The promise of switchgrass, the challenges for forests and the costs of corn-based ethanol production: Ecological scientists review the many factors surrounding biofuel crop production and its implications on ecosystem health ...

Biology - Biotechnology

Apr 28, 2010 not rated yet 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- It is thought to have been responsible for the deaths of emperors. In parts of California’s forests, it is everywhere.

Biology - Other

Apr 07, 2010 4.8 / 5 (8) 0

Lions, tigers and bears top the ecological pyramid -- the diagram of the food chain that every school child knows. They eat smaller animals, feeding on energy that flows up from the base where plants convert ...

Biology - Plants & Animals

Apr 05, 2010 4.6 / 5 (9) 0 |

(PhysOrg.com) -- In their continuing effort to evaluate crops that can serve as biofuel feedstocks as well as cover crops (and that can fit into crop rotations in Pennsylvania and the Northeast) researchers ...

Biology - Biotechnology

Mar 30, 2010 5 / 5 (2) 0

Having a large-scale boreal forest biomass inventory would allow scientists to understand better the carbon cycle and to predict more accurately Earth's future climate. However, obtaining these maps has been ...

Space & Earth - Environment

Mar 25, 2010 not rated yet 0

The scramble to find sufficient land for biofuel production has experts eyeing marginal croplands that have been placed in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Now a study by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists ...

Biology - Ecology

Mar 19, 2010 1 / 5 (1) 0

Researchers at the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) at the University of Illinois have discovered widespread occurrence of plant-parasitic nematodes in the first reported nematode survey of Miscanthus and switchgrass plants ...

Biology - Ecology

Mar 17, 2010 3.8 / 5 (5) 0 |

(PhysOrg.com) -- High throughput system can analyze enzymes, poplars, switch grass, thousands at a time to help determine which plants are best suited for biofuels.

Chemistry - Biochemistry

Mar 09, 2010 not rated yet 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Biorefineries may soon rely on a process akin to roasting coffee beans to get more energy-dense biomass.

Technology - Energy & Green Tech

Feb 23, 2010 3.8 / 5 (5) 3 |

(PhysOrg.com) -- Manchester scientists have identified the genes that make plants grow fatter and plan to use their research to increase plant biomass in trees and other species - thus helping meet the need ...

Biology - Biotechnology

Feb 10, 2010 4 / 5 (4) 2 |

Randy Hill lives amid the fossil fuels of America, a place where natural gas and crude oil made millionaires and the landscape is dotted with pump jacks. But Hill, who lives outside Abilene in West Texas, is spending much ...

Technology - Energy & Green Tech

Feb 05, 2010 3.1 / 5 (7) 1

The fact that glaciers in the Himalayan mountains are thinning is not disputed. However, few researchers have attempted to rigorously examine and quantify the causes. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory ...

Space & Earth - Earth Sciences

Feb 03, 2010 4.4 / 5 (10) 5 |

Researchers writing in the February issue of BioScience propose reintroducing small, managed populations of wolves into national parks and other areas in order to restore damaged ecosystems. The populations would not be sel ...

Biology - Ecology

Feb 01, 2010 5 / 5 (3) 0

A collaboration led by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) has developed a microbe that can produce an advanced biofuel directly from biomass. Deploying the tools ...

Chemistry - Biochemistry

Jan 27, 2010 4.5 / 5 (12) 3 |

Scientists have found a way to increase fermentable sugar stores in plants which could lead to plant biomass being easier to convert into eco-friendly sustainable biofuels. Their research is highlighted in the latest issue ...

Biology - Biotechnology

Jan 25, 2010 not rated yet 0