http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (AP) -- The Iberian lynx that prowls the grasslands of southern Spain. The Mediterranean monk seal swimming waters off Greece and Turkey. The Bavarian pine vole that forages in the high meadows of the Alps. http://phys.org/news224768654.html Biology Mon, 16 May 2011 13:30:01 EST news224768654 Satellite tracking of olive ridley sea turtles off the coast of Central Africa has revealed that existing protected areas may be inadequate to safeguard turtles from fishing nets, according to scientists with the University of California-Santa Cruz, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the University of Exeter, and others. Scientists involved in the study recommended the extension of an international marine park that spans the waters of Gabon and the Republic of Congo and better international cooperation to manage this threatened species. http://phys.org/news224417722.html Biology Thu, 12 May 2011 11:15:44 EST news224417722 Marine species facing threats from the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico far exceed those under legal protection in the United States, a new paper in the journal BioScience finds. University of New Hampshire professor Fred Short and others found 39 additional marine species beyond the 14 protected by federal law that are at an elevated risk of extinction. These species, which range from whale sharks to seagrass, should receive priority for protection and restoration efforts, the authors advocate. http://phys.org/news224339665.html Biology Wed, 11 May 2011 13:34:49 EST news224339665 The Wildlife Conservation Society's Bronx Zoo veterinarians, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program have joined forces to answer a perplexing wildlife question: Why are bog turtles getting sick? http://phys.org/news224259660.html Biology Tue, 10 May 2011 15:21:21 EST news224259660 Road signs throughout the vast Donana National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in southwestern Spain, warn drivers to watch out for lynxes. http://phys.org/news164782247.html Biology Sun, 21 Jun 2009 05:51:15 EST news164782247 A new report published today provides compelling evidence that paying to conserve billions of tons of carbon stored in tropical forests could also protect orangutans, pygmy elephants, and other wildlife at risk of extinction. The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Conservation Letters, is one of the first to offer quantitative evidence linking the drive to reduce carbon emissions from forests with the push to preserve threatened mammal biodiversity. http://phys.org/news163361427.html Space & Earth Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:11:11 EST news163361427 The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced today that the Afghanistan's National Environment Protection Agency (NEPA), in an effort to safeguard its natural heritage, has released the country's first-ever list of protected species now banned from hunting or harvest. http://phys.org/news163330977.html Biology Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:48:12 EST news163330977 Retaining a network of wildlife conservation areas is vital in helping to save up to 90 per cent of bird species in Africa affected by climate change, according to scientists. http://phys.org/news163103381.html Biology Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:30:10 EST news163103381 Densely packed wildebeests flowing over the Serengeti, bison teeming across the Northern Plains—these iconic images extend from Hollywood epics to the popular imagination. But the fact is, all of the world's large-scale terrestrial migrations have been severely reduced and a quarter of the migrating species are suspected to no longer migrate at all because of human changes to the landscape. A recently published research paper highlights this global change and presents the first analysis of the dwindling mass migrations. http://phys.org/news163071238.html Biology Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:34:49 EST news163071238 An international team of scientists has identified a nesting population of leatherback sea turtles in Gabon, West Africa as the world's largest. The research, published in the May issue of Biological Conservation, involved country-wide land and aerial surveys that estimated a population of between 15,730 and 41,373 female turtles using the nesting beaches. The study highlights the importance of conservation work to manage key sites and protected areas in Gabon. http://phys.org/news161846928.html Biology Mon, 18 May 2009 06:29:26 EST news161846928 (AP) -- A species of birds able to fly immediately after hatching from eggs buried beneath the tropical sand has just been given its own private beach in eastern Indonesia, a conservation group said Friday. http://phys.org/news161583289.html Biology Fri, 15 May 2009 05:15:44 EST news161583289 (AP) -- An Ethiopian lark, a Galapagos finch and a spectacularly colored hummingbird only recently discovered in Colombia have been added to the list of the world's most threatened species, an environmental group said Thursday. The International Union for Conservation of Nature - the producer each year of a Red List of endangered species - said the Sidamo lark could soon become Africa's first known bird extinction as the Ethiopian savanna becomes overgrown by bush, farmland and overgrazing. http://phys.org/news161505369.html Biology Thu, 14 May 2009 07:36:50 EST news161505369 An ambitious effort in avian conservation is underway this spring throughout the New York portion of the Lake Ontario watershed. http://phys.org/news161281110.html Biology Mon, 11 May 2009 17:18:49 EST news161281110 There is a new tool for those developing conservation strategies for threatened species and landscapes: museum specimens. Richard Pearson and Christopher Raxworthy of the American Museum of Natural History dusted off a number of collections from Madagascar and used the location information associated with each species to test different ideas regarding the evolution of locally distributed endemism (unique species confined to small regions). The research paper published this month in Evolution found support for alternative hypotheses, suggesting that multiple processes develop local endemism. This improved knowledge of the processes that lead to endemism can help to identify priorities in conservation planning. http://phys.org/news159127199.html Biology Thu, 16 Apr 2009 19:00:37 EST news159127199 Roman Lysecky, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at The University of Arizona, has been awarded a grant of more than $400,000 by the National Science Foundation to develop high-performance customizable computer chips. http://phys.org/news158948889.html Technology Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:28:48 EST news158948889 A new study finds that it will take more than 75 years for the carbon emissions saved through the use of biofuels to compensate for the carbon lost when biofuel plantations are established on forestlands. If the original habitat was peatland, carbon balance would take more than 600 years. The study appears in Conservation Biology. http://phys.org/news158927041.html Space & Earth Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:24:40 EST news158927041 (PhysOrg.com) -- For those who think of nature as a wild, unspoiled Eden that preserves the natural flora and fauna free from human interference, global warming has a nasty surprise in store, according to University of California, Berkeley, biologist Anthony Barnosky. http://phys.org/news158851283.html Space & Earth Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:22:12 EST news158851283 Long-term global warming is prompting North American birds to winter farther north -- a trend more noticeable in Alaska than anywhere else in the nation, according to a new study by the National Audubon Society. http://phys.org/news158261792.html Space & Earth Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:36:52 EST news158261792 (AP) -- A federal judge says a lawsuit by environmental groups to keep the government from aggressively removing endangered Mexican gray wolves that have attacked livestock can move forward. http://phys.org/news157973586.html Biology Fri, 03 Apr 2009 10:33:42 EST news157973586 (PhysOrg.com) -- The wolves on Isle Royale are suffering from genetically deformed bones. Scientists from Michigan Technological University blame the extreme inbreeding of the small, isolated wolf population at the island National Park in northern Lake Superior. http://phys.org/news157915441.html Biology Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:24:18 EST news157915441 Scientists at the University of Bath are working with the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust to study an endangered large shrew-like mammal that kills its prey with a venomous bite. http://phys.org/news157745138.html Biology Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19:06:03 EST news157745138 President Barack Obama signed legislation on Monday expanding and protecting US public parks and wilderness areas from oil and gas development, billed as the largest US conservation measure in more than 15 years. http://phys.org/news157655874.html Space & Earth Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:18:26 EST news157655874 When animals in southern Africa are sick, often the first place their caretakers look for help is from native plants. http://phys.org/news157636556.html Biology Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:57:01 EST news157636556 Researchers have taken a first look at the broad genetic changes that accompany reproductive declines in inbred populations. Although scientists have known for more than a century that small populations of closely related plants or animals are likely to suffer from low reproductive success, the exact mechanism by which this "inbreeding depression" occurs is still the subject of debate. http://phys.org/news156086725.html Biology Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:25:56 EST news156086725 New software developed with help from the Wildlife Conservation Society will allow tiger researchers to rapidly identify individual animals by creating a three-dimensional model using photos taken by remote cameras. The software, described in an issue of the journal Biology Letters, may also help identify the origin of tigers from confiscated skins. http://phys.org/news156085481.html Biology Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:05:45 EST news156085481 The Wildlife Conservation Society’s India Program (WCS - India) has released a unique training video on YouTube that showcases the latest scientific methods for estimating the numbers of wild tigers and their prey. http://phys.org/news155831310.html Biology Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:29:18 EST news155831310 (PhysOrg.com) -- University of Adelaide research has discovered that there are many more species of Australian lizards than previously thought, raising new questions about conservation and management of Australia's native reptiles. http://phys.org/news155383262.html Biology Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:01:46 EST news155383262 The wide-open spaces of the Flint Hills may no longer provide a secure home on the range for several familiar grassland birds, according to research by a Kansas State University ecologist and her colleagues. http://phys.org/news155305199.html Biology Tue, 03 Mar 2009 12:20:34 EST news155305199 The southeast Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea, home to some of the most biologically diverse ecosystems on Earth, has created its first national conservation area to preserve forever a swath of pristine tropical forest larger than Singapore. http://phys.org/news155278758.html Biology Tue, 03 Mar 2009 04:59:50 EST news155278758 (PhysOrg.com) -- Most wild species are expected to colonise northwards as the climate warms, but how are they going to get there when so many landscapes are covered in wheat fields and other crops? A study published today (Wednesday 25 February 2009) shows it is possible to predict how fast a population will spread and reveals the importance of habitat conservation in helping threatened species survive environmental change. http://phys.org/news154767897.html Biology Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:05:43 EST news154767897