Tag Archives | Biodiversity

tree_frog

Species turnover: this isn’t the biodiversity you’re looking for

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 […]

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fence_wildlife

Fences causing “ecological meltdown,” claims new study

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 […]

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lizard_wf

New analysis pokes holes in biodiversity’s supposed link to human disease

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 […]

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endangered_species

Biodiversity backflip on warming climate

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 […]

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wolf

Return of wolves triggers renaissance in Yellowstone ecosystem

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 […]

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waxwing

Invasive plants can improve biodiversity, ecosystem health

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 […]

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devonian_epoch

Mass extinction event linked to invasive species

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 […]

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pavlovsk

Last ditch appeal to save irreplaceable seed bank from bulldozers

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 […]

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