Re-examining biodiversity data from one hundred long-term ecosystem monitoring studies done around the world, a new paper has revealed that the number of species in many of these places has not changed much – or has actually increased. But the researchers did discover something changing rapidly:which species were thriving. University of Vermont researcher Nick Gotelli’s […]
A general belief by conservationists that fences can help prevent the spread of diseases, protect wildlife from poachers, and help manage populations of threatened species has been overturned by a new study that shows fences are actually causing extinctions and destroying ecosystems. The counterintuitive new findings, appearing in the journal Science, reviewed the pros and […]
The vast majority of new, emerging or re-emerging human diseases are caused by pathogens from animals, according to the World Health Organization. But a widely accepted theory of risk reduction for these pathogens is likely wrong, according to a new study by researchers from the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. The dilution effect theorizes […]
The notion that the planet’s warming climate will result in widespread extinctions has been challenged by a new study that suggests that biodiversity on Earth generally increases as the planet warms. The study, by scientists from the Universities of York, Glasgow and Leeds, involved the analysis of fossil and geological records going back 540 million […]
A new theory based on the same premise as the card game Hearts (also known as Hunt the Lady or Black Lady) turns traditional evolutionary thinking on its head by showing that some living organisms evolve and survive by discarding genes rather than adding them. Erik Zinser, a microbiologist at the University of Tennessee, details […]
Fifteen years after the return of wolves to Yellowstone National Park a beautifully revitalized ecosystem is emerging. Oregon State University researchers working at the park say their observations provide “persuasive” evidence of the importance of top predators to biodiversity and ecosystem health. “Yellowstone increasingly looks like a different place,” said William Ripple, lead author of […]
Scientists have found that human-introduced, invasive species of plants can – contrary to prevailing ideas – have positive effects on ecological communities. The research, published in the journal Diversity and Distributions, has wide implications for the way environmental managers respond to ecosystem maintenance. “Among conservation biologists, ecologists, and managers, the default approach is to try […]
The arrival of invasive species can stop the dominant natural process of new species formation and trigger mass extinction events, say researchers examining fossil records from the Late Devonian epoch. Worryingly, the study of the collapse of marine life 378 – 375 million years ago suggests that the planet’s current ecosystems, which are struggling with […]
A frantic appeal has been made directly to the Russian government to save Europe’s largest fruit and berry seed bank from real estate developers. The Pavlovsk Experiment Station is the largest European field genebank for fruits and berries, and is part of the N.I. Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry, where Russian scientists famously starved […]
Organic farming is perceived as wildlife friendly, but the benefits to birds, bees and butterflies don’t compensate for the lower yields produced, according to a new study from the University of Leeds. In the most detailed comparison of organic and conventional farming to date, researchers from Leeds’ Faculty of Biological Science found that the benefits […]
