ecology – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Africa’s poison ‘apple’ provides common ground for saving elephants, raising livestock

By Guest PostJuly 31, 2014Nature, Scienceafrica, brain diseases, creme aus elefantenhaut, david wilcove, death, ecology, eggplant, elephants, emphysema, fabian langer, gewilderter elefant, gift darts, head injuries, holy grail, katharina trump, Kenya, lightwave computers, livestock, mackillo kira, mathematical biologist, model, paul elsen, pneumonia, princeton university, semiconductor crystal, semiconductor gallium selenide, ultrashort light pulses, xia yang

While African wildlife often run afoul of ranchers and pastoralists securing food and water resources for their animals, the interests of fauna and farmer might finally be unified by the “Sodom apple,” a toxic invasive plant that has overrun vast swaths of East African savanna and pastureland.

Should the ominous reference to the smitten biblical city be unclear, the Sodom apple, or Solanum campylacanthum, is a wicked plant. Not a true apple, this relative of the eggplant smothers native grasses with its thorny stalks, while its striking yellow fruit provides a deadly temptation to sheep and cattle. (more…)

Temperature and ecology: In Chile, rival barnacles keep competition cool

By Guest PostMarch 6, 2014Environmentbrown university, Chile, chilean barnacles, chthamalus fragilis, ecim, ecology, emily lamb, gray barnacle, heather leslie, jenna shinen, mediating factor, rival barnacles, rock barnacle, semibalanus balanoides, temperature

A lot of research shows that temperature can strongly influence species interactions and sometimes shape the appearance and functioning of biological communities. That’s why a newly published finding that changes in temperature did not alter the competitive balance of power between two rival species of Chilean barnacles is an ecological surprise.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Here are two facts that make the lowly barnacle important: They are popular models for ecology research, and they are very sensitive to temperature. Given that, the authors of a new study about a bellwether community of two barnacle species in Chile figured they might see clear effects on competition between these two species if they experimentally changed temperature. In the context of climate change, such an experiment could yield profound new insights into the biological future of a major coastline that is prized for its ecological, aesthetic, and economic values. (more…)

Seasonal awareness a traditional way of life

By Guest PostFebruary 8, 2014Cultureannual cycle, Britain, candlemas eve, church, ecology, english rural traditions, februus, latin februa, pagan god, professor nick groom, seasonal awareness, traditional, underworld, university of exeter, way of life

A celebration of the traditional connections between human lives, the seasons and the natural world form the basis of a new book by University of Exeter academic, Professor Nick Groom.

The book, called ‘The Seasons: An Elegy for the Passing of the Year’, is an urgent plea for English rural traditions not to be forgotten, and investigates not only how society is becoming cut off from the rhythms of the natural world, but also the ways in which the annual cycle has been celebrated for centuries. (more…)

Scientists reveal why life got big in the Earth’s early oceans

By Guest PostJanuary 24, 2014Nature, Scienceangeomorphs, cambrian explosion, canada, canopy flow models, complex life, david gold, david jacobs, david johnston, early ocean, earth, ecology, evolutionary biology, fossil community, fossil record, foundations, guy narbonne, harvard, large life forms, life, marc laflamme, matthew clapham, MIT, modeling technique, multicellular eukaryotes, multicellular organism, newfoundland, nutrient carrying, nutrient uptake, nutrients from seawater, ocean flow, queens university, roger summons, uc santa cruz, ucla biologist, university of toronto, variety of scale

Why did life forms first begin to get larger and what advantage did this increase in size provide? UCLA biologists working with an international team of scientists examined the earliest communities of large multicellular organisms in the fossil record to help answer this question. (more…)

Symbiotic Fungi Inhabiting Plant Roots Have Major Impact on Atmospheric Carbon

By Guest PostJanuary 12, 2014Environment, Scienceadrien finzi, am fungi, arbuscular mycorrhizal, atmospheric carbon, austin, benjamin turner, boston university, carbon cycles, christine hawkes, colin averill, ecology, eem fungi, global climate models, microscopic fungi, organic detritus, photosynthesis, plant decompose, plant roots, Smithsonian, soil dwelling microbes, symbiotic fungi, tropical research institute, university of texas

AUSTIN, Texas — Microscopic fungi that live in plants’ roots play a major role in the storage and release of carbon from the soil into the atmosphere, according to a University of Texas at Austin researcher and his colleagues at Boston University and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. The role of these fungi is currently unaccounted for in global climate models.

Some types of symbiotic fungi can lead to 70 percent more carbon stored in the soil. (more…)

Slippery bark protects trees from pine beetle attack, according to CU-Boulder study

By Guest PostDecember 27, 2013Naturebeetle infestation, boulder, boulder county parks, california, ecology, evolutionary biology, functional ecology, high elevation, humboldt state university, indian peaks, jeffrey kane, jeffry mitton, john marr fund, limber pines, mountain pine beetles, oecologia, open space, pine beetle attack, protect, scott ferrenberg, slippery bark, trees, university of colorado, wilderness alliance

Trees with smoother bark are better at repelling attacks by mountain pine beetles, which have difficulty gripping the slippery surface, according to a new study by the University of Colorado Boulder.

The findings, published online in the journal Functional Ecology, may help land managers make decisions about which trees to cull and which to keep in order to best protect forested properties against pine beetle infestation. (more…)

Biologists find an evolutionary Facebook for monkeys and apes

By Guest PostDecember 2, 2013Nature, Scienceangolan talapoin monkey, anthropology, apes, asian primate species, biologist, canopy density, central, cercopithecus cephus, chimpanzees, common chimpanzee, complex facial patterns, ecology, environmental variables, equator, evolutionary detectives, evolutionary facebook, Facebook, facial diversity, facial pigmentation, facial vocabulary, fission fusion societies, geographic location, hamadryas baboons, human skin pigmentation, identification, intra species level, iucn, javan langur, jessica lynch alfaro, macaca arctoides, mandrill, mandrillus sphinx, michael alfaro, miopithecus talapoin, monkey, moustached guenon, nasalis larvatus, nomascus leucogenys, northern, old world african, orangutans, pan troglodytes, piliocolobus tephrosceles, predictor, primate faces, primate radiations, primate specialist group, proboscis monkey, rainfall, rhinopithecus avunculus, sharlene santana, snub nosed monkey, social group, south america, ssc, stephen d nash, stump tailed macaque, temperature, tonkin, trachypithecus auratus, ucla biologists, ugandan red colobus, white cheeked gibbon

Why do the faces of some primates contain so many different colors — black, blue, red, orange and white — that are mixed in all kinds of combinations and often striking patterns while other primate faces are quite plain?

UCLA biologists reported last year on the evolution of 129 primate faces in species from Central and South America. This research team now reports on the faces of 139 Old World African and Asian primate species that have been diversifying over some 25 million years. (more…)

UA Researchers Investigating How Oceans Function Without Oxygen

By Guest PostOctober 14, 2013Environment, Sciencecoast, complex ecosystem, ecology, evolutionary biology, function, infect bacteria, interface, jennifer brum, manzanillo, marine phage lab, matthew sullivan, Mexico, ocean, photosynthesis, photosynthetic cells, sarah schwenck, sequence the dna, tucson, virus, without oxygen

Studying phages, viruses that infect bacteria, can help researchers to better understand how portions of the world’s oceans function without oxygen.

Though small, viruses could hold the secrets of how vast portions of the world’s oceans function without oxygen.

University of Arizona undergraduate researcher Sarah Schwenck and postdoctoral associate Jennifer Brum are conducting a research project in the Tucson Marine Phage Lab, which is headed by assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology Matthew Sullivan. (more…)

Tag Archives: ecology