Ecosystems
- Earth
Climate action could save polar bears
Cutting fossil fuel emissions soon would retain enough sea ice habitat for threatened species, scientists say.
- Ecosystems
Climate’s link to plague
Scientists have correlated changes in long-term Pacific Ocean temperature patterns with the incidence of a deadly bacterial pestilence, one spread by fleas living on and around mice and other rodents.
- Ecosystems
No ‘dead zone’ from BP oil
As aquatic microbes dine, they consume oxygen. When too many congregate at some temporary smorgasbord of goodies, they can use up so much oxygen that a so-called dead zone develops — water with too little oxygen to sustain fish, mammals or shellfish. On Sept. 7, federal scientists reported that despite the massive release of oil from the damaged BP well in the Gulf of Mexico, no such dead zone developed.
- Ecosystems
Frogs leapt before they landed
Jumping preceded mastery of the touchdown in amphibian evolution, a new study suggests.
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- Earth
Mangroves do a coast good
Left intact, dense swaths of trees can reduce tsunami damage, a new study suggests.
- Climate
Methane releases in arctic seas could wreak devastation
Warming climate could lead to dead zones, acidification and shifts at the base of the ocean’s food chain.
- Ecosystems
Bats, wolves feel the heat
News from the annual meeting of the American Society of Mammalogists in Laramie, Wyo., June 11-15
- Science & Society
Citation inflation
Many journals – and the authors who publish their novel data and analyses in them – rely on “impact factors” as a gauge of the importance and prestige of their work. However, a new analysis turns up subtle ways that journals can game the system to artificially inflate their impact factor.
- Ecosystems
Parasite brood gets help from nearby microbes
A critical interaction between whipworm and E. coli suggests a new way to battle the common gut infection.
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- Ecosystems
Honeybee death mystery deepens
Government scientists link colony collapse disorder to mix of fungal and viral infections.
