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IMAGE: A seminal 1981 study organized the a history of ocean life into three hierarchies, with certain animals reigning the seas during each time periods. Two mass extinctions cleared the way. view more
Credit: Jeff Gage/Florida Museum of Natural History
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Evolutionary arms races between marine animals overhauled ocean ecosystems on scales similar to the mass extinctions triggered by global disasters, a new study shows.
Scientists at Umeå University in Sweden and the Florida Museum of Natural History used paleontological databases to build a multilayered computer model of the history of marine life over the last 500 million years. Their analysis of the fossil record closely echoed a seminal 1981 study by paleontologist J. John Sepkoski - with one key difference.
Malaria is the deadliest pathogen in human history, and by studying the strains of malaria that birds carry, scientists might be able to help prevent the disease in humans. Researchers analyzed blood samples of more than 1,000 species of birds from the Andes looking for malaria; they found that the strains of malaria present in a local area don t always neatly align with the types of birds living there.
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IMAGE: A sage thrasher perches on a shrub near Kelleys Well in Inyo County, California. The Mojave Desert s bird populations have been hit hard by climate change, but a new study. view more
Credit: Chelsea Hofmeier photo
Berkeley In the arid Mojave Desert, small burrowing mammals like the cactus mouse, the kangaroo rat and the white-tailed antelope squirrel are weathering the hotter, drier conditions triggered by climate change much better than their winged counterparts, finds a new study published today in
Science.
Over the past century, climate change has continuously nudged the Mojave s searing summer temperatures ever higher, and the blazing heat has taken its toll on the desert s birds. Researchers have documented a collapse in the region s bird populations, likely resulting from many bird species inability to withstand these new hotter temperatures
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IMAGE: Virginia Tech researchers are using stream quality data to find new insights into the interactions between the health of our natural spaces and human well-being. Photo by Brad Klodowski, Virginia. view more
Credit: Virginia Tech
As the source of most of the water we drink and a place where we often go to recreate and enjoy nature, streams represent a crucial point-of-contact between human beings and the environment.
Now researchers in the College of Natural Resources and Environment and the Department of Biological Systems Engineering are using stream quality data to find new insights into the interactions between the health of our natural spaces and human well-being.