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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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Biological fitness trumps other traits in mating game
When a new species emerges following adaptive changes to its local environment, the process of choosing a mate can help protect the new species' genetic identity and increase the likelihood of its survival. But of the many observable traits in a potential mate, which particular traits does a female tend to prefer?
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Outlook is grim for mammals and birds as human population grows
The ongoing global growth in the human population will inevitably crowd out mammals and birds and has the potential to threaten hundreds of species with extinction within 40 years, new research shows.
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Predators affect the carbon cycle, study shows
A new study shows that the predator-prey relationship can affect the flow of carbon through an ecosystem. This previously unmeasured influence on the environment may offer a new way of looking at biodiversity management and carbon storage for climate change.
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Study finds the sweet spot -- and the screw-ups -- that make or break environmental collective actions
Sustainability programs are a Goldilocks proposition -- some groups are too big, some are too small, and the environment benefits when the size of a group of people working to save it is just right. Scientists have found a sweet spot -- a group size at which the action is most effective. More importantly, the work revealed how behaviors of group members can pull bad policy up or drag good policy down.
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Underwater springs reveal how coral reefs respond to ocean acidification
Ocean acidification due to rising carbon dioxide levels will reduce the density of coral skeletons, making coral reefs more vulnerable to disruption and erosion, according to a new study of corals growing where submarine springs naturally lower the pH of seawater. The study is the first to show that corals are not able to fully acclimate to low pH conditions in nature.
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Pesticides significantly reduce biodiversity in aquatic environments
The pesticides, many of which are currently used in Europe and Australia, are responsible for reducing the regional diversity of invertebrates in streams and rivers by up to 42 percent, researchers report.
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How useful is fracking anyway? Study explores return of investment
The value of a fuel's long-term usefulness and viability is judged through its energy return on investment; the comparison between the eventual fuel and the energy invested to create it. The energy return on investment study finds that shale gas has a return value which is close to coal.
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'Cold snap' 116 million years ago triggered marine ecosystem crisis
A "cold snap" 116 million years ago triggered a similar marine ecosystem crisis to the ones witnessed in the past as a result of global warming, according to new research. The international study confirms the link between global cooling and a crash in the marine ecosystem during the mid-Cretaceous greenhouse period.
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Secrets of biological soil crusts uncovered
Biologists have performed a molecular level analysis of desert biological soil crusts -- living ground cover formed by microbial communities -- to reveal how long-dormant cyanobacteria become activated by rainfall then resume dormancy when the precipitation stops.
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Oysters could rebound more quickly with limited fishing and improved habitat
A new study shows that combining improved oyster restoration methods with limits on fishing in the upper Chesapeake could bring the oyster population back to the Bay in a much shorter period of time. The study assessed a range of management and restoration options to see which ones would have the most likelihood of success.
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Rapid adaptation is purple sea urchins' weapon against ocean acidification
In the race against climate change and ocean acidification, some sea urchins may still have a few tricks up their spiny sleeves, suggesting that adaptation will likely play a large role for the sea creatures as the carbon content of the ocean increases.
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Life underground: Microbes active far beneath seafloor
Genetic researchers have revealed active bacteria, fungi and other microbes living in 5 million-year-old ocean sediment.
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Deep biosphere harbors active, growing communities of microorganisms
The deep biosphere -- the realm of sediments far below the seafloor -- harbors a vast ecosystem of bacteria, archaea, and fungi that are actively metabolizing, proliferating, and moving, according a new study. The finding of so much activity in the deep biosphere has implications for our understanding of global biogeochemical cycles.
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Carbon dioxide absorption in Antarctic seas
Diatoms stuff more iron into their silica shells than they actually need. As a result, there’s not enough iron to go around, and the added iron during fertilization experiments may stimulate less productivity than expected. The study also says that the removal of iron through incorporation into diatom silica may be a profound factor controlling the Southern Ocean’s bioavailable pool of iron, adversely affecting the ecosystem.
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Do parasites upset food web theory?
Parasites comprise a large proportion of the diversity of species in every ecosystem, but are rarely included in analyses or models of food webs. If parasites play different roles from other predators and prey, however, their inclusion could fundamentally alter our understanding of how food webs are organized. A new article has shown that including parasites does alter the structure of food webs, but most changes occur because of an increase in diversity and complexity.
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