Discovery of genetic mutation in Florida beach mice suggests extinct mammoth had light and dark fur
...have dark coats, which help them blend in with the vegetation and avoid their main predators--owls, hawks and herons--that hunt prey by sight. But on five barrier islands off the Florida Gulf coast and three off Northern Florida's Atlantic coast, geographic isolation of the populations has resulted in eight dis...... and Kenya, Louisiana crayfish are devouring local vegetation and damaging dams. Many pathways lead to these introductions. Invasive species can travel in ship ballast water or on the hulls of ships and boats; they can escape from aquaculture facilities or be inadvertently released during transport; they can in...Tropical rainforest nutrients linked to global carbon dioxide levels
...e, but that has largely revolved around rainforest vegetation and its ability to 'take up' carbon dioxide," said Caldwell. "This is a new look at tropical rainforests and their relationship to carbon dioxide levels on Earth." The study showed that when phosphorus or nitrogen -- which occur naturally in rain fo...Thawing soil in permafrost a significant source of carbon
... 40,000 gigatons; soils contain about 2,500 Gt and vegetation about 650 Gt. According to the authors, about 500 Gt of carbon are contained in the thaw-threatened loess, also called yedoma, of Siberia and Alaska. "I was surprised, because it is unusual to find major new large carbon stocks," Chapin said. "We ha...Rangeland repair enters phase 2
...their toll on the land compacting soils, damaging vegetation and increasing the potential for soil loss. That i...as and entering into the streams." Also, reseeded vegetation is covering the ground more extensively than the previous ground cover. The recently begun Phase 2 ...Gazelles shrink liver and heart to reduce oxygen consumption during drought
...water in the desert, so sand gazelles must rely on vegetation for both food and water requirements. "The deserts of the Arabian Peninsula are among the most austere of terrestrial environments, with low, unpredictable rainfall, and high ambient temperature," explain the authors. "The sand gazelle has evolved a ...North Pole's ancient past holds lessons for future global warming
... that the Arctic Ocean was a giant lake, with this vegetation growing in it," "The real point is that climate change is natural, and it's easy to set in motion," said Huber. "All it takes is an increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases." It is possible that in addition to greenhouse gas concentrations, ...The vicious cycle of rainforest destruction
...of Earth System Science, Jon Lloyd: "The two major vegetation systems in the tropics are rainforest and savanna....eated to look at the impact of changes in tropical vegetation on the Earth system in terms of carbon emissions, temperature and rainfall. These changes will then ...Using satellite observations to study photosynthetic trends in northern circumpolar high latitudes
...Woods Hole Research Center are assessing trends in vegetation photosynthetic activity. The results indicate that... maximum temperatures while the response of forest vegetation was more complex. Boreal forests patterns indicate significant greening in May and June, with gains ...K-Staters design and build a low-cost remote sensing tool for environmental studies
...l allow them to go out and comprehensively map the vegetation in a field-sized area, for example, one square sec...xide emitted in China, for example, can impact the vegetation in North America or Europe and vice versa. Any decisions about climate change have to be based on a ...Plants' role in global warming re-examined in ORNL Science paper
...on simulations have included differentiation among vegetation types, none have incorporated an explicit time-dependent acclimation of plant respiration to increasing temperatures. ORNL researchers also looked at the influence of temperature acclimation at both the local ecosystem and global scales. ORNL's study...Ancient DNA provides clues to the evolution of social behavior
...rows except for brief forays to collect the grassy vegetation on which they feed. When they do leave their colonies, the rodents often make a tasty meal for prowling owls. For thousands of years, these owls have roosted in two caves near the Chilean border and regurgitated pellets of indigestible fur, bones and...Global warming capable of sparking mass species extinctions
...atastrophic species loss across the planet." Using vegetation models, the research is one of the first attempts to assess the potential effects of climate change on terrestrial biodiversity on a global scale rather than just looking at individual species. Scientists looked specifically at the effect that clima...Restoring seagrass beds: Is it for the birds?
...d by propeller damage; and much of the terrestrial vegetation on the island itself was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. Drs. Heck and Dindo received a grant from the Gulf of Mexico Program to restore both the dune habitation and the prop-scarred grassbeds of this popular location. Dune restoration will beg...Plants used to detect gas leaks, from outer space!
...en. "A satellite image of the stress responses in vegetation should identify gas leaks at least as well as a visual report from a helicopter, which is the current method, and would be safer and possibly cheaper." Steven will present his research on Thursday 6th April at the Society for Experimental Biology's ...The Amazon in 2050: Implementing the law could save a million square kilometers of rainforest
...orest losses within major watersheds, eco-regions, vegetation types, and the geographic ranges of 382 mammal species, two extreme scenarios were developed, encompassing the likely range of future trajectories of deforestation through 2050. The first of the two futures discussed is a business-as-usual scenario i...Amazon rainforest greens up in the dry season
...he finding surprised the researchers. "Most of the vegetation around the world follows a general pattern in which plants get green and lush during the rainy season and then during the dry season, leaves fall because there's not enough water in the soil to support plant growth," said lead researcher Alfredo R. H...Crossing the Valley of Death: Moving science into practice and policy
... in a particular region progress toward a specific vegetation type, known as a climax community. Examples of a climax community would be a birch-beech-maple forest in the northeastern United States or a grassland in portions of southeastern Arizona. Perturbations such as fire, grazing or climate variability mig...Satellites support businesses working for sustainable development
... VIASAT Go-Technolgie. "We will focus a lot on the vegetation aspect: typically such operations remove part of the natural cover, so the local environment has to be restored during or after industrial activities to its previous state. Such activities take place across quite large areas, so with satellites we wi......ensive survey identified the general conditions of vegetation and of the terrain in a wide area of the Frascati wine production zone. "For the second overflight when the grapes had been harvested, only the parameters of stable structures were the same, so only the variable elements were monitored, such as leaf...