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Airborne Technology Helps Manage Elephants

By Guest PostAugust 26, 2012Environment, Nature3 d mapping, africa, airborne technology, atmosphere, cao, carbon, carnegie, climate, danie pienaar, ecology letters, ecosystem, elephant, elephant conservation, elephant trap, Environment, greg asner, habitat, herbivore, kruger national park, lidar, management practice, savanna, sequester, shaun levick, South Africa, terrain condition, toppling tree, treefall, vegetation

Washington, D.C. – For years, scientists have debated how big a role elephants play in toppling trees in South African savannas. Tree loss is a natural process, but it is increasing in some regions, with cascading effects on the habitat for many other species. Using high resolution 3-D mapping, Carnegie scientists have for the first time quantitatively determined tree losses across savannas of Kruger National Park. They found that elephants are the primary agents—their browsing habits knock trees over at a rate averaging 6 times higher than in areas inaccessible to them. The research also found that elephants prefer toppling trees in the 16-to-30 foot (5-8 m) range, with annual losses of up to 20% in these height classes. The findings, published in Ecology Letters, bolster our understanding of elephant conservation needs and their impacts, and the results could help to improve savanna management practices.

“Previous field studies gave us important clues that elephants are a key driver of tree losses, but our airborne 3-D mapping approach was the only way to fully understand the impacts of elephants across a wide range of environmental conditions found in savannas,” commented lead author Greg Asner of Carnegie’s Department of Global Ecology. “Our maps show that elephants clearly toppled medium-sized trees, creating an “elephant trap” for the vegetation. These elephant-driven tree losses have a ripple effect across the ecosystem, including how much carbon is sequestered from the atmosphere.” (more…)

How to Outfox the Bat Menace?

By Guest PostAugust 25, 2012Health, Naturebats, blood sucking monsters, cat repellents, flying rats, flying rodents, horror stories, rabies virus, vampire bats

Bats can be found all around the world. There are nearly 40 species in United States alone. There are many horror stories about different bats. Most people believe and fantasize about bats as the blood sucking monsters described in fiction and films. (more…)

Native Plants in Urban Yards Offer Birds “Mini-Refuges”

By Guest PostAugust 24, 2012Environment, Natureaberts towhee, arizona birds, behavior, biodiversity, bird, coral reef, curve billed thrasher, desert, doug levey, ecosystem, eyal shochat, forest, grassland, gud, hilary gan, house sparrow, lter, mini refuges, native plant, paige warren, residential landscape, sonoran desert, susannah lerman, urban yard, xeric

Landscaping with native vegetation helps local bird species

Yards with plants that mimic native vegetation offer birds “mini-refuges” and help to offset losses of biodiversity in cities, according to results of a study published on August 22, 2012 in the journal PLOS ONE.

“Native” yards support birds better than those with traditional grass lawns and non-native plantings.

Researchers conducted the study through the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site, one of 26 such sites around the globe in ecosystems from coral reefs to deserts, from forests to grasslands. (more…)

Two New Owls Discovered in the Philippines

By Guest PostAugust 22, 2012Natureasian ornithology, birdlife international, birdtour asia, camiguin hawk owl, camiguin sur, cebu, cebu hawk owl, deforestation, discovery, DNA, forest, forktail, island, mammalogy, michigan state university, mindanao, new owls, ninox hawk owls, oriental bird club, pam rasmussen, Philippines, species of owls, vocalization

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Two new species of owls have been discovered in the Philippines, and a Michigan State University researcher played a key role in confirming their existence.

The discovery, which is featured in the current issue of Forktail, the Journal of Asian Ornithology, took years to confirm, but it was well worth the effort, said the paper’s lead author Pam Rasmussen, MSU assistant professor of zoology and assistant curator of mammalogy and ornithology at the MSU Museum.

“More than 15 years ago, we realized that new subspecies of Ninox hawk-owls existed in the Philippines,” she said. “But it wasn’t until last year that we obtained enough recordings that we could confirm that they were not just subspecies, but two new species of owls.” (more…)

UF Scientists Find State Record 87 Eggs In Largest Python From Everglades

By Guest PostAugust 18, 2012Environment, Naturealligator, anatomy, burmese python, claudia grant, egg, everglades, exotic snake, female snake, florida, kenneth krysko, leroy nunez, nicholas coutu, ornithologist, predator, reproductive capability, skip snow, snake, south florida, southeast asia, university of florida, wildlife management

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida researchers curating a 17-foot-7-inch Burmese python, the largest found in Florida, discovered 87 eggs in the snake, also a state record.

Scientists at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus examined the internal anatomy of the 164.5-pound snake Friday. The animal was brought to the Florida Museum from Everglades National Park as part of a long-term project with the U.S. Department of the Interior to research methods for managing the state’s invasive Burmese python problem. Following scientific investigation, the snake will be mounted for exhibition at the museum for about five years, and then returned for exhibition at Everglades National Park. (more…)

Study Proves that One Extinction Leads to Another

By Guest PostAugust 15, 2012Natureafrican plains, aphids, carnivore, ecosystem, extinction, food web, frank van veen, insects, parasitic wasps, predatory fish, predatory species, ripple effect, university of exeter

When a carnivore becomes extinct, other predatory species could soon follow, according to new research.

Scientists have previously put forward this theory, but a University of Exeter team has now carried out the first experiment to prove it.

Published today (15 August 2012) in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters, the study shows how the demise of one carnivore species can indirectly cause another to become extinct. The University of Exeter team believes any extinction can create a ripple effect across a food web, with far-reaching consequences for many other animals. (more…)

Male Sandpipers That Sleep Less Have More Sex

By Guest PostAugust 14, 2012Nature, Scienceamanda watson, arctic circle, electroencephalogram, electromyogram datalogger, female, Germany, hypothesis, male sandpipers, mating, mating season, max planck institute, more sex, offspring, seewiesen, sleep deprivation, sleep less, stress

A study conducted by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen, Germany has shown that the male members of a sandpiper population who spend less time sleeping are more successful at mating with females and have more offspring.

The sandpiper mating season takes place during the summer in the Arctic Circle, when the sun practically never goes down. Males of the species compete to impress females by fighting with each other, defending territory, and flying over the females while making a hooting sound. (more…)

Global Bullfrog Trade Spreads Deadly Amphibian Fungus Worldwide

By Guest PostAugust 14, 2012Natureamphibian fungus, bullfrog farming, bullfrog trade, chytrid fungus, hybridization hypothesis, michigan bullfrog, sex in chytrid

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— The global trade in bullfrogs, which are farmed as a food source in South America and elsewhere, is spreading a deadly fungus that is contributing to the decline of amphibians worldwide, according to a University of Michigan biologist and his colleagues. (more…)

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