News by Subject Agriculture

Environmental disturbances such as El Niño shake up the marine food web off Southern California, new research shows, countering conventional thinking that the hierarchy of who-eats-who in the ocean remains largely constant over time.

A new species of striped Philippine butterflyfish -- the charismatic Roa rumsfeldi -- made a fantastic, 7,000-mile journey before surprising scientists with its unknown status. Live specimens collected from a depth of 360 feet escaped special notice until a single black fin spine tipped off aquarium biologists back in San Francisco. Deep-diving researchers from the California Academy of Sciences' Hope for Reefs team -- with genetic sequencing help from a parent-son team -- share their discovery of a fifth species of Roa this week.

It turns out that sex can move mountains. A Washington State University researcher has found that the mating habits of salmon can alter the profile of stream beds, affecting the evolution of an entire watershed. His studyis one of the first to quantitatively show that salmon can influence the shape of the land.

Scientists from Rice University and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi's Harte Research Institute have discovered that Earth's sea level did not rise steadily when the planet's glaciers last melted during a period of global warming; rather, sea level rose sharply in punctuated bursts.

A new study appearing in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series has found that conserving fish diversity in Madagascar's coral reef systems may depend on maintaining fish biomass above critical levels, according to scientists from WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) and ES Caribbean.

Blood samples taken by first responders showed that individuals exposed to small amounts of oil from the spill suffered from hemolytic anemia--a condition that occurs when toxins enter the blood stream and damage red blood cells that carry oxygen to tissues.

Resilient species of coral can move to inhospitable areas and lay the foundations for new reefs, a study shows.