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Emerging Explorers Award to WHOI’s Kakani Katija

By Guest PostMay 20, 2011Environment, Nature, Sciencebiogenic ocean mixing, copepods, dian fosseys, edmund hillarys, emerging explorers, engineering diagnostic techniques, jacques cousteaus, kakani katija, motion of oceans, national geographic, ocean currents, oceanographic applications, sea creatures, swarms of tiny krill, swimming animals, terry garcia, tom kleindinst, weather patterns, whoi, winds and tides, woods hole oceanographic institution

Kakani Katija, a postdoctoral scholar at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), has been selected as one of 14 National Geographic Emerging Explorers for 2011 for her investigation into the role swimming animals might play in mixing and moving the oceans and other large bodies of water.

National Geographic’s Emerging Explorers Program recognizes and supports uniquely gifted and inspiring adventurers, scientists and storytellers making a significant contribution to world knowledge through exploration while still early in their careers. The Emerging Explorers each receive a $10,000 award to assist with research and to aid further exploration. The program is made possible in part by the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation, which has supported the program since its inception in 2004. (more…)

Lichens May Aid in Combating Deadly Chronic Wasting Disease in Wildlife

By Guest PostMay 19, 2011Naturechronic wasting disease, lichen species, lichens, mad cow disease, prion diseases

MADISON, Wis. – Certain lichens can break down the infectious proteins responsible for chronic wasting disease (CWD), a troubling neurological disease fatal to wild deer and elk and spreading throughout the United States and Canada, according to U.S. Geological Survey research published today in the journal PLoS ONE. (more…)

UF Researchers Link Oceanic Land Crab Extinction to Colonization of Hawaii

By Guest PostMay 16, 2011Naturecolonists, colonization of hawaii, crab extinction, extinction, land crab, oceanic land crab

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida researchers have described a new species of land crab that documents the first crab extinction during the human era. (more…)

Africa’s Sea Turtles Need Passports for Protection

By Guest PostMay 13, 2011Natureangela formia, brendan godley, coast of central africa, conkouati douli national park, cornwall campus, disney worldwide conservation fund, endangered sea turtles, fishing nets, gabon, marine park, mayumba national park, olive ridley sea turtles, republic of the congo, sara maxwell, satellite tracking, satellite transmitters, turtles, university of california santa cruz, university of exeter

Research by experts at the University of Exeter has led to calls to create an international marine park to protect endangered sea turtles.

Scientists from the university’s Centre for Ecology and Conservation, based at its Cornwall Campus, worked with an international team to carry out satellite tracking of olive ridley sea turtles off the coast of Central Africa for the study. (more…)

UF Study Finds Cats No. 1 Predator to Urban Mockingbird Nests

By Guest PostMay 9, 2011Nature, ScienceAmerican crow and swallow-tailed kite, blue jay, cat predation, christine_stracey, dominant nest predator, dominant predator, environmental indicators for metropolitan areas, florida museum of natural history of file photo, may 2011 issue of biological conservation, mockingbird eggs and nestlings, mockingbird nest predators, nesting mockingbirds, opossum, raccoon, scott robinson, squirrel, sylvester & tweety, university of florida

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A new University of Florida study shows cats are the dominant predator to mockingbird eggs and nestlings in urban areas, prompting conservationists to urge pet owners to keep felines indoors at night.

The findings challenge assumptions that urban areas are places of refuge for nesting mockingbirds, a species researchers say plays an important role in controlling insect pests and serving as environmental indicators for metropolitan areas. (more…)

Prey-tell: Why Right Whales Linger in the Gulf of Maine

By Guest PostApril 27, 2011Nature, Sciencealgae eating copepod, baleen whales, behavior of the whales, calanus finmarchicus, dramatic impact, endangered animals, gulf of maine, mark baumgartner, nantucket, north atlantic, sand lance, sei whales, vertical migration, vertical migration behavior, whale population, whales, whoi, woods hole oceanographic institution

As they might with most endangered animals, scientists consider the whereabouts and activities of right whales extremely important. “It is helpful to know where they go, why they go there and what they do when they’re there,” says Mark F. Baumgartner of the biology department at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

Baumgartner and his colleagues studied the behavior of right whales and sei whales—both endangered species of baleen whales—in the waters of the Gulf of Maine to the east of Nantucket. They found that the location, the length of stay, and perhaps the very abundance of the whales may be dependent on an interesting vertical migration pattern by the copepods on which the whales feed. It seems to be a case, he said, of “how the behavior of the prey influences the behavior of the whales.” (more…)

UF Researchers Help Pinpoint Key Events in Ancient Plant Evolution

By Guest PostApril 14, 2011Natureancient plant evolution, evolutionary time scale, flowering plants, genome duplication, genome duplication event

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Researchers from the University of Florida and six other institutions have unlocked some of the key foundations for the evolution of seed and flowering plants. (more…)

Caterpillars Aren’t so Bird Brained After All

By Guest PostApril 6, 2011Natureart of camouflage, behaviour of caterpillars, behavioural strategies, mimicking caterpillars, moth caterpillars

Caterpillars that masquerade as twigs to avoid becoming a bird’s dinner are actually using clever behavioural strategies to outwit their predators, according to a new study. (more…)

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