News tagged with bird diversity

Birds' diverse traits survive Amazon fires

Research in the Amazon has shown that wildfires are less of a threat to the functional diversity of rainforest birds than you might expect.

Biology / Ecology

created Mar 12, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Birds' eye view is far more colorful than our own

The brilliant colors of birds have inspired poets and nature lovers, but researchers at Yale University and the University of Cambridge say these existing hues represent only a fraction of what birds are capable ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jun 23, 2011 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

History's normal rate of species disappearance is accelerating, scientists say

Biologist E.O. Wilson once pondered whether many of our fellow living things were doomed once evolution gave rise to an intelligent, technological creature that also happened to be a rapacious carnivore, fiercely territorial ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jul 31, 2011 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (16) | comments 11

Scientist cites enlarged skeletal muscles as reason birds exist

A developmental biologist at New York Medical College is proposing a new theory of the origin of birds, which traditionally has been thought to be driven by the evolution of flight. Instead, Stuart A. Newman, Ph.D., credits ...

Biology / Evolution

created Jun 22, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Hunting could hurt genetic diversity of sandhill cranes, research suggests

(PhysOrg.com) -- As Wisconsin lawmakers debate whether to establish a hunting season for sandhill cranes, they may want to consider more than just the sheer number of birds, suggests a University of Wisconsin-Madison ...

Biology / Ecology

created Feb 09, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

UC research tests new tool to guide reintroduction of the American chestnut

The death of the American Chestnut due to an Asian bark fungus accidentally introduced to the United States had profound environmental and economic consequences since the tree was highly valued for its strong, ...

Biology / Ecology

created Mar 19, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Research offers way to save endangered Florida bird, and a lesson for conservationists

A team of researchers has found a key to the habitat puzzle for improving long-term survival of the endangered Florida Scrub-Jay.

Biology / Ecology

created Feb 22, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Australian birds status declining faster than elsewhere in world

A newly published study shows Australians must work with international partners if they are to save all of Australia's birds.

Biology / Ecology

created Mar 01, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Some birds listen, instead of look, for mates

Looks can be deceiving, but certain bird species have figured out that a voice can tell them most of what they need to know to find the right mate.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

New study aims to help preserve plants, animals caught between forest 'fragments'

Maintaining the world's threatened animal and plant species may rest with something as simple as knowing how far a bird can fly before it must answer nature's call.

Biology / Ecology

created May 18, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The same type of forest is good for both birds and people

Birds and people both enjoy urban woodlands that have been cleared to just the right degree. This is the conclusion of scientists at the University of Gothenburg who have carried out large-scale field experiments ...

Biology / Ecology

created Jun 08, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

List of 'unsung' wildlife affected by climate change released

The Wildlife Conservation Society today released a list of animals facing new impacts by climate change, some in strange and unexpected ways.

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 07, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Boluochia closely related to longipteryx, study shows

Very little was known about Mesozoic birds until nearly complete skeletons began to be discovered in the now famous Jehol Group deposits of northeastern China.

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Apr 06, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Pesticides most important barrier for the recovery of biodiversity on farmland

(PhysOrg.com) -- Since the early nineties the EU has implemented policies to reduce the dramatic negative effects of the use of pesticides on farmland. Nevertheless, a Europe wide study showed that insecticides and fungicides ...

Biology / Ecology

created Jan 28, 2010 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0