Ecology & Zoology

Herbicide Use And Potato Reproduction Not Adequately Tested, Says Study

Herbicide use should increase crop yields, that's the whole point, and herbicides and pesticides do that, given the output in food production that has matched the population increases over the last two centuries.  But there may be a problem in how som ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 7 2009 - 10:45am

You Can See Yourself In A Spookfish Eye

The eyes of deep-ocean dwelling creatures are always fascinating- in the near darkness of thousands of feet underwater, a very dim flash of light can mean an organism has found its meal for the month (or has become a meal for another fish). Detecting these ...

Article - Chris Rollins - Jan 9 2009 - 1:44am

Removing An Invasive Species Not Always A Good Thing, Say Cats And Rabbits On Macquarie Island

The term 'invasive species' itself connotes very bad things but conservationists recently got an expensive lesson in the one thing they claim to understand; ecology is a system and making too many changes can have devastating repercussions. Remov ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 12 2009 - 12:48pm

Museomics Miracle- Extinct 'Tazmanian Tiger' May Come Back To Life

"Tasmanian Tiger" is a common name of the extinct thylacine species (Thylacinus cynocephalus), which is more closely related to kangaroos and koalas than to dogs or tigers.   In 1902, the National Zoo brought the endangered animal. By the mid-193 ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 12 2009 - 5:56pm

Free Range Chickens More Prone To Disease- Study

Free-range chickens are more prone to disease than chickens kept in cages, according to a study published in Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica.  This also applies to all chickens kept in litter-based housing systems. Researchers led by Oddvar Fossum, at the Na ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 15 2009 - 11:44am

Ecological Thresholds- Small Changes Can Have Big Effects On The Ecosystem

The ecology is a dynamic, complex system so even small changes, or small experiments, can have big responses.   Some of these responses, including insect outbreaks, wildfire, and forest dieback, may adversely affect people as well as ecosystems and their p ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 16 2009 - 2:34pm

The Mathematical Odds Of That Elusive Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Still Existing

5. That's how many mated pairs will need to have survived the extensive habitat loss that occurred during the early 1900's for the ivory-billed woodpecker to still be around today. Do they exist?   No one knows, though in the last few years peopl ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 16 2009 - 8:02pm

Nature Loves A Straight Line: Geodesics In Biology

My elementary school art teacher used to discourage the use of rulers, claiming that “there are no straight lines in nature”.  Mr. Dugan, your own cells are here to tell you it’s not true.  Systems of taut fibers and light struts— as straight as the bars a ...

Article - Stephanie Pulford - Jan 19 2009 - 5:29pm

Fishes and Nuts and Mutants! Oh My!

Mutants are always interesting, right?  (With the exception of sequels?)  Anyways, today's mutant offering is two-headed fish in Australia.  (First c ane toads, now this?  Can't the Aussies get a break?) ...

Blog Post - Mrs. H. - Jan 18 2009 - 11:38pm

Emergent Behavior- Thriving At The Edge Of Chaos

The cathedral termite, found in parts of Australia, is capable of creating mounds for the colony well over 10 feet high. Individual cathedral termites are just standard-looking bugs- head, thorax, abdomen, legs, and so on, with a tiny little primitive brai ...

Article - Chris Rollins - Jan 27 2009 - 1:49pm