Press Releases — Page 49

The Ecological Society of America recognizes Sara P. Bombaci, Jacqueline J. Peña, and Joshua Scholl for awards for outstanding student research.

By Field Museum 5/21/2019 Tiger sharks have a reputation for being the “garbage cans of the sea”—they’ll eat just about anything, from dolphins and sea turtles to rubber tires. But before these top predators grow to their adult size of 15 feet, young tiger sharks have an even more unusual diet. Scientists have just announced in a new paper in…

By São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) 5/22/2019 An experiment conducted in Brazil in an area of Atlantic Rainforest suggests that intensive silviculture, including the use of herbicide and substantial amounts of fertilizer, is a more effective approach to promoting the regeneration of tropical forest and biomass gain than the traditional method based on manual weeding and less fertilizer. The study…

By University of Florida 5/16/19 In the wide world of tropical flora, insects often take up the mantle of protecting the plants that shelter them, each mutually satisfied in a happy marriage of nature’s making. This is particularly true for acacia trees that tower over the African savanna. Their tiny protectors are carnivorous ants that dissuade animals from browsing on…

By Tufts University 5/14/19 When it comes to wildlife conservation efforts, urban environments could be far more helpful than we think, according to new research.  A study published today in Ecology shows that animals move faster through ‘low quality’ habitats – evidence that could change the way conservationists think about managing landscapes to help species move in response to climate…

By National Science Foundation 5/14/2019 An ecosystem is made up of species, populations, communities, and a network of communities across a region. A team led by NSF-funded researchers at the University of California-Santa Barbara (UCSB) has published a paper in the journal Ecology showing how these different levels combine to form an ecosystem. The research was conducted in an underwater giant kelp…

By University of Southampton 5/9/2019 Observations of Herring Gulls by scientists from the University of Southampton have shown how the coastal birds have developed complicated behaviour to ‘skin’ sea creatures to make them safe to eat. Researchers think this feeding habit may be a response to urbanisation and changes in food availability. The gulls (Larus argentatus) of Dún Laoghaire Marina…

By University of Minnesota 5/6/2019 (Minneapolis/St. Paul)–Recent research by a team of scientists reveals that walleye decline in Mille Lacs is linked to loss of habitat and indicates that by adapting harvest policies to account for changing environmental conditions, walleye fisheries may be sustained. The study focuses on Mille Lacs, Minnesota, where walleye populations have dramatically declined since the 1990s….

By UC Santa Barbara 5/2/2019 An ecosystem arises from the effects of many different levels of organization. There are the species, their populations, the communities they live in, and the network of these communities over the entire region. But scientists are still exploring how the dynamics at different levels combine to determine the properties of the ecosystem as a whole….

By University of Rhode Island 4/30/2019 KINGSTON, R.I. – April 30, 2019 – As the Trump Administration prepares to cut in half the budget for the National Invasive Species Council, a group of invasive species experts led by a University of Rhode Island professor has issued a warning about the growing peril of biological invasions and the increasing threat they…

By Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research 4/29/2019 In 2012, a truffle dog named Giano made a spectacular discovery: In a city park in Geneva, he unearthed a White Truffle, also known as an Alba Truffle – the first to ever be found north of the Alps. The White Truffle is the most aromatic and valuable truffle;…

By Florida International University 4/27/2019 Large numbers of dugongs, sea snakes and other marine animals disappeared from the UNESCO World Heritage Site Shark Bay, Western Australia, after a heat wave devastated seagrass meadows, according to recently released research. The reasons for the population losses, however, differed among species, according to Rob Nowicki, an FIU alumnus and postdoctoral research fellow at…

By Duke University 4/23/2019 DURHAM, N.C. — The discovery of dozens of pregnant giant devil rays accidentally caught in fishing nets in a village along Mexico’s northern Gulf of California could mean the endangered species has a previously unknown birthing zone in nearby waters, a new Duke University study suggests. If further research confirms the possibility, authorities and local fishers…

By University of Essex 4/1/2019 Mid-teenagers feel less connected to nature than any other age group, according to new research from the RSPB and the University of Essex. At a time when there are growing concerns over the mental health of today’s youngsters it is important to highlight the positive wellbeing benefits of enjoying the natural environment and the worrying…

Get a sneak peek at these new scientific papers, publishing on May 6, 2019, in the Ecological Society of America’s journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

By Stockholm Resilience Centre 4/17/2019 Centre researchers Oonsie Biggs, Timon McPhearson, Albert Norström, Per Olsson, Garry Peterson and Victor Galaz are part of the team that won the 2019 ESA Innovation in Sustainability Science Award for their 2016 study Bright spots: seeds of a good Anthropocene which was published in 2016 in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. The Innovation…

Unlike many migratory species, Galapagos giant tortoises do not use current environmental conditions to time their seasonal migration.

The Ecological Society of America (ESA) will present the 2019 awards recognizing outstanding contributions to ecology in new discoveries, teaching, sustainability, diversity, and lifelong commitment to the profession during the Society’s Annual Meeting in Louisville, Ky.

Environmental scientists, educators, and policy makers are gathering in the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, Kentucky this August 11th through 16th, 2019, for the 104th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America (ESA), co-hosted with the United States Society for Ecological Economics (USSEE).

By FIU 4/3/2019 Larger plants may be the first sign sea levels are rising in the Everglades, according to an FIU study. Beneath the surface, however, the roots of these now larger, moderately salt-tolerant plants like sawgrasses will begin to wither and die if the water gets too salty. If there’s no time for mangroves or other plants to take…