News tagged with population declines

From yeast, researchers learn how populations collapse

In the early 1990s, overfishing led to the collapse of one of the most bountiful cod fisheries in the world, off the coast of Newfoundland. Twenty years later, the cod population still has not recovered, dramatically ...

Biology / Ecology

created Jun 01, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (7) | comments 17 | with audio podcast

Whale population size, dynamics determined based on ancient DNA

Estimates of whale population size based on genetics versus historical records diverge greatly, making it difficult to fully understand the ecological implications of the large-scale commercial whaling of the 19th and early ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 09, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Is bioenergy expansion harmful to wildlife?

Despite the predicted environmental benefits of biofuels, converting land to grow bioenergy crops may harm native wildlife. Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Leipzig have developed a way to ...

Biology / Ecology

created Apr 03, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

An early spring drives butterfly population declines

Early snow melt in the Colorado Rocky Mountains initiates two chains of events resulting in population decline in the mormon fritillary butterfly, Speyeria mormonia. One effect of snow melt date was readily detectable, but th ...

Biology / Ecology

created Mar 15, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Genetics of endangered African monkey suggest troubles from warming climate

A rare and endangered monkey in an African equatorial rainforest is providing a look into our climatic future through its DNA. Its genes show that wild drills (Mandrillus leucophaeus), already an overhunted specie ...

Biology / Ecology

created Feb 29, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Big fish reveal shelter secrets on reefcam

When it comes to choosing a place to hang out, big reef fish like coral trout, snappers and sweetlips have strong architectural preferences.

Biology / Ecology

created Feb 13, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Hellbender salamander study seeks answers for global amphibian decline

A new study co-authored by University of Florida researchers on the endangered Ozark Hellbender giant salamander is the first to detail its skin microbes, the bacteria and fungi that defend against pathogens.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 19, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Law enforcement vital for great ape survival

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 ...

Biology / Ecology

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

DNA evidence offers proof of North American native population decline due to arrival of Europeans

(PhysOrg.com) -- Most history books report that Native American populations in North America declined significantly after European colonizers appeared, subsequent to the “discovery” of the new world by Christopher ...

Biology / Other

created Dec 06, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 13 | with audio podcast report

Study: Triple threat paints grim future for frogs

Frogs, salamanders and other amphibians may eventually have no safe haven left on the globe because of a triple threat of worsening scourges, a new study predicts.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 16, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Research team suggests European Little Ice Age came about due to reforestation in New World

(PhysOrg.com) -- A team comprised of geological and environmental science researchers from Stanford University has been studying the impact that early European exploration had on the New World and have found evidence that ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Oct 17, 2011 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (13) | comments 19 | with audio podcast report

Biodiversity helps dilute infectious disease, reduce its severity

Researchers at Oregon State University have shown for the first time that loss of biodiversity may be contributing to a fungal infection that is killing amphibians around the world, and provides more evidence ...

Biology / Ecology

created Sep 19, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Human sewage kills imperiled coral: study

A research team from Rollins College in Florida and the University of Georgia has identified human sewage as the source of the coral-killing pathogen that causes white pox disease of Caribbean elkhorn coral. ...

Biology / Ecology

created Aug 17, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 3

Climate change study warns 1 in 10 species could face extinction by 2100

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 ...

Biology / Ecology

created Jul 11, 2011 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (8) | comments 14 | with audio podcast

Caribou in Alberta's oil sands stressed by human activity, not wolves

Caribou have been dwindling in Alberta for several decades and some scientists believe they could be gone entirely in 70 years. In the area of the petroleum-rich Athabasca Oil Sands in the northern part of ...

Biology / Ecology

created Jun 22, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0