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Global Warming May Reroute Evolution

By Guest PostFebruary 21, 2011Environment, Nature, Scienceasclepias syriaca, asexual reproduction, carbon dioxide levels, cardenolides, chemical defenses, driving force of evolution, elevated carbon dioxide, environmental factors, genetic composition, global warming, heart poisons, interaction, mark hunter, milkweed, milkweed plants, monarch caterpillars, plant eating insects, plant evolution, plants and insects, rachel vannette, selection pressure

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Rising carbon dioxide levels associated with global warming may affect interactions between plants and the insects that eat them, altering the course of plant evolution, research at the University of Michigan suggests.

The research focused on the effects of elevated carbon dioxide on common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca. Milkweed is one of many plants that produce toxic or bitter chemical compounds to protect themselves from being eaten by insects. These chemical defenses are the result of a long history of interactions between the plants and insects such as monarch caterpillars that feed on them. (more…)

Ants’ Ecosystem Role is ‘Key’

By Guest PostFebruary 4, 2011Natureant workers, ants, black garden ants, collembola, common red ants, density, dirk sanders, diversity, ecosystem engineers, Environment, Europe, food chain, frank van veen, grassland food web, lasius niger, myrmica rubra, nest building activity, nutrients, positive influence, predation, predators, sermany, soil, soil nutrient, uk, university of exeter

Research by the University of Exeter has revealed that ants have a big impact on their local environment as a result of their activity as ‘ecosystem engineers’ and predators.

The study, published in the Journal of Animal Ecology, found that ants have two distinct effects on their local environment. (more…)

Scientists Determine What Makes an Orangutan an Orangutan

By Guest PostJanuary 28, 2011Nature, Scienceadam siepel, biogeography, borneo, devin p locke, evolution of primates, fruit fly, genes, genetic code, genetic diversity, genome, genome sequencing of primates, humans, island of origin, malay term, mammals, man of the forest, map, model organisms, orangutan genome, orangutans, reed beaman, scientists, sumatra

*New map of the genetic code of endangered orangutans yields important new conservation tools and insights into evolution*

For the first time, scientists have mapped the genome–the genetic code–of orangutans. This new tool may be used to support efforts to maintain the genetic diversity of captive and wild orangutans. The new map of the orangutan genome may also be used to help improve our understanding of the evolution of primates, including humans.

Partially funded by the National Science Foundation, the orangutan study appears in the Jan. 27 issue of Nature. It was conducted by an international team of scientists led by Devin P. Locke of the Genome Center at Washington University. (more…)

Like Humans, Amoebae Pack a Lunch Before They Travel

By Guest PostJanuary 25, 2011Nature, Scienceagriculture, amoebae, bacteria, beneficial bacteria, biologists, david queller, debra brock, dictyostellum discoideum, farmer amoebae, george gilchrist, harmful bacteria, joan strassmann, migratory systems, slime molds, social amoebae, strains of bacteria, tracy douglas, tuberculosis bacteria

*Amoebae increase survival odds through rudimentary form of agriculture; finding has implications for human diseases*

Some amoebae do what many people do. Before they travel, they pack a lunch.

In results of a study reported in the journal Nature, evolutionary biologists Joan Strassmann and David Queller of Rice University show that long-studied social amoebae Dictyostellum discoideum (commonly known as slime molds) increase their odds of survival through a rudimentary form of agriculture. (more…)

The Creation of a New Island

By ShamsJanuary 24, 2011Naturecreation of a new island

Highwater in Saale River

By Volker MintzlaffJanuary 17, 2011Environment, Naturecastle gieblichenstein, disaster alarm, flood situation, flood water, gauge, giebichenstein bridge, halle, halle trotha, island of peissnitz, saale river, saale valley, saale walk, saxony anhalt, shipping company riedel, snow melting, talstrasse, temperature, water touristics, winter highwater

Due to heavy snow melting as the temperature turns to be ‘mild’ and simultaneous rainfall, 2011’s Winter highwater is the highest since 1946 in the Saale river in Halle (Saxony-Anhalt). The flood water reached a maximum of 6.92 m on the gauge of Halle Trotha. A record of 7 m would cause a ‘disaster alarm’. (more…)

Online Access to the Plants of the World Is Available

By Guest PostJanuary 12, 2011Nature, Scienceafrican plants, biodiversity, digital scanner, ecologist, eldredge bermingham, Europe, flowers, global plants initiative, green tendrils, helene muller landau, herbaria, herbarium sheets, jstor, jungle, latin american, mireya correa, North America, online database, plants, pollen grains, university of panama

*The Global Plants Initiative Meets at the Smithsonian in Panama Jan. 11-13*

For centuries, jungle explorers from Europe and North America have created art of the plants they discover—pressing bright flowers and green tendrils onto herbarium sheets for prestigious museums and plant collections. But scientists in the most biodiverse countries lack easy access to this basic information needed to identify plants. The Global Plants Initiative, meeting Jan. 11-13 at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, catapults biodiversity research to a new level, sharing plant collections in a massive online database of high-resolution scans. (more…)

Wildlife Die-Offs are Relatively Common, Recent Bird Deaths Caused by Impact Trauma

By Guest PostJanuary 11, 2011Natureavian cholera, bird deaths, waterfowl deaths, wildlife die off, wildlife diseases

Large wildlife die-off events are fairly common, though they should never be ignored, according to the U.S. Geological Survey scientists whose preliminary tests showed that the bird deaths in Arkansas on New Year’s Eve and those in Louisiana were caused by impact trauma. (more…)

Category Archives: Nature