{"id":3600,"date":"2010-06-14T14:44:57","date_gmt":"2010-06-14T18:44:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/?p=3600"},"modified":"2010-06-14T14:44:57","modified_gmt":"2010-06-14T18:44:57","slug":"from-the-community-forming-a-biodiversity-body-and-taxing-tomatoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/2010\/06\/14\/from-the-community-forming-a-biodiversity-body-and-taxing-tomatoes\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Community: forming a biodiversity body and taxing tomatoes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Representatives from around 90 countries approved the formation of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Nature<\/em> and Scientific American<\/em> collaborated on a survey to analyze the public\u2019s interest in science and the history of the tomato\u2019s taxonomy in the United States is reviewed. Here are some stories in ecology from the second week in June.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Bulldog bats: <\/strong>Scientists from the Free University of Berlin have discovered that bulldog bats use ultrasound to not only navigate and hunt, but to broadcast their identity to strangers as well. This \u201chonking\u201d behavior places bats in the select group of mammals that use ultrasound to communicate \u2013 along with whales, dolphins and some squirrels.\u201d Read more<\/a> at \u201cBulldog bats \u2018honk\u2019 when they meet a stranger.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Biodiversity\u2019s IPCC: <\/strong>The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services\u2014an organization to assess the planet\u2019s resources and services\u2014was approved by close to 90 countries today. It will come before the United Nations\u2019 general assembly in September for <\/strong>official approval and will likely meet for the first time in 2011. Read more<\/a><\/span> at \u201cNew UN science body to monitor biosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sneezing seals: <\/strong>The blog \u201cParasite of the Day\u201d featured a particularly odd case from a 1985 issue of The Journal of Parasitology<\/em>: <\/strong>A single mite of the species Orthohalarachne attenuate<\/em>\u2014typically found in the nasal passages of seals, sea lions and walruses\u2014was found in a 35-year-old man\u2019s eye. It turns out the man had recently visited Sea World and been sneezed on by a seal, transmitting the mite. Read more<\/a> at \u201cJune 9 \u2013 Orthohalarachne attenuate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The public and science:<\/strong> Nature<\/em> and Scientific American<\/em> are partnering up to take on the challenge of gauging the public\u2019s opinion and trust in science. The international survey, written in 12 languages, is free online and the results will be published in an upcoming issue of Scientific American<\/em>. Read more<\/a> at \u201cIn Science We Trust?\u201d or take the survey at http:\/\/readerpanel.nature.com\/wix5\/p418322019.aspx<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tomato taxonomy: <\/strong>Biologically-speaking, the tomato plant is fruit-bearing; however, thanks to the outcome of the 1883 Nix v. Hedden Supreme Court case, tomatoes are legally classified as vegetables in the U.S. Hedden argued that \u201ctomatoes were biologically a fruit, but for the purposes of trade and commerce\u2014that is, the things covered by the Tariff Act of 1883\u2014tomatoes were really vegetables.\u201d Hedden won and the rest is history. Read more<\/a> at \u201cAre Tomatoes Fruits or Vegetables?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Also, a look<\/a> at the International Year of Biodiversity, protected forests<\/a> and the susceptibility of fire, putting<\/a> \u201cOilmageddon 2010\u201d in context and re-evaluating<\/a> the Endangered Species Act in<\/span> light of the Gulf disaster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Representatives from around 90 countries approved the formation of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Nature and Scientific American collaborated on a survey to analyze the public\u2019s interest in science and the history of the tomato\u2019s taxonomy in the United States is reviewed. Here are some stories in ecology from the second week in June.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,2,48],"tags":[287,111,136,162,224],"class_list":["post-3600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ecology-in-policy","category-research","category-ecology-and-society","tag-biodiversity","tag-ecosystem-services","tag-endangered-species-act","tag-ipcc","tag-parasites"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3600\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}