Tag Archives: indicator species

‘Life as Research Scientist’: Grant Connette, Population Biologist

Grant Connette received a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology from Davidson College in 2008.  In the Fall of 2009 he began a Ph.D. program in Biology at the University of Missouri.  His general research interests include various aspects of the population ecology, movement behavior, and landscape-scale distributions of animals.  Much of his current research focuses on the behavior, population dynamics, and landscape ecology of terrestrial salamanders in forest landscapes managed for timber production. (more…)

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Sea Change – Penguins Provide Window into Shifting Antarctic Ecosystem

What’s the best way to study the Antarctic’s ecosystem? Follow the penguins.

Scientists are tracking penguins on land, under the sea, and even from space to unravel the environmental dynamics in the West Antarctic Peninsula as the region experiences climate change.

“We’re not just down there bird watching,” said Matthew Oliver, assistant professor of oceanography in UD’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment. “This is a concerted effort to put the whole ecosystem together.” (more…)

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MU, Westminster Researchers Find Reduced Bone Density, Stunted Growth in Turtles Exposed to Common Chemical

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Manufactured until 1977, and banned by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1979, pentachlorobiphenyls (PCBs) are chemicals still commonly found in the environment because they break down slowly. (more…)

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Re-emergence of Salmon in The Thames ‘Not From Restocking’ Say Exeter Academics

*The recent returns of Atlantic salmon in the Thames are more likely to be a result of fish straying from nearby rivers rather than a consequence of expensive restocking efforts, according to new research by the University of Exeter.*

A team of University of Exeter bio-scientists, in collaboration with the Environment Agency, Westcountry Rivers Trust and Oviedo University, Spain, have been collecting genetic data from returning fish, which suggests that habitat restoration was more effective than re-introductions. The findings will be published in the journal ‘Biological Conservation’.

Lessons from the study could be applied to other rivers across the UK according to the co-author of the paper Dr Jamie Stevens, Associate Professor of Molecular Systematics at the University of Exeter. Dr Stevens says: “Traditionally, people – such as river owners and anglers – have wanted big fish swimming up their rivers. The easiest way to ensure this quickly has been to restock those rivers with exogenous fish (from outside the river system).” (more…)

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