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MU Researcher Works to Save One of the World’s Most Endangered Birds

By Guest PostMarch 26, 2011Nature, Scienceblue feathers, coconut farmers, dylan kesler, impact of predators, kingfisher, lizards, multicolored, planet, pouncing, radio transmitters, South Pacific, tiny island, tropical bird, tuamotu kingfisher

COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Tuamotu Kingfisher is a multicolored, tropical bird with bright blue feathers, a dusty orange head, and a bright green back. The entire population of these birds – less than 125 – lives on one tiny island in the south Pacific, and without serious intervention, they will no longer exist. One University of Missouri researcher is trying to stop the birds’ extinction by working with farmers and residents on the island inhabited by the kingfishers.

“If we lose these birds, we lose 50,000 years of uniqueness and evolution,” said Dylan Kesler, assistant professor in fisheries and wildlife at the University of Missouri’s School of Natural Resources in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. “Because it has lived in isolation for a very long time, it’s unlike any other bird. There is no other bird like this on the planet.” (more…)

Why Are Vines Overtaking the American Tropics?

By Guest PostFebruary 15, 2011Environment, ScienceAmazon, american tropics, barro colorado island, beauty kingdom, bolivian smazon, brazil, carbon, carbon storage, el nino events, english ivy, forest canopy, forests, french guiana, human communities, impact on animals, japanese honeysuckle, kudzu, liana vines, milwaukee, oliver phillips, oriental bittersweet, panama, planet, Smithsonian, south carolina, stefan schnitzer, subtropical forests, tropical forests, united states, vines

A Million-Dollar Question

Sleeping Beauty’s kingdom was overgrown by vines when she fell into a deep sleep. Researchers at the Smithsonian in Panama and the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee received more than a million dollars from the U.S. National Science Foundation to discover why real vines are overtaking the American tropics. Data from eight sites show that vines are overgrowing trees in all cases.

“We are witnessing a fundamental structural change in the physical make-up of forests that will have a profound impact on the animals, human communities and businesses that depend on them for their livelihoods,” said Stefan Schnitzer, research associate at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and associate professor at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. (more…)

Improved Measurements of Sun to Advance Understanding of Climate Change

By Guest PostJanuary 17, 2011Environment, Scienceamount of energy, anthropogenic causes of climate change, calibration facility, climate change, climate respond, earth, global temperature, global warming, greg kopp, industrial revolution, judith lean, laboratory, NASA, optical design, planet, satellite data, solar fluctuations, solar irradiance, solar radiation and climate experiment spacecraft, sorce, spacecraft easurements, sun, tim, total irradiance monitor, total solar irradiance, tsi, tsi value

WASHINGTON — Scientists have taken a major step toward accurately determining the amount of energy that the sun provides to Earth, and how variations in that energy may contribute to climate change.

In a new study of laboratory and satellite data, researchers report a lower value of that energy, known as total solar irradiance, than previously measured and demonstrate that the satellite instrument that made the measurement—which has a new optical design and was calibrated in a new way—has significantly improved the accuracy and consistency of such measurements. (more…)

Tag Archives: planet

MU Researcher Works to Save One of the World’s Most Endangered Birds

Why Are Vines Overtaking the American Tropics?

Improved Measurements of Sun to Advance Understanding of Climate Change