The afterlife of plant matter plays a significant role in ecosystems, as a key processor and provider of key nutrients. The rate of decomposition for leaf litter, among other plant matter, heavily influences the health of ...
Environment
Sep 28, 2020
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174
Biologists working in the Andes mountains of Ecuador have described a new plant species, a wild relative of black pepper, that is in itself a mini biodiversity hotspot. The new species, Piper kelleyi, is the sole home of ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 7, 2014
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One third of the global terrestrial carbon stock is stored in grasslands. A new global study implies that this stock may decrease as plant biodiversity is reduced, especially in warm and arid areas. The reason is that a species-poor ...
Ecology
Oct 20, 2023
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39
Will future conservation policies have to take account of the genetic diversity within each species ? A large-scale study into plants found at high altitude throughout the Alps and the Carpathians, has enabled an international ...
Ecology
Oct 8, 2012
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The climate after the largest mass extinction so far 252 million years ago was cool, later very warm and then cool again. Thanks to the cooler temperatures, the diversity of marine fauna ballooned, as paleontologists from ...
Earth Sciences
Dec 21, 2012
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In two new papers published today, December 1, in Science, researchers from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and partners from 50 global organizations have undertaken a major review of Madagascar's extraordinary biodiversity. ...
Ecology
Dec 1, 2022
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129
In foods, soil samples or customs checks, plant fragments sometimes need to be quickly identified. The use of DNA “barcodes” to itemize plant biodiversity was proposed during the 1992 Rio de Janeiro Summit. Jérôme ...
Biotechnology
Nov 4, 2009
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A freshwater shrimp, an island-dwelling lizard and a pupfish from Arizona have been declared extinct, while nearly 21,000 species are at risk of dying out, an updated "Red List" showed.
Ecology
Jul 2, 2013
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The value of ecological biodiversity for maintaining ecosystem stability and function is well established, but a recent study points to a novel way to fine-tune our ability to measure it at larger scales. The study, published ...
Ecology
Jun 1, 2018
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84
An international team of scientists led by the University of Arizona used the latest technology in remote sensing to measure plant biodiversity from the Amazon basin to the Andes Mountains in Peru to better understand how ...
Environment
Dec 4, 2019
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