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. A new study on extinction risk has shown that proportions of plant and animal species being classified as threatened on national Red Lists are more closely related to socioeconomic pressure levels from the beginning than from the end of the 20th century. Stefan Dullinger of the University of Vienna and Franz Essl from the Austrian Environment Agency together with an international group of researchers reports this new finding in the current issue of PNAS. http://phys.org/news285324252.html Biology Tue, 16 Apr 2013 09:44:28 EST news285324252 Nineteen percent of the world's reptiles are estimated to be threatened with extinction, states a paper published today by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) in conjunction with experts from the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC). http://phys.org/news280086464.html Biology Thu, 14 Feb 2013 19:10:01 EST news280086464 (Phys.org)—Tasmanian devils had low immune gene diversity for hundreds, and possibly thousands, of years before the emergence of Devil Facial Tumour Disease, researchers at the University of Sydney and University of Adelaide have discovered. http://phys.org/news273913314.html Biology Wed, 05 Dec 2012 07:02:24 EST news273913314 The world's governments will need to invest billions annually to reduce the extinction risk for all known threatened species, a new study by University of Sussex biologist Dr Jörn Scharlemann and an international team of scientists concludes. http://phys.org/news269248793.html Biology Fri, 12 Oct 2012 08:20:08 EST news269248793 What makes some species more prone to extinction? A new study of nearly 300 species of New Zealand birds — from pre-human times to the present — reveals that the keys to survival today differ from those of the past. http://phys.org/news263141908.html Biology Thu, 02 Aug 2012 15:58:36 EST news263141908 New research out today on the long-term impact of species extinctions suggests that the disappearance of one species does not necessarily allow remaining competitor species to thrive by filling now-empty niches. http://phys.org/news257003948.html Biology Wed, 23 May 2012 14:59:35 EST news257003948 Florida Institute of Technology researchers are taking an historical approach to predict the extinction risk of reef-building corals. Led by Robert van Woesik, professor of biological sciences, the researchers are examining past events to gain insight into how these corals today may fare through climate change. http://phys.org/news248460312.html Biology Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:00:05 EST news248460312 Recent studies show that the populations of African great apes are rapidly decreasing. Many areas where apes occur are scarcely managed and weakly protected. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, have carried out an international collaborative project together with field researchers and park managers. The project aim was to evaluate how the lack of conservation effort influences the extinction risk of African great apes. Records were collected over the last 20 years from 109 resource management areas. The researchers found that the long-term presence of local and international non-governmental organization support and of law enforcement guards are the most crucial factors affecting ape survival, and that they have a clear measurable impact. Conversely, national development, often cited as a driver of conservation success, and high human population density had a negative impact on the likelihood of ape survival. http://phys.org/news242568256.html Biology Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:06:49 EST news242568256 Studies of threatened species typically focus on factors associated with extinction risk, but a recent study published in PLoS ONE reports a case of a contemporary evolution for a recently introduced population of a protected fish. Craig Stockwell, James A. Meier associate professor in biological sciences, co-wrote the PLoS ONE paper, “Contemporary Evolutionary Divergence for a Protected Species Following Assisted Colonization.” Stockwell collaborated with lead author and his former doctoral student, Michael Collyer, now at Western Kentucky University, and his former postdoctoral fellow, Jeffrey Heilveil, now with SUNY College at Oneonta.  http://phys.org/news234693836.html Biology Thu, 08 Sep 2011 09:44:16 EST news234693836 One in 10 species could face extinction by the year 2100 if current climate change impacts continue. This is the result of University of Exeter research, examining studies on the effects of recent climate change on plant and animal species and comparing this with predictions of future declines. http://phys.org/news229614857.html Biology Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:00:36 EST news229614857 A team of 21 researchers from 11 nations, including professor Robert "JJ" Orth of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, has completed the first-ever study of the risk of extinction for individual seagrass species around the world. http://phys.org/news225540689.html Biology Wed, 25 May 2011 11:11:50 EST news225540689 The "colour" of our environment is becoming "bluer", a change that could have important implications for animals' risk of becoming extinct, ecologists have found. In a major study involving thousands of data points and published this week in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Animal Ecology, researchers examined how quickly or slowly animal populations and their environment change over time, something ecologists describe using "spectral colour". http://phys.org/news221279704.html Biology Wed, 06 Apr 2011 03:35:29 EST news221279704 Conservationists may need to change their approach to protecting animals and plants from extinction if they are to successfully shield key species and habitats from the effects of global climate change, according to a new review in the journal Science. http://phys.org/news220798950.html Biology Thu, 31 Mar 2011 14:03:36 EST news220798950 (PhysOrg.com) -- Yale University researchers have developed a tool for biodiversity conservation in the face of global change: a statistical model that helps predict the risk of extinction for almost 90% of the world’s bird species. http://phys.org/news206183859.html Biology Wed, 13 Oct 2010 10:40:01 EST news206183859 A global analysis of extinction risk for the world's plants, conducted by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew together with the Natural History Museum, London and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), has revealed that the world's plants are as threatened as mammals, with one in five of the world's plant species threatened with extinction. The study is a major baseline for plant conservation and is the first time that the true extent of the threat to the world's estimated 380,000 plant species is known, announced as governments are to meet in Nagoya, Japan in mid-October 2010 to set new targets at the United Nations Biodiversity Summit. http://phys.org/news204955099.html Biology Wed, 29 Sep 2010 05:30:02 EST news204955099 Extinction risks for natural populations of endangered species are likely being underestimated by as much as 100-fold because of a mathematical "misdiagnosis," according to a new study led by a University of Colorado at Boulder researcher. http://phys.org/news134223149.html Biology Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:12:29 EST news134223149