The concept that biodiversity feeds upon itself is not uncommon in the world of evolution. The problem is a lack of hard data that shows this process to be naturally occurring.
Evolution
Oct 22, 2015
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Collectors found the first two specimens of the prickly plant in 1974 and 1990 in west Texas. Then, for two decades, the 14-inch-tall plant was identified wrongly as one species, then another and then a third.
Plants & Animals
Jul 9, 2014
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Occasionally, two different plant species interbreed with each other in nature. This usually causes problems since the genetic information of both parents does not match. But sometimes nature uses a trick. Instead of passing ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 10, 2014
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(Phys.org) —A pair of biological researchers with Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, has found that plants that grow on islands tend to produce bigger seeds than similar plants on the mainland. In their paper ...
The next time your Facebook stream is filled with cat videos, think about Myxococcus xanthus. The single-cell soil bacterium also uses a social network. But forget silly distractions. M. xanthus relies on its connections ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 19, 2013
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New discoveries of the way plants transport important substances across their biological membranes to resist toxic metals and pests, increase salt and drought tolerance, control water loss and store sugar can have profound ...
Biotechnology
May 1, 2013
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Of the present global population of seven billion people, almost one billion are undernourished. At the same time, we are close to the sustainable limit of 15 percent of Earth's surface that can be exploited for food production. ...
Biotechnology
May 1, 2013
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Taking an approach similar to that used for discovering new therapeutic drugs, chemists at the University of California, Davis, have found several compounds that can boost oil production by green microscopic algae, a potential ...
Biotechnology
Apr 8, 2013
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Parasitic plants, sworn enemy of many a farmer, can carry surprising benefits for wildlife, according to new research.
Plants & Animals
Mar 18, 2013
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(Phys.org)—Microbe-eating flies from at least three different locations around the world recently have evolved into herbivores, feeding on some of the most toxic plants on Earth. Fly detectives and UA evolutionary biologists ...
Evolution
Jan 29, 2013
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