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UCLA life scientists present new insights on climate change and species interactions

By Guest PostJune 11, 2013Environmentanthony dell, biotraits database, climate change, cold blooded animals, consumer, coral reefs, ecology, ecosystems, feeding event, feeding relationship, flowering in plants, fluctuation, Germany, global increase, global warming, immobile prey, interactions, juvenile possum, knowledge, life scientists, massive dataset, mean temperature, metabolic rate, mobile prey, moving prey, natural ecosystems, policymakers, predator, prey, python, rainforests, rate, resource, rising temperatures, samraat pawar, species, species interactions, timing, ucla, university of chicago, university of gottingen, van savage, variability in temperature

UCLA life scientists provide important new details on how climate change will affect interactions between species in research published online May 21 in the Journal of Animal Ecology. This knowledge, they say, is critical to making accurate predictions and informing policymakers of how species are likely to be impacted by rising temperatures.

“There is a growing recognition among biologists that climate change is affecting how species interact with one another, and that this is going to have very important consequences for the stability and functioning of ecosystems,” said the senior author of the research, Van Savage, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and of biomathematics at UCLA. “However, there is still a very limited understanding of exactly what these changes will be. Our paper makes progress on this very important question.” (more…)

Social Networking: Gen Xers Connect Online as Often as They Socialize in Person

By Guest PostFebruary 8, 2013Culture, Technologyamerican youth, americans, beginning, electronic era, electronic networking, electronic social networking, face to face, Facebook, first generation, generation x, generation x report, interactions, jon d miller, longitudinal study, personal emails, quality of life, skyping, social capital, social media, Twitter, university of michigan, vital component, young adults, young women

ANN ARBOR — Young adults in Generation X are as likely to connect with friends, family and co-workers online as they are in person, according to a University of Michigan study.

In a typical month, adults in their late 30s report that they engaged in about 75 face-to-face contacts or conversations, compared to about 74 electronic contracts through personal emails or social media. (more…)

Scientists Use Marine Robots to Detect Endangered Whales

By Guest PostJanuary 27, 2013Environment, Natureacoustic research group, baleen whales, bar harbor, ben hodges, callosities, cinar, dave fratantoni, detect, detection system, digital acoustic monitoring, dmon, dynamic management area, ecologists, endangered species, endangered whales, endeavor, fin, gliders, gps position, gulf challenger, gulf of maine, hearing the whales, hole, humpback, instrument, interactions, knowledge gap, marianna hagbloom, marine robots, mark baumgartner, mark johnson, nefsc, new england aquarium, new hampshire, nick woods, noaa, north atlantic, northeast fisheries, ocean going robots, oceanographic institution, outer fall, passive, portsmouth, profile, research vessel, rhode island, right whales, salinity, science center, scientists, sea surface, sei, sofie van parijs, temperature, tiny crustaceans, tom hurst, transmit data, university, use of technology, whoi, woods, zooplankton

Two robots equipped with instruments designed to “listen” for the calls of baleen whales detected nine endangered North Atlantic right whales in the Gulf of Maine last month. The robots reported the detections to shore-based researchers within hours of hearing the whales (i.e., in real time), demonstrating a new and powerful tool for managing interactions between whales and human activities.

The team of researchers, led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists Mark Baumgartner and Dave Fratantoni, reported their sightings to NOAA, the federal agency responsible for enforcing the Marine Mammal Protection Act. NOAA Fisheries Service, in turn, put in place on Dec. 5 a “dynamic management area,” asking mariners to voluntarily slow their vessel speed to avoid striking the animals. (more…)

Some Dating Websites Do Not Remove GPS Data From Photos, CU-Boulder Students Find

By Guest PostJanuary 17, 2012Culture, Technologyage of facebook, canadian company, catholicsingles, chips, dating websites, global positioning system, gps, gps coordinates, information, interactions, kai larsen, location data, match, metadata, pictures, plentyoffish, privacy, relationship, research project, successfulmatch, university of colorado boulder, users

While the majority of dating websites do a good job of managing the privacy of their users, a class research project at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business found that 21 of 90 dating websites the class examined did not properly remove location data from pictures uploaded by their users.

As a result of people taking more photographs with cameras and cell phones containing Global Positioning System chips, some dating website profile pictures contain GPS coordinates showing where a picture was taken, said Associate Professor Kai Larsen, who taught the class on Privacy in the Age of Facebook. When such information is not removed by the dating website, commonly available tools can be used to detect the location of a person’s residence or other locations frequented by the user. (more…)

‘Social Relationships in Animals Have a Genetic Basis’

By Guest PostDecember 8, 20102 commentsScienceamanda lea, animals, colorado, daniel t blumstein, female marmots, genetic, genetic component, genetic variation, human behavior, interactions, marmots, non-human population, rocky mountains, social behavior, social network trait, squirrels, tolerate aggression

The ability to tolerate aggression is partly genetic, UCLA life scientists report in the first study to demonstrate a genetic component to a social network trait in a non-human population.

“The ability to tolerate aggression is passed on across generations; there is genetic variation in the ability to tolerate aggression,” said the study co-author Daniel T. Blumstein, professor and chair of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCLA.

Blumstein, a leader in the field of applying social network statistics to animals, and his colleagues studied four groups of yellow-bellied marmots, which are related to squirrels, over six years in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Each group included 15 to 30 marmots. (more…)

Tag Archives: interactions

UCLA life scientists present new insights on climate change and species interactions

Social Networking: Gen Xers Connect Online as Often as They Socialize in Person

Scientists Use Marine Robots to Detect Endangered Whales

Some Dating Websites Do Not Remove GPS Data From Photos, CU-Boulder Students Find

‘Social Relationships in Animals Have a Genetic Basis’