New study finds evolutionary diversification in Hawaiian spiders
... that had never before been documented. The varied habitat types on the islands, cold and wet areas closely juxtaposed with hot and dry, have provided a rich tapestry of species diversity. The flip side of such extraordinary diversity that evolved in isolation is its vulnerability to change and to invasive s...Researchers develop model to help control West Nile outbreak
...o the water, filling in the wetlands to remove the habitat and as a last resort, spraying chemicals to kill the adult species. "Since applying chemicals and filling in wetlands costs money and causes environmental damage, one would ideally use the minimum amount of control that would still be effective in pr...Climate change may threaten more than one million species with extinction
...International (CI). "The combination of increasing habitat loss, already recognized as the largest single thr... usually cooler, climate range. If development and habitat destruction have already altered those habitats, the species often have no safe haven. According to ...Endurance of plants under quartz rocks possible model for life on early Earth, Mars
...f the successful microbial exploitation of a novel habitat in an otherwise harsh environment," the authors concluded in their Ecology paper. "Similar environments might harbor life on other planets," the paper added. While the paper did not specify which other planets, Schlesinger singled out Mars, whose su......od indicator of the quality of the birds' previous habitat on the wintering ground. The carbon signature of e...he U.S. They found that what makes a better winter habitat is primarily the degree of wetness, particularly at the end of the season (late winter/early spring)......r gillnets, inflict the highest level of damage to habitat and marine vertebrates and invertebrates. "Our a...and hook and line gears had the lowest bycatch and habitat impacts. The severity ranking of the different gears could form the basis for fisheries policies, r...Sport hunting hits evolutionary traits in bighorn sheep
...towards enhancing and conserving mountain ungulate habitat can be seen in a positive light, so far little attention has been paid to the potential evolutionary consequences. A similar effect may be impacting African elephants where tuskless males are becoming more common. ...... Jakosky looked to the Martian polar regions for a habitat similar to the one in which cryopegella survives. ...d look for this bacteria.' I would say, 'This is a habitat that we should look at on Mars because on Earth, similar habitats have life.'" The paper's other con...UCLA study sheds new light on island evolution
...changes in body proportions have occurred based on habitat use; species found on the broad trunks of mature trees have longer legs than those found in shrubbery with narrower branches. Anolis lizards, typically 5565 millimeters in length, are characterized by a colorful throat fan used in signaling other liz...Story tips from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory
...he also wants to better understand and protect the habitat of species like the red cockaded woodpecker, vegetation and other components of the ecosystem. So the mission of Virginia Dale of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and collaborators is to develop a Web-based model to examine and predict the impacts to th...First view of giant crabs - at home on the slope
... a tremendously exciting first look at the type of habitat that supports the giant crab fishery," says projec... the distribution of the giant crab in relation to habitat features, evaluating ecosystem links with the seabed habitats and assessing the abundance, sex, cond...Squirrel invasion sows seeds of change for future forests
...uirrels in forests began to decline as more forest habitat was converted for agriculture, he said. The proble...at is highly sensitive to forest fragmentation and habitat loss, Swihart said. "It comes as a surprise to many people, but the gray squirrel is very much a for...Endangered species listings may backfire
... the landowners in the study have degraded as much habitat as they have enhanced, and most oppose the biologi...rivate property because landowners may wreck their habitat to avoid land-use restrictions. This is the first study to see if this is true. Brook and her collea...Bird 'breathalyzer' helps assess migratory diet
...Conservancy, which is protecting the coastal scrub habitat on Block Island where Podlesak conducts his field work....Congress allocates funding for horseshoe crab research center
...ify historic, current and probable future spawning habitat through geographic information systems; a study to determine the feasibility of using aerial photography to expand the coverage of spawning surveys (how often and where the crabs are laying their eggs); and a study to investigate the dynamics between...Philippines: Park expansion creates nation's largest contiguous protected area
...ulation of 84 million, much of the islands' unique habitat is under pressure. Less than 7 percent of the original forest cover is intact and less than 3 percent of the country's old-growth forests remain. This combination of rich and unique biodiversity, combined with extreme threat, make the Philippine's on...Social mothers appear to be better mothers
...am took care to compare females living in the same habitat and at the same time. "We don't exactly know how sociality helps females, but our data make it very clear that females who are more social have higher infant survival," said Susan C. Alberts, an assistant professor of biology at Duke University. Addi...Liberia announces protection of 155,000-acres of forest
...uch as unsustainable logging and poaching. Extreme habitat fragmentation and degradation continue to threaten much of the remainder of Liberia's unprotected forests. The forest reform process took a major step forward in mid-October, when more than 200 Liberian foresters gathered at a workshop led by CI and...A bird in a tree for biodiversity
...native to Tanzania's East Usambara Mountains where habitat fragmentation has broken a mutual relationship wit...t depend on certain trees for food are affected by habitat fragmentation, you could end up with a cascading effect of extinction of trees and seed dispersers, ......azing and intentional forest fires have all shrunk habitat suitable for monarchs in the winter. Furthermore, ...cisions," said Oberhauser. "Organisms need to have habitat that supports them both now and in the future. It is also an example of the far-reaching impacts of ...