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ScienceDaily: Ecology News
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Ecology and environment news. Research on biodiversity reduction and ecosystems. Read news articles on coral bleaching, deforestation and wetland ecology.
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Six times more insect species in tropical mountains than predicted
How many species of insects exist? Researchers found that in tropical mountains there are six times more insects than shown in global calculations. The insects in these areas are also highly specialized in their choice of food.
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Fears of a decline in bee pollination confirmed
Widespread reports of a decline in the population of bees and other flower-visiting animals have aroused fear and speculation that pollination is also likely on the decline. A recent study provides the first long-term evidence of a downward trend in pollination, while also pointing to climate change as a possible contributor.
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Restoring coastal wetlands? Check the soil
Researchers use soil moisture and salinity of porewater combined with other data to develop tools for restoring coastal wetlands.
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Termites foretell climate change in Africa's savannas
Using sophisticated airborne imaging and structural analysis, scientists mapped more than 40,000 termite mounds over 192 square miles in the African savanna. They found that their size and distribution is linked to vegetation and landscape patterns associated with annual rainfall. The results reveal how the savanna terrain has evolved and show how termite mounds can be used to predict ecological shifts from climate change.
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Potomac River: 10-fold increase in native submerged vegetation reflects improved water quality
The Potomac River is showing multiple benefits from restoration efforts. Reduced nutrients and improved water clarity have increased the abundance and diversity of submerged aquatic vegetation, according to an 18-year field study.
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Increase in Cambodia's vultures gives hope to imperiled scavengers
While vultures across Asia teeter on the brink of extinction, the vultures of Cambodia are increasing in number, providing a beacon of hope for these threatened scavengers, according wildlife conservation experts.
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Is organic farming good for wildlife? It depends on the alternative
Even though organic methods may increase farm biodiversity, a combination of conventional farming and protected areas could sometimes be a better way to maintain food production and protect wildlife.
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Carbon mapping breakthrough
By integrating satellite mapping, airborne-laser technology, and ground-based plot surveys, scientists have revealed the first high-resolution maps of carbon locked up in tropical forest vegetation and emitted by land-use practices.
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Ants take on Goliath role in protecting trees in the savanna from elephants
Ants are not out of their weight class when defending trees from the appetite of nature's heavyweight, the African elephant, a new study finds. Columns of angered ants will crawl up into elephant trunks to repel the ravenous beasts from devouring tree cover throughout drought-plagued East African savannas, playing a potentially important role in regulating carbon sequestration in these ecosystems.
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Getting a tail up on conservation? New method for measuring lizard weight from size
A researcher in Israel has developed an improved tool for translating lizard body lengths to weights. The new equations calculate this valuable morphological feature to estimate the weight of a lizard species in a variety of different ecosystems.
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Are wolves saving Yellowstone's aspen trees from elk?
Previous research has claimed that the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park in 1995 is helping restore quaking aspen in risky areas where wolves prowl. But apparently elk hungry for winter food had a different idea. They did not know they were supposed to be responding to a "landscape of fear."
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Climate change implicated in decline of horseshoe crabs
A distinct decline in horseshoe crab numbers has occurred that parallels climate change associated with the end of the last Ice Age, according to a study that used genomics to assess historical trends in population sizes.
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Human well-being is improving even as ecosystem services decline: Why?
Researchers writing a new article examine four possible explanations for why human well-being is increasing despite the global degradation of ecosystem services. Gains in food production, technological innovation generally, and time lags in the consequences of ecosystem degradation all find some support; observable trends suggest these factors may be limited in the future.
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Extensive relict coral reef found in southern Pacific
Coral reefs are sensitive to climate change and track sea level. New observations show that an extensive coral reef existed in the southern Pacific Ocean thousands of years ago. Researchers used multi-beam sonar, coring, and dating to examine a relict reef discovered in water about 20-25 meters (65-82 feet) deep around Lord Howe Island in the southern Pacific Ocean.
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Acidifying oceans spell bleak marine biological future 'by end of century', Mediterranean research finds
A unique 'natural laboratory' in the Mediterranean Sea is revealing the effects of rising carbon dioxide levels on life in the oceans. The results show a bleak future for marine life as ocean acidity rises, and suggest that similar lowering of ocean pH levels may have been responsible for massive extinctions in the past.
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