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Researchers Discover New Wintering Grounds for Humpback Whales Using Sound

By Guest PostMarch 11, 2011Environment, Nature

Researchers at the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB), an organized research unit in the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology have made a remarkable new discovery.

In the thick of whale season, researchers from HIMB and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shed new light on the wintering grounds of the humpback whale. The primary breeding ground for the North Pacific was always thought to be the main Hawaiian Islands. However, a new study has shown that these grounds extend all the way throughout the Hawaiian Archipelago and into the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI), also known as Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM). (more…)

She Flies On . . . and On . . . and On

By Guest PostMarch 8, 2011Natureadult albatross, bird banding, breeding life, laysan albatross, migratory game birds, oldest wild bird, seafaring legends

Oldest known wild bird in U.S. returns to Midway to raise chick

MIDWAY ATOLL — The oldest known U.S. wild bird – a coyly conservative 60 — is a new mother. (more…)

Bios for the Birds: USGS-Raised Whooping Crane Chicks Leave the Nest

By Guest PostFebruary 25, 20111 commentNaturebios for birds, louisianans, usgs, whoopers in captivity, whoopers in wild, whooping crane, whooping crane project

LAUREL, Md. — Imagine spending your time feeding, nurturing, and teaching the daily tasks of survival to a baby who could never know your true identity. (more…)

How Nature’s Patterns Form

By Guest PostFebruary 23, 2011Nature, Sciencealan newell, applied stress, bracts, d'arcy wentworth thompson, evolution, fingerprints, florets, flower arrangements, flowers, good poem, how plants grow, leopards, mari n jensen, mathematical biologist, mathematical models, mathematics, on growth and form, patterns, sand ripples, stickers, the universal nature of fibonacci patterns, universal features

*Alan Newell, a UA mathematics professor, studies patterns in nature, which he said have features that are universal*

When people on airplanes ask Alan Newell what he works on, he tells them “flower arrangements.”

He could also say “fingerprints” or “sand ripples” or “how plants grow.” (more…)

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…)

Category Archives: Nature