Ecosystems News

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Plant-Eating Insects May Reduce Ability of Forests to Take up Elevated Levels of Carbon Dioxide

In a high carbon dioxide world, the trees would come out ahead. Except for the munching bugs.

4 Mar 2015

Conservation Organizations Must Be Bolder in Adaptation Efforts to Address Extent of Ecological Changes

Nature is on the move. As the impacts of climate change reveal themselves, species and ecosystems are moving in response. This poses a fundamental challenge to conservation organizations--how do you conserve something that won't stay still?

4 Mar 2015

Bird’s Nest Fern Plays a Critical Role in Maintaining Rainforest Ecosystems

Scientists from the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) believe that the bird’s nest fern, a plant commonly found in many of our homes, has a critical place in maintaining the biodiversity and the ecosystems of the world’s rainforests.

28 Feb 2015

Study Reveals Soil Temperature Changes Can Have Unexpected Consequences for Lake Ecology

Rising soil temperatures significantly affect autumn leaves and consequently the food web, appearance and biochemical makeup of the lakes and ponds those leaves fall into, a Dartmouth College-led study finds.

26 Feb 2015

Study Results Help Assess Potential Impacts of Ocean Acidification

Next to global warming, ocean acidification is currently considered as the second major carbon dioxide problem. With the increase of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere larger quantities of the gas are getting into the seawater, too. There it forms carbonic acid, which lowers the pH value of the oceans.

24 Feb 2015

Study Reveals Importance of Diversity of Species that Attack and Eat Parasite

Biodiversity, including small predators such as dragonflies and other aquatic bugs that attack and consume parasites, may improve the health of amphibians, according to a team of researchers. Amphibians have experienced marked declines in the wild around the world in recent decades, the team added.

24 Feb 2015

Climate Change Affects Flow of Organic Pollutants and May Affect the Marine Ecosystem

Regional climate change models predict an increased freshwater runoff into the Baltic Sea. This will result in increased inflow of terrestrial dissolved organic carbon.

23 Feb 2015

Corals May Be Better Equipped to Tolerate Climate Change

Corals may be better equipped to tolerate climate change than previously believed, according to research led by Dr Emma Kennedy from Griffith University (Queensland, Australia).

23 Feb 2015

Global Warming May Increase Ocean Current Upwelling and Cause Major Changes in Marine Biodiversity

A report to be published Thursday in the journal Nature suggests that global warming may increase upwelling in several ocean current systems around the world by the end of this century, especially at high latitudes, and will cause major changes in marine biodiversity.

20 Feb 2015

Climate Change May Influence Geographic Distribution of Marine Biodiversity

By the end of the 21st century, climate change will significantly alter an important oceanographic process that regulates the productivity of fisheries and marine ecosystems, Northeastern researchers report in a new paper in published online Wednesday in the journal Nature. These changes are likely to influence the geographic distribution of marine biodiversity.

20 Feb 2015