Latest bioindicators Stories

Carcasses of copepods--numerous organisms in world seas--provide insights into oceanic food websTiny crustaceans called copepods rule the world, at least when it comes to oceans and estuaries.The most numerous multi-cellular organisms in the seas, copepods are an important link between phytoplankton and fish in marine food webs.To understand and predict how copepods respond to environmental change, scientists need to know not only how many new copepods are born, but how many are dying, say...

A signature of undiscovered global diversityIn an unprecedented coming-out party, 100 newly discovered species are revealed to the world in a single scholarly paper coordinated by Field Museum scientists.The 100 organisms are lichens, a type of fungi that form associations with algae and populate environments from arctic tundra to tropical rain forests. And the usual inattention bestowed upon new lichens is one reason for aggregating so many new ones in a single paper in the Feb. 18 issue of...

New research suggests eating vegetables gives you a healthy tan. The study, led by Dr Ian Stephen at The University of Nottingham, showed that eating a healthy diet rich in fruit and vegetables gives you a more healthy golden glow than the sun.The research, which showed that instead of heading for the sun the best way to look good is to munch on carrots and tomatoes, has been published in the Journal Evolution and Human Behaviour.Dr Ian Stephen, from the School of Psychology, University of...

Size matters: The strange behavior of small particles at density interfacesResearchers from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) in Cambridge, Massachusetts have found a remarkable effect while studying how marine particles sink, which could affect the way scientists assess global carbon fluxes. Their question - How fast does organic material and debris clumped together forming porous particles settle to the...

Innovative research technique reveals C4 grasses older than previously thought A new analysis of fossilized grass-pollen grains deposited on ancient European lake and sea bottoms 16-35 million years ago reveals that C4 grasses evolved earlier than previously thought. This new evidence casts doubt on the widely-held belief that the rise of this incredibly productive group of plants was driven by a large drop in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations during the Oligocene epoch. The...

Carotenoid pigments are the source of many of the animal kingdom's most vivid colors; flamingos' pink feathers come from eating carotenoid-containing shrimps and algae, and carotenoid colors can be seen among garden birds in blackbirds' orange beaks and blue tits' yellow breast feathers.These pigments play a crucial role in sexual signals. According to the study's lead author Dr Tom Pike of the University of Exeter: "Females typically use carotenoid colors to assess the quality of a...

Role extends to removing carbon dioxide from upper ocean and atmosphereWhat if trains, planes and automobiles all were powered simply by the air through which they move?  What if their exhaust and by-products helped the environment?Such an energy-efficient, self-propelling mechanism already exists in nature.The salp, a small, barrel-shaped organism that resembles a streamlined jellyfish, gets everything it needs from ocean waters to feed and propel itself.Scientists believe its waste...

These insect pests pioneered new frontiers in geneticsContrary to popular belief, aphids are not just sap-sucking, plant-destroying enemies of agriculture. In fact, these pests are genetic pioneers that evolved two unique traits, according to a study that appears in the April 30 issue of the journal Science. First, aphids are, so far, the only animal known to produce essential pigments known as carotenoids. The aphid's pigment-producing ability is unique to the animal kingdom. Other animals,...

Spanish scientists have described the lichen Phylloblastia fortuita, new to the Iberian Peninsula and to science. Another species from the same family, Phylloblastia dispersa, is also a new entry for Europe and is the first time it has been found outside the tropics.Foliicolous lichens, symbiosis between fungi and algae, are organisms associated with tropical or sub-tropical climates, and their presence in environments such as the Iberian Peninsula, outside of the tropics, is associated with...

Ancient soil biota decreased in size by up to 46 percent during period 55 million years agoAncient soil-inhabiting creatures decreased in body size by nearly half in response to a period of boosted carbon dioxide levels and higher temperatures, scientists have discovered.The researchers' findings were published in the October 5, 2009, early online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).Jon Smith, a scientist at the Kansas Geological Survey, and Stephen...