Most recent 40 articles: PHYS.ORG - Biology
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Advanced nuclear magnetic resonance technique reveals precise structural, dynamical details in zeolites - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 17) |
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Apr 17 · Atomic-scale analysis of local environments for the hydroxyl species is essential for revealing the intrinsic catalytic activity of zeolites and guiding the design of high-performance catalysts. However, many unfavorable factors prohibit the elucidation of their fine structures such as low quantity, meta-stable property, structural similarity, hydrogen-bonding environment, and long-range disordered nature.
Recently, a research team led by Prof. Hou Guangjin and Prof. Chen Kuizhi from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) unraveled the precise structure of complex hydroxyl groups in zeolites with a comprehensive set of ... Read more ...
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Amazon butterflies show how new species can evolve from hybridization - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 17) |
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Apr 17 · If evolution was originally depicted as a tree, with different species branching off as new blooms, then new research shows how the branches may actually be more entangled. In "Hybrid speciation driven by multilocus introgression of ecological traits," published in Nature, Harvard researchers show that hybrids between species of butterflies can produce new species that are genetically distinct from both parent species and their earlier forebears.
Writing to Charles Darwin in 1861, naturalist Henry Walter Bates described brightly colored Heliconius butterflies of the Amazon as "a glimpse into the laboratory where Nature manufactures her new species." More than 160 years later, ... Read more ...
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Birds of a feather flocking together: Research shows storks prefer to fly with conspecifics during migration - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 17) |
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Apr 17 · Now, a study from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Konstanz, Germany, has an explanation for how this collective phenomenon forms: the storks are choosing to fly together. With data on lifetime migrations of 158 storks, the study provides the first evidence of the social preference of storks during migration.
In a paper, appearing in Current Biology, the researchers show that storks chose routes that were heavily trafficked by other storks. Yet, young storks tuned their routes to social hot-spots more than adults did.
"It's exciting to see the first clues that storks are actually choosing to fly with others," says Hester Brønnvik, a doctoral student ... Read more ...
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Climate change is wiping out rare bacteria in a 'greening' Antarctica - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 17) |
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Apr 17 · And until recently, our knowledge of microorganisms in Antarctica was non-existent, where the effects of climate change are arguably the most profound. But a paper published recently in Conservation Biology provides a new snapshot of the changing composition of microorganisms in Antarctica.
Professor Belinda Ferrari with UNSW Sydney's School of Biotech & Biomolecular Science and colleagues visited Casey Station in Eastern Antarctica in 2019 to see whether projections made on soils sampled 14 years earlier about the disappearance of microbes thriving solely on chemicals in the atmosphere were correct.
They were saddened to find that they were.
"These bacteria are ... Read more ...
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Fairy-wrens are more likely to help a mate in the harsh of winter, ornithologists find - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 17) |
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Apr 17 · An international study led by researchers from the Monash School of Biological Sciences—including senior author Professor Anne Peters—and published today (April 17) in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, explores how seasonal changes affect the social dynamics and behavior of these avian communities.
"Cooperation among animals has long intrigued scientists, yet understanding the factors driving it has remained elusive," said Professor Peters.
"Cooperation is not merely a result of individual traits or environmental pressures; rather, it emerges from the complex interplay between social structures and external conditions," she ... Read more ...
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Global coral bleaching caused by climate change demands a global response - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 17) |
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Apr 17 · While the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's announcement is not unexpected, it's the second global mass bleaching in the past decade. It heralds a new reality in which we can expect more frequent and severe bleaching events as ocean temperature records continue to be broken.
Cycles of decline and recovery are normal for coral reefs, but the windows for recovery are now shorter. Stress events such as marine heat waves are coming faster, with less warning. These events are also more widespread.
The latest global sea surface temperatures remain above long-term averages.
As the southern hemisphere shifts into winter, the northern hemisphere's ... Read more ...
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Maize cultivation 300 years ago resulted in karst rock desertification, suggest researchers - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 17) |
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Apr 17 · In a study published in Earth's Future on April 5, researchers led by Prof. Wang Kelin from the Institute of Subtropical Agriculture of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have found that maize cultivation and tree felling three hundred years ago triggered severe rocky desertification in the karst area of southwest China.
Scientists have developed a method to identify historical human disturbances using dating methods from karst depression sediments, including 137Cs, 210Pbex and charcoal 14C. The first-ever pollen record in karst depression sediments, combined with comprehensive dating methods and historical documents was presented.
According to the researchers, the forest ... Read more ...
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Marine plankton behavior could predict future marine extinctions, study finds - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 17) |
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Apr 17 · All but the most specialist sea plankton moved to higher latitudes during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum, an interval of sustained high global temperatures equivalent to worst case global warming scenarios.
When a team, comprised of researchers from the University of Bristol, Harvard University, University of Texas Institute for Geophysics and the University of Victoria, compared biodiversity and global community structure, they found that the community often responds to climate change millions of years before losses of biodiversity.
The study, "Biogeographic responses in marine plankton functional groups to Cenozoic climatic and environmental changes" published in ... Read more ...
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Migratory birds are on the move and nature-friendly farms can help them on their way - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 17) |
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Apr 17 · Migratory birds must make use of food that is only available seasonally. Grass-eating birds like geese follow fresh, green shoots that appear as the season unfolds and the geese move northwards. The brief window when this young, spring grass is at its most nutritious and abundant can last as little as three weeks.
Such a fine-tuned strategy can become a liability. Geese can only eat when they arrive in the right place at the right time, but climate change has disrupted when and how long this seasonal food source is available. Migratory birds may arrive too late in one area if rising temperatures have ushered spring in earlier, for example. If birds cannot replenish their ... Read more ...
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Multi-drug resistant bacteria found on International Space Station mutate to become functionally distinct - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 17) |
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Apr 17 · Study findings indicate that under stress, the ISS isolated strains were mutated and became genetically and functionally distinct compared to their Earth counterparts. The strains were able to viably persist in the ISS over time in significant abundances. E. bugandensis coexisted with multiple other microorganisms, and in some cases could have helped those organisms survive.
Closed human-built environments, such as the ISS, are unique areas that provide an extreme environment subject to microgravity, radiation, and elevated carbon dioxide levels. Any microorganisms introduced to these areas must adapt to thrive. By delving into microbial dynamics in extreme environments, this ... Read more ...
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NASA observations find what helps heat roots of 'moss' on sun - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 17) |
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Apr 17 · For decades, scientists have struggled to understand how this mossy region is connected to the sun's lower atmospheric layers and how material there is heated from 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit up to nearly 1 million degrees Fahrenheit—100 times hotter than the bright surface just below.
Observations from these instruments combined with complex 3D simulations have now revealed that electrical currents may contribute to heating the moss. Throughout this region there is a mess of magnetic field lines, like invisible spaghetti. This tangle of magnetic spaghetti creates electrical currents that can help heat material to a wide range of temperatures from 10,000 to 1 million ... Read more ...
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Rewilding amphibians: Protecting endangered species to restore ecosystems - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 17) |
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Apr 17 · In a recent paper published in Biological Conservation, iDiv researchers suggest that given amphibians' ability to act as "canaries in the coal mine" for aquatic environments, they should be reintroduced or rewilded. Rewilding would not only help protect these endangered species but simultaneously promote ecological stability.
Amphibians, such as salamanders, frogs, and newts, are the most threatened of all vertebrates, with over 40% of all species worldwide at risk of extinction. They are also unique in providing early information about aquatic ecosystems' ecological state due to their extremely sensitive and permeable skins.
According to the researchers, the presence ... Read more ...
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Study investigates coronavirus dynamics in bats: Lower biodiversity means more pathogens - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 17) |
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Apr 17 · The West African country of Ghana is known for its sheer abundance in animal species, including its bat populations. However, climate change and increased human encroachment into nature, such as deforestation, threaten the biodiversity in this Sub-Saharan region. A study led by biologists from Ulm University offers insights into the far-reaching ecological and health-related consequences of changes in the composition of species communities.
Specifically, the international research team, which involved scientists from Germany, the Czech Republic, Australia and Ghana, analyzed how the composition of cave-roosting bat communities affects the spread of coronaviruses. Over the ... Read more ...
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Surrogate otter mom at aquarium is rehabilitating pup 'better than any human ever can' - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 17) |
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Apr 17 · Millie, a fatigued mother of an infant, was ready for a nap. So she grabbed her baby, flipped it around, threw it on her belly and started grooming its tail - a soothing behavior.
Millie, a sea otter, is rearing what could be the Aquarium of the Pacific's first orphaned pup to return to the wild. As a surrogate mom, she's teaching her adopted baby everything she needs to know to fend for herself - in the hopes she can hack it in the ocean in a few months.
"It's all instinctual, and she's doing it way better than any human ever can," said Megan Smylie, sea otter program manager at the Long Beach aquarium.
Their pairing isn't all about cuddles and relaxation. Just ... Read more ...
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Type of plastic film on high tunnels can filter sunlight, influence plant growth - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 17) |
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Apr 17 · In experiments growing green and purple basil as test crops in 12 high tunnels at the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center at Penn State University Park, the researchers evaluated the effect of four alternative polyethylene films with varying light diffusion and ultraviolet-transparency levels. They documented that the plastic coverings—with varying degrees of light transmission in the ultra-violet, visible or photosynthetically-active and near-infrared ranges—had major effects on the growth of both basil cultivars.
The plastic film coverings showed varying effects on the mineral content, total chlorophyll, carotenoids, total phenolic compounds and ... Read more ...
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Unique field study shows how climate change affects fire-impacted forests - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 17) |
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Apr 17 · The boreal forests form a single biome that spans the entire Northern Hemisphere. These forests play a key role in the global climate system by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Increasing forest fires, in the wake of climate change, threaten to undermine this ecosystem service.
In the aftermath of the summer 2018 forest fires in Sweden, a team of researchers began the most extensive field campaign ever performed in boreal forests to study how the fires affected 50 forests spread across the country. The research is published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment.
"We found that climate change may reduce the ability of burnt forests to absorb ... Read more ...
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First-of-its-kind study shows Florida Wildlife Corridor eases worst impacts of climate change - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 16) |
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Apr 16 · From rising temperatures and altered precipitation patterns to intense weather events such as hurricanes, Florida is experiencing significant climate-related challenges in tandem with skyrocketing insurance rates. As the state's population continues to surge by 1,000 new residents a day, it is projected to lose 3.5 million acres of land to development by 2070, threatening Florida's future ability to maintain biodiversity and ecosystem services.
A first-of-its-kind study highlights how Florida can buffer itself against both climate change and population pressures by conserving the remaining 8 million acres of "opportunity areas" within the Florida Wildlife Corridor (FLWC). ... Read more ...
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Climate-change-driven cold snaps threaten marine life - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 16) |
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Apr 16 · Nicolas Lubitz, a researcher James Cook University, led a new study looking at upwelling events, where strong winds cause surface waters to be pushed out from the coast and cold water from the depths is pulled up to take its place. The work is published in the journal Nature Climate Change.
He said the team assessed an extreme upwelling event that occurred along the south-east coast of South Africa in 2021.
"On March 2, 2021, carcasses of at least 260 marine organisms from 81 species, such as sharks, manta rays and trevally, began washing up along the coastline of South Africa, in a 230 kilometer zone stretching from Port Elizabeth north along the coast.
"Satellite ... Read more ...
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Coral reef microbes point to new way to assess ecosystem health - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 16) |
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Apr 16 · A new study shows that ocean acidification is changing the mix of microbes in coral reef systems, which can be used to assess ecosystem health.
The study, published today in Microbiome, looked at coral reefs specifically, but the researchers say it could be widely applicable as a method for measuring how ecosystems are responding to human activities.
Understanding how ecosystems are changing in response to human activity allows predictions of their future, and how to conserve them. Although microbes are crucial for ecosystems - supporting critical functions such as nutrition and immune system modulation - changes in microbial communities are rarely measured when ... Read more ...
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From tape measures to space lasers: Quantifying biomass of the world's tallest forests - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 16) |
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Apr 16 · Ecosystem services provided by healthy forests extend far beyond carbon storage capacity. Remaining primary (old-growth) forests are irreplaceably valuable both as carbon storehouses and biological refugia. Forests' ability to regrow after disturbances enables them to regain ecological significance over time.
Understanding the role of forests requires accurate quantification of biomass, approximately half of which is carbon. Technological advances and the urgency of the problem have motivated international efforts toward biomass mapping.
Airborne and spaceborne laser scanning hold great promise, and remote sensing is tempting to rely upon given its efficiency in covering ... Read more ...
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Pioneering crop productivity and sustainability in the face of water scarcity - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 16) |
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Apr 16 · This nuanced understanding of stomatal behavior introduces the golden-hour WUE (GHW) concept, emphasizing the importance of balancing water conservation with biomass output. Through the application of advanced phenotyping techniques, the team proposes a method for the quantitative and high-throughput screening of the GHW trait, aiming to breed crop varieties that are both high-yielding and water-efficient.
This innovative strategy seeks to address the conventional compromises between water saving and crop yield by leveraging plants' inherent water regulatory traits, offering a greener alternative to achieve agricultural productivity and water sustainability.
Amidst ... Read more ...
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Plastic pollution can kill variety of ocean embryos - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 16) |
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Apr 16 · Scientists tested the effects of new PVC pellets (pre-production "nurdles" used to make many plastic products) on the development of seven species, spanning all major groups (superphyla) of ocean animals.
Exposure to high concentrations of PVC pellets prevented healthy development in all seven species.
The main process affected was morphogenesis—an organism developing its shape—and shapeless embryos cannot survive.
The study, by an international team led by the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (Italy) and the University of Exeter (UK), highlights the "potentially catastrophic effects" of rising levels of plastic in the ocean.
"When exposed to high ... Read more ...
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Whales and dolphins now have legal personhood in the Pacific - but one treaty won't be enough to protect them - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 16) |
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Apr 16 · He Whakaputanga Moana, a treaty that translates as the ocean declaration of Māori, promotes the protection and survival of these animals in an holistic way, according to Mere Takoko, vice president of environmental organization Conservation International Aotearoa. But alone, this treaty won't stop illegal or harmful activity against cetaceans (whales and dolphins).
When the Whanganui river in Aotearoa was granted status as a living person, personhood meant that "the law now sees no differentiation between harming the tribe or harming the river because they are one and the same." If He Whakaputanga Moana takes a similar approach, Pacific nations could enforce harsh ... Read more ...
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Chemists stabilize ethylene on silver in search for better ethylene purification technology - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 15) |
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Apr 15 · However, ethylene production consumes massive amounts of energy; by some estimates, methods used to purify gases like ethylene are responsible for about 0.8% of the world's total carbon emissions. Ethylene must be separated from unwanted byproducts through steam cracking, a process that breaks down hydrocarbons by refining petroleum or natural gas.
A team of UTA chemists led by Rasika Dias, professor and chair of chemistry and biochemistry at The University of Texas at Arlington, has found a method that could make these processes more sustainable.
In their recent findings, published in the journal Chemical Science, Dias reports on a type of silver containing material ... Read more ...
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Heat and desiccation tolerances predict bee abundance under climate change - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 15) |
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Apr 15 · Kazenel completed her Ph.D. in Biology at UNM in 2022 and is currently a visiting assistant professor of Biology at Earlham College in Indiana.
"I study how native bees are responding to climate change," Kazenel said. "Bees are the most important pollinators of many wild plants and agricultural crops, meaning that they are crucial to sustaining natural ecosystems and the human food supply. But there is increasing evidence that bees are threatened globally.
"Factors known to threaten bees include habitat loss, pesticides, disease, and climate change. However, climate change has been less-studied relative to other factors that threaten bees.
"This region is home to ... Read more ...
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Scientists say coral reefs around the world are experiencing mass bleaching in warming oceans - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 15) |
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Apr 15 · Coral reef bleaching across at least 53 countries, territories or local economies has been confirmed from February 2023 to now, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and International Coral Reef Initiative said. It happens when stressed coral expel the algae that are their food source and give them their color. If the bleaching is severe and long-lasting, the coral can die.
Coral reefs are important ecosystems that sustain underwater life, protect biodiversity and slow erosion. They also support local economies through tourism.
Bleaching has been happening in various regions for some time. In the world's largest coral reef ecosystem, ... Read more ...
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Study shows how plants influence Europe's climate - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 15) |
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Apr 15 · The climate regulates plant growth and yet the climate is also influenced by plants. A study by Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), which was published in the journal Global Change Biology, has found that ecosystems can have a strong impact on Europe's climate depending on their plant mix.
"There is an extremely complex relationship between plants and the climate. At the one hand, the climate considerably influences plant growth as well as a plant's properties, such as how high it grows, how thick its leaves are, and how deep its roots go. At the other hand, plants influence climatic conditions in many different ways," explains Dr. Stephan Kambach, a research ... Read more ...
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Study unearths survival strategies of root systems - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 15) |
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Apr 15 · Emeritus Professor Hans Lambers, from UWA's School of Biological Sciences, was co-author of the study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
"How the lifespan of roots is related to the strategies roots use to acquire nutrients from the soil is largely unknown," Professor Lambers said.
"We compiled the most comprehensive dataset of what roots absorb over their lifespan from 98 observations of 79 woody species using underground recordings of roots across 40 sites.
"Our study then linked average root lifespan to other plant traits to address questions of what regulates root lifespan on a large spatial scale."
The study found median root ... Read more ...
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The great tits in this Oxford wood are adapting their breeding times as climate changes - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 15) |
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Apr 15 · During early spring, usually in March, great tits (Parus major) abandon their winter flocks and start preparing for the breeding season. First they find a mate and build a nest. Then they raise naked and blind chicks, each weighing a bit more than one gram, into fully feathered fledglings.
A lot of our research focuses on analyzing great tit reproductive phenology—that's the study and analysis of seasonal events such as plant flowering, bird migration and reproduction.
Phenological events are not fixed in time as they depend on environmental factors such as weather conditions. Thus, they vary from year to year. For instance, the earliest recorded start date for ... Read more ...
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The role of GEDI LiDAR technology in unlocking the secrets of tree height composition - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 15) |
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Apr 15 · Tree height composition, a vital ecological attribute, plays a significant role in influencing forest ecosystems, impacting biodiversity, carbon storage, and energy fluxes. Limitations have historically hindered the challenge of accurately mapping this structural diversity in scale and detail.
However, the advent of recent advancements in remote sensing technologies, particularly the introduction of the spaceborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology known as the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI), has opened new pathways for detailed canopy height mapping.
Highlighted in a study published in the Journal of Remote Sensing, this technological ... Read more ...
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Unraveling differences in temperature sensitivity of soil organic matter decomposition under various oxygen conditions - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 15) |
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Apr 15 · Most studies on Q10are based on aerobic conditions, but little is known about how Q10 varies in soils under oxygen limitation. A new study compares Q10 under oxic, suboxic, and anoxic conditions in three grassland soils and reveals the different roles of substrate carbon quality and nitrogen limitation in regulating Q10. The findings were published in Soil Ecology Letters.
Xiaojuan Feng's team at the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, conducted soil microcosm incubation experiments to test how Q10 varies in three grassland soils at different oxygen levels. They used three oxygen concentrations of 21%, 1% and 0% to simulate oxic, suboxic and anoxic conditions, ... Read more ...
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Sweet lessons: Taiwan urban beekeeping gets positive buzz - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 13) |
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Apr 13 · Under mulberry trees at a bee farm in Taipei's suburbs, students watched intently as instructor Tsai Ming-hsien wafted smoke over a hive box, explaining to aspiring apiarists how to keep the insects happy in an urban setting.
His audience included entrepreneurs, retirees and even a six-year-old who reached eagerly for a frame pulled from the box, as Tsai demonstrated how bees can be kept calm with a smoker.
"Many join my class out of curiosity," said the 43-year-old instructor who also heads the Bee and Wasp Conservation Association of Taiwan.
Bee populations around the world are facing disaster from overuse of pesticides, predatory mites and extreme temperatures ... Read more ...
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The cicadas are coming: An entomologist's take on a once-in-200-years event - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 12) |
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Apr 12 · Get ready. Billions of trillions of singing, winged insects with big red eyes are about to emerge from more than a decade of sleep underground.
For the first time since 1803, these two broods, or generations, of cicadas - Brood XIX and Brood XIII - will rise up from the earth simultaneously in 15 states across the Southeast and Midwest.
While some cicadas emerge every summer, Brood XIX and Brood XIII are among the seven existing species of so-called "periodical cicadas" that emerge only every 13 or 17 years in North America.
Once they surface, the adult cicadas only live for a few more weeks. They have one goal during their short adult life: Mate and reproduce. To ... Read more ...
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A model to promote the coordination between environmental protection and agricultural development in Erhai Lake - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 12) |
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Apr 12 · The tension between environmental preservation and economic stability in Erhai has even been termed the "Erhai dilemma." The "Erhai dilemma" is representative of those of other lakes in Yunnan Province and, more broadly throughout China. That is, how to harmonize environmental conservation and socioeconomic development.
In order to solve Erhai problems, Fusuo Zhang of China Agricultural University and his team rooted in Gusheng Village of Dali, through in-depth exploration of the complexity of "Erhai dilemma," put forward the adoption and promotion of Science and Technology Backyard (STB) model to promote the coordinated development of Erhai protection and farmers' income. The ... Read more ...
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Dead whale in New Jersey had a fractured skull among numerous injuries, experts find - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 12) |
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Apr 12 · The Marine Mammal Stranding Center on Friday released observations from a necropsy done Thursday evening on the nearly 25-foot (7.6-meter) juvenile male humpback whale that was found dead in Long Beach Township.
Sheila Dean, director of the center, said the whale was found to have bruising around the head; multiple fractures of the skull and cervical vertebrae; numerous dislocated ribs, and a dislocated shoulder bone.
"These injuries are consistent with blunt force trauma," she wrote in a posting on the group's Facebook page.
Reached afterward, Dean would not attribute the injuries to any particular cause, noting that extensive testing as part of the necropsy ... Read more ...
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Study uncovers the role of soil microbes in forest ecosystems - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 12) |
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Apr 12 · The findings, published in Soil Ecology Letters, provide valuable insights into the relationship between soil microbial communities, functional genes, and the rate of soil nitrogen mineralization.
To further investigate the relationship between soil microbial communities and nitrogen mineralization, the researchers conducted indoor culture experiments and analyzed correlations.
The results showed a significant increase in both soil nitrification rate (Rn) and soil nitrogen mineralization rate (Rm) with increasing stand age. The study also found a strong correlation between soil Rm and soil microbial diversity as well as the abundance of soil N-cycling genes.
Using ... Read more ...
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Nanoscale movies shed light on one barrier to a clean energy future - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 11) |
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Apr 11 · "By studying how and why renewable energy devices break down over time, we might be able to extend their lifetime," said chemistry professor and senior author Ivan Moreno-Hernandez.
In his lab at Duke sits a miniature version of one such device. Called an electrolyzer, it separates hydrogen out of water, using electricity to power the reaction.
When the electricity to power electrolysis comes from renewable sources such as wind or solar, the hydrogen gas it churns out is considered a promising source of clean fuel, because it takes no fossil fuels to produce and it burns without creating any planet-warming carbon dioxide.
A number of countries have plans to scale ... Read more ...
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Genetic underpinnings of environmental stress identified in model plant - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 11) |
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Apr 11 · They published their results in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science.
"Abiotic stresses—as opposed to biotic stresses like pests or disease—such as drought, salinity and cold negatively affect plant growth and crop productivity. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying plant responses to these stressors is essential for stress tolerance in crops," said corresponding author Hidemasa Bono, professor in the Laboratory of Genome Informatics at Hiroshima University's Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Life. Bono is also affiliated with the Laboratory of Bio-DX in the university's Genome Editing Innovation Center.
"The plant hormone abscisic acid ... Read more ...
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Ghost roads speed destruction of Asia-Pacific tropical forests, finds study - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 11) |
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Apr 11 · James Cook University's Distinguished Professor Bill Laurance recently co-authored a study published in Nature in which more than 200 trained volunteers closely examined satellite pictures of 1.42 million square kilometers of the Borneo, Sumatra and New Guinea islands.
Professor Laurance said roads served important functions, but without effective planning and law enforcement they could unleash a Pandora's box of environmental ills and societal challenges.
"Informally or illicitly constructed 'ghost roads' can be bulldozed tracks in logged forests, roads in palm-oil plantations and other roads missing from existing road datasets for various reasons," said Professor Laurance. Read more ...
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Research finds dairy farmers receptive to methane-reducing seaweed feed - PHYS.ORG - Biology (Apr 11) |
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Apr 11 · "Dairy farmers aim to run their farms as lucrative enterprises," said Andre Brito, associate professor of dairy cattle nutrition and management and a scientist at UNH's New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station. "The additional cost would require serious considerations, as well as more data and an effective implementation of carbon markets in the future."
In the study, published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science, researchers surveyed 35 Maine organic dairy farmers, all of whom were familiar with seaweed-based feeds and a third of whom were already using such feeds on their farms. Nearly half of respondents reported a willingness to pay, on average, an additional 64 cents ... Read more ...
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