Temperate grasslands are the most endangered but least protected ecosystems on Earth. Grassland restorations are crucial for recovering this important but highly degraded ecosystem. Restored grasslands, however, tend to be more species poor and lose diversity through time as compared…
Tag: Biodiversity
How bees live with bacteria
An apple plantation in spring. The trees are in full bloom. But to ensure that they also yield in autumn, workers have to do a real fluff job for weeks: each individual flower is manually pollinated with brushes – because…
HKBU biologists discover and name new fireworm species in Hong Kong waters
A group of biologists from Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) have discovered a new fireworm species in Hong Kong waters and named it Chloeia bimaculata . It is the fourth named species to be added to the fireworm genus Chloeia…
$3.3M NIH grant to support health in Detroit
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Faculty from Michigan State University received a $3.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for an experiment to improve the health of Detroit’s residents by cultivating green spaces in the city. Amber Pearson, assistant…
Satellite-based estimates of reduced deforestation in protected areas needed
Conventional management indicators do not show the whole picture of deforestation
Satellite-based estimates of reduced deforestation in protected areas needed
Conventional management indicators do not show the whole picture of deforestation
Northern white rhino eggs successfully fertilized
After successfully harvesting 10 eggs from the world’s last two northern white rhinos, Najin and Fatu, on August 22nd in Kenya, the international consortium of scientists and conservationists announces that 7 out of the 10 eggs (4 from Fatu and…
Saving sage-grouse by relocation
Moving can be tough, but eventually most of us acclimate to new surroundings. That’s true for humans, and research from Washington State University shows it’s the same for sage-grouse too. A team of scientists successfully moved sage-grouse, a threatened bird…
Wild ground-nesting bees might be exposed to lethal levels of neonics in soil
In a first-ever study investigating the risk of neonicotinoid insecticides to ground-nesting bees, University of Guelph researchers have discovered at least one species is being exposed to lethal levels of the chemicals in the soil. Examining the presence of these…
How the herring adapted to the light environment in the Baltic Sea
The evolutionary process that occurs when a species colonizes a new environment provides an opportunity to explore the mechanisms underlying genetic adaptation, which is essential knowledge for understanding evolution and the maintenance of biodiversity. An international team of scientists, led…
Successful egg harvest breaks new ground in saving the northern white rhinoceros
There are only two northern white rhinos left worldwide, both of them female. Saving this representative of megafauna from extinction seems impossible under these circumstances, yet an international consortium of scientists and conservationists just completed a procedure that could enable…
Bloodsucker discovered: First North American medicinal leech described in over 40 years
Museum collections reveal the new leech has hidden in plain sight for decades
Extinct Caribbean bird yields DNA after 2,500 years in watery grave
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Scientists have recovered the first genetic data from an extinct bird in the Caribbean, thanks to the remarkably preserved bones of a Creighton’s caracara from a flooded sinkhole on Great Abaco Island. Studies of ancient DNA from…
Early species developed much faster than previously thought, OHIO research shows
Ohio University researcher publishes landmark review of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Even
AI used to test evolution’s oldest mathematical model
Researchers have used artificial intelligence to make new discoveries, and confirm old ones, about one of nature’s best-known mimics, opening up whole new directions of research in evolutionary biology. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, the University of Essex,…
Rapid evolution: New findings on its molecular mechanisms
The mechanisms by which new species arise are still not fully understood. What are the evolutionary processes that drive the evolution of new species? Evolutionary biologists traditionally assumed that geographical barriers between animal populations play a decisive role (allopatric speciation):…
New information on tropical parasitoid insects revealed
The diversity and ecology of African parasitoid wasps was studied for over a year during a project run by the Biodiversity Unit of the University of Turku in Finland. Parasitoid wasps are one of the animal groups that are the…
Rare antelopes and black cats
Tanzania is home to a very elusive antelope species that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. According to the Red List, it can be classified as endangered. The first photograph of one of these antelopes was taken by…
New mapping reveals lost west coast estuary habitat
Research highlights potential for restoration of important habitats
Flashlight fish use bioluminescence to school at night
Flashlight fish use their bioluminescent organs to school at night – and only a few need actively flash to maintain the group, according to a study published August 14, 2019 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by David Gruber from…
Arnold Berliner Award 2019 goes to Martin Nyffeler
Swiss scientist is honored for his work on the global predation impact of insectivorous birds
Rutgers Expert Available to Discuss IPCC Report on Climate Change and Land
New Brunswick, N.J. (Aug. 8, 2019) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick Professor Pamela McElwee is available to comment on the United Nations report released today on Climate Change and Land that she co-authored. McElwee, an associate professor in the Department of Human…