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Exhaustive Family Tree for Birds Shows Recent, Rapid Diversification

By Guest PostNovember 9, 2012Natureanalysis, arne mooers, avian diversity, basic hypotheses, behavioral innovation, biodiversity expert, bird species, birds, bumblebees, canada, diversification rate, dna data, earth, eurasia, evolution, evolutionary history, extinction, family tree, fossil, g h thomas, geographic context, geographic space, geographical information, global phylogenies, global picture, habitats, islands, j b joy, k hartmann, life, mainlands, north american, simon fraser university, south america, Space, tasmania, time, tropical species, tunafish, walter jetz, western hemisphere, yale, zeitgeist

A Yale-led scientific team has produced the most comprehensive family tree for birds to date, connecting all living bird species — nearly 10,000 in total — and revealing surprising new details about their evolutionary history and its geographic context.

Analysis of the family tree shows when and where birds diversified — and that birds’ diversification rate has increased over the last 50 million years, challenging the conventional wisdom of biodiversity experts.

“It’s the first time that we have — for such a large group of species and with such a high degree of confidence — the full global picture of diversification in time and space,” said biologist Walter Jetz of Yale, lead author of the team’s research paper, published Oct. 31 online in the journal Nature. (more…)

Sharks: Bad Creatures or Bad Image?

By Guest PostNovember 8, 2012Media, Naturebret muter, climate change, conservation biology, conservation issue, ecology, extinction, fins, habitat loss, international, key issue, Media, media coverage, media market, meredith gore, michigan, negative effect, negative report, news article, overfishing, overharvesting, pollution, risks, shark attack, shark biology, shark conservation, shark population, sharks, species, state university, survival, threat, threatened species, udall foundation, wildlife

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Historically, the media have been particularly harsh to sharks, and it’s affecting their survival.

The results of a Michigan State University study, appearing in the current issue of the journal Conservation Biology, reviewed worldwide media coverage of sharks – and the majority isn’t good.

Australian and U.S. news articles were more likely to focus on negative reports featuring sharks and shark attacks rather than conservation efforts. Allowing such articles to dominate the overall news coverage diverts attention from key issues, such as shark populations are declining worldwide and many species are facing extinction, said Meredith Gore, MSU assistant professor of fisheries and wildlife and the School of Criminal Justice. (more…)

Study Suggests Antibiotics Might be Another Suspect in Honey Bee Die-off

By Guest PostNovember 3, 2012Natureagriculture, american beekeepers, american foulbrood, antibiotics, bacterial pathogen, bacterial species, baoyu tian, bee colonies, bee pollination, bee population, bumblebees, disorder, drug, elijah powell, evolutionary event, factor, genetic analysis, gut bacteria, health hazard, honey bee, livestock, mbio, mysterious colony, nancy moran, nibal fadhil, parasites, pathogen, tetracycline, tylosin, united states, waldan kwong, west campus, william fleming, yale university

The gut bacteria of honey bees have acquired several genes that confer resistance to tetracycline, a direct result of more than five decades of use of antibiotics by American beekeepers and a potential health hazard for bee colonies, a new study by Yale University researchers show.

The genetic analysis of the gut bacteria, which are believed to help in bees’ digestion and ability to ward off parasites, suggests changing antibiotic use by beekeepers might be one factor in the mysterious colony collapse disorder afflicting bee populations. (more…)

Mystery of Nematode Pest-Resistant Soybeans Cracked by MU Scientists

By Guest PostOctober 25, 2012Naturegene silencing techniques, nematode pests, nematode resistant varieties, soybean crop, soybean plants

Gene related to soybeans’ resistance to nematodes also correlates with human diseases

COLUMBIA, Mo. — For 50 years, the world’s soybean crop has depended on the use of cyst nematode resistant varieties of beans, but no one knew how these plants fought off the nematode pests. Now, the secrets of resistant soybean plants are finally coming to light. (more…)

Science Working to Combat Deadly White Nose Syndrome in Bats

By Guest PostOctober 24, 2012Naturebat disease, bat hibernation, canadian provinces, cave, deadly, delicate ecology, diversity, ecohealth alliance, Environment, fungal ecology, fungus, fws, geological survey, geomyces destructans, growth rate, hibernation, humidity variation, marcia mcnutt, microclimate, mine, mycologia, new york, pasteurs quadrant, physiology, syndrome, temperature, underground ecosystem, US, white nose, wildlife disease, wns

New findings on white-nose syndrome are bringing scientists closer to slowing the spread of this deadly bat disease, according to recent and ongoing studies by the U.S. Geological Survey.

WNS has killed more than 5 million bats since it first appeared in New York in 2007, and the disease, caused by the fungus Geomyces destructans, has spread to 19 U.S. states and four Canadian provinces (view map). (more…)

‘Earth Perfect?’

By Guest PostOctober 23, 2012Culture, Natureancient greek, annette giesecke, book, contemporary architecture, delaware, earthly delights, ecological decline, ecological meaning, garden, hieronymus bosch, humanity, maine, naomi jacobs, Nature, new england, organic farming, perfect earth, political, pompeii, relationship, repository, roman gardens, roman studies, social, spiritual, symbolic, university, versailles

Professor’s new book examines nature, utopia and the garden

“the result of humanity’s attempt to carve out an ideal place in nature, thereby fashioning a ‘perfect’ earth” — is the subject of a new book, co-authored and edited by the University of Delaware’s Annette Giesecke.

Earth Perfect? Nature, Utopia, and the Garden is a lushly illustrated, 303-page volume that brings together essays from writers and experts across disciplines to study the relationship — historical, present and future — between humanity and the garden. (more…)

Non-native Plants Show a Greater Response Than Native Wildflowers to Climate Change

By Guest PostOctober 20, 2012Environment, Natureblooming pattern, changing climate, citizen scientist, climate change, columbus, data, flowering patterns, herbarium, invasive, kellen calinger, key driver, landscape, life cycle, native wildflower, Nature, non native, ohio, ohio wildflowers, peter curtis, plant species, state, state university, trumbull county, warming temperature, wildflower species

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Warming temperatures in Ohio are a key driver behind changes in the state’s landscape, and non-native plant species appear to be responding more strongly than native wildflowers to the changing climate, new research suggests.

This adaptive nature demonstrated by introduced species could serve them well as the climate continues to warm. At the same time, the non-natives’ potential ability to become even more invasive could threaten the survival of native species already under pressure from land-use changes, researchers say. (more…)

Shark Social Networking

By Guest PostOctober 17, 2012Natureacoustic tags, acoustic transmitter, apex predator, battery recharge, behavior, biotelemetry, coast, coastal water, concern, conventional, danielle haulsee, delaware, delaware bay, delmarva peninsula, device, dewayne fox, east coast, eastern seaboard, ecological balance, georgia aquarium, habitat, identification sensor, indian river, inlet, maryland, matthew oliver, migration pattern, mobile transceiver, network, ocean, ocean observation, oceanographic, otis, real-time, remote controlled, researcher, shark migration, species, telemetry, tiger shark, tracking technique, transmitter, underwater robot, university, vemco, vmt

Shark migrations studied with underwater robot along Delmarva Peninsula

University of Delaware researchers are using an underwater robot to find and follow sand tiger sharks that they previously tagged with transmitters. The innovative project is part of a multi-year partnership with Delaware State University to better understand the behavior and migration patterns of the sharks in real time.

“In the past week our new, specially equipped glider OTIS – which stands for Oceanographic Telemetry Identification Sensor – detected multiple sand tiger sharks off the coast of Maryland that were tagged over the past several years,” said Matthew Oliver, assistant professor of oceanography in UD’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment. “This is the first time that a glider has found tagged sharks and reported their location in real time.” (more…)

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