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Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
A question of height Intelligent countryside management could improve the survival chances of animal and plant species threatened by climate change. The creation of small heat-shielded habitats and better links between habitats would counteract a moderate temperature increase, and give threatened species more time to adapt better and/or to migrate to cooler regions. This is the conclusion drawn by scientists at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research from a British study on saving the Large Blue butterfly. Contact: Tilo Arnhold Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Pacific Northwest forests could store more carbon, help address greenhouse issues The forests of the Pacific Northwest hold significant potential to increase carbon storage and help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in coming years, a recent study concludes, if they are managed primarily for that purpose through timber harvest reductions and increased rotation ages. Contact: Beverly Law Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Evolution: Crabs go deep to avoid hot water Researchers from the National Oceanography Center, Southampton, have drawn together 200 years' worth of oceanographic knowledge to investigate the distribution of a notorious deep-sea giant -- the king crab. The results, published this week in the Journal of Biogeography, reveal temperature as a driving force behind the speciation and radiation of a major seafloor predator -- globally, and over tens of millions of years of Earth's history. Contact: Dr. Rory Howlett Public Release: 2-Jul-2009
Climate change and the mystery of the shrinking sheep Changing winter conditions are causing Scotland's wild Soay sheep to get smaller despite the evolutionary benefits of having a large body, researchers report in a study that shows how climate change can trump natural selection. Contact: Natasha D. Pinol Public Release: 1-Jul-2009
New science review examines multiple health benefits of dairy foods In a supplement to the current issue of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, several prominent nutrition researchers weigh in on an updated review of the health benefits of consuming dairy foods. This supplement further contributes to the well-established evidence that consuming the recommended servings of dairy foods each day is a convenient and affordable way to get several key nutrients that many Americans do not consume enough. Contact: Matt Coldagelli Public Release: 1-Jul-2009
ADA releases updated position paper on vegetarian diets The American Dietetic Association has released an updated position paper on vegetarian diets that concludes such diets, if well-planned, are healthful and nutritious for adults, infants, children and adolescents and can help prevent and treat chronic diseases including heart disease, cancer, obesity and diabetes. Contact: Jennifer STarkey Public Release: 1-Jul-2009
Desert rhubarb -- a self-irrigating plant Researchers from the department of science education-biology at the University of Haifa-Oranim have managed to make out the "self-irrigating" mechanism of the desert rhubarb, which enables it to harvest 16 times the amount of water than otherwise expected for a plant in this region based on the quantities of rain in the desert. This is the first example of a self-irrigating plant worldwide. Contact: Rachel Feldman Public Release: 1-Jul-2009
Inbred bumblebees less successful Declining bumblebee populations are at greater risk of inbreeding, which can trigger a downward spiral of further decline. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology have provided the first proof that inbreeding reduces colony fitness under natural conditions by increasing the production of reproductively inefficient 'diploid' males. Contact: Graeme Baldwin Public Release: 1-Jul-2009
Plants save the earth from an icy doom Fifty million years ago, the North and South poles were ice-free and crocodiles roamed the Arctic. Since then, a long-term decrease in the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has cooled the Earth. Researchers at Yale University, the Carnegie Institution of Washington and the University of Sheffield now show that land plants saved the Earth from a deep frozen fate by buffering the removal of atmospheric CO2 over the past 24 million years. Contact: Suzanne Taylor Muzzin Public Release: 1-Jul-2009
Mangrove-dependent animals globally threatened An assessment in the July/August issue of BioScience finds that substantial numbers of terrestrial vertebrates are restricted to mangrove forests. Many of these specialized species are listed as threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Prospects for mangrove-restricted animals are bleak, because more than two percent of mangrove forests are lost each year. Contact: Jennifer Williams Public Release: 30-Jun-2009
Anti-biotech groups obstruct forest biotechnology The potential of forest biotechnology to help address significant social and environmental issues is being "strangled at birth" by the rigid opposition of some groups and regulations that effectively preclude even the testing of genetically modified trees, scientists argue in a new report. Contact: Steven Strauss Public Release: 30-Jun-2009
Peer pressure plays major role in environmental behavior People are more likely to enroll in conservation programs if their neighbors do -- a tendency that should be exploited when it comes to protecting the environment, according to a pioneering study from Michigan State University. Contact: Jack Liu Public Release: 30-Jun-2009
A thirst for blood sparks toxic algal blooms The blooming of toxic algae that occurs during the summer conceal a fight for life and death. Scientists at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, propose in an article published in the journal PNAS that algal blooms are created when aggressive algae kill and injure their competitors in order to absorb the nutrients they contain. "The behavior of the algae can be compared to that of blood-sucking insects," says Per Jonsson of the department of marine ecology. Contact: Krister Svahn Public Release: 30-Jun-2009
The tiny difference in the genes of bacteria Every year, diarrhea causes around five million fatalities worldwide. Most people die due to pathogenic micro-organisms, such as bacteria or viruses, which were ingested into the gastro-intestinal tract through contaminated drinking water or food. Determining which bacterium is causing the illness in those cases is sometimes very complex. In cooperation with Chilean researchers, scientists from the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research in Braunschweig, Germany, have now developed a fine-tuned diagnostic method. Contact: Dr. Bastian Dornbach Public Release: 30-Jun-2009
Your own private global warming Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey subjected species found in Antarctic waters to increasing levels of water temperature to learn how well they would cope with a warmer ocean. The study, to be presented at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting on Tuesday, June 30, shows that several of these species are already living really close to their upper temperature range, and that further increases could easily provoke serious ecological imbalances in this region. Contact: Cristian C. A. Bodo Public Release: 29-Jun-2009
Flies avoid a plant's poison using a newly identified taste mechanism Many plants protect themselves from hungry animals by producing toxic chemicals. In turn, animals rely on detecting the presence of these harmful chemicals to avoid consuming dangerous plant material. A paper, published in this week's issue of PLoS Biology, investigates the response of an insect to a common plant weapon -- the toxin L-canavanine. Contact: Sally Hubbard Public Release: 29-Jun-2009
Little-known marine decomposers attract the attention of genome sequencers The US Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute announced today that they will sequence the genomes of four species of labyrinthulomycetes. These little-known marine species were selected for sequencing as the result of a proposal submitted to the competitive JGI Community Sequencing Program by a team of microbiologists led by Dr. Jackie Collier, assistant professor at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) at Stony Brook University. Contact: Leslie Taylor Public Release: 29-Jun-2009
Seasonal hunger devastating and under-recognized Most of the world's acute hunger and undernutrition occurs not in conflicts and natural disasters but in the annual "hunger season," according to an article published this week in open-access journal PLoS Medicine. The hunger season is the time of year when the previous year's harvest stocks have dwindled, food prices are high and jobs are scarce, and is often under-recognized. Contact: Andrew Hyde Public Release: 29-Jun-2009
No evidence that WHO-recommended treatment for insecticide poisoning improves survival A study published this week in the open-access journal PLoS Medicine finds no evidence to suggest that a controversial antidote recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) to treat patients poisoned with highly toxic insecticides improves their chance of survival. The results may even add weight to existing concerns about pralidoxime, the treatment recommended by the WHO, by suggesting that it could be harmful in patients who have deliberately poisoned themselves with insecticides. Contact: Andrew Hyde Public Release: 29-Jun-2009
Loss of coastal seagrass habitat accelerating globally An international team of scientists warns that accelerating losses of seagrasses across the globe threaten the immediate health and long-term sustainability of coastal ecosystems. The team has compiled and analyzed the first comprehensive global assessment of seagrass observations and found that 58 percent of world's seagrass meadows are currently declining. Contact: Christopher Conner Public Release: 29-Jun-2009
Natural-born divers and the molecular traces of evolution When the ancestors of present marine mammals returned to the oceans, their physiology had to adapt radically. Dr. Michael Berenbrink at Liverpool University has been studying how myoglobin, the molecule responsible for delivering oxygen to the muscles during locomotion, has been modified in seals and whales to help them cope with the needs of a life at sea. The results will be presented at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting on Monday, June 29. Contact: Cristian C. A. Bodo Public Release: 29-Jun-2009
New crops needed for new climate Plants grown under high CO2 and drought conditions show an increase in toxic compounds, a decrease in protein content and a decrease in yield. Dr. Ros Gleadow will present her findings at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting on Monday, June 29, where she will discuss these results and the consequent requirement for new cultivars in order to sustain food production in a future environment. Contact: Tess Livermore Public Release: 29-Jun-2009
American Chemical Society's Weekly PressPac -- June 24, 2009 The American Chemical Society Weekly Press Package with reports from 34 major peer-reviewed journals on chemistry, health, medicine, energy, environment, food, nanotechnology and other hot topics. Contact: Michael Woods Public Release: 29-Jun-2009
Ozone depletes oil seed rape productivity With rising ozone levels scientists have found that high ozone conditions cause a 30 percent decrease in yield and an increase in the concentration of a group of compounds with toxic effects to livestock, but anticarcinogenic effects for humans, within oilseed rape plants. Maarten de Bock will present his findings at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting on Monday, June 29. Contact: Tess Livermore Public Release: 29-Jun-2009
Mice run faster on high-grade oil Between the 1932 and 2008 Olympic Games, world record times of the men's 100m sprint improved by 0.6 seconds. Scientists at the Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology in Austria have shown that an equivalent improvement can be achieved in mice by feeding them a diet high in a certain type of polyunsaturated fatty acid. Dr. Christopher Turbill will present the research at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting on Monday, June 29. Contact: Tess Livermore |