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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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Understanding the past and predicting the future by looking across space and time
Scientists have validated a fundamental assumption at the very heart of a popular way to predict relationships between complex variables.
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Reforestation study shows trade-offs between water, carbon and timber
More than 13,000 ships per year transit the Panama Canal each year. Each time a ship passes through, more than 55 million gallons of water are used. The advent of large “super” cargo ships has demanded expansion of the canal, leaving the authority to consider how meet increased demand for water. One proposed measure is the reforestation of the watershed.
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Pinpointing how nature's benefits link to human well-being
What people take from nature -- water, food, timber, inspiration, relaxation -- are so abundant, it seems self-evident. Until you try to quantitatively understand how and to what extent they contribute to humans.
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Thinking 'big' may not be best approach to saving large-river fish
Large-river specialist fishes -- from giant species like paddlefish and blue catfish, to tiny crystal darters and silver chub -- are in danger, but researchers say there is greater hope to save them if major tributaries become a focus of conservation efforts.
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Small, speedy plant-eater extends knowledge of dinosaur ecosystems
Dinosaurs are often thought of as large, fierce animals, but new research highlights a previously overlooked diversity of small dinosaurs. Paleontologists have now described a new dinosaur, the smallest plant-eating dinosaur species known from Canada.
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Vast methane-based ecosystem uncovered
A marine research expedition has led to the discovery of perhaps the world's largest methane cold seep. The seep lies deep in the western North Atlantic Ocean, far from the life-sustaining energy of the sun. Mussels blanketing the the seep rely on bacteria that use the methane to make energy. The process, known as chemosynthesis, forms the basis for life in the harsh environment and could help scientists better understand how organisms can survive under these types of extreme conditions.
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Life scientists present new insights on climate change and species interactions
Life scientists provide important new details on how climate change will affect interactions between species in newly published research. This knowledge, they say, is critical to making accurate predictions and informing policymakers of how species are likely to be impacted by rising temperatures.
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Bee and wild flower biodiversity loss slows
Declines in the biodiversity of pollinating insects and wild plants have slowed in recent years, according to a new study. Researchers found evidence of dramatic reductions in the diversity of species in Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands between the 1950s and 1980s. But the picture brightened markedly after 1990, with a slowdown in local and national biodiversity losses among bees, hoverflies and wild plants.
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Lost in translocation? How bird song could help save species
Translocation -- or moving animals to safer places -- is a vital tool for saving species from extinction. Many factors influence the success of these new populations, including habitat quality, predators, capture and release techniques, the number and sex of individuals, and their genetic diversity. Now new research, the first of its kind suggests bird song could also be important.
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Climate change and wildfire
Concerns continue to grow about the effects of climate change on fire. Wildfires are expected to increase 50 percent across the United States under a changing climate, over 100 percent in areas of the West by 2050 as projected by some studies. Of equal concern to scientists and policymakers alike are the atmospheric effects of wildfire emissions on climate. A new article synthesizes recent findings on the interactions between fire and climate and outlines future research needs.
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Changing Arctic: What should be done?
In two critical reports released at the Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in Kiruna, Sweden on May 15th, scientists helped inform an international body of senior government officials about changing conditions in the Arctic, and potential responses to those changes.
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Abundance and distribution of Hawaiian coral species predicted by model
Researchers have developed species distribution models of the six dominant Hawaiian coral species around the main Hawaiian Islands, including two species currently under consideration as threatened or endangered.
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Amazon River exhales virtually all carbon taken up by rainforest
Woody plant matter is almost completely digested by bacteria living in the Amazon River. This tough stuff plays a major part in fueling the river's breath. The finding has implications for global carbon models, and for the ecology of the Amazon and the world's other rivers. Until recently, people believed much of the rainforest's carbon floated down the Amazon River and ended up deep in the ocean.
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Why we need to put the fish back into fisheries
Overfishing has reduced fish populations and biodiversity across much of the world’s oceans. In response, fisheries are increasingly reliant on a handful of highly valuable shellfish. However, new research shows this approach to be extremely risky. 
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Frogs, salamanders and climate change
Increasingly erratic rainfall patterns can lead to declines in southeastern frog and salamander populations, but protecting ponds can improve their plight.
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