US investment firm gives away Rhode Island-sized lands in Chile
...h forests as well as unique grasslands, rivers and wetlands containing extraordinary wildlife. The more than 680,000 acres (272,000 hectares) of Chilean land were donated to WCS by the Goldman Sachs Charitable Fund in a novel and powerful alliance that will ensure conservation in the region in perpetuity. Th...NASA satellites detect 'glow' of plankton in black waters
...annot directly measure nutrients in lakes, rivers, wetlands and oceans, remote sensing technology measure the quantities of plankton. Scientists can then calculate how much nutrient might be needed to grow those amounts of plankton. Hu and others used this technique to study the nature and origin of a dark pl...Pollination find could lead to cordgrass control
...cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora, that is invading wetlands on the Pacific coast. Plants including grasses, oaks and pine trees need the wind to carry pollen between plants, fertilizing nascent seeds. Scientists guessed that wind pollination was efficient, but the theory hadn't been tested. "People think, be...Excess levels of nitrogen, phosphorus linked to deformed frogs
... they can, found often near cattle ponds and other wetlands throughout North America. Researchers looked for chemical pollutants or hormonal changes in the frogs as culprits. But recent evidence linked the deformities missing, extra, or deformed limbs to the presence of Ribeiroia ondatrae, a frog ...Two billion vulnerable to floods by 2050; number expected to double or more in two generations
... recent times caused 300,000 deaths in the coastal wetlands of Bangladesh in 1970. Flooding is triggered by such conditions as severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, tropical cyclones and hurricanes, the El Nio effect, monsoons, dam breaks, ice jams or melting snow. These conditions annually cause thousand...Volcanic soils yield new clues about the emergence of powerful chiefdoms in Hawaii
... crop was taro a starchy plant grown in irrigated wetlands where the supply of water was usually abundant. But on Maui and the Big Island of Hawaii, the main staple was the sweet potato a more labor-intensive crop planted in relatively dry fields where success depended on adequate seasonal rainfall. Some ...Nutrients cause increase in parasites and frog deformities
... have become increasingly common in North American wetlands over the last decade. Research implicates a flatwo...parasite is on the rise. By surveying more than 75 wetlands across the western and midwestern United States, Johnson and Chase suggest that excess nutrient inpu...Can we restore wetlands and leave the mosquitoes out?
...tural world are shunned for good reason. Restoring wetlands has a foreseeable and inevitable downside: the cre...te of a region also plays a role. "When we restore wetlands we not only alter nature in a particular spot, we also typically alter social contexts," she said. "......re rich in microscopic food, while the surrounding wetlands make a perfect breeding ground. "Most people think of flamingoes as delicate birds that live on tropical beaches and palm trees," said Arengo. "In reality these are extremely tough animals adapted to some of the most rugged conditions on earth."...A blueprint for US national ocean policy for the 21st Century
...ish catches, however about 40,000 acres of coastal wetlands disappear yearly. Current projections indicate 50-60 percent of coral reefs may be lost during the next 30 years. Twelve billion tons of ballast water is shipped around the world each year, spreading alien and invasive species. When Congress passed t...New book urges ecologists to think 'outside the helmet'
...e cause of high mosquito populations coming out of wetlands in the following year. This is because some wetlands, which are the home to mosquito larvae, dry during drought years, drastically reducing mosquito predators-- from fish to water beetles--and competitor species such as snails, tadpoles, and zooplan...New study of land use effects on amphibian populations gets underway at UGA laboratory
...04), experimental arrays are being created at four wetlands in each region. Each experimental array is centered on an existing isolated or ephemeral wetland, with the terrestrial habitat adjacent to the wetland divided into four equal-sized quadrants 6 to 10 acres in size. Each quadrant is randomly assigned a...Ohio State wetlands professor wins prestigious Water Prize
...dead zone," a condition known as hypoxia. Creating wetlands in the Midwest would help decrease this runoff, an...we have already invested to study the experimental wetlands at the ORWRP before we can determine whether or not man-made wetlands work just as well as natural o...Field Museum maps 'social assets' of Chicago's industrialized Lake Calumet region
... areas, including some of Illinois' best-preserved wetlands and savannahs. The researchers used interviews, participant observation, focus groups, photography, and video to identify and analyze what forces and factors are the most important in the lives of local residents, and how these assets can support str...New map predicts where wolves will attack
...sk townships included those with lots of cropland, wetlands and open water. Overall, just 0.3 percent of Wisconsin's towns were classified as highest risk and none occurred in Minnesota. The two higher risk classes of townships (red and orange) were clustered in two areas that had not previously been identi...Researchers develop model to help control West Nile outbreak
...f chemical larvicides to the water, filling in the wetlands to remove the habitat and as a last resort, sprayi... species. "Since applying chemicals and filling in wetlands costs money and causes environmental damage, one would ideally use the minimum amount of control tha...History of frog deformities suggests emerging disease
...agues stepped into libraries, museums and historic wetlands to find out if the parasitic worm was involved in ...isited these historic sites, they found that three wetlands continued to support the parasite and frogs with a high percentage (7 to 50 percent) of severe malfo...Global wetlands surveyed from space
For much of the last century wetlands have been drained or otherwise degraded, but scien...On 20 November ESA formally began a project to map wetlands from space, providing data on around 50 sites in 21 countries worldwide. In 1971 an inter-governmen...World's most alkaline life forms found near Chicago
...ted when steel slag was dumped and used to fill in wetlands and lakes. Water and air reacts with the slag to c... microbial communities were found resembled filled wetlands and are often devoid of surface vegetation, he explained. Microbial Community Found Thriving in Very...Using plants and microbes to purify polluted industrial wastewater
...lies and can be hazardous to health. By installing wetlands next to wastewater sources, the INDCONWET partners...r, explained that "one disadvantage of constructed wetlands is that they need a bigger area than conventional treatment sites to do the same job." However, what...