Ecosystems

  1. Ecosystems

    After Invasions: Can an ant takeover change the rules?

    A rare before-and-after study of a takeover by an invasive ant species shows the interloper quickly disassembling the basic rules of the invaded community.

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  2. Ecosystems

    Lab ecosystems show signs of evolving

    An ambitious test of group selection considers whether natural selection can act on whole ecosystems as evolutionary units.

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  3. Ecosystems

    Ultimate Sea Weed Loose in America

    The unusually invasive strain of seaweed that has been smothering coastal areas of the Mediterranean has shown up in a California lagoon, the first sighting of this ecologically devastating alga in the Americas.

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  4. Ecosystems

    Why didn’t the beetle cross the road?

    Beetle populations confined to specific forest areas by roads seem to have lost some of their genetic diversity.

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  5. Ecosystems

    Trust That Bird? A bit of future-think lets jays cooperate

    A blue jay will cooperate with a buddy for mutual gain in food despite opportunities to betray the partnership.

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  6. Ecosystems

    Worm Attacks: Invading earthworms threaten rare U.S. fern

    An unusual study of the effects of invading earthworms on North American plants finds that the exotics might be on the way to killing off a rare fern.

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  7. Ecosystems

    Insects, pollen, seeds travel wildlife corridors

    Strips of habitat boost insect movement, plant pollination, and seed dispersal among patches of the same ecosystem.

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  8. Ecosystems

    New protection for much-dogged shark

    To rebuild northeastern U.S. populations of the spiny dogfish, the first fishing quotas on this species limit the harvest to roughly 10 percent of the 1998 haul.

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  9. Ecosystems

    State of U.S. Agro-ecosystems

    About one-quarter of the United States’ land cover, excluding Alaska, is farmed–some 430 million to 500 million acres. A massive new project has just assessed this and other food-producing environments, such as coastal waters, fresh waters, and rangelands, to tally factors contributing to health. Released on Sept. 24, it indicates that most ecosystems are undergoing […]

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  10. Ecosystems

    No Way to Make Soup—Thirty-two tons of contraband shark fins seized on the high seas

    Something looked suspicious. This former swordfishing vessel, out of Honolulu, was clearly heavy with cargo when discovered by U.S. law-enforcement officials 350 miles off of Acapulco, on Aug. 13. A boarding team found no fishing–just shark fins. However, under a new federal law, transporting fins collected by another fishing vessel constitutes illegal “fishing.” US Coast […]

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  11. Ecosystems

    Plants hitch rides with box turtles

    In the pine rocklands of southern Florida, at least nine plant species find new homes by traveling through a turtle's gut.

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  12. Ecosystems

    Tougher Weeds? Borrowed gene helps wild sunflower

    Feeding concerns about developing superweeds, a test of sunflowers shows for the first time that a biologically engineered gene moving from a crop can give an advantage to wild relatives under naturalistic conditions.

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