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HIMB Scientists Develop Website to Aid with Climate Change Research

By Guest PostNovember 5, 2011Environment, Nature, Scienceanemones, climate change, coral reef ecosystems, corals, erik franklin, flagellate protozoa, genbank, geographic details of the symbiodinium records, geospatial visualization, geosymbio, geosymbio application, google apps, google sites, hawaii institute of marine biology, himb, hollie putnam, hybrid web application, interactive global map of corals, jellyfish, marine organisms, michael stat, national center for ecological analysis and synthesis, nceas, photosynthetic dinoflagellates, ruth gates, symbiodinium, symbiodinium ecology, symbiotic zooxanthellae, taxonomic description, tim mcclanahan, tropical coral reefs, uh manoa, uni cellular, xavier pochon, zooxanthellae

A team of researchers from UH Mānoa’s Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) has developed an interactive global map of corals and zooxanthellae, commonly known as flagellate protozoa, as part of a hybrid web application titled GeoSymbio. This application provides global-scale biological and ecosystem information on symbiotic zooxanthellae called Symbiodinium, which are uni-cellular, photosynthetic dinoflagellates that live inside the cells of other marine organisms like anemones, jellyfish and corals.

The GeoSymbio application provides the genetic identification and taxonomic description of over 400 distinct Symbiodinium subclades or genetic lineages in invertebrate hosts that have been sampled from a variety of marine habitats, thereby providing a wealth of information for symbiosis researchers in a single online location. By utilizing Google Apps, the team was able to develop this web-based tool to discover, explore, visualize and share data in a rapid, cost-effective and engaging manner. (more…)

Bird Song Yields a New Understanding of Cooperation

By Guest PostNovember 5, 2011Nature, Scienceecuador, eric fortune, humans, johns hopkins university, neuroscientist, site of a volcano, slopes of antisana volcano, tango

*A bird duet springs forth from each bird’s knowledge of the entire song*

The site of a volcano isn’t the first place one might think of to study cooperation. But neuroscientist Eric Fortune of Johns Hopkins University and colleagues went to the slopes of Antisana volcano in Ecuador to study cooperation as it plays out with a very special songbird, the plain-tailed wren. Funded in part by the National Science Foundation, the researchers report their observations in the Nov. 4, 2011, issue of Science.

Rapidly alternating their singing back and forth, female and male wrens cooperate to sing a duet that sounds as if a single bird sang it. The researchers assumed that the brain of each bird would have a memory of its own part of the duet, and also have a memory of the cues from its partner. They were surprised to find that both brains had a record of the complete duet–a performance that neither bird can do by itself. (more…)

Insects Scared to Death of Fish

By Guest PostOctober 31, 2011Naturedragonfly, juvenile dragonflies, nonlethal predators, predatory fish

University of Toronto biologists find higher mortality among dragonflies exposed to undue stress

The mere presence of a predator causes enough stress to kill a dragonfly, even when the predator cannot actually get at its prey to eat it, say biologists at the University of Toronto. (more…)

Zoning Laws Can Help Pandas and People Live in Peace

By Guest PostOctober 29, 2011Natureenvironmental protection, help pandas, pandas, wildlife habitat, zoning in wolong, zoning laws, zoning ordinances

EAST LANSING, Mich. — As the world’s biodiversity hotspots are increasingly stressed by their human neighbors, zoning is becoming a common strategy to balance environmental protection and human needs. But a recent study conducted by Michigan State University researchers shows zoning for conservation demands reality checks. (more…)

Two New Bee Species Are Mysterious Pieces in the Panama Puzzle

By Guest PostOctober 25, 2011Natureancestors of melipona, mayan honeybees, panama puzzle, stingless bees

Smithsonian scientists have discovered two new, closely related bee species: one from Coiba Island in Panama and another from northern Colombia. Both descended from of a group of stingless bees that originated in the Amazon and moved into Central America, the ancestors of Mayan honeybees. The presence of one of these new species on Coiba and Rancheria Islands, and its absence from the nearby mainland, is a mystery that will ultimately shed light on Panama’s history and abundant biodiversity. (more…)

New Computer Programme Promises To Save The Whales

By Guest PostOctober 13, 2011Environment, Natureatlantic ocean, beluga, biological diversity, blue whale, clement chion, complex systems laboratory, computer programme, ecological and economic tradeoffs, environmental conditions, fin whale, humpback, lael parrott, les escoumins, marine mammal, minke whale, model, quebec, saguenay fjord, saint lawrence estuary, st lawrence estuary, tadoussac, university of montreal, whale watching

Researchers at the University of Montreal have developed a computer programme that enables regulators to evaluate the ecological and economic tradeoffs between marine mammal conservation, whale watching and marine transportation activities in the Saint Lawrence Estuary.

“The objective is to reduce the collision risk with whales while taking into account the impact on industry and marine transportation,” said Lael Parrott, who headed the research team. The model, developed in her Complex Systems Laboratory, maps the estuary where the field research was undertaken, simulates the comings and goings of five mammal species (minke whale, fin whale, beluga, humpback and blue whale), the presence and movements of three types of boats (recreation, excursion and cargo), and environmental conditions. Nine scenarios were elaborated in order to observe the effects of various decisions. (more…)

Is Chivalry the Norm for Insects?

By Guest PostOctober 10, 2011Nature, Scienceaggressive behaviour, chivalrous, current biology, digital video technology, dna fingerprinting, fertilise, gryllus campestris crickets, infra red video footage, leverhulme trust, northern spain, rolando rodríguez muñozof, tom tregenza, university of exeter, why insects stick together after mating, wild field crickets

The long-standing consensus of why insects stick together after mating has been turned on its head by scientists from the University of Exeter.

Published in Current Biology, their study shows that, contrary to previous thinking, females benefit from this arrangement just as much as males.

Instead of dominating their female partners through bullying and aggressive behaviour, males were revealed to be protective, even laying their lives on the line when their mates faced danger.

Previously, scientists assumed that male insects stay close to females after mating to stop them from taking other partners. Female insects have multiple mates and the last mate is most likely to fertilise her eggs. Therefore, by preventing females from taking other mates a male is most likely to father her offspring. (more…)

‘Heat-proof’ Eggs Help Turtles Cope With Hot Beaches

By Guest PostSeptember 29, 2011Nature, Scienceascension island, cayman islands department of environment, coast of south america, eggs, favourable genes, green turtles, jonathan blount, mark orr, rapid climate change, sam weber, sea turtles, south atlantic ocean, turtle evolution, turtles are naturally heat tolerant, uk, university of exeter, warming climate threatens

*Sea turtles face an uncertain future as a warming climate threatens to reduce their reproductive viability.*

*However, new research led by the University of Exeter and published this week in Proceedings of the Royal Society B shows that some turtles are naturally heat-tolerant.*

The study focused on green turtles nesting on Ascension Island, a UK overseas territory in the South Atlantic Ocean. Scientists from the Universities of Exeter and Groningen found that eggs laid by turtles nesting on a naturally hot beach withstand high temperatures better than eggs from turtles nesting on a cooler beach just a few kilometres away. (more…)

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