Extreme fire weather
(University of California – Santa Barbara) When the Thomas Fire raged through Ventura and Santa Barbara counties in December 2017, Danielle Touma, at the time an earth science researcher at Stanford, was stunned by its severity. Burning for more than a month and scorching 440 square miles, the fire was then considered the worst in California’s history.
Beating the ‘billion-dollar bug’ is a shared burden
A new study linking land use patterns and pest outbreaks in Bt maize suggests that slowing the resurgence of western corn rootworm may require a larger-scale strategy than previously thought.
Climate change reduces the abundance and diversity of wild bees
Wild bees are more affected by climate change than by disturbances to their habitats, according to a team of researchers. The findings suggest that addressing land-use issues alone will not be sufficient to protecting these important pollinators.
Oldest hominins of Olduvai Gorge persisted across changing environments
An approximately 2.0- to 1.8-million-year-old archaeological site demonstrates that early humans had the skills and tools to cope with ecological change.
Uncovering how grasslands changed our climate
Grasslands are managed worldwide to support livestock production, while remaining natural or semi-natural ones provide critical services that contribute to the wellbeing of both people and the planet. Human activities are however causing grasslands to become a source of greenhouse gas emissions rather than a carbon sink. A new study uncovered how grasslands used by humans have changed our climate over the last centuries.
Fires, flooding before settlement may have formed the Amazon’s rare patches of fertility
Phosphorous, calcium and charcoal in spotty patches of fertile soil in the Amazon rainforest suggest that natural processes such as fires and river flooding, not the ingenuity of indigenous populations, created rare sites suitable for agriculture, according to new research.
Alert system shows potential for reducing deforestation, mitigating climate change
Forest loss declined 18% in African nations where a new satellite-based program provides free alerts when it detects deforestation activities.
Remarkable new species of snake found hidden in a biodiversity collection
(University of Kansas) A graduate research assistant at the University of Kansas was intrigued by an overlooked snake in the collections of the KU Biodiversity Institute. It turned out it’s both a new genus, and a new species, published today in the journal Copeia.
Remarkable new species of snake found hidden in a biodiversity collection
(University of Kansas) A graduate research assistant at the University of Kansas was intrigued by an overlooked snake in the collections of the KU Biodiversity Institute. It turned out it’s both a new genus, and a new species, published today in the journal Copeia.
Remarkable new species of snake found hidden in a biodiversity collection
(University of Kansas) A graduate research assistant at the University of Kansas was intrigued by an overlooked snake in the collections of the KU Biodiversity Institute. It turned out it’s both a new genus, and a new species, published today in the journal Copeia.
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