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Ecology news
New maps show high-risk zones for whale-ship collisions—vessel speed limits and rerouting can reduce the toll
Imagine you are a blue whale swimming up the California coast, as you do every spring. You are searching for krill in the Santa Barbara Channel, a zone that teems with fish, kelp forests, seagrass beds and other undersea ...
Ecology
20 hours ago
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First successful test of wild minke whales reveals they have ultrasonic hearing
A team of marine biologists from Norway, the U.S. and Denmark has conducted the first hearing test of a live baleen whale. For their study published in the journal Science, the group corralled a pair of wild minke whales ...
Exploring the impact of offshore wind on whale deaths
In the winter of 2022–2023, nearly a dozen whales died off the coast of New Jersey, near the sites of several proposed wind farms. Their deaths prompted concern that related survey work being conducted in the area somehow ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 22, 2024
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Caste differentiation in ants: How a specific hormone regulates the process
Scientists from the University of Copenhagen have revealed how a specific hormone regulates ant caste differentiation by phenotypic measurements of organ-level developmental changes and matching transcriptome analyses. Published ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 22, 2024
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Scientists develop method 'tetraplex digital PCR assay' for detecting DNA of invasive snakes in Florida
Scientists at the University of Florida have developed a pioneering tool to bolster Florida's defenses against invasive species: a DNA-based environmental monitoring test that can pinpoint where they've been, aiding eradication ...
Ecology
Nov 22, 2024
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AI and genus-conditioned algorithms create precise simulation-ready models of 600,000 existing urban trees
The Irish philosopher George Berkely, best known for his theory of immaterialism, once famously mused, "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" What about AI-generated trees? They ...
Ecology
Nov 22, 2024
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More than 40% of coral species face extinction, according to new research
Following a global assessment, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has revealed that 44% of reef-building coral species globally are at risk of extinction. The announcement was made at the ongoing COP29 UN climate conference.
Ecology
Nov 22, 2024
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Journals co-publish call to action for collaborative microbiological research to combat climate change
Researchers and 14 scientific journals worldwide are calling on governments and industry to take coordinated action to collaboratively counter climate change by harnessing microbiological research. They propose six areas ...
Ecology
Nov 22, 2024
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Humpback whale nursery hotspot detected in Australian waters
Marine biologists from The University of Western Australia have recommended protection measures for a humpback whale nursery ground in the Exmouth Gulf in Western Australia's Pilbara region.
Plants & Animals
Nov 22, 2024
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'Doomsday fish' washed ashore in California, but what does that mean?
If one oarfish landing on a beach is a sign of a disaster to come, how bad will it be if three wash up in quick succession?
Plants & Animals
Nov 22, 2024
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Gabon forest elephant forays into villages spark ire
In heavily forested Gabon, elephants are increasingly wandering into villages and destroying crops, angering the local population who demand the power to stop the critically endangered animals in their tracks.
Ecology
Nov 22, 2024
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Emperor penguin released at sea 20 days after waddling onto Australian beach
The only emperor penguin known to have swum from Antarctica to Australia was released at sea 20 days after he waddled ashore on a popular tourist beach, officials said Friday.
Ecology
Nov 22, 2024
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Historically bad year for dolphin strandings on Cape Cod has scientists looking for answers
An unprecedentedly bad year for beached dolphins on Cape Cod might have to do with warming waters changing the availability of the animals' food, said scientists hoping to curb the strandings.
Ecology
Nov 21, 2024
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'Genetic time machine' reveals complex chimpanzee cultures
In recent decades, scientists have clearly demonstrated that chimpanzees, like humans, pass on complex cultures such as tool use from generation to generation. But human culture has become vastly more sophisticated, from ...
Evolution
Nov 21, 2024
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Florida panthers deemed unaffected by emerging fatal genetic condition in new research
University of Central Florida researchers have helmed a study that found Florida panthers are not particularly susceptible to a potentially transmissible disease that causes cognitive decline leading to death in their prey. ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 21, 2024
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Oldies but goodies: Study shows why elderly animals offer crucial scientific insights
A new study on aging in the animal kingdom has highlighted how urgently Earth's oldest and wisest creatures must be protected, with knowledge and environmental stability lost due to human intervention.
Plants & Animals
Nov 21, 2024
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Fewer than 7% of global hotspots for whale-ship collisions have protection measures in place, researchers report
According to the fossil record, cetaceans—whales, dolphins and their relatives—evolved from four-legged land mammals that returned to the oceans beginning some 50 million years ago. Today, their descendants are threatened ...
Ecology
Nov 21, 2024
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Red squirrels are very flexible in shifting their daily routines to avoid urban threats, researchers find
Scientific investigations before and during the COVID-19 lockdown in Berlin in 2020 show that urban red squirrels are extremely flexible in adjusting their diurnal activities to the presence of humans, domestic dogs, domestic ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 21, 2024
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Quack-like underwater sounds off the coast of New Zealand in the '80s may have been a conversation, researcher says
Mysterious, repeating sounds from the depths of the ocean can be terrifying to some, but in the 1980s, they presented a unique look at an underwater soundscape.
Ecology
Nov 21, 2024
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Geospatial mapping study shows drought trend in ag-dominated Arkansas Delta
The Delta, a regional powerhouse for Arkansas agriculture built by river flows, is showing a trend of increasing droughts. Using satellite imagery, Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station researchers comprehensively analyzed ...
Ecology
Nov 21, 2024
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