Biology News Net - Environment

Arctic gives clues on worst mass extinction of life

Wed, 24 Aug 2016 19:26:45 -0500

96 percent of marine species, and 70 percent of terrestrial life died off in the Permian-Triassic extinction event, as geologists know it. It is also known as The Great Dying Event for obvious reasons.

Specialized life forms abound at Arctic methane seeps

Wed, 10 Aug 2016 17:54:32 -0500

This image shows chemosynthesis vs photosynthesis. Cold seeps are places where hydrocarbons, mostly methane, emanate from the sea floor. Unlike the hydrothermal vents, the fluids and bubbles are no hotter than the surrounding seawater, thus the name.

Looking back into the future: Are corals able to resist a declining pH?

Thu, 04 Aug 2016 18:02:58 -0500

Because the oceans absorb man-made carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, its pH declines. Effects of this chemical change on tropical coral reefs can be examined in laboratory or short-term field experiments. However, a team led by Dr. Marlene Wall, marine biologist at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, chose a different approach: In the framework of the German research network BIOACID (Biological Impacts of Ocean Acidification), they examined corals of the genus Porites, which grow at volcanic carbon dioxide vents in Papua New Guinea and have become a dominant species there.

Towards smarter crop plants to feed the world

Wed, 27 Jul 2016 17:24:15 -0500

Researchers surveyed 75 plant species to identify top performing enzymes that will help increase the yields of staple food crops such as wheat. Plant scientists at Lancaster University, with support from the University of Illinois, have made an important advance in understanding the natural diversity of a key plant enzyme which could help us address the looming threat of global food security.

Marine carbon sinking rates confirm importance of polar oceans

Mon, 25 Jul 2016 18:09:05 -0500

Results show that the transfer efficiency of organic carbon from the surface to the deep ocean About the same amount of atmospheric carbon that goes into creating plants on land goes into the bodies of tiny marine plants known as plankton. When these plants die and sink, bacteria feed on their sinking corpses and return their carbon to the seawater. When plankton sink deep enough before being eaten, this carbon is taken out of circulation as a greenhouse gas to remain trapped in the deep ocean for centuries.

Ocean warming and acidification impact on calcareous phytoplankton

Tue, 12 Jul 2016 17:24:55 -0500

Coccolith morphology is shown as acidification and warming increases in the culture experiment. Two new studies recently published in Limnology & Oceanography and Biogeosciences report that ocean warming may exacerbate the impacts of ocean acidification on calcareous phytoplankton, and its evolutionary success and physiological performance will be hampered.

Ice algae: The engine of life in the central Arctic Ocean

Tue, 12 Jul 2016 17:24:54 -0500

Algae that live in and under the sea ice play a much greater role for the Arctic food web than previously assumed. In a new study, biologists of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) showed that not only animals that live directly under the ice thrive on carbon produced by so-called ice algae. Even species that mostly live at greater depth depend to a large extent on carbon from these algae. This also means that the decline of the Arctic sea ice may have far-reaching consequences for the entire food web of the Arctic Ocean. Their results have been published online now in the journal Limnology & Oceanography.

Watching a forest breathe

Wed, 29 Jun 2016 16:50:45 -0500

Flux towers are equipped with inlets for "sniffing the air " above the forest, in addition to other instruments such as sonic anemometers for measuring wind. For the first time, scientists have been successful in measuring the processes by which an entire forest "breathes," using sophisticated technology involving flux towers and new instrumentation that can precisely measure two different types (isotopes) of carbon dioxide in the air. A team led by Richard Wehr and Scott Saleska at the University of Arizona obtained detailed long-term measurements of the respiration and photosynthesis rates of a temperate deciduous forest during the day and the night.

Sea star death triggers ecological domino effect

Thu, 23 Jun 2016 16:55:34 -0500

A new study by Simon Fraser University marine ecologists Jessica Schultz, Ryan Cloutier and Isabelle Côté has discovered that a mass mortality of sea stars resulted in a domino effect on B.C.'s West Coast Howe Sound marine ecology.

Microplastic particles threaten fish larvae

Thu, 02 Jun 2016 18:38:40 -0500

Larval perch from the Baltic Sea that has filled its stomach with microplastic waste particles. In a new study, published in Science, researchers from Uppsala University found that larval fish exposed to microplastic particles during development displayed changed behaviors and stunted growth which lead to greatly increased mortality rates. The researchers discovered that larval perch that had access to microplastic particles only ate plastic and ignored their natural food source of free-swimming zooplankton.