#Balancing birds and biofuels: Grasslands support more species than cornfieldsin Wisconsin bioenergy is for the birds.
Really. In a study published today in the journal PLOS ONE University of Wisconsin-Madison
and Wisconsin Department of Natural resources (DNR) scientists examined whether corn and perennial grassland fields in southern Wisconsin could provide both biomass for bioenergy production and bountiful bird habitat.
The research team found that where there are grasslands there are birds. Grass-and-wildflower-dominated fields supported more than three times as many bird species as cornfields including 10 imperiled species found only in the grasslands.
These grassland fields can also produce ample biomass for renewable fuels. Monica Turner UW-Madison professor of zoology and study lead author Peter Blank a postdoctoral researcher in her lab hope the findings help drive decisions that benefit both birds
and biofuels too by providing information for land managers farmers conservationists and policy makers as the bioenergy industry ramps up particularly in Wisconsin and the central U s as bioenergy production demand increases we should pay attention to the ecological consequences
says Turner. This is especially true for grassland birds as populations of species like the eastern meadowlark dickcissel
and the bobolink have declined in recent decades. The study began when UW-Madison's Carol Williams coordinator of the Wisconsin Grasslands Bioenergy Network and the DNR's David Sample approached Turner
and asked for her help. They wanted to know: What are the implications of the decisions we make about how we use our lands?
and counted the total numbers of birds and bird species observed in them. According to Blank and Turner the study is one of the first to examine grassland fields already producing biomass for biofuels
and is one of only a few analyses to examine the impact of bioenergy production on birds.
While previous studies suggest corn is a more profitable biofuel crop than grasses and other types of vegetation the new findings indicate grassland fields may represent an acceptable tradeoff between creating biomass for bioenergy and providing habitat for grassland birds.
The landscape could benefit other species too. Because they are perennial the grassland fields can also be used year after year following best management practices that preserve the health of the soil
and provide reliable habitat for migratory birds. Plant diversity is good for wildlife diversity says Blank.
Our study suggests diverse bioenergy crop fields could benefit birds more so than less diverse fields.
Among the grasslands studied the team found monoculture grasses supported fewer birds and fewer bird species than grasslands with a mix of grass types and other kinds of vegetation like wildflowers...
new findings indicate grassland fields may represent an acceptable tradeoff between creating biomass for bioenergy and providing habitat for grassland birds.
The team found that the presence of grasslands within one kilometer of the study sites also helped boost bird species diversity and bird density in the area.
By locating biomass-producing fields near existing grasslands both birds and the biofuels industry can win.
and provide habitat for rare birds in the state. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Wisconsin-Madison.
#New increase in antimicrobial use in animals in Denmarkantimicrobial usage in animals in Denmark continued to increase in 2013--mainly due to an increased use in pigs.
and pets in Denmark was 4%higher than the previous year when measured in kilograms.
But the consumption in poultry and pets has increased also. Distributed by species pigs account for around 78%of antimicrobial use in 2013 cattle 10%aquaculture 3%poultry 1%fur animals 4
%and pets horses and other companion animals the remaining 3%.Increased use in pigs and poultryantimicrobial consumption in pigs measured in doses has increased in all three age groups:
sows/piglets (9%)weaners (5%)and finishers (5%).This is primarily due to an increased consumption of pleuromutilins and tetracyclines
which are used for group medication. However the consumption in pigs is still 12%lower than in 2009
Companion animals and horsesoverall the consumption of antimicrobials in the treatment of companion animals and horses increased in 2013 compared to the year before.
This increase was not due to an increase in the use of critically important antimicrobials as the consumption of both cephalosporins
However companion animals account for nearly 40%of the combined veterinary consumption of fluoroquinolones. While it is unfortunate that we continue to see an increase in the total use in companion animals it is encouraging to see a drop in the use of antimicrobials that are critically important to humans.
This suggests that the treatment guidelines put out by the Danish Veterinary Association in November 2012 has had some effect.
Therefore it is important to have an overall focus on using as few antimicrobials as possible for the treatment of both animals and humans.
As such the use of antimicrobials in both animals and humans is a global problem. Not all antimicrobials are the same.
#Zoos exonerated in baby elephant deaths; Data support new branch of herpesvirus familyelephants are among the most intelligent nonhumans arguably on par with chimps
but both African and Asian elephants--separate species--are endangered. In 1995 16-month old Kumari the first Asian elephant born at the National Zoo in WASHINGTON DC died of a then-mysterious illness.
In 1999 Gary Hayward of Johns hopkins university and collaborators published their results identifying a novel herpesvirus EEHV1 as the cause of Kumari's sudden death.
They now show that severe cases like this one are caused by viruses that normally infect the species rather than by viruses that have jumped from African elephants
which was their original hypothesis. Hayward's latest research appears ahead of print in two concurrently published papers in the Journal of Virology.
At the time of Kumari's death anti-zoo activists seized on the situation to call for abandoning all efforts to breed Asian elephants in zoos as they claimed that zoos were spreading the deadly herpesvirus says Hayward.
whereas some identical herpesvirus strains infected both healthy and diseased animals concurrently at particular facilities the majority were different strains
Therefore the viruses have not spread between zoos and the sources of the viruses were most likely wild-born elephant herdmates.
and wild calves and showed that the EEHV1 strains in India displayed the same genetic diversity as those in Western zoos.
and African elephants says Hayward. In the process they identified seven different species of EEHVS and multiple different chimeric subtypes and strains of each.
Later by also examining benign lung nodules from culled wild African elephants we determined that EEHV2 EEHV3 EEHV6
and EEHV7 are natural endogenous viruses of African elephants whereas EEHV1A EEHV1B EEHV4 and EEHV5 are apparently natural
and nearly ubiquitous infections of Asian elephants that are shed occasionally in trunk washes and saliva of most healthy asymptomatic adult animals.
Hayward notes that only one example of a lethal cross-species infection with EEHV3 into an Asian elephant calf has been observed
Close monitoring of Asian elephant calves in zoos has enabled so far lifesaving treatment for at least nine infected Asian calves says Hayward suggesting that such monitoring may ultimately enable determining why some animals become susceptible to severe disease after their primary EEHV1 infections
About 20%of all Asian elephant calves are susceptible to hemorrhagic disease whereas symptomatic disease is extremely rare in African elephant calves under the same zoo conditions says Hayward.
In another paper in the same issue of Journal of Virology Hayward et al. demonstrate that the many highly diverged species
and subtypes of EEHVS are ancient viruses that evolved separately from all other known subfamilies of mammalian herpesviruses within the ancestor of modern elephants beginning about 100 million years ago.
Elephant populations have been plummeting. African elephants declined roughly from 10 million to half a million during the 20th century due largely to habitat destruction
and intense poaching has decimated since further their numbers. Asian elephants once in the millions now number less than 50000.
They are threatened mostly by habitat fragmentation. Poaching is not an issue since they lack tusks.
and cottonwood trees revive insects and dormant crustaceans give respite to birds migrating on the Pacific Flyway
and ease strains on fisheries in the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of california). Environmental flows for natural hybrid and novel riverine ecosystems in a changing worldthere are two primary ways to achieve environmental flows of water necessary to sustain river ecosystems write Mike Acreman
and slack flows and a holistic look at the plants fish fungi birds and other life inhabiting the river its banks and its marshes.
#Mangroves protecting corals from climate changecertain types of corals invertebrates of the sea that have been On earth for millions of years appear to have found a way to survive some of their most destructive threats by attaching to and growing under mangrove roots.
Scientists with the U s. Geological Survey and Eckerd College recently published research on a newly discovered refuge for reef-building corals in mangrove habitats of the U s. Virgin islands.
More than 30 species of reef corals were found growing in Hurricane Hole a mangrove habitat within the Virgin islands Coral reef National monument in St john. Corals are animals that grow in colonies forming reefs over time as old corals die
and young corals grow upon the calcium carbonate or limestone skeletons of the old corals. Coral reefs make up some of the most biologically diverse habitats On earth
It is from these threats that corals are finding refuge under the red mangroves of Hurricane Hole.
and corals are growing on and under these roots. How does it work? Mangroves and their associated habitats and biological processes protect corals in a variety of ways.
Bleaching occurs when corals lose their symbiotic algae. Most corals contain algae called zooxanthellae within their cells.
The coral protects the algae and provides the algae with the compounds they need for photosynthesis. The algae in turn produce oxygen help the coral to remove waste products
and most importantly provide the coral with compounds the coral needs for everyday survival. When corals are prolonged under physiological stress they may expel the algae leading to the condition called bleaching.
When examining corals for this study researchers found evidence of some species thriving under the mangroves
while bleaching in unshaded areas outside of the mangroves. Boulder brain corals for example were found in abundance under the mangroves
and were healthy while many of those in unshaded areas a short distance away were bleaching.
Adapting to Climate Change? Organisms throughout the world are threatened as climate and other conditions change.
If they can find ways to adapt as it appears these coral have they can continue to survive as part of an invaluable piece of this world's intricate ecological puzzle.
It is known not how many other mangrove areas in the world harbor such a high diversity of corals as most people do not look for corals growing in these areas.
No coral reefs have been identified to date that protect from rising ocean temperatures acidification and increased solar radiation like these mangrove habitats in St john. Story Source:
The above story is provided based on materials by United states Geological Survey. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
where the fishing industry trawls up every living thing and hoovers the sea bottoms. We really need new solutions such as harvesting the excess algae for fuel
This sort of reef attracts fish and other animal species . What's more we're also acting to help the environment.
and the U s. The dark orange color of these corn varieties also makes them more culturally acceptable to consumers in African countries where yellow corn is fed generally only to animals Rocheford said.
Since these animals are key ancestors they carry most of the genetic variations present in the three races.
Currently the database contains genomes of more than 1200 animals of different cattle breeds but as more scientists from other countries gradually join the project there is a continual inflow of data.
and growth allowing the identification of genetic variatiants that result in differences between animals. In the past we had mapped only approximately two percent of the variation.
We can predict the genotypes of all animals on the basis of the resource that we have created here.
#Herbivores play important role in protecting habitats from invasive speciesherbivores (species that eat plants; e g. caterpillars) consume more nonnative (introduced from other places) oak leaf material in areas with diverse native plant communities than in less diverse communities.
Why diverse plant communities tend to resist invasion by nonnative plants remains uncertain. Researchers from the Illinois Natural history Survey and the Morton Arboretum have been examining the potential role of herbivores on the invasion of nonnative plant species in diverse plant communities.
The researchers examined herbivore damage on leaves of nonnative oak trees in arboreta across the United states. They found that nonnative oaks in regions with high oak species diversity showed more leaf damage than those in regions with low diversity.
Ian S. Pearse lead author on the study in the current issue of the Royal Society journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B says that competition for resources has often been thought to limit invasions in diverse plant communities
Pearse conjectures Diverse plant communities are more likely to contain herbivores that are able to consume a nonnative species which may help to explain why diverse communities are able to resist invaders
and their associated herbivores may become critical to guarding against the nonnative species invaders. Story Source:
They probably wouldn't pay much attention to the animals living in the soil. But a new Yale-led study shows the critical importance of earthworms beetles
and other tiny creatures to the structure of grasslands and the valuable ecosystem services they provide.
During a 3-year study researchers found that removing these small animals from the soil of a replicated Scottish sheep meadow altered the plant species that grew in the ecosystem reduced overall productivity
We know these soil animals are important controls on processes which cause nutrients and carbon to cycle in ecosystems but there was little evidence that human-induced loss of these animals has effects at the level of the whole ecosystem on services such as agricultural yield said Mark Bradford an Associate professor at the Yale
School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&es) and lead author of the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
but the researchers introduced earthworms slugs and other small creatures to only some of the systems.
During the first six months the researchers found that removing the animals did not affect plant yield or the rate of carbon dioxide loss from the system.
or forest remember that the tiny animals immediately beneath your feet are likely responsible for much of
However inhalation exposure to 1-bromopropane in rodents caused tumors in several organs including the skin lungs and large intestine.
Inhalation exposure to cumene caused lung tumors in male and female mice and liver tumors in female mice.
It also caused tumors in the liver and other organs in mice. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS.
#Key to identifying spiders in international cargospiders found in international cargo brought into North america are submitted sometimes to arachnologists for identification.
Often these spiders are presumed to be of medical importance because of their size or similarity to spiders that are known to be toxic to humans.
In 2006 after witnessing multiple episodes where harmless spiders were mistaken for toxic ones Richard Vetter an arachnologist at the University of California Riverside asked other arachnologists
and international fruit importers to provide data on specimens they found in international cargo that had been submitted to them for identification.
He also asked that they identify spiders in their museum collections that had previously been found in cargo.
Together with colleagues from Canada and Washington state Vetter identified 135 spiders taken from international cargo between 1926 to June 2014
and facilitate the proper identification of cargo-borne spiders because misidentifications can lead to costly and unwarranted eradication measures unnecessary employee health education heightened employee anxiety
In order to help avoid misidentifications in the future the new paper contains a simple key that covers the most common non-mygalomorph spiders found in their study.
This key should provide some utility for those confronted with a spider found in international shipments they wrote.
The authors found that the most frequently submitted spiders were the pantropical huntsman spider (Heteropoda venatoria) and the redfaced banana spider (Cupiennius chiapanensis) and that the most common cargo from
which spiders were submitted was bananas with most specimens coming from Central america Ecuador or Colombia. Spiders of medical importance were rare.
Spiders found in international cargo especially those in banana cartons are typically harmless species they wrote.
It would be beneficial if this article curtails the hyperbole and media attention whenever a large spider is discovered in a banana shipment
and thereby reduce unwarranted paranoia and anxiety when media stories about toxic banana spiders are unleashed onto an unsuspecting and easily frightened North american general public.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Entomological Society of America. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Animals can move around but things like plants and trees are rooted in the ground and must withstand climate change or die.
The study focused on commercial pet foods marketed for dogs and cats to identify meat species present as well as any instances of mislabeling.
Of the 52 products tested 31 were labeled correctly 20 were mislabeled potentially and one contained a nonspecific meat ingredient that could not be verified.
beef goat lamb chicken goose turkey pork and horse. Pet food safety was another area of concern particularly with pet foods that are formulated specifically to address food allergies in both cats and dogs continued Dr. Hellberg.
The pet food industry is a substantial market in the United states. Nearly 75 percent of U s. households own pets totaling about 218 million pets (not including fish.
On average each household spends $500 annually on their pets equating to about 1 percent of household expenditures.
In the past five years pet industry expenditures have increased by $10 billion with $21 billion spent on pet food alone in 2012.
The foods developed for pets are regulated by both federal and state entities. The U s. Food and Drug Administration Center for Veterinary medicine regulates animal feed and pet foods.
and animals that are able to live in a particular biome like the desert are determined largely by the climate.
and animals living above ground. Co-authors of the study from other institutions are Scott Bates of the University of Minnesota;
and resistance to insect pests and diseases but whether or not diverse forests are adapted also better to deal with drought stress remains unknown.
The nondigestible compounds in the Granny smith apples actually changed the proportions of fecal bacteria from obese mice to be similar to that of lean mice Noratto said.
#Mountain pine beetles get bad rap for wildfires, study saysmountain pine beetles get a bad rap and understandably so.
The grain-of-rice-sized insects are responsible for killing pine trees over tens of millions of acres in the Western U s. and Canada over the last decade.
But contrary to popular belief these pests may not be to blame for more severe wildfires like those that have swept recently through the region.
Instead weather and topography play a greater role in the ecological severity of fires than these bark-boring beetles.
New research led by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Washington state Department of Natural resources provides some of the first rigorous field data to test
whether fires that burn in areas impacted by mountain pine beetles are more ecologically severe than in those not attacked by the native bug.
While the findings may exonerate the insect scapegoats they should also help ecosystem managers better respond to changes in the face of climate-driven disturbances like drought and warmer temperatures.
The phenomenon of more beetles has meant more dead trees and some have grown concerned about how beetle attacks
The burrows the beetles carve under the bark of pines called galleries choke off water and nutrient circulation in the trees.
Fortunately for the team among the burned areas studied were pine stands that had not been attacked by beetles.
Others suffered a range of mortality from the beetles; in some stands beetles killed nearly 90 percent of the trees prior to wildfire.
The fires that raged also ran the spectrum of severity allowing the researchers to compare a number of variables.
and stripped sections of bark from over 10000 trees to determine what killed them beetles
or Fire beetle galleries can remain visible under the bark even after fire. As they sifted through the blackened trees
and windy--did areas with more beetle-killed trees show signs of more ecologically severe fires such as more deeply burned trunks
By counting the number of post-fire tree seedlings in their plots the researchers found very little beetle-related impact.
Because they grow underground people use trained dogs or pigs to find them. But the distinctive smell of truffles is not only of interest to gourmets.
Dogs and pigs are able to find truffles underground thanks to the slightly sulphuric smell.
#Preference for built-up habitats could explain rapid spread of tree bumblebee in UKTHE strikingly rapid spread of the Tree Bumblebee in Britain could be occurring
A new study published today shows that Tree Bumblebees are associated with built-up areas and that these areas form a large part of their habitat use.
These markedly different habitat and foraging preferences set this species apart from other common British bumblebee species
--which could explain how Tree Bumblebees have managed to colonize much of the UK while many other bumblebee species have been declining.
The Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum) has spread to nearly all of England and Wales since its first appearance in southern England in 2001.
The research team recorded the bumblebee species and the flowering plants visited by the bees at a large number of sites across southern Norfolk including both urban and rural sites over a three month period.
When combined with landscape mapping data these observations revealed that the Tree Bumblebee was much more likely to be found in built-up areas and to a lesser extent areas with woodland nearby.
In contrast none of the other five bumblebee species studied shared the combination of favoured landscape features found in the Tree Bumblebee.
Additionally the Tree Bumblebee preferred to forage on a set of flowering plants different to the sets of plants favoured by the other bumblebee species being more likely to use some species of flowering trees
and thistles but less likely to use some common herbaceous flowers. The results are the first evidence that in its new range in the UK the Tree Bumblebee is associated with built-up areas such as towns and villages and that these areas form a large part of its habitat use.
An association between Tree Bumblebees and human habitation has previously been suspected from natural history observations. Along with an association with trees it is likely to stem from the Tree Bumblebee's habit of nesting in cavities above the ground
which is unusual among British bumblebees. Lead author Liam Crowther from UEA's School of Biological sciences said:
This research implies that the Tree Bumblebee's remarkable success is due in part to favouring a suite of resources different to those used by the bumblebee species that are already widespread in the UK.
While an association with human habitation has been suspected for some time this study provides clear evidence of this link
and suggests that urban and suburban areas may be facilitating the Tree Bumblebee's remarkably rapid natural colonization of the UK.
The Tree Bumblebee was recorded first in the UK in the New Forest in 2001 and has expanded since its range approximately 600 km northwards through most of England
and Wales and into southern Scotland a rate of expansion of nearly 50 km per yearin continental Europe and Asia however its range extends from western France to Japan and as far north as the Kola Peninsula in arctic
and health of food-producing animals consuming genetically engineered feed first introduced 18 years ago has been comparable to that of animals consuming non-GE feed.
or other food products derived from animals that ate genetically engineered feed. The review led by UC Davis animal scientist Alison Van Eenennaam examined nearly 30 years of livestock-feeding studies that represent more than 100 billion animals.
Titled Prevalence and Impacts of Genetically Engineered Feedstuffs on Livestock Populations the review article is now available online in open-access form through the American Society of Animal Science.
Food-producing animals such as cows pigs goats chickens and other poultry species now consume 70 to 90 percent of all genetically engineered crops according to the new UC Davis review.
In the United states alone 9 billion food-producing animals are produced annually with 95 percent of them consuming feed that contains genetically engineered ingredients.
and eggs derived from animals that have consumed GE feed are indistinguishable from the products derived from animals fed a non-GE diet Van Eenennaam said.
Overtext Web Module V3.0 Alpha
Copyright Semantic-Knowledge, 1994-2011