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Loss of Species Diversity Affects Productivity of Remaining Plants

When plant biodiversity declines, the remaining plants face diminishing productivity, say scientists in study published April 20 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

21 Apr 2015

Rapid Climate Change Affected Marine Ecosystems Tens of Thousands of Years Ago

In common parlance, the phrase "global climate change" is often used to describe how present-day climate is changing in response to human activities. But climate has also varied naturally and sometimes quite rapidly in the past, with implications for the ocean and its ecosystems.

16 Apr 2015

Study: Ocean Acidification Caused the Earth's Greatest Mass Extinction

Changes to the Earth's oceans, caused by extreme volcanic activity, triggered the greatest extinction of all time, a study suggests.

13 Apr 2015

Lake Erie's Dead Zones Greatly Affect Fish Distributions, Catch Rates

New research shows that Lake Erie's dead zones are actually quite active, greatly affecting fish distributions, catch rates and the effectiveness of fishing gear.

13 Apr 2015

British Columbia and Alberta Could Lose 70% of Glacier Ice by the End of the 21st Century

Seventy per cent of glacier ice in British Columbia and Alberta could disappear by the end of the 21st century, creating major problems for local ecosystems, power supplies, and water quality, according to a new study by University of British Columbia researchers.

7 Apr 2015

Microclimates in Central Appalachia Will Respond to Global Climate Change in Very Local Ways

Central Appalachian forests have been experiencing the effects of a changing climate for decades, and effects such as more heavy rainfall events, more drought, and more hot days are likely to continue, according to a new vulnerability assessment for the region by the U.S. Forest Service and many partners.

6 Apr 2015

Nationwide Sodsaver Needed to Protect Remaining Native Ecosystems

Clearing grasslands to make way for biofuels may seem counterproductive, but University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers show in a study today (April 2, 2015) that crops, including the corn and soy commonly used for biofuels, expanded onto 7 million acres of new land in the U.S. over a recent four-year period, replacing millions of acres of grasslands.

6 Apr 2015

Essential Biodiversity Variables Used to Analyse Gaps Between Policy Objectives and Available Data

Reporting under policy instruments to inform on the trends in biodiversity requires information from a range of different elements of biodiversity, from genetically viable populations to the structure of ecosystems. A new research looks into the Essential Biodiversity Variables as an analytic framework to identify ways in which gaps between biodiversity data and policy reporting needs could be bridged. The study was published in the Journal of Applied Ecology.

6 Apr 2015

Oxygen Depletion, Hydrogen Sulphide Poisoning of the Ocean May Have Contributed to End-Triassic Mass Extinction

Changes in the biochemical balance of the ocean were a crucial factor in the end-Triassic mass extinction, during which half of all plant, animal and marine life on Earth perished, according to new research involving the University of Southampton.

3 Apr 2015

Rapid Agricultural Expansion Could Cause Rapid Further Losses of Biodiversity

Humanity’s use of land for agricultural production has come at a cost to local ecosystems worldwide, but some of the damage can be reversed, according to a major collaborative research project from the Natural History Museum, United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), and British universities.

2 Apr 2015