There’s little doubt that coral reefs the world over face threats on many fronts: pollution, diseases, destructive fishing practices and warming oceans. But reefs appear to be more resistant to one potential menace – seaweed – than previously thought, according to new research by a team of marine scientists from the United States and Australia. Their study is the first…
Paleoecological data reveal strong influence of vegetation changes on wildfire frequency The increase in warmer and drier climates predicted to occur under climate change scenarios has led many scientists to also predict a global increase in the number of wildfires. But a new study in the May issue of Ecological Monographs shows that in some cases, changes in the types of plants…
Research reports costs of invasive species’ damage to ecosystem services Invasive species can disrupt natural and human-made ecosystems, throwing food webs out of balance and damaging the services they provide to people. Now scientists have begun to put a price tag on this damage. In a study published this week in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment e-view, ecologists have…
Special Libraries Association recognizes Ecological Society’s flagship journal Ecology, the flagship journal of the Ecological Society of America, has been voted one of the top 100 most influential journals in the fields of biology and medicine over the last 100 years. The recognition is the result of a poll conducted by the BioMedical and Life Sciences Division of the Special…
Forum sparks debate on potential range changes in diseases Recent research has predicted that climate change may expand the scope of human infectious diseases. A new review, however, argues that climate change may have a negligible effect on pathogens or even reduce their ranges. The paper has sparked debate in the ecological community. In a forum in the April issue…
The press tips below highlight research in the ESA journals Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, Ecology, Ecological Applications and Ecological Monographs. 1. Fuel removal and prescribed burns reduce wildfire severity but may invite invasivesEcological Applications This invited feature compares the effectiveness of fire fuel reduction methods under the U.S. National Fire and Fire Surrogate Study. Four articles examine the effects…
Localized heating of caves during hibernation may reduce bat mortality White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a poorly understood condition that, in the two years since its discovery, has spread to at least seven northeastern states and killed as many as half a million bats. Now researchers have suggested the first step toward a measure that may help save the affected bats:…
The new U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center should be a conduit between climate science and fish and wildlife management, according to a preliminary report released today from a group of nearly 200 representatives from state and federal agencies, academia and nongovernmental organizations. The report also concluded that the USGS center should link biological…
Biodiversity in crops decreases fertilizer damage to rivers and lakes Researchers have identified a link between the diversity of crops grown in farmlands and the pollution they create in lakes and rivers. In a Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment e-View paper, ecologists show that when the biodiversity of crops is high, less dissolved nitrogen is found exiting the surrounding watersheds. Nitrogen…
The idea of ecosystem services is a promising conservation concept but has been rarely put into practice. In a special issue of the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, researchers use novel tools to report some of the first quantifiable results that place values on nature’s services to humans.