ecosystem – Page 4 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Light Pollution Transforming Insect Communities

By Guest PostJune 1, 2012Environmentartificial lighting, balance, ecosystem, ecosystem services, falmouth, ground beetles, harvestmen, helston, insect communities, invertebrates, kevin murphy, light pollution, market town, scavenging species, species, street lighting, tom davies, university of exeter, urban spaces, west cornwall

Street lighting is transforming communities of insects and other invertebrates, according to research by the University of Exeter.

Published in the journal Biology Letters, the study shows for the first time that the balance of different species living together is being radically altered as a result of light pollution in our towns and cities.

Believed to be increasing by six per cent a year globally, artificial lighting is already known to affect individual organisms, but this is the first time that its impact on whole communities has been investigated.

This study shows that groups of invertebrates living near to artificial lights include more predators and scavengers. This could be impacting on the survival rates of different species, having a knock-on effect on birds and mammals that rely on these species for food. The effects could be affecting entire ecosystems and even humans. (more…)

Ecosystem Effects of Biodiversity Loss Could Rival Impacts of Climate Change, Pollution

By Guest PostMay 10, 2012Environment, Natureacid deposition, air pollution, algae, bacteria, biodiversity loss, biological diversity, bradley cardinale, california, canada, climate change, david hooper, ecosystem, environmental change, environmental stress, environmental stressors, extinction, forests, fungi, global warming, henry gholz, impact, leslie gonzalez, nutrient pollution, oxygen, ozone pollution, pollution, san josé, serpentine grasslands, Sweden, united states, university of michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Loss of biodiversity appears to impact ecosystems as much as climate change, pollution and other major forms of environmental stress, according to a new study from an international research team.

The study is the first comprehensive effort to directly compare the impacts of biological diversity loss to the anticipated effects of a host of other human-caused environmental changes.

The results highlight the need for stronger local, national and international efforts to protect biodiversity and the benefits it provides, according to the researchers, who are based at nine institutions in the United States, Canada and Sweden. (more…)

CU Research Shows Warming Climate Threatens Ecology at Mountain Research Site West of Boulder

By Guest PostApril 20, 2012Environmentamerican pika, amy miller, andrew fountain, Antarctica, boulder, changes in climate, climate station, colorado, continental divide, ecological change, ecosystem, forest, glacial lake, human dimension, island of moorea, john marr, katie suding, lter, mark williams, meteorological station, mountain, mountain range, nevada, niwot ridge site, North America, puerto rico, subalpine forest, tahiti, talus slopes, threshold, tundra, united states, university of colorado, warming temperature, wetland

A series of papers published this month on ecological changes at 26 global research sites — including one administered by the University of Colorado Boulder in the high mountains west of the city — indicates that ecosystems dependent on seasonal snow and ice are the most sensitive to changes in climate.

The six papers appeared in the April issue of the journal BioScience. The papers were tied to data gathered at sites in North America, Puerto Rico, the island of Moorea near Tahiti, and Antarctica, which are known as Long-Term Ecological Research, or LTER, sites and are funded by the National Science Foundation. CU-Boulder’s Niwot Ridge site, one of the five original LTER sites designated by NSF in 1980, encompasses several thousand acres of subalpine forest, tundra, talus slopes, glacial lakes and wetlands stretching up to more than 13,000 feet on top of the Continental Divide. (more…)

Release of New 4G Phones a Milestone for Windows Phone, Nokia Partnership

By Guest PostApril 9, 2012Technology3G, 4g lte, amoled, carl zeiss, ces, China, ecosystem, free time machines, ghz snapdragon, htc titan, jo harlow, las vegas, megapixel camera, Microsoft, milestone, mobile phone, nokia lumia 900, pc magazine, s2 processor, tech blog, terry myerson, windows phone, wireless technology, zdnet

*AT&T today launched two new 4G LTE-capable Windows Phones – the sleek, award-winning Nokia Lumia 900 and the HTC Titan II. The launch is an important milestone for partners Microsoft and Nokia, and an AT&T spokesman said the Lumia 900 will be a centerpiece of its spring advertising campaign.*

REDMOND, Wash. – April 9, 2012 – AT&T today launched two new devices, the Nokia Lumia 900 and the HTC Titan II, the first Windows Phones available on the mobile operator’s speedy 4G long-term evolution (LTE) network.

The launch is a milestone for Microsoft and partner Nokia, and also for AT&T, which is giving the award-winning Lumia 900 top billing as one of the centerpieces of its spring retail and marketing campaign. (more…)

Thawing Permafrost 50 Million Years Ago Led To Warm Global Events, Says New Study

By Guest PostApril 7, 2012EnvironmentAntarctica, arctic permafrost, carbon, climate, climatic threshold, CO2, earth, eccentric orbits, ecosystem, Environment, floor sediment, fossil fuel, frozen-soil, greenhouse gas levels, italy, kevin schaefer, methane gas, ocean, orbit, organic matter, paleocene eocene, permafrost, permafrost thaw, petm, rob deconto, soil, source, thermal maximum, university of urbino

A new study led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst and involving the University of Colorado Boulder proposes a simple new mechanism to explain the source of carbon that fed a series of extreme warming events on Earth about 50 million years ago called the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, or PETM, as well as a sequence of similar, smaller warming events afterward.

“The standard hypothesis has been that the source of carbon was in the ocean in the form of frozen methane gas in ocean-floor sediments,” said lead study author Rob DeConto of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. “We are instead ascribing the carbon source to the continents in polar latitudes where permafrost can store massive amounts of carbon that can be released as CO2 when the permafrost thaws.” (more…)

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill’s Effects on Deep-Water Corals

By Guest PostMarch 27, 2012Environmentalvin, charles fisher, christopher german, corals, deep sea, deep water coral, deepwater horizon, ecosystem, erik cordes, gas chromatography, gulf of mexico, haverford college, helen white, jason, macondo spill, national science foundation, ocean, oil, oil spill, pen yuan hsing, penn state university, Pennsylvania, petroleum analysis, petroleum hydrocarbon, psu, rapid grant, rodey batiza, rov, submarine, temple university, timothy shank, two dimensional, U.S. Geological Survey, whoi

*Damaged deep-sea corals discovered months after Deepwater Horizon spill*

Scientists are reporting new evidence that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has affected marine life in the Gulf of Mexico, this time species that live in dark ocean depths–deepwater corals.

The research used a range of underwater vehicles, including the submarine Alvin, to investigate the corals. The findings are published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). (more…)

In The Mouth, Smoking Zaps Healthy Bacteria, Welcomes Pathogens

By Guest PostFebruary 20, 2012Healthbacteria, biofilm, bone loss, chad matthews, cytokines, dental plaque, disease, diverse ecosystem, dna signature, ecosystem, gingivitis, good bacteria, harmful bacteria, healthy bacteria, marcelo aspiras, marko de jager, maureen langlois, microbial community, ohio state university, periodontitis, philips oral healthcare, purnimakumar, smokers, smoking, swab, swollen gums, types of cytokines, vinayak joshi

COLUMBUS, Ohio — According to a new study, smoking causes the body to turn against its own helpful bacteria, leaving smokers more vulnerable to disease.

Despite the daily disturbance of brushing and flossing, the mouth of a healthy person contains a stable ecosystem of healthy bacteria. New research shows that the mouth of a smoker is a much more chaotic, diverse ecosystem—and is much more susceptible to invasion by harmful bacteria. (more…)

Explosive Evolution Need Not Follow Mass Extinctions

By Guest PostFebruary 14, 2012Scienceadaptive radiation idea, canisius college, charles e mitchell, charlotte hsu, climate change, david w bapst, deforestation, diplograptines, ecological release hypothesis, ecosystem, evolutionary lag, explosive evolution, fossil record, graptoloid evolution, graptoloid history, graptoloids, h david sheets, life on earth, marine organisms, mass extinction, michael j melchin, neograptines, ordovician mass extinction, peter c bullock, physical traits, plankton, university at buffalo, university of chicago, zooplankton

In the wake of a mass extinction like the one that occurred 445 million years ago, a common assumption is that surviving species tend to proliferate quickly into new forms, having outlived many of their competitors.

But new research shows that tiny marine organisms called graptoloids did not begin to rapidly develop new physical traits until about 2 million years after competing species became extinct. (more…)

Tag Archives: ecosystem