The gardener's best friend, the earthworm, is great at protecting leaves from being chomped by slugs, suggests research in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Ecology. Although they lurk in the soil, they seem to pro ...

Biology - Ecology

May 12, 2013 not rated yet 1

North America isn't known as a hotspot for crop plant diversity, yet a new inventory has uncovered nearly 4,600 wild relatives of crop plants in the United States, including close relatives of globally important ...

Biology - Plants & Animals

Apr 29, 2013 5 / 5 (1) 0

Ypsolophid moths are a peculiar group of Lepidoptera that attracts attention with their strange preference for a pose of rest. To take a break adult Ypsolophids like to go bottom up with antennae stretche ...

Biology - Plants & Animals

Apr 16, 2013 5 / 5 (2) 1

(Phys.org) —For more than 5,000 years, people have studied bamboo: its uses, growth forms, unusual flowering cycles, and its relationship to other plant groups. Until now, the relationships among the major ...

Biology - Biotechnology

Apr 11, 2013 5 / 5 (3) 0

A series of papers in scientific journals has established a general framework for the biogeographical evolution of palms.

Biology - Ecology

Mar 27, 2013 5 / 5 (1) 0

Murdoch University researchers will be placing GPS tracking devices on six emus to track their movements and habits in jarrah forest at Avon National Park.

Biology - Ecology

Mar 26, 2013 not rated yet 0

(Phys.org) —Although it's known that construction of homes in suburban areas can have negative impacts on native plants and animals, a recent study led by University of Massachusetts Amherst ecologist Susannah ...

Biology - Ecology

Mar 25, 2013 3.5 / 5 (4) 0

Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified patterns of epigenomic diversity that not only allow plants to adapt to various environments, but could also benefit crop production ...

Biology - Biotechnology

Mar 06, 2013 4.8 / 5 (4) 0 |

(Phys.org)—Can existing ecological communities persist intact as temperatures rise? This is a question of increasing relevance in the field of climate change and is the focus of a new study to be published ...

Biology - Ecology

Feb 19, 2013 5 / 5 (2) 2 |

From the small, spicy Thai chiles to the portly, mild bell pepper, researchers at the University of California, Davis, have developed a "family tree" of sorts for peppers and characterized the diversity of ...

Biology - Biotechnology

Feb 15, 2013 4 / 5 (1) 0 |

One of the guiding principles of rehabilitating disturbed landscapes and mine sites – that if you restore their plant diversity, the animals that once lived there will return – does not always hold true, ...

Biology - Plants & Animals

Feb 13, 2013 4.7 / 5 (3) 2

Researchers have shown that part of Australia's rich plant diversity was wiped out by the ice ages, proving that extinction, instead of evolution, influences biodiversity.

Biology - Ecology

Feb 12, 2013 4.7 / 5 (3) 1 |

Activists are stepping up pressure on US President Barack Obama to issue concrete plans to battle climate change, with a major rally planned in Washington following his annual address to Congress.

Space & Earth - Environment

Feb 12, 2013 1 / 5 (2) 1

(Phys.org)—After a year of studying up close the symbiotic relationship between a mosquito-sized bug and a fungus, a Simon Fraser University biologist has advanced the scientific understanding of biological ...

Biology - Plants & Animals

Feb 06, 2013 4.8 / 5 (5) 0 |

In the last two years scientists at the Senckenberg research institutes have discovered and described almost 500 new species. Taxonomy and scientific collections are among the most important focal points ...

Biology - Plants & Animals

Jan 28, 2013 4 / 5 (2) 1