Tag Archives: ecosystem

Measuring Microbes Makes Wetland Health Monitoring More Affordable, Says MU Researcher

By Guest PostMay 15, 2013Environmentarchaea, atreyee sims, bacteria, cape may, earth, ecosystem, healthy ecosystem, kidneys, measuring microbes, microorganisms, new jersey, soil, university of missouri, wastewater, wastewater treatment, water samples, wetland health, wetland health evaluation, zhiqiang hu

Understanding microbe communities could improve wetland wastewater treatment systems

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Wetlands serve as the Earth’s kidneys. They filter and clean people’s water supplies while serving as important habitat for many species, including iconic species like cattails, cranes and alligators. Conventional ecosystem health assessments have focused on populations of these larger species. However, the tiny, unseen creatures in the wetlands provided crucial indicators of the ecosystems’ health in a study by University of Missouri Associate Professor of Engineering Zhiqiang Hu and his team. Using analysis of the microbiological health of wetlands is cheaper and faster than traditional assessments, and could lead to improvements in harnessing natural processes to filter humans’ wastewater.

“During road and building construction, engineers must sacrifice wetlands to development, but laws dictate that these lost wetlands be compensated for by establishing a wetland somewhere else,” said Hu. “Our research could be applied to both monitor the success of these compensation wetlands and guide conservationists in inoculating new engineered ecosystems with the correct types of microorganisms.” (more…)

Size of Lunch Dictates Force of Crunch

By Guest PostFebruary 19, 2013Science3d, animal, animal bite force, animated computer model, biology letters, bite, bite strength relationship, brown university, co evolving foods, crush, crushing device, daily sustenance, ecology and evolution, ecosystem, elizabeth brainerd, eric lopresti, force, humans, jaw, length force relationship, maximum force, measure, muscle, muscle length, nicholas gidmark, nicolai konow, optimal value, phenomenon of physiology, piston activated, population, predators and prey, prey sizes, species, variable bite force, x ray markers, xray videos

Even in the same animal, not all bites are the same. A new study finds that because the force in a muscle depends on how much it is stretched, an animal’s bite force depends on the size of what it is biting. The finding has direct implications for ecology and evolution.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Many animals prefer food — snails, nuts, etc. — that must be cracked and crushed. Scientists have measured the maximum force of their impressive bites before, but a new study introduces a significant subtlety: bite force depends not only on the size and strength of the eater, but also the size of the eatee. That insight has important implications in the lives of predators and prey. (more…)

Lionfish Invasion

By Guest PostFebruary 9, 2013Environment, Natureadam marsh, biological dynamics, caribbean, cayman islands, coral reef habitats, coral reef systems, coral reefs, diversity, economic threat, ecosystem, environmental, exotic lionfish, florida waters, gainesville, government permission, indo-pacific, invasive species, lionfish invasion, little cayman, mark moline, mark warner, native habitats, neil van niekerk, new york, overfishing and pollution, reducing biodiversity, reef dwellers, reef environment, shrimp, smsp, tom frazer, university of florida, venomous barbs, young lionfish

Invasive species among marine science subjects in Cayman Islands study abroad program

With a spiky fringe of venomous barbs and bold brown-and-white stripes, the exotic lionfish invaded Florida waters several decades ago and expanded its range widely from the Caribbean to New York. Native to the Indo-Pacific, the invasive species has no natural predators in this part of the world and readily feasts on small fish and shrimp.

UD students have the opportunity to observe these intruders — up-close and underwater — in a new study abroad program offered in the Cayman Islands through the School of Marine Science and Policy (SMSP). (more…)

Confirmed: Stress Gradient Hypothesis: How Plant Communities Endure Stress

By Guest PostFebruary 5, 2013Natureandrew altieri, barnacles, brown university ecologist, caribbean coral reefs, China, climatic zones, ecology letters, ecosystem, environmental stress, global meta analysis, growth responses, heat stress, high stress, highly competitive species, hypothesis in 1994, iology at brown, jiao tong university, less competitive species, mark bertness, mussel beds, negative interactions, organisms, patagonia, predictive value, qiang he, ray callaway, reduction in competition, rhode island, rule of thumb, salt marshes, santa barbara, sardinian sand dunes, sea grass beds, seaweeds, shanghai, shift to facilitation, shores, soil moisture, stress gradient hypothesis, stress increase, stress types, survival responses, university of california, university of montana

The Stress Gradient Hypothesis holds that as stress increases in an ecosystem, mutually supportive interactions become more significant and negative interactions, such as competition, become less so. The idea has been hotly debated but is now backed by a review of hundreds of studies co-authored in Ecology Letters by Mark Bertness, professor of biology at Brown, who first formally proposed the hypothesis in 1994. The time has come, he said, to test its application and predictive value.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Ecology is rife with predation, competition, and other dramatic “negative interactions,” but those alone do not determine the course life on Earth. Organisms sometimes benefit each other, too, and according to the Stress Gradient Hypothesis, their “positive interactions” become measurably more influential when ecosystems become threatened by conditions such as drought. Ecologists have argued about the hypothesis ever since Brown University ecologist Mark Bertness co-proposed it in 1994; Bertness says a large new global meta-analysis he co-authored in Ecology Letters definitively shows that it is true. (more…)

Study Finds Severe Climate Jeopardizing Amazon Forest

By Guest PostJanuary 20, 2013Environment, Natureamazon basin, Amazon rainforest, amazonia, amazonian droughts, amazonian trees, atmospheric condition, california, carbon cycle, carbon dioxide, climate change, climate phenomenon, cloud, decaying wood, degradation, double whammy, drought, earth, ecosystem, effect, forest, forest canopy, forest recovery, global data, katrina, large scale, megadrought, NASA, quikscat spacecraft, radar data, rainfall measuring mission, rainforest, rainforest ecosystem, rita, sassan saatchi, satellite, satellite microwave, scatterometer radar, sea surface temperature, seawinds scatterometer, size of california, southern, steady decline, tropical, tropical atlantic, united kingdom, university of oxford, vegetation, water availability, western amazonia, wildfire, yadvinder malhi

PASADENA, Calif. – An area of the Amazon rainforest twice the size of California continues to suffer from the effects of a megadrought that began in 2005, finds a new NASA-led study. These results, together with observed recurrences of droughts every few years and associated damage to the forests in southern and western Amazonia in the past decade, suggest these rainforests may be showing the first signs of potential large-scale degradation due to climate change.

An international research team led by Sassan Saatchi of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., analyzed more than a decade of satellite microwave radar data collected between 2000 and 2009 over Amazonia. The observations included measurements of rainfall from NASA’s Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission and measurements of the moisture content and structure of the forest canopy (top layer) from the Seawinds scatterometer on NASA’s QuikScat spacecraft. (more…)

IBM, STMicroelectronics and Shaspa Advance Smarter Home Initiative

By Guest PostJanuary 8, 2013Technology1933, 3d, batteryless, bruce anderson, carbon dioxide, chicago world fair, cloud enabled electronics, cloud platform, co2 level, data, ecosystem, electronics exhibition, energy efficiency, forecast, gui, home gateway, human motion, ibm, ibm cloud, ibm worklight, industry standard, internet of things, ipv6 network, it efficiency, las vegas, mobile application platform, mobile device, monitoring, multiple user interfaces, new era, oliver goh, osgi, parks associates, physical gestures, preset scenarios, save energy, shaspa, smart home, smarter home initiative, stih416, stmicroelectronics, system on chip, temperature, time based, value add services, voice recognition

Cloud computing enhances control of “Internet of Things” in the home to help manage heating, lighting, security and more via multiple user interfaces including gestures and voice recognition

LAS VEGAS, CES – 08 Jan 2013: IBM, STMicroelectronics and Shaspa today announced a collaboration to tap cloud and mobile computing for manufacturers and service providers to provide innovative ways for consumers to manage and interact with their homes’ functions and entertainment systems using multiple user interfaces such as voice recognition and physical gestures for a smarter home.

A “smart home” brings networking functions together, creating a gateway that connects a television, computer or mobile device with smart meters, lights, appliances, plugs and sensors within the home as well as services from outside. Parks Associates forecasts that more than 8 billion devices will be connected on the home network by year-end 2015.[1] (more…)

Plumes across the Pacific Deliver Thousands of Microbial Species to West Coast

By Guest PostDecember 20, 2012Environmentaerobiology, aerosol, air pollution, aircraft, asia, atmospheric particle, bacterial, balloons, biomass, cascade mountains, central oregon, dale griffin, daniel jaffe, david j smith, dilution, DNA, dust, dust plume, earth, ecosystem, fungal, global wind circulation, harmless, hilkka timonen, kevin perry, michael roberts, michele birmele, microorganism, molecular method, mount bachelor, NASA, North America, old classification, pacific ocean, peter ward, plume event, pollutant, traditional paradigm, trans pacific trip, troposphere, university of utah, university of washington, west coast

A surprising number of microorganisms – more than 100 times more kinds than reported just four months ago – are leaping the biggest gap on the planet. Hitching rides in the upper troposphere, they’re making their way from Asia across the Pacific Ocean and landing in North America.

For the first time researchers have been able to gather enough biomass in the form of DNA to apply molecular methods to samples from two large dust plumes originating in Asia in the spring of 2011. The scientists detected more than 2,100 unique species compared to only 18 found in the very same plumes using traditional methods of culturing, results they published in July. (more…)

Environmental Issues: How True the Climate Changes Affecting Biodiversity

By Guest PostDecember 12, 2012Environmentalgae, annual migratory cycle, biodiversity, biological behavior, biosphere, brianne, caribbean species, changes in climate, changing climate, changing temperatures, climate changes, colonization, corals, current scenario, eccentric rainfall, ecology, ecosystem, elkhorn, environmental conditions, erratic courses, evolution, fishes, fossilized remains, global warming, great barrier reef, mammals, melting, melting of permafrost, migration of animals, migratory birds, oceans, offsprings, penguins, permafrost, phytoplankton, polar bears, polar regions, pollen distribution, regal cigs, satellite pictures, species, staghorn corals, temperature, underwater life, warm air currents, zooplanktons

A changing climate has implications on biodiversity without any doubt. Species in the past have been sensitive to changes in the climate; that has been proved time and again by the fossilized remains and pollen distribution studies. It has been seen or can be concluded safely that climate changes have led to extinction of species in one area and colonization in another.

It is improbable that all species can or will be able to adapt to changing conditions specially the sudden changes. This leads to impact in ecosystem dynamics and also on community composition. (more…)