Latest Biodiversity Stories

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Brazilian researchers said they have discovered a new species of porcupine that inhabits an isolated patch of Brazil’s Northeastern Atlantic Forest. According to the team’s report in the journal Zootaxa, they dubbed the spiny rodent Coendou speratus, a reference to its local name "coandu-mirim" and the Latin word "speratus,” meaning “hope." Because only about two percent of the region’s original forest is still...

Carnegie Institution Carnegie scientists have found that the plant species making up an ecosystem are better predictors of ecosystem chemistry than environmental conditions such as terrain, geology, or altitude. This is the first study using a new, high-resolution airborne, chemical-detecting instrument to map multiple ecosystem chemicals. The result, published in the April 8, 2013, Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is a key step toward understanding how...

LOS ANGELES, April 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Seeds of Change®, maker of organically grown seeds and nutritious organic foods, is announcing the return of its Share the Good grant program and this year will be giving away more money in grants to deserving organizations that apply through its Facebook page. From April 8 until April 22, organizations that inspire nutrition, gardening and farming programs could receive a $25,000 grant or one of 15 $10,000 grants to support efforts to...

What effects will the rapidly growing field of synthetic biology have on the conservation of nature? The ecological and ethical challenges stemming from this question will require a new dialogue between members of the synthetic biology and biodiversity conservation communities, say Kent Redford of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Archipelago Consulting; Bill Adams of the University of Cambridge; and Georgina Mace of University College London (UCL) in a new paper published 2 April...

April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Tropical rainforests are known to harbor a high biodiversity of untold species, many of them unknown and unnamed by scientists as of yet. Insects, especially beetles, make up a large proportion of this undiscovered life on Earth. Experts in remote tropical countries' fauna such as the wilderness of New Guinea, Alexander Riedel of the Natural History Museum Karlsruhe (SMNK) and Michael Balke of the Zoological State Collection Munich...

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online Despite the predictions of a popular theory, maintaining biodiversity in an ecosystem does not necessarily reduce the transmission of diseases from animals to humans, say researchers from the Stanford University Woods Institute for the Environment. Writing in the journal Ecology Letters, co-authors James Holland Jones and Dan Salkeld challenge what is known as the dilution effect – a widely held hypothesis claiming that the risk...

A new forum paper suggests bridging two important fields of ecological research It is increasingly recognized that protected areas alone are not sufficient for successful biodiversity conservation, and that management of production areas (e.g. forestry and agricultural land) plays a crucial role in that respect. Retention forestry and agroforestry are two land management systems aiming to reconcile the production of human goods with biodiversity conservation. The retention forestry...

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online Two years after the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan, researchers in the US and Canada are concerned about the possible damage that could be caused by invasive species that have found their way to North America on debris resulting from the 2011 disaster. According to UPI, experts in the northwest US and Canada are having difficulty determining whether or not marine life washing ashore on the debris will be a threat to...

DALLAS, March 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Oncor hosted its annual Supplier Diversity Awards Recognition luncheon today, honoring business partners and employees with the company's highest supplier diversity award, the Omnis Award. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120402/DA80968LOGO) More than 200 business leaders and Oncor Supplier Diversity participants attended the event, which included remarks by Oncor Chairman and CEO Bob Shapard and Oncor Chief Operating Officer...

Alan McStravick for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Scientists exploring the speed and scope of climate change have often looked at flora and fauna in a particular region as a major indicator. Many of these plant species will adjust their inner clock leading to earlier and earlier periods of bloom. However, not all biological life forms are able to adjust to a change in climate so quickly, according to a recent report published by the European Environmental Agency. It is for this...