Tropics source of much of world's biodiversity
...ly all ecosystems, ranging from the deep sea, open ocean and continental shelf to terrestrial forests, grasslands and wetlands, and among plants, fungi, invertebrates and vertebrates. This biodiversity gradient has been characteristic of the Earth for at least the past 250 million years. Despite the many ...New wood-plastic composites to boost industry, help use waste products
...wood adhesives. Inspired by the way mussels on the ocean shore cling to rocks despite pounding waves, Li found their secret an unusual adhesive that could be mimicked by modifications of abundant and inexpensive soy protein. The modified soy protein can be used as an adhesive for production of plywood, pa...... Sea squirts are most commonly found in shallow ocean waters attached to algae, rocks or seaweed. They have been used for over 100 years as a highly useful experimental model organism for the study of animal development. A simple chordate, Ciona is being used in the lab to study the heart development o...Ecology center awarded $21-million by National Science Foundation
...ne and fragmentation, and the over-exploitation of ocean resources....$20 million to expand seafloor observatory
... NEPTUNE Canada, the world's first regional cabled ocean observatory, received a significant boost Sept. 26... fibre optic cable across the seafloor in the deep ocean off the B.C. coast. A series of laboratories, or "nodes," along the cable will allow land-based scie...Dinosaurs' climate shifted too, reports show
...stitute for Sea Research present new evidence that ocean surface temperatures varied as much as 6 degrees C...d virtually no data from the middle of the largest ocean at that time period," Brassell said. "The data we collected suggest significant global fluctuations ......the South American coast, an international team of ocean scientists discovered that the gases ethane and propane are widespread, and are being produced by microorganisms in deeply buried sediments. Prof. Kai-Uwe Hinrichs (Research Center Ocean Margins, University of Bremen), co-author Prof. John Hayes (Woo......chemical composition of sediments deposited on the ocean floor, in lakes, and on land. By measuring the concentration of specific elements in these sediments, the XRF Core Scanner can help us document the history of drastic climate variations and past geological events, giving us more of an idea of the cur...Deep sea explorer and marine conservationist wins MacArthur Fellowship
...hlighted for "fostering a greater understanding of ocean life as a means to better, more informed ocean stewardship." "Everyone focuses on the money," said Dr. Widder, "But what thrills me is the MacArt...UCI scientists use near real-time sensor data to detect coastal ocean pollution
...nstantly when pollution has moved into the coastal ocean -- a breakthrough that could enable authorities to... if you were testing water that sits in a tub, but ocean currents are highly dynamic, and water quality varies hour by hour and minute to minute," said Stanl......hers have been working together in monitoring open ocean aquaculture demonstration projects in Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. International regulatory agencies are concerned that aquaculture's global integration may lead to permanent loss of natural marine habitats, reliance on fishmeal from capture fisheri...Expedition allows teachers to participate in polar research
...ance my teaching by increasing my understanding of ocean systems, said Katie Turner, a science teacher at West Anchorage High School. It will give me real world experience and knowledge to share with my students. The expedition advances scientists work in the fields of meteorology, biology, chemistry and o...Ecological change, climate variation addressed at international conference, September 20-24
...on on particulate organic carbon (POC) in the deep ocean are largely unknown. Abyss-dwelling animals rely on this organic material sinking from surface waters above as their primary food source. Variations in POC affect deep-sea animal populations, but time-series data capable of shedding light on the link...Census of Marine Life US National Committee hosts 2006 Marine Biodiversity Workshop
...tem function should be considered for inclusion in ocean observing and assessment systems to provide continuing information flow for enhanced ecosystem-based management approaches? [e.g., keystone species, proxies, indices, genetic barcode analysis, etc. WHO Scientific experts from academia and managem...Ocean seep mollusks may share evolutionary history with other deep-sea creatures
...n hydrogen sulfide and methane leak up through the ocean floor, creating a unique chemical environment wher...ments exist at hydrothermal vents, fissures in the ocean floor where water is superheated by magma lurking just below the crust. Although seep and vent flui...NASA study solves ocean plant mystery
...scientists can determine what limits the growth of ocean algae, or phytoplankton, and how this affects Earth's climate. Phytoplankton is a microscopic ocean plant and an important part of the ocean food chain. By knowing what limits its growth scientists ca...Iron critical to ocean productivity, carbon uptake
... absence of the mineral stresses these microscopic ocean plants, triggering them to produce additional pigments that make ocean productivity appear more robust than it really is. As a result, past interpretations of satellite ch...NASA announces media briefing about ocean plant growth
... scientists to determine what limits the growth of ocean plants and affects world climate. The telecom star.... 31. Briefing Participants: Paula Bontempi, ocean biology and biogeochemistry program scientist, NASA Headquarters, Washington Michael J. Behrenfeld,...Surf's up -- and one coastal microbe has adapted
...on of bacterial genomes to the coastal versus open ocean environments. Cyanobacteria are abundant in coasta...viously studied. As habitats, the coast and open ocean differ strikingly. Put simply, the coast is dicier. The wind stirs up nutrients from deeper depths, ...Study provides first-ever look at combined causes of North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean freshening
...rom expected levels) from net precipitation on the ocean surface, river discharge, net attrition of glacier...iver discharge and excess net precipitation on the ocean contributed the most freshwater (~20,000 cubic kilometers) to the Arctic and high-latitude North Atl...