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Evolutionary biologists at McMaster University who study the social lives and behaviour of colony spiders—some of which are docile, others aggressive— have found that the success of their cooperative societies depend on their neighbours.
People in many parts of the world feed birds in their backyards, often due to a desire to help wildlife or to connect with nature. In the United States alone, over 57 million households in the feed backyard birds, spending more than $4 billion annually on bird food.
Professor Sandra Myrna Díaz from Argentina has been awarded the Gunnerus Award in Sustainability Science, an international research prize jointly awarded by the Royal Norwegian Society of Science and Letters (DKNVS) and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
The good news is global and local. Keeping inland lakes from turning green means less greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere and contributing to climate change. Healthy drinking water, fishing and recreation opportunities are also increased when waters are not green.
An enzyme-blocking molecule can extend the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans roundworms by as much as 45 percent, largely by modulating a cannabinoid biological pathway, according to a study from scientists at Scripps Research.
New research shows that a third of British insect pollinator species have declined in the last 30 years.A study led by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology investigated the presence of 353 wild bee and hoverfly species from 1980 to 2013.
Scientists at the University of Sheffield and University of Turku are looking at ways to boost captive populations of Asian elephants without relying on taking them from the wild.
If you've ever dined on the tropical island of Okinawa, Japan, your plate may have been graced by a remarkable pile of seaweed, each strand adorned with tiny green bubbles. Known as umi-budo or sea grapes, the salty snack pairs well with rice, sashimi and a tall glass of beer.
Cows always rest on their chests so that their digestion is not impaired. Rodents sometimes rest sitting down, while kangaroos sometimes lie on their backs. The larger the animal, the less often it lies down, and when it does, it is more likely to lie on its side—but there are exceptions. A team ...
Roughly 430 million years ago, during the Earth's Silurian Period, global oceans were experiencing changes that would seem eerily familiar today. Melting polar ice sheets meant sea levels were steadily rising, and ocean oxygen was falling fast around the world.
Cities to swelter as planners face unenviable trade-off between tackling climate change and quality of life, new research has shown.The study, led by experts at Newcastle University, UK, has shown the challenge we face to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase cities' resilience to extreme we ...
Coffee grown under a tree canopy is promoted as good habitat for birds, but recent University of Delaware research shows that some of these coffee farms may not be as friendly to our feathered friends as advertised.
Big data and large-scale analyses are critical for biodiversity research to find out how animal and plant species are distributed worldwide and how ecosystems function.
In eastern Brazil's Atlantic Forest, poisonous "pumpkin toadlets" use their vivid colors to warn off predators. But these tiny frogs also broadcast a secret visual signal: They glow bright blue under ultraviolet light.
The health and genetics of red squirrels reintroduced to Highland woodlands are to be studied by University of Edinburgh scientists. Findhorn-based charity Trees for Life has been relocating squirrels to areas where they were once found, including woods near Shieldaig and Gairloch.
We humans often watch and wonder at wildlife. But a defense agency’s new initiative turns the tables—it aims to deploy marine animals to keep an eye on human activity.
An international team, including researchers from the University of Göttingen, argues in a perspective article recently published in Science that new plant breeding technologies can contribute significantly to food security and sustainable development.
Butterflies have declined by at least 84% in the Netherlands over the last 130 years, according to a study, confirming the crisis affecting insect populations in western Europe.
Not only do intact ecosystems delight the eye of nature lovers, they also help people financially. However, it is difficult to put an exact figure on how much money they actually generate in specific cases.
The fate of a species may just rest on this love story.Happily, the first date between Romeo, once the last-known Sehuencas water frog, and Juliet, who was discovered deep inside a Bolivian cloud forest in January, went so well the two have been living together in the male's aquarium since.
Scientists have reconstructed the tree of life for all major lineages of perching birds, also known as passerines, a large and diverse group of more than 6,000 species that includes familiar birds like cardinals, warblers, jays and sparrows.
A researcher at Syracuse University's College of Arts and Sciences has confirmed that Africa's Serengeti-Mara ecosystem--one of the largest, most protected on Earth--may be imperiled, due to increased human activity at its border.
Unsustainable harvesting, including hunting, trapping, fishing and logging, comprises one of the biggest threats to biodiversity. Yet, no previous assessment has investigated which areas are most vulnerable to this threat globally.
Researchers have developed a model that uses data from sensors worn by meerkats to gain a more detailed picture of how animals behave in the wild.
A team of international environmentalists and data scientists have developed a plan for tracing the numbers and positions of our planet’s millions of plants and animal species – calling it as a biodiversity census.
Larger plants may be the first sign sea levels are rising in the Everglades, according to an FIU study.Beneath the surface, however, the roots of these now larger, moderately salt-tolerant plants like sawgrasses will begin to wither and die if the water gets too salty. If there's no time for man ...
It is now known that many animals exhibit unique behaviors around same-species corpses, ranging from removal of the bodies and burial among social insects to quiet attendance and caregiving among elephants and primates.
An international team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, conducted behavioral observations and collected urine samples for cortisol analysis of male chimpanzees of the Taï National Park, Ivory Coast, during periods of intense male-male ...
Hydrocarbons play key roles in atmospheric and biogeochemistry, the energy economy, and climate change. Most hydrocarbons form in anaerobic environments through high temperature or microbial decomposition of organic matter. Microorganisms can also "eat" hydrocarbons underground, preventing them ...
A team of researchers from several institutions in the U.K. has found evidence that suggests some seabirds may benefit from the existence of human-built offshore structures. In their paper published in the journal Communications Biology, the group describes their study of foraging seabirds in a ...
A Spanish and French team of researchers including Universidad de Alicante (UA) researcher Santiago Soliveres, members of the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, the National Agronomy Research Institute of France (INRA) and the Spanish National Research Council has studied the multiple facets of vegeta ...
Think of reindeer on Norway's Svalbard archipelago as the arctic equivalent of sloths. It's not a perfect analogy, except that like tropical sloths, Svalbard reindeer move as little as possible to conserve energy.
Great white sharks—one of the ocean's most fearsome apex predators—thrive with toxic levels of poisons flowing in their veins, according to a new study by OCEARCH.
A new paper shows that air temperature is the "smoking gun" behind climate change in the Arctic, according to John Walsh, chief scientist for the UAF International Arctic Research Center.
A team of researchers with members from Norway, Austria, Russia and Germany has found a kind of bacteria that oxidizes methane. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes their findings and suggest their work could lead to progress in combati ...
The first discovery of Polynesian taro grown in Māori gardens in the 1400s can be claimed by an archaeological research project on Ahuahu-Great Mercury Island.
There's a lot of talk about digital technology and smart cities, but what about smart farms? Many of us still have a romantic view of farmers surveying rolling hills and farm kids cuddling calves, but our food in Canada increasingly comes from industrial-scale factory farms and vast glass and st ...
Since the late 1990s, Lake Erie has been plagued with blooms of toxic algae that turn its waters a bright blue-green. These harmful algae blooms are made up of cyanobacteria that produce the liver toxin microcystin.
BIODIVERSITY Natural history museum paleontologists in Copenhagen and Helsinki have succeeded in mapping historical biodiversity in unprecedented detail. For the first time, it is now possible to compare the impact of climate on global biodiversity in the distant past - a result that paints a gl ...
The more plant species that grow in grasslands and forests, the more insect species that find a habitat there. However, the presence of more plant species not only increases the number of insect species, but also the number of insect individuals. Simultaneously, animal diversity is not only dete ...
Biodiversity Natural history museum paleontologists in Copenhagen and Helsinki have succeeded in mapping historical biodiversity in unprecedented detail. For the first time, it is possible to compare the impact of climate on global biodiversity in the distant past—a result that paints a gloomy p ...
The key to solving a mystery is finding the right clues. Wildlife detectives aiming to protect endangered species have long been hobbled by the near impossibility of collecting DNA samples from rare and elusive animals.
Scientists use undersea robots and 3-D printing to help coral reefs survive the damaging effects of rising ocean temperatures.They're the rainforests of the ocean, but coral reefs around the world have suffered massive bleaching events over the past decades due to climate change and pollution.
Green roofs – roofs that are planted with vegetation—may improve the indoor air quality of commercial buildings by cutting the amount of ozone coming into the buildings from the outside, according to new research from Portland State University.
A team of researchers with members from Brazil, South Africa and the U.S. has found an example of homophily among dolphins who work together with fishermen in Brazil for the mutual benefit of both. In their paper published in the journal Biology Letters, the group describes their study of the do ...
From 2011 to 2015, California experienced its worst drought on record, with a parching combination of high temperatures and low precipitation. Drought conditions can have complicated effects on ozone air quality, so to better understand the process, researchers have analyzed data from two ozone- ...
A new University of Toronto study confirms that recent climate warming in the central Yukon region has surpassed the warmest temperatures experienced in the previous 13,600 years, a finding that could have important implications in the context of current global warming trends.
Ice formed in coastal nurseries along Russia’s Arctic coast is melting before it can float far offshore. Scientists are worried about what that means for wildlife.
Climate change, nitrogen deposition and fire suppression are leading to shifts in the types of trees that dominate American forests. These changes will have environmental consequences, potentially positive and negative, according to a Purdue University study.
When heavy rain falls over the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia and the eastern Pacific Ocean, it is a good indicator that temperatures in central California will reach 100°F in four to 16 days, according to a collaborative research team from the University of California, Davis, and the Asia-Paci ...