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Early Spring Drives Butterfly Population Declines

By Guest PostMarch 18, 2012Environment, Naturebutterfly population, carol boggs, caterpillars, climate change, colorado rocky mountains, david inouye, flower, life cycle, mormon fritillary butterfly, national science foundation, nectar, population, saran twombly, snowmelt, species, speyeria mormonia, university of maryland

“Ahead-of-time” snowmelt triggers chains of events in the Mormon Fritillary butterfly

Early snowmelt caused by climate change in the Colorado Rocky Mountains snowballs into two chains of events: a decrease in the number of flowers, which, in turn, decreases available nectar. The result is decline in a population of the Mormon Fritillary butterfly, Speyeria mormonia.

Using long-term data on date of snowmelt, butterfly population sizes and flower numbers at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Carol Boggs, a biologist at Stanford University, and colleagues uncovered multiple effects of early snowmelt on the growth rate of an insect population. (more…)

Discovery of Pine Beetles Breeding Twice in a Year Helps Explain Increasing Damage, CU Researchers Say

By Guest PostMarch 18, 2012Nature, Sciencealaska, american naturalist, attacking beetles, beetle epidemic, beetles, boulder, bugs, generation of beetles, higher elevation, jeffry mitton, lodgepole, mountain pine beetles, new mexico, pine trees, ponderosa, sangre de cristo, scott ferrenberg, tree killing beetles, university of colorado, warmer temperature, yukon territory

Long thought to produce only one generation of tree-killing offspring annually, some populations of mountain pine beetles now produce two generations per year, dramatically increasing the potential for the bugs to kill lodgepole and ponderosa pine trees, University of Colorado Boulder researchers have found.

Because of the extra annual generation of beetles, there could be up to 60 times as many beetles attacking trees in any given year, their study found. And in response to warmer temperatures at high elevations, pine beetles also are better able to survive and attack trees that haven’t previously developed defenses. (more…)

Hiding in Plain Sight, A New Frog Species With A ‘Weird’ Croak is Identified in New York City

By Guest PostMarch 15, 2012Nature, Scienceamphibians, brad shaffer, bronx, cathy newman, cryptic species, dna data, ecology, Environment, evolutionary biology, jeremy feinberg, joanna burger, leopard frog, leslie rissler, long snore, manhattan, marshes, mitochondrial dna, new frog species, new jersey, new york, new york city, odd frogs, ponds, rana, rapid chuckle, Rutgers University, skyscrapers, species, staten island, statue of liberty, uc davis, ucla, university of alabama, unusual frogs, weird rana, wilds, yankee stadium

In the wilds of New York City — or as wild as you can get so close to skyscrapers — scientists have found a new leopard frog species that for years biologists mistook for a more widespread variety of leopard frog.

While biologists regularly discover new species in remote rain forests, finding this one in the ponds and marshes of Staten Island, mainland New York and New Jersey — sometimes within view of the Statue of Liberty — is a big surprise, said the scientists from UCLA, Rutgers University, UC Davis, and The University of Alabama who worked together to make the unexpected discovery. (more…)

A Bird’s Song May Teach Us About Human Speech Disorders

By Guest PostMarch 7, 2012Nature, Sciencearea x, austin hilliard, autism, basal ganglia, bat species, biostatistics, brain, cortex, disorder, dolphins, elephants, elizabeth fraley, England, flying and perching, foxp2, genes, genetic equivalent, human genetics, human stuttering, julie miller, language, male zebra finches, master gene, neuroscience, sexually mature, small bird, social network, song, songbird, speech, stephanie white, steve horvath, stroke, stuart wolpert, tissue, vocalization, zebra finch

*UCLA scientists identify 2,000 important genes*

Can the song of a small bird provide valuable insights into human stuttering and speech-related disorders and conditions, including autism and stroke? New research by UCLA life scientists and colleagues provides reason for optimism.

The scientists discovered that some 2,000 genes in a region of the male zebra finch’s brain known as “Area X” are significantly linked to singing. More than 1,500 genes in this region, a critical part of the bird’s song circuitry, are being reported for the first time. Previously, a group of scientists including the UCLA team had identified some 400 genes in Area X. All the genes’ levels of expression change when the bird sings. (more…)

Coyotes “Shrank,” Wolves Did Not, After Last Ice Age and Megafaunal Extinctions

By Guest PostFebruary 28, 2012Nature, Sciencebergmann rule, coyote morphology, coyotes, ecogeographic principle, gray wolf, pleistocene coyotes, skeletons of wolves, solitary predators

*Once large and wolf-like, coyotes ultimately became much smaller*

When the last ice age ended more than 10,000 years ago, many large species of mammals went extinct and others underwent changes in appearance. (more…)

Number of Dead California Sea Otters Recovered in 2011 a Record High

By Guest PostFebruary 25, 2012Natureattacks by sharks, bacterial infections, boat strikes, brian hatfield, california, california coast, california sea otter, carcharodon carcharias, cayucos, enhydra lutris nereis, extinction, gun shot wounds, harmful algal toxins, heart disease, infectious diseases, lilian carswell, marcia mcnutt, michael harris, monterey bay aquarium, population growth, population mortality, sea lions, sea otter, seals, shark bites, southern sea otter, strandings, tim tinker, tooth fragments, u s geological survey, white sharks

*Evidence Builds for White Shark Factor in Otter Mortality*

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — The California or southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) appears to be experiencing an unprecedented increase in mortality from attacks by sharks, according to federal and state scientists.

Since 1968, biologists and veterinarians at the U.S. Geological Survey and California Department of Fish and Game have documented and examined all reported sea otter “strandings” — counting the number of dead, sick or injured sea otters recovered along California’s coast each year. (more…)

Evolution of Earliest Horses Driven by Climate Change

By Guest PostFebruary 24, 2012Environment, Nature, Scienceaaron wood, atmosphere, bighorn basin, body size, cabin fork area, carbon, carbon dioxide, cause and effect, climate model, clydesdale, concentration, doug boyer, dwarfing phenomenon, earliest horse, evolution, florida museum of natural history, fossil, geochemical analysis, global temperature, h richard lane, horse teeth, industrial revolution, jonathan bloch, mammal, national science foundation, natural selection, North America, nsf, ocean, ornithologist, oxygen levels, paleocene-eocene thermal maximum, petm, prediction, ross secord, sifrhippus sandae, stephen chester, temperature, university of florida, university of nebraska lincoln, worland, yale

*The hotter it gets, the smaller the animal?*

When Sifrhippus sandae, the earliest known horse, first appeared in the forests of North America more than 50 million years ago, it would not have been mistaken for a Clydesdale.

It weighed in at around 12 pounds–and it was destined to get much smaller over the ensuing millennia.

Sifrhippus lived during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), a 175,000-year interval of time some 56 million years ago in which average global temperatures rose by about 10 degrees Fahrenheit. (more…)

Pregnant Primates Miscarry When New Male Enters Group

By Guest PostFebruary 24, 2012Nature, Scienceamy lu, anthropology, baboons, bachelor males, breeding primate, bruce effect, clay wilton, eila roberts, ethiopia, female geladas, fertility, geladas, gestation, jacinta beehner, jared wadley, lactation, mammals, miscarriage, national park, offspring, old world monkeys, pregnant, reproduction, rodents, science express, simien mountains, thore bergman, unfamiliar male, university of michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Pregnant female geladas show an unusually high rate of miscarriage the day after the dominant male in their group is replaced by a new male, a new University of Michigan study indicates.

The “Bruce effect” – in which pregnant females spontaneously miscarry after being exposed to an unfamiliar male – has been found repeatedly in laboratory rodents. However, no conclusive evidence for this effect had ever been demonstrated in a wild population prior to this study. Geladas are Old World monkeys that are close relatives of baboons. (more…)

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