Press Releases — Page 26

Groundbreaking research conducted by Dr. Kevin Stokesbury of SMAST appears as this month’s cover story in the Ecological Society of America’s journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

Agriculture is eating into areas that are important in protecting some of the most biologically diverse places on the planet. Most of this new agricultural land is being used to grow cattle feed.

A paper recently published in Ecological Applications shows that exposure to plastic-laced seawater may affect mussels’ ability to form mussel beds.

New research shows the glaring light in human-altered landscapes, such as livestock pastures and crop fields, can act as a barrier to big-eyed birds, potentially contributing to their decline.

Researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Marine and Coastal Research Laboratory developed a predictive framework of ecological indicators and analyses for estuarine–tidal river research and management.

New research from Portland State University found that while increased wildfire activity is causing widespread changes in the structure and composition of Pacific Northwest forests, the new landscapes are likely to be more resilient to projected upward trends in future fire activity and climate conditions.

Researchers from Simon Fraser University’s Salmon Watershed Lab have found when salmon returns are high, smaller and less dominant fishes get a chance to feast on their eggs.

A team of researchers led by Imperial College London and the National University of Singapore studied 19 streams in Borneo, in an area with a variety of land uses, and found that top predators were disproportionally affected by deforestation, with fewer predator links in the food chain in oil palm plantation streams.

Wallace will become the second editor-in-chief of Frontiers since the journal was first launched in 2003.

Biology graduate student Alexandra Gulick, with co-authors from the National Park Service and the UF Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research, recently published a paper in Ecology. Results of the study show that grazing by recovering green turtle populations stimulates seagrass productivity, and that grazing intensity has a relevant role in regulating the productivity of Caribbean seagrass meadows.

Assistant Professor Scott Stark in the Department of Forestry at Michigan State University is tackling a worldwide environmental concern: what’s happening in the Amazon?

Environmental conditions such as sea surface temperature and the occurrence of cold water upwelling events drive the structure of interaction networks in marine intertidal communities via their effects on species richness, according to new research.

Researchers from La Trobe University have found that, in the absence of natural predators such as bilbies, native scorpions are thriving in Australia’s damaged sandy landscape.

Several members of the Ecological Society of America with expertise on hurricane impacts and related issues are available for comment and to respond to questions and inquiries.

Researchers studying the chemical defenses of a neotropical shrub at La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica have discovered 10 previously undocumented alkenylphenol compounds.

University of Exeter researchers surveyed UK cat owners and found they ranged from “conscientious caretakers” concerned about cats’ impact on wildlife and who feel some responsibility, to “freedom defenders” who opposed restrictions on cat behaviour altogether.

Current forest management in northern temperate regions like the Centre-du-Quebec is not suitable to maintain the resilience of the forest under future climate change, shows a study published in Ecological Applications.

Radiocarbon dating of five large and potentially old sessile oaks from Aspromonte National Parks revealed a long lifespan ranging from 934 ± 65 to 570 ± 45 years.

The diverse mix of tree species in North America’s rugged Border Lakes region has shielded it from severe outbreaks of forest tent caterpillars, says a new study published in the Ecological Society of America’s open-access journal Ecosphere.

A new paper published in Ecology explores the complexity of the relationship between sharksuckers and their hosts.