News by Subject Biology

A new Biological Reviews study provides a comprehensive assessment of how changes to wetlands affect animals, and the authors use their findings to provide recommendations for managing wetlands to maximise their biodiversity.

New research indicates that fish may adapt their behavior to defend against parasite infection. The findings are published in the Journal of Zoology.

NOAA Fisheries researchers and colleagues at the New England Aquarium have developed a new model to improve estimates of abundance and population trends of endangered North Atlantic right whales, which have declined in numbers and productivity in recent years. Between 1990 and 2010 abundance increased to 482 animals, but since 2010 the numbers have declined to 458 in 2015, with 14 known deaths this year. The findings were published in the journal Ecology and Evolution.

To provide a vital scientific foundation for conservation efforts, an international team has conducted a genetic analysis comparing queen conch at 19 sites throughout the Caribbean. Their findings, published Sept. 19 in the journal Diversity and Distributions, will help scientists understand how local subpopulations of conch are fragmented throughout the Caribbean, an essential first step needed to develop effective science-driven management plans and practices.

The Indonesian coral reefs, located in the so-called coral triangle, are considered amongst the richest and most biodiverse places on Earth. Surprisingly, this impressive species diversity is still poorly known. The paper, authored by an international team led by Barbara Calcinai and published in the open access journal ZooKeys, reports the presence of 94 species of sponges, including six new to science and two new symbiotic sponge associations.