News by Subject Agriculture

After a two-and-a-half-year expedition through the world's most biodiverse protected area, the Identidad Madidi explorers have concluded their epic quest of completing a massive biological survey of Madidi National Park, uncovering more than 120 potentially new species of plants, butterflies and vertebrates in the process, according to WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society).

Researchers at the University of New Hampshire have found that changes in the seascape may impact the behavior of fish and could be leaving them less options for refuge and more vulnerable to predators.

A new study has uncovered when and why the native vegetation that today dominates much of Australia first expanded across the continent. The research should help researchers better predict the likely impact of climate change and rising carbon dioxide levels on such plants here and elsewhere.

During embryonic development genetic cascades control gene activity and cell differentiation. In a new publication of the journal PNAS, the team of Ulrich Technau of the Department of Molecular Evolution and Development at the University of Vienna reported that besides the genetic program, also mechanical cues can contribute to the regulation of gene expression during development. Comparisons with other animals suggests that this regulatory principle is ancient.

Corals growing in high-latitude reefs in Western Australia can regulate their internal chemistry to promote growth under cooler temperatures, according to new research at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at The University of Western Australia. The study, published today in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, suggests that ocean warming may not necessarily promote faster rates of calcification in reefs where temperatures are currently cooler (lower than 18C).

Determining whether blow flies have consumed animal fecal material versus animal tissue has important implications for both human public health and animal conservation. A recent study by researchers in biology and chemistry at the School of Science at IUPUI shows how that determination can be made.

The many threats facing bumblebees can be tested using a 'virtual safe space' created by scientists at the University of Exeter.

Using museum specimens and fossil records, researchers have produced a comprehensive (and unprecedented) range history of coyotes that can help reveal the ecology of predation as well as evolution through hybridization.