Ecosystems News

October 1, 2016

Ancient Global Cooling Aided Modern Ecosystems

Marine Snow Fuels Life On the Sea-Floor

Tracking Sea Ice from the Greenland Ice Sheet

Marsh Erosion from Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Latest Headlines

updated 6:30pm EDT

Lake Brownification, Eutrophication Decrease the Content of Essential Fatty Acids in Fish Used in Human Diets

Sep. 30, 2016 — Eutrophication and brownification change phytoplankton community structure and decrease the production of essential omega-3 fatty acids in lakes. ... read more

Study of North Atlantic Ocean Reveals Decline of Leaded Petrol Emissions

Sep. 28, 2016 — A new study of lead pollution in the North Atlantic provides strong evidence that leaded petrol emissions have declined over the past few decades. For the first time in around 40 years, scientists ... read more

Climate Change Jigsaw Puzzle: Antarctic Pieces Missing

Sep. 28, 2016 — A shift in westerly winds, which has led to climate impacts in Australia and the Southern Ocean, is human-induced, new research suggests. To date, limited data on Antarctic ... read more

Foreign Farms Increase the Risk of Conflicts in Africa

Sep. 28, 2016 — For the first time, researchers point to areas in Africa where foreign agricultural companies’ choice of crops and management of fresh water are partly responsible for the increased water shortages ... read more

Traffic Noise Reduces Wild Owls' Foraging Efficiency

Sep. 27, 2016 — Traffic noise reduces the foraging efficiency of wild owls by up to 89 percent, a team of researchers has found. The team's world-first study examined how different levels of ... read more

Ocean Fronts Attract Ocean Wanderers

Sep. 21, 2016 — Foraging seabirds use oceanic fronts as an efficient means to forage for food, according to an international study that could help safeguard the future of protected ... read more

Oxygen Levels Were Key to Early Animal Evolution, Strongest Evidence Now Shows

Sep. 23, 2016 — It has long puzzled scientists why, after 3 billion years of nothing more complex than algae, complex animals suddenly ... read more

Underwater 'Cystoseira Zosteroides' Forests, the Mediterranean Algae, Threatened by Human Activity Impact

Sep. 23, 2016 — The effects of an intense storm every twenty-five years could make the marine alga populations of <em>Cystoseira ... read more

New Model Could Point Way to Microbiome Forecasting in the Ocean

Sep. 22, 2016 — A new mathematical model integrates environmental and molecular sequence information to better explain how microbial networks drive nutrient and energy cycling in ... read more

New Comprehensive Approach to Inland Fisheries Management

Sep. 20, 2016 — Managing inland fisheries in the 21st century presents several obstacles including the need to view fisheries from multiple scales, which usually involves populations and resources spanning ... read more

Heavy Wind and Rain Rocks Taipei, Kills Four

Heavy Wind and Rain Rocks Taipei

Conservationists Say 'sustainable' Shark Fishing Is Possible

Bark Beetle Poses Serious Threat to Bulgaria's Pine Forests

Longest Record of Continuous Carbon Flux Data Is Now Publicly Available

Sep. 27, 2016 — The FLUXNET collaboration's most recent data release includes some of the longest continuous records of ecosystem data ever taken. The information has undergone extensive quality checks and is ... read more

Alternative Methods to Understand the Water Regime of the Temporary Rivers

Sep. 21, 2016 — When there are no data due to a lack of hydrometric station, interviews to neighbors and air photographs of water environment are the effective methods to collect information on the water regime of ... read more

Environmental Stress Enhances the Effects of Pollutants

Sep. 21, 2016 — Each and every organism on Earth is exposed to the influence of various environmental conditions and of other living organisms. These factors can trigger stress and make the living organism more ... read more

Hurricanes, Storm Surges and Icebergs: How Warmer Seas Are Changing Our Planet

Sep. 20, 2016 — Severe hurricanes, storm surges and an increase in the number of icebergs are just some of the changes planet Earth has experienced due to warming oceans over the last 20 years, according to a new ... read more

Sea Otter Survey Encouraging, but Comes Up Short of the 'Perfect Story'

Sep. 20, 2016 — The southern sea otter,Enhydra lutris nereis, continues its climb toward recovery, according to the annual count. For the first time, southern sea otters' numbers have exceeded the threshold ... read more

Heatwaves in the Ocean: Risk to Ecosystems?

Sep. 19, 2016 — Marine ecosystems are responsible for about half of global annual primary production and more than one billion people rely on fish as their primary protein source. Latest studies show that enormous ... read more

How Wave Dynamics and Water Flows Affect Coral Reefs

Sep. 19, 2016 — While climate change threatens coral reefs in oceans around the world, not all reefs are affected equally. As oceans warm, physical forces like wave strength and water flow influence which reefs ... read more

First U.S. Marine National Monument Created in Atlantic

Sep. 15, 2016 — Deep in the oceans exist some of the world's oldest and most mysterious sea canyons and mountains, or seamounts. Formed millions of years ago by extinct volcanoes and sediment erosion, sea ... read more

Urban Shorelines Support More Animal Life, Floating DNA Reveals

Sep. 15, 2016 — Researchers are now able to capture the cells of animals, sequence their DNA and identify which species were present in water at a point in time. A new University of Washington study is the first to ... read more

Pacific Ocean’s Response to Greenhouse Gases Could Extend California Drought for Centuries

Sep. 15, 2016 — Clues from prehistoric droughts and arid periods in California show that today's increasing greenhouse gas levels could lock the state into drought for ... read more

NASA Begins Study of Australia's Great Barrier Reef

Sep. 15, 2016 — A NASA airborne mission designed to transform our understanding of Earth's valuable and ecologically sensitive coral reefs has set up shop in Australia for a two-month investigation of the Great ... read more

Larger Marine Animals at Higher Risk of Extinction, and Humans Are to Blame

Sep. 14, 2016 — In today's oceans, larger-bodied marine animals are more likely to become extinct than smaller creatures, according to a new report. It's a pattern that is unprecedented in the history of ... read more

New Comprehensive Approach in Inland Fisheries Management

Sep. 14, 2016 — Inland fisheries managers are increasingly using Transboundary Fisheries Science as an interdisciplinary and holistic approach for understanding and managing ecosystems across larger scales, ... read more

New Insights Into the Impacts of Ocean Acidification

Sep. 14, 2016 — A new study offers clues to the potential impact of ocean acidification deep-sea, shell-forming organisms. Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) is also increasing oceanic CO2. Ocean ... read more

El Niño, Global Warming Combine to Cause Extreme Drought in Amazon Rainforest

Sep. 14, 2016 — The impact the current 2015/2016 El Niño is having in Amazonia has been revealed by new research. Areas of extreme drought and changes to their typical distribution in the region are among the most ... read more

Study Links Altered Brain Chemistry, Behavioral Impairments in Fish Exposed to Elevated Carbon Dioxide

Sep. 13, 2016 — Increased carbon dioxide concentrations alters brain chemistry that may lead to neurological impairment in some fish, a first-of-its-kind study ... read more

Westerly Winds Have Blown Across Central Asia for at Least 42 Million Years

Sep. 13, 2016 — The winds that gust across the Tibetan Plateau have done so for far longer than previously believed, showing they are resilient to the formation of mountains and changes in carbon dioxide and ... read more

Living With Environmental Change: Investigating Our Native Woodlands

Sep. 13, 2016 — Many woodland areas across the world are currently experiencing major dieback and collapse, owing to factors including climate change, grazing livestock, fire, and the spread of pests and diseases. ... read more

Initiative to Restore One Million Corals Launches in the Caribbean and Florida Keys

Sep. 12, 2016 — Research organizations are working on a coral conservation initiative that will enable coral restoration at unprecedented scales throughout the Caribbean and the Florida ... read more

Revving the Microbial Engine: Horsepower Versus Fuel Efficiency in Bacterial Genomes

Sep. 12, 2016 — Microbes that can reproduce rapidly in times of plenty have an evolutionary stockpile of extra genes that allows them to quickly respond to changing conditions such as oil spills or outbreaks of ... read more

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Longest record of continuous carbon flux data is now publicly available

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Monday, September 19, 2016

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Monday, September 12, 2016

Friday, September 9, 2016

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Monday, September 5, 2016

Friday, September 2, 2016

A new tool for wetland management

Thursday, September 1, 2016

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Lightning strikes: Thunderstorms spread mercury pollution

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Monday, August 29, 2016

Friday, August 26, 2016

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Monday, August 22, 2016

Logged rainforests can be an 'ark' for mammals, extensive study shows

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Monday, August 15, 2016

Friday, August 12, 2016

Caught in the act: Coral's bleaching behavior

Thursday, August 11, 2016

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

How climate change will hurt humanity's closest cousins

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Monday, August 8, 2016

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Monday, August 1, 2016