http://www.physorg.com/biology-news/ecology/ en-us PhysOrg.com provides the latest news on ecology Human activity is increasing the supply of nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, to stream systems all over the world. The conventional wisdom -- bolstered by earlier research -- has held that these additional nutrients cause an increase in production all along the food chain, from the tiniest organisms up to the largest predators. A long-term, ecosystem-scale study by a team of University of Georgia researchers, however, has thrown this assumption into question. http://www.physorg.com/news180289199.html Biology - Ecology Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:10:02 EST news180289199 If the planet is headed for another mass extinction like the previous five, each of which wiped out more than 75 percent of all species on the planet, then North American mammals are one-fifth to one-half the way there, according to a University of California, Berkeley, and Pennsylvania State University analysis. http://www.physorg.com/news180273689.html Biology - Ecology Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:02:16 EST news180273689 With increasing species richness, due to more plant introductions than extinctions, plant communities of many European regions are becoming more homogeneous. The same species are occurring more frequently, whereas rare species are becoming extinct. It is not only the biological communities that are becoming increasingly similar, but also the phylogenetic relations between regions. These processes have led to a loss of uniqueness among European floras, scientists from the DAISIE research project have published their findings in the current online edition of the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). http://www.physorg.com/news179757376.html Biology - Ecology Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:36:46 EST news179757376 Sally Hall, a PhD student at the University of Southampton's School of Ocean and Earth Science (SOES) at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS) has formally described four new species of king crab, all from the deep sea. http://www.physorg.com/news178979272.html Biology - Ecology Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:28:35 EST news178979272 (AP) -- Indonesia has rejected a push by the resort island of Bali for rare turtles to be legally slain in Hindu ceremonies, siding with conservationists of the protected reptiles against religious advocates, an official said Friday. http://www.physorg.com/news178530601.html Biology - Ecology Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:50:01 EST news178530601 Darwin suggested that the action of natural selection can produce new species, but 150 years after the publication of his famous book, 'On the Origin of Species', debate still continues on the mechanisms of speciation. New research finds sexual selection to greatly enlarge the scope for adaptive speciation by triggering a positive feedback between mate choice and ecological diversification that can eventually eliminate gene flow between species. http://www.physorg.com/news178458331.html Biology - Ecology Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:00:07 EST news178458331 Poachers "wiped out" the entire elephant herd in Sierra Leone's only wildlife park, wildlife managers said Thursday after police said they had arrested a gang of 10 poachers. http://www.physorg.com/news178459834.html Biology - Ecology Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:11:10 EST news178459834 Australia's venomous redback spiders are on the march in Japan, where they are believed to have arrived years ago as stowaways on cargo ships, a wildlife expert warned Wednesday. http://www.physorg.com/news178349649.html Biology - Ecology Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:50:01 EST news178349649 Two feared species of Asian carp have zoomed beyond the $9 million electric barriers built to keep them out of Lake Michigan. Now, the only thing left between the carp and the Great Lakes is a lock and dam in southern Chicago. http://www.physorg.com/news178315636.html Biology - Ecology Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:40:01 EST news178315636 (PhysOrg.com) -- What constitutes fish food is a matter of debate. A high-profile study a few years ago suggested that fish get almost 50 percent of their carbon from trees and leaves, evidence for a very close link between the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. http://www.physorg.com/news178280069.html Biology - Ecology Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:15:44 EST news178280069 While most of us would never willingly consume a highly endangered species, doing so might be as easy as plucking sushi from a bento box. New genetic detective work from the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics at the American Museum of Natural History shows that bluefin tuna is routinely plated in sushi bars sampled in New York and Colorado. A quarter of what was labeled as tuna on sushi menus was bluefin, and some was even escolar, a waxy, buttery fish often labeled "white tuna" that is banned for sale in Japan and Italy because it can cause gastrointestinal distress. The new research is published in PLoS ONE. http://www.physorg.com/news177858752.html Biology - Ecology Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:18:04 EST news177858752 A species of common skate is to become the first marine fish species to be driven to extinction by commercial fishing, due to an error of species classification 80 years ago, reveals research published today in the journal Aquatic Conservation. http://www.physorg.com/news177759544.html Biology - Ecology Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:40:23 EST news177759544 (AP) -- A blood-orange blob the size of a small refrigerator emerged from the dark waters, its venomous tentacles trapped in a fishing net. Within minutes, hundreds more were being hauled up, a pulsating mass crowding out the catch of mackerel and sea bass. http://www.physorg.com/news177516168.html Biology - Ecology Sun, 15 Nov 2009 14:40:01 EST news177516168 (PhysOrg.com) -- Cornell researchers released a well-studied beetle predator to test its ability to ward off a hemlock-killing aphid-like insect. http://www.physorg.com/news177151741.html Biology - Ecology Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:20:02 EST news177151741 (PhysOrg.com) -- The kelp forests off southern California are considered to be some of the most diverse and productive ecosystems on the planet, yet a new study indicates that today's kelp beds are less extensive and lush than those in the recent past. http://www.physorg.com/news177095541.html Biology - Ecology Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:40:02 EST news177095541 A day at the beach in Wisconsin's North Woods didn't used to go like this. Candy Dailey spent a Fourth of July holiday splashing with grandkids on the sandy shore of Lake Metonga when she felt a nasty sting on her foot. http://www.physorg.com/news176972286.html Biology - Ecology Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:59:07 EST news176972286 (PhysOrg.com) -- Predictions made over the last decade about the impacts of climate change on biodiversity may be exaggerated, according to a paper published in the journal Science. http://www.physorg.com/news176720553.html Biology - Ecology Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:03:04 EST news176720553 Frogs are croaking in clear-cut forests, but not exactly in their traditional manner. University of Missouri researchers found that removing all of the trees from a section of the forest had a negative effect on amphibians during their later life cycles, but had some positive effects during amphibians' aquatic larva stages at the beginning of their lives. To lessen the negative effects during the later life stage, Semlitsch recommends partial or selection cuts to forests rather than completely removing trees from an area. Removing only a portion of trees and canopy allows amphibians to persist better. http://www.physorg.com/news176470460.html Biology - Ecology Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:35:02 EST news176470460 Moose eat plants; wolves kill moose. What difference does this classic predator-prey interaction make to biodiversity? http://www.physorg.com/news176352833.html Biology - Ecology Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:54:37 EST news176352833 (PhysOrg.com) -- Using cryopreservation methods, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have devised a procedure for storing frozen budwood from ash trees (Fraxinus) and thawing the delicate buds for later use in propagation. http://www.physorg.com/news175955697.html Biology - Ecology Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:40:01 EST news175955697 Two Penn State University researchers have carried out one of the first-ever analyses of the effects of global warming on endangered primates. This innovative work by Graduate Student Ruscena Wiederholt and Associate Professor of Biology Eric Post examined how El Niņo warming affected the abundance of four New World monkeys over decades. The research will be published on 28 October 2009 in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters. http://www.physorg.com/news175896415.html Biology - Ecology Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:00:01 EST news175896415 Although most wolves in Yellowstone National Park live to be nearly six years old, their ability to kill prey peaks when they are two to three, according to a study led by Dan MacNulty and recently published online by Ecology Letters. The study will appear in the journal's December print issue. http://www.physorg.com/news175787683.html Biology - Ecology Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:30:01 EST news175787683 (AP) -- The Obama administration said Thursday it is designating more than 200,000 square miles in Alaska and off its coast as "critical habitat" for polar bears, an action that could add restrictions to future offshore drilling for oil and gas. http://www.physorg.com/news175453921.html Biology - Ecology Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:02:40 EST news175453921 Five giant non-native snake species would pose high risks to the health of ecosystems in the United States should they become established here, according to a U.S. Geological Survey report released today. http://www.physorg.com/news174665310.html Biology - Ecology Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:00:02 EST news174665310 (AP) -- Four years after being placed on the Endangered Species List, the dwindling sea otters of southwest Alaska on Wednesday were given an important recovery tool. http://www.physorg.com/news174198176.html Biology - Ecology Thu, 08 Oct 2009 06:30:01 EST news174198176 Alligators display the same loyalty to their mating partners as birds reveals a study published today in Molecular Ecology. The ten-year-study by scientists from the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory reveals that up to 70% of females chose to remain with their partner, often for many years. http://www.physorg.com/news174132816.html Biology - Ecology Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:14:08 EST news174132816 A high-speed chase across the Panama Canal in a Boston Whaler may sound like the beginning of another James Bond film -but the protagonist of this story brandishes a butterfly net and studies the effects of climate change on insect migrations at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. http://www.physorg.com/news173969205.html Biology - Ecology Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:48:00 EST news173969205 When society jumps on a bandwagon, even for a good cause, there may be unintended consequences. The unintended consequence of crop-based biofuels may be the loss of wildlife habitat, particularly that of the birds who call this country's grasslands home, say researchers from Michigan Technological University and The Nature Conservancy. http://www.physorg.com/news173595036.html Biology - Ecology Thu, 01 Oct 2009 06:10:01 EST news173595036 (AP) -- A gecko with leopard-like spots on its body and a fanged frog that eats birds are among 163 new species discovered last year in the Mekong River region of Southeast Asia, an environmental group said Friday. http://www.physorg.com/news173077245.html Biology - Ecology Fri, 25 Sep 2009 06:10:02 EST news173077245 Seismic surveys used for oil and gas prospecting on the sea floor are a disturbance for blue whales, the world's biggest animal and one of its rarest species, biologists reported on Wednesday. http://www.physorg.com/news172909374.html Biology - Ecology Wed, 23 Sep 2009 07:50:04 EST news172909374