchers have been looking for ways to reverse the decline of pollinator populations by examining centipedegrass as a food source for pollinators, with hopes of normalizing low-maintenance, bee-friendly lawns.
Dragonfly wings, lotus leaves, cicada wings -- thanks to millennia of evolution, nature has optimized the ways these surfaces and others behave to offer antibacterial functionality. An international, interdisciplinary team of researchers is trying to find the best way to translate these features to create nature-inspired bactericidal surfaces for use in medical implants. They discuss the surface structures and chemical compositions for an ideal implant material in the journal Applied Physics Reviews.
A new study at Tel Aviv University reveals a possible defense mechanism developed by fireflies for protection against bats that might prey on them.
Should humans use technology to put the brakes on global warming? Stratospheric aerosol intervention (SAI) is a climate intervention that has been studied as a way to help cool the Earth. But what would be the consequences to natural systems of SAI? This question is being examined by a large scientific research team.
In one Madagascar forest, the trees teem with lemurs. In another forest just 150 miles away, the last few individuals of a small local population may soon be lost. Scientists are joining up to figure out how to best support these two endangered species.
A new map of the extent and year of detection of oil palm plantations will help understand trends in oil palm expansion.
A group of researchers from Russia, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland contest the common belief that resource-based economies have higher levels of within-country inequality than resource-scarce economies.
Every year, an estimated four percent of the world's vegetated land surface burns, leaving more than 250 megatons of carbonized plants behind. For the first time, a study by the University of Vienna has now recorded elevated concentrations of environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFR) in these charcoals - in some cases even up to five years after the fire.
Climate is likely the biggest driver of butterfly abundance change, according to a new study by University of Georgia entomologists.
Large areas of forests regrowing in the Amazon to help reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, are being limited by climate and human activity.
There is a growing body of evidence that exposure to green space is good for our health but a new study from the University of Adelaide has found that this may equally be due to how much light we are exposed to at night.
Why are “ghost forests” filled with dead trees expanding along the mid-Atlantic and southern New England coast? Higher groundwater levels linked to sea-level rise and increased flooding from storm surges and very high tides are likely the most important factors, according to a Rutgers study on the impacts of climate change that suggests how to enhance land-use planning.
Rainbows are some of the most spectacular optical phenomena in the natural world and Hawai'i has an amazing abundance of them.
Reforestation could help to combat climate change, but whether and where to plant trees is a complex choice with many conflicting factors. To combat this problem, researchers reporting in the journal One Earth on December 18 have created the Reforestation Hub, an interactive map of reforestation opportunity in the United States.
Several years after scientists discovered what was considered the oldest crater a meteorite made on the planet, another team found it's actually the result of normal geological processes.
An international team of scientists with Fridgeir Grímsson from the University of Vienna has found a previously unknown fossil fly species in old lake sediments of the Messel Pit, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Germany. In the stomach of the fossil insect, pollen from various plants could be detected, which allows rare insights into the feeding behavior, the ecology and the role of the fly as a pollinator.
About 1 million tourists a year seek out the energetic displays of light made by fireflies in habitats across the globe. The authors warn that ecotourism threatens to extinguish firefly populations and outline sustainable measures that can be taken to ensure future generations will enjoy the show.
Researchers at the University of Vienna and the Austrian Academy of Sciences, led by Markus Aspelmeyer have succeeded in measuring the gravitational field of a gold sphere, just 2 mm in diameter, using a highly sensitive pendulum - and thus the smallest gravitational force. The experiment opens up new possibilities for testing the laws of gravity on previously unattained small scales. The results are published in the journal Nature.
Scientists have identified proteins in aphid saliva that can alter plant development. These proteins drive abnormal growths called galls, which give insects a protected place to feed and reproduce.
The amount of green space surrounding children's homes could be important for their risk of developing ADHD. This is shown by new research results from iPSYCH.
A dozen Sandia National Laboratories employees volunteer to go off the beaten trail and give back to their community by participating in wilderness searches and rescues. As members of the Albuquerque Mountain Rescue Council, they use their technical expertise to solve the complex challenges involved in finding lost hikers and hoisting injured rock climbers to safety.
The Beaufort Sea, the Arctic Ocean’s largest freshwater reservoir, has increased its freshwater content by 40 percent over the last two decades, putting global climate patterns at risk.
A new study has for the first time explored the rate at which the world's largest fish, the endangered whale shark, can recover from its injuries.
Scientists at the University of Adelaide have challenged the common assumption that genetic diversity of a species is a key indicator of extinction risk.
Using laws governing human rights may be the best way of harnessing international legislation and tribunals to protect the Amazon, a new study shows.
Home gardens are by far the biggest source of food for pollinating insects, including bees and wasps, in cities and towns, according to new research.
The first global-scale assessment of the role ecosystems play in providing sanitation finds that nature provides at least 18% of sanitation services in 48 cities worldwide, according to researchers in the United Kingdom and India.
Around the world, coral reefs are under pressure from a host of stressors, including global warming, pollution, and disease events. Now, two leading groups – Nova Southeastern University and the Coral Restoration Foundation™ – are teaming up to establish a new “coral ark” for critically endangered coral species where genetically diverse corals will be housed to bank and protect their important genetic diversity.
Love them or hate them, there’s no doubt the European Starling is a wildly successful bird. A new study from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology examines this non-native species from the inside out to learn what exactly happened at the genetic level as the starling population exploded and spread all across North America?
It's clear that rising greenhouse gas emissions are the main driver of global warming.
Under increasing global warming, tropical fish are escaping warmer seas by extending their habitat ranges towards more temperate waters. But a new study shows that the ocean acidification predicted under continuing high CO2 emissions may make cooler, temperate waters less welcoming.
A new study in Frontiers in Marine Science provides a first-of-its-kind evaluation of which regions of southern European seas are in the most need of fishing restrictions.