Madidi National park contains 11 percent of the world's birds more than 200 species of mammals 300 types of fish and 12000 plant varieties.
and Dr Michael Ray both from the Department of Life sciences at Imperial College London who worked with researchers at Rothamsted Research and the University of the Highlands and Islands'Agronomy Institute (at Orkney College UHI).
Climate change will likely worsen a host of existing problems in the Great lakes including changes in the range and distribution of important commercial and recreational fish species increases in invasive species declining beach health and more frequent harmful
algae blooms. However declines in ice cover on the Great lakes may lengthen the commercial shipping season.
--and certain types of food already linked to protective or damaging effects on healththese included meat fish fruits and vegetables pulses cereals bread and pasta rice butter margarine nuts
Yet dietary records of Canadian infants show that at 12 months they are receiving only 11 per cent of their recommended daily allowance of Vitamin d through food such as oily fish fortified dairy products and cereals.
or when the skin is exposed to the sun's ultraviolet rays. Lighter skin produces more Vitamin d than darker skin colours.
The health-conscious pattern was characterized by relatively higher intakes of pasta noodles rice whole fruit poultry nuts fish and vegetables and lower intakes of fried vegetables processed meats
and crustaceans commonly referred to in the vernacular as bugs. Although arthropods make up the majority of all living animal species little is known about their true numbers.
The area is is the largest block of continuous mangrove forest in the world being home to almost 500 species of reptile fish bird
Mangrove protection is given urgent the continuing threats to the world's remaining 14 to 15 million hectares of mangroves from aquaculture land development and overexploitation.
#Pythons, lionfish and now willow invade Floridas waterwaysforeign invaders such as pythons and lionfish are not the only threats to Florida's natural habitat.
The native Carolina Willow is also starting to strangle portions of the St johns river. Biologists at the University of Central Florida recently completed a study that shows this slender tree once used by Native americans for medicinal purposes may be thriving because of water-management projects initiated in the 1950s.
but a five-minute walk toward the bay will put you ankle-deep in tidal sludge filled with snails sponges and sea squirts.
Before being processed the sample contained an intact double helix which then existed in fragments of various lengths.
Distributed by species pigs account for around 78%of antimicrobial use in 2013 cattle 10%aquaculture 3%poultry 1%fur animals 4
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.
and timing (to put it very simplistically At the end of the twentieth century Washington state decided that the water of the Elwha River would be most valuable flowing freely through Olympic national park to the Pacific at the Strait of Juan de Fuca supporting salmon trout clams and tourism.
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
The fact is that algae can absorb nitrogen from the water as effectively as a wastewater treatment plant says Grã ndahl a KTH Royal Institute of technology researcher
and head of the Seafarm project which converts algae into eco-friendly food medicine plastic and energy.
The excessive fertilisation (eutrophication) of our seas results in an over-production of algae commonly known as seaweed.
Bathing beaches become unusable on account of algae blooms and entire ecosystems can be threatened. But in our research we turn the argument on its head
and see algae as a resource. We collect excess algae along the coasts and cultivate new algae out at sea Grã ndahl says.
Already seaweed is getting scooped up from the Baltic sea along Sweden's southern coast in order to be converted to biogas.
The coast is rich with the seaweed. The city of Trelleborg estimates that its beaches host an excess of algae that is equivalent to the energy from 2. 8 million litres of diesel fuel.
Almost three quarters of the earth's surface is covered by sea and the seas possess as great a production capacity as the land.
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
and cultivating new pure algae for special products and foodstuffs Grã ndahl says. Grã ndahl points out that algae contain vitamins amino acids
and minerals indeed the entire list of the periodic elements including iron. Algae may be eaten directly or cooked;
and in recent years an interest in algae products in foodstuffs has increased in Sweden thanks in part to the popularity of Asian food culture.
Even spices and cooking oil can be produced by algae. The brown algae known as sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) for example contain up to three times as much sugar as sugar beet.
Of course it's unwise to burden the earth with oil palm and sugar beet cultivation when corresponding products can be produced in an ecologically sustainable way from algae explains Grã ndahl.
Algae may in the future be an ingredient of animal feed to replace the environmentally damaging fish meal
which is common in pig and poultry diets. Furthermore salmon today is fed with fishmeal from wild caught fish
and calculations show that no less than 5 kg of wild fish go to produce 1 kg of farmed fish.
Clearly it's not a good idea to feed fish with fish. Algae feed in this case will be of great benefit for the environment he says.
What's more we're counting on Seafarm's cultivation of algae being able to favour the marine environment as a whole
since they form secondary reefs in free bodies of water. This sort of reef attracts fish and other animal species
. What's more we're also acting to help the environment. Partly when we make use of the excess algae
which otherwise contribute to the excess fertilisation of water bodies and partly when we cultivate algae that actually absorb nitrogen and phosphorus from the sea.
One fast-growing algae species that has been selected for Seafarm's algaculture is sugar kelp--a common type of kelp.
Algaculture resembles mussel farming; consisting as it does of drums and ropes on which the algae are suspended.
In wintertime the cultivation can be lowered deeper in the water to avoid ice formation. The coasts of Sweden according to Grã ndahl are perfect for the cultivation of large algae (macroalgae)--there are plentiful archipelagos and well-sheltered areas.
The only thing required is sunlight in order for the algae to grow by a couple of metres per season.
The first algae farm is already up and running near the Swedish town of Strã mstad in the waters that separate the country from Denmark.
What then are the disadvantages of Seafarm's algaculture? For some people there is a visual problem
since the bays along the coast are filled with barrels explains Grã ndahl.''Not in the bay where I bathe!'
'may well be the reaction. We expect that it will take time to create acceptance for this type of project he concedes.
Another problem the researchers will investigate in more detail is that really large cultivations of algae may prove to have a certain wave-damping effect that can influence movements in the water and the marine environment.
A certain quantity of algae may fall to the bottom and create local oxygen deficiency when broken down.
One example is in the so-called sporophyte factory farms on land where to begin with the algae are sown on the ropes.
When the algae after about six months have grown on the ropes they are harvested and processed on land through biorefining processes.
and come into the pictureâ#In 15 years time we will have many large algae cultivations along our coasts;
The sun's rays are stronger the temperatures rise and there are areas where the wind is provided with a more effective target.
but the researchers introduced earthworms slugs and other small creatures to only some of the systems.
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 the trail of the truffle flavortruffles along with caviar are among the most expensive foods in the world.
and raised by their parents at the U s. Geological Survey's Patuxent Wildlife Research center in Laurel Maryland were released on the U s. Fish and Wildlife Service's Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin.
and followed a healthy diet with a regular consumption of fruits vegetables legumes nuts reduced-fat dairy products whole grains and fish.
and fishing communities particularly hard with women children and some ethnic minorities facing discrimination with aid distribution.
or fishermen first but extreme weather will affect many more people in other ways too. While direct measures such as emergency preparedness and the strengthening of response-related institutions is helpful this study has identified the need for a wider cultural shift to ensure the poorest and most vulnerable are protected properly.
and the fishing industry new research links short-term reductions in growth and reproduction of marine animals off the California coast to increasing variability in the strength of coastal upwelling currents--currents that supply nutrients
and lower reproductive success for seabirds underscoring the importance of upwelling for the conservation of endangered animals and management of commercially important fisheries.
if you're managing a fishery--for example you can't plan for every year being moderate or reliable.
To study the effects of changing strength of upwelling on marine life the team integrated data on how quickly fish grew every year since the 1940s the timing of seabird egg laying since the 1970s and the fledgling success of seabirds since the 1970s.
Because the birds and fish in this study tended to rebound from each of these events within a year or two the increased variability of upwelling strength has led not to long-term declines.
Black noted that changes in upwelling strength did not affect just fish and seabirds. In a sense these representative species were just the tips of the iceberg.
Hole Oceanographic Institution David Stahle at the University of Arkansas Ryan Rykaczewski at the University of South carolina Steven Bograd at NOAA's Southwest Fisheries science Center and William Peterson at NOAA
's Northwest Fisheries science Center. This research was funded by the National Science Foundation's Biological Oceanography Program and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration's Fisheries and Environment Program.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Texas at Austin. Note:
#Tropical rabbitfish a threat to Mediterranean sea ecosystemsthe tropical rabbitfish which have devastated algal forests in the eastern Mediterranean sea pose a major threat to the entire Mediterranean basin
and Greece where two species of rabbitfish have become dominant since they moved into the region via the Suez Canal.
The study identified two clearly distinct areas--warmer regions with abundant rabbitfish and colder regions where they were rare
or absent says Dr Vergã s. The regions with abundant rabbitfish had become rocky barrens.
There was a 65 per cent reduction in large seaweeds a 60 per cent reduction in other algae and invertebrates and a 40 per cent reduction in the overall number of species present.
The two tropical rabbitfish species were reported first in the eastern Mediterranean in 1927 and 1956
Increased feeding by plant-eating tropical fish in temperate waters as a result of ocean warming is an issue of global importance that has the potential to transform marine ecosystems as has also been seen in Japan.
and recorded the feeding rates of rabbitfish and other species. They found it was not necessarily a case of the tropical fish eating more algae than the native fish.
The native temperate fish actually ate adult algae at a greater rate than the tropical rabbitfish.
However the two rabbitfish consumed both young and adult algae whereas native fish only ate adult algae.
So the two rabbitfish can completely denude large areas by working together and having one species that targets adult algae
and another species that removes the youngest algal recruits preventing them from making a forest says Dr Vergã s. This research highlights the need to work out how the interactions between different species will change in a warming ocean.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of New south wales. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
#Domestic violence issue possible red zone fumble for NFLTWICE as many women as compared to men are of the strong opinion that Ray Rice former Baltimore ravens running back should never play in the NFL again according to a new survey
and recommended for a healthy diet are those that have a high amount of nutrients per serving including fruits and vegetables nonfat milk whole grains and fish and other lean proteins.
which their research has found to be the victim of herbivorous Sesarma purple marsh crabs run amok.
Recreational fishing has depleted the crab's predators Bertness said resulting in die off where recreational fishing is prominent.
In the case of Cape cod's marshes among the key species that may have been set back are the slow-growing mussels that transfer nitrogen from the water to the sediment promoting grass growth.
#Conquering the world at a snails pace: Expansion of invasive Mediterranean Tramp Slugscientists at the Senckenberg Research Institute in GÃ rlitz have studied the expansion of the invasive Mediterranean Tramp Slug.
This mollusk already inhabits large parts of Europe and Australia as well as North and South america. Among others it was recorded for the first time in Mexico Costa rica and Ecuador.
Regionally this species can be a serious agricultural pest; however it appears to reach its distributional limits in extremely cold or hot areas.
In their study which was published recently in the scientific journal Neobiota the researchers from Senckenberg also identify potential additional invasion countries for this slug.
and it was reported first from the new Federal States one year after the fall of the Berlin Wall--the Mediterranean Tramp Slug Deroceras invadens.
and means to invade--this slug has a habit of settling in new areas. By now this species of slug can be encountered almost worldwide explains Dr. Heike Reise curator at the malacology section of the Senckenberg Museum of Natural history in GÃ rlitz
and she adds It is primarily found in gardens or under scattered debris but also in greenhouses and out in the open nature.
Together with her colleague from GÃ rlitz Dr. John M. C. Hutchinson and a colleague from the United states Department of agriculture (USDA-APHIS) the scientist has studied the distribution of these mollusks
We tried to determine in which countries the slug has already been established when it first occurred there
Originally this slug is native to the Mediterranean region. The first evidence of immigration came from The british Isles in 1930
and South america and the slug has made also itself at home on several islands such as the Azores Madeira
and the hot dry climate in central Spain and parts of Australia Africa and Asia hamper the spread of the slugs.
in Breslau a population of these slugs survived several winters at temperatures as low as minus 22 degrees Celsius.
In North america and Egypt the slugs take advantage of the extensive agricultural irrigation systems. These new habitats created by humans open new paths for the expansion of the slugs into areas that are normally inhospitable for animals
and they may serve as potential corridors for the settling of suitable isolated habitats explains Reise.
The scientists from GÃ rlitz assume that the small slugs will continue to expand to other countries and regions.
In some areas early recognition and rapidly applied counter measures may possibly prevent the establishment of this slug.
To expedite the formal naming process required by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae fungi
Starting in 1958 just five years after the discovery of DNA's double-helix structure researchers suspected that a specific gene controls the orderly pairing of wheat chromosomes during reproduction.
and archaeologists together with the National Board of Antiquities the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute and the University of Bristol the multidisciplinary research project has studied the role
Their findings show that the amount of omega-3 docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in a mother's milk--fats found primarily in certain fish nuts
The U s. Fish and Wildlife Service National park service Bureau of Land Management and other Interior agencies practice science-based landscape-scale conservation of these lands and their wildlife in partnership with scientists
and black-footed albatross are facing increasing levels of oil contamination plastic pollution and greatly reduced amounts of prey fish due to commercial fishing operations.
of which are listed as federally endangered by the U s. Fish and Wildlife Service. The report's authors have deemed Hawaii the bird extinction capital of the world--no place has had more extinctions since human settlement.
A major concern is the response of calcifying organisms such as corals algae mollusks and some plankton because their ability to build shell
The study was prompted by the research of Curators'Professor Ray Semlitsch who has been studying salamander populations in the Appalachian mountains since 2005.
Streptomycin in addition to being used a drug to fight disease is used also as a pesticide in fruit to combat the growth of bacteria fungi and algae.
This tax revenue would be used to offset the cost of subsidizing healthier foods such as fruits nuts vegetables fish beans
because they provide habitat for juvenile fish and enhance water clarity by trapping and removing sediment from the water.
Historically extolled by trophy fisherman and waterfowl enthusiasts as prime wildlife habitat researchers believe that the underwater grass beds at the shallow Susquehanna Flats began to decline in the 1960s
when polluted runoff from a rapidly developing watershed overwhelmed the Bay's waters with nutrients causing algae blooms that blocked out much-needed sunlight for underwater plants.
That can mean burning to clear the peat surface for hunting fishing and subsistence-level farming.
but a new University of California Berkeley study provides a new piece of evidence--birds have an innate ability to maneuver in midair a talent that could have helped their ancestors learn to fly rather than fall from a perch.
but fish and could therefore be eaten during lent! When domestication occurred the wild ancestor the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) was confined to the Iberian peninsula and southern France.
In the SYSDIET study the intervention group was advised to follow a healthy Nordic diet rich in berries vegetables fatty fish canola oil and whole grains.
fish consumption plasma beta carotene as a biomarker for vegetable intake and plasma alkylresorcinols reflecting whole grain consumption.
Wittemyer is lead author of the new report and a professor in the Department of Fish Wildlife and Conservation Biology at CSU's Warner College of Natural resources.
This surge was correlated directly to a more than quadrupling of local black-market ivory prices paid to poachers and tripling in the volume and number of illegal ivory seizures through Kenyan ports of transit.
and Trends of Wetlands in the Coastal Watersheds of the Conterminous United states 2004 to 2009 an interagency supported analysis published by the U s. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA.
Both wetlands and forest cover are critical to the promotion and protection of coastal habitat for the nation's multi-billion dollar commercial and recreational fishing industries..
and water quality issues or weaken the area's fishing and forestry industries. The atlas's visuals help make NOAA environmental data available to end users enabling them to help the public better understand the importance of improving resilience.
Some of otters'favorites are abalone clams crabs mussels shrimp and sea urchins. Few predators can crack the globe-shaped spiny urchins
Many fish marine mammals and birds are also found in kelp forest communities including rockfish seals sea lions whales gulls terns snowy egrets as well as some shore birds.
and reap profits far outweigh those of abiding by it as poachers and traffickers can rapidly pay their way out of trouble.
or lakes and vegetation where they are ingested by fish and mammals and in turn are consumed by other animals and humans.
The study was funded by the U s. Fish and Wildlife Service the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Defenders of Wildlife and supported by JB Ranch
and Immokalee Ranch where Jacobs did her research. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Florida Institute of food and agricultural sciences.
The results also drew a connection between the'Corded Ware'farming settlers--who were likely to have been genetically different to the hunting and fishing communities--and modern day Finns.
and Karuk tribes in the Klamath River area of northernmost California began his career with an interest in fisheries
but soon realized he would need to understand fire to restore salmon. Fire exerts a powerful effect on ecosystems including the quality
The convergence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers was historically one of the largest salmon bearing runs on the West Coast Lake said
When ash blankets the habitat the fish that the gartersnakes feed on aren't able to survive.
Nowak organized the survey and rescue mission to Oak Creek last month alongside the U s. Fish and Wildlife Service and U s. Forest Service.
The team included NAU graduate students and undergraduate interns from the Watershed Research and Education Program as well as members of the Arizona Game and Fish Department U s. Forest Service Oak Creek Ambassadors
The researchers believe that there are several factors contributing to the decline in population in the Oak Creek area including major threats by nonnative species such as crayfish predatory fish and invasive plants.
The pollutants from urban stormwater runoff can harm fish and wildlife populations foul drinking water and make recreational areas unsafe.
and Molluscs were absent from the invaded area. The current restricted distribution of A. gracilipes in this ecosystem combined with lower abundance of endemic fauna in the invaded area highlight the need for further research.
http://brit. org/webfm send/566story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Utah.
and are well-known for their exceptionally well-preserved leaves insects and fishes. But no fossils of mammals had ever before been identified at the site.
and Research Project Office Morgan Simpson of NASA Ground Processing Directorate and Ray Wheeler Ph d. of the Surface Systems office in NASA's Engineering and Technology Directorate also provided guidance
These investigations represent a diversity of subject matter from bacteria to tadpole shrimp and locations from Massachusetts to Arizona.
whether Triops longicaudatus or tadpole shrimp could be grown in microgravity as a food source for long-term missions.
and incorrectly identifying herds as clear of infection says co-author Dr Ellen Brooks-Pollock of the University of Cambridge.
and they can cause the majority of new cases argues Dr Brooks-Pollock. The researchers argue that the findings are essential for improving the targeting control measures.
or economics of implementing control measures says Dr Brooks-Pollock that needs to be the subject of further work.
#A case study of manta rays and lagoonsdouglas Mccauley a new assistant professor in UC Santa barbara's Department of Ecology Evolution and Marine Biology does fieldwork in one of the most isolated places in the world--Palmyra Atoll.
and his colleagues chose to study the ecology of Manta alfredi. Manta rays are classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature
and are present at this site in surprisingly large numbers. The researchers'findings appear in the journal Marine Biology.
There is very little known scientifically about manta rays said Mccauley. If we want to understand what habitats are important to them
Manta rays are a highly mobile species that can travel across many different parts of the ocean.
Mccauley's team decided to focus on how mantas use Palmyra's lagoons. Lagoons are known to be ecologically important to a variety of mobile species including manta rays sharks turtles and dolphins.
We used high-resolution animal tracking tools to describe in as much detail as we could the ecology of the mantas
and their connection to this particular marine habitat Mccauley explained. Using a novel combination of research tools the scientists examined how the manta rays use lagoons
what particular habitat microfeatures are important and what drivers make the fish come and go from Palmyra's lagoons.
Very heavily used by mobile animals as breeding grounds and as places to feed lagoons are highly sensitive to human disturbance.
Palmyra's lagoons and the mantas that use them are protected. However lagoons elsewhere have been compromised. Fishing boat traffic and habitat degradation all may negatively affect mantas in less remote lagoons.
The big question Mccauley and his team wanted to answer is why manta rays congregate in this particular habitat.
It turns out it was at least partially because of the food. The researchers used stable isotope analysis a chemical assay of a tissue biopsy that provides an integrative view of what the animal ate in previous months.
They matched the chemical signature of the mantas to that of zooplankton collected in the lagoons verifying that this habitat serves as an important feeding ground.
Using mathematical modeling we determined that many of the manta rays we encountered took around 80 percent of their energy from lagoon plankton Mccauley said.
and energy to manta rays highlights the need to motivate management interventions in lagoons. Other tools in the researchers'arsenal were high-resolution tracking
which provided information about how the manta rays used the lagoon habitat over long and short periods of time;
whether the manta rays were staying in this habitat for longer time periods by tracking their comings and goings.
Because we were trying to produce a more complete picture of manta ray ecology we had to use a toolkit that pulled out different fleeting pictures
which tells us more accurately what the manta rays are doing Mccauley said. In trying to produce science that is meaningful and useful for managers Mccauley
Additional detailed information about how manta rays use ocean areas outside of lagoons will also be needed to better manage this at-risk species. Story Source:
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