New insights into close encounters between albatross and fishing vessels

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A novel analysis of encounters between albatross and commercial fishing vessels across the North Pacific Ocean is giving researchers important new understanding about seabird-vessel interactions that could help reduce harmful encounters. The new research method, which combines…

New probe set unravels evolutionary history of second-most diverse group of land plants

In 2016, a collaborative group of research and education specialists received funding from the National Science Foundation for the project ‘Building a Comprehensive Evolutionary History of Flagellate Plants’ — also known as ‘Genealogy of Flagellate Plants’ (GoFlag). Members of the…

Bioaccumulation of phased-out fire retardants is slowly declining in bald eagles

Research published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry shows that the presence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in bald eagle populations is slowly declining. Bald eagles are apex predators that nest and, more importantly, feed along water bodies, making them excellent…

Citizen scientists help expose presence of invasive Asian bamboo longhorn beetle in Europe

A worryingly high number of Asian bamboo longhorn beetles ( Chlorophorus annularis ) turn out to have been emerging across Europe for about a century already, finds an international research team, headed by researchers from the Center of Natural History…

Rise of marine predators reshaped ocean life as dramatically as sudden mass extinctions

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Evolutionary arms races between marine animals overhauled ocean ecosystems on scales similar to the mass extinctions triggered by global disasters, a new study shows. Scientists at Umeå University in Sweden and the Florida Museum of Natural History…

Ecology: Gene drives may help control invasive grey squirrel in the UK

Existing gene drive technologies could be combined to help control the invasive grey squirrel population in the UK with little risk to other populations, according to a modelling study published in Scientific Reports. Gene drives introduce genes into a population…

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on mammals at tourist destinations

How have travel restrictions and reduced tourism in response to the COVID-19 pandemic affected mammals in different tourist destinations? Researchers recently reviewed published studies and news stories to consider this question. Their findings are published in Mammal Review . The…

Evolution of one of the fastest jaws in nature – function before form in trap-jaw ants

The trap-jaw ants are famous for having one of the natural world’s fastest movements, but how did the latch-spring mechanism that drives their jaws evolve? According to a study published on March 2nd, 2021 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology…

Global warming poses threat to food chains

Rising temperatures could reduce the efficiency of food chains and threaten the survival of larger animals, new research shows. Scientists measured the transfer of energy from single-celled algae (phytoplankton) to small animals that eat them (zooplankton). The study – by…

Agents of food-borne zoonoses confirmed to parasitise newly-recorded in Thailand snails

Parasitic flatworms known as agents of food-borne zoonoses were confirmed to use several species of thiarid snails, commonly found in freshwater and brackish environments in southeast Asia, as their first intermediate host. These parasites can cause severe ocular infections in…

Oahu marine protected areas offer limited protection of coral reef herbivorous fishes

Marine protected areas (MPAs) around O?ahu do not adequately protect populations of herbivorous reef fishes that eat algae on coral reefs. That is the primary conclusion of a study published in Coral Reefs by researchers from the University of Hawai?i…