Latest Ecology Stories

Creatures that are feeling the pressure from the presence of predators are known to alter their diets, thus having a noteworthy impact on their habitats, claims new research published in the journal Science. According to the National Science Foundation (NSF), researchers from Yale University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem teamed up to study changes in the types of plant life consumed by grasshoppers under different circumstances. Ordinarily, grasshoppers eat nitrogen-rich grass,...

[ Watch the Video ] We’re all quite familiar with carnivorous plants. Plants such as the venus flytrap feed on flies and other insects, providing an appetizing place for bugs to feed before snatching them up in their jaws and feeding on the remains. Now, scientists from Cambridge University have found that a similarly carnivorous plant employs the laws of physics to help it find its meals. Hailing from south-east Asia, “Pitcher Plants” (or Nepenthes gracilis to those in the know)...

How do grasshoppers who are being frightened by spiders affect our ecosystem? In no small measure, say researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and at Yale University in the US. A grasshopper that is in fear of an attacker, such as a spider, will enter a situation of stress and will consume a greater quantity of carbohydrate-rich plants – similar to humans under stress who might eat more sweets. This type of reaction will, in turn, cause chemical changes in the grasshopper...

Michael Crumbliss Twenty years ago scientists met at the Earth Summit in Rio to examine the climate and ecology of the Earth and man’s impacts. Two decades later 17 prominent ecologists have released a paper summarizing the evidence of the 1000’s of ecological studies undertaken in since 1992. In short they decided that the evidence is overwhelming and consistent. The danger of a catastrophic ecological crash is looming and is far more immediate than previously believed. In some...

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com Scientists may have finally established the explanation for the disappearance of the giant koala and other Australian megafauna. Between 50,000 and 45,000 years ago, around 60 species of mammals, predominantly foraging herbivores called browsers, went extinct. These animals included 19 species that weighed over 100 kilograms, like the rhinoceros-sized giant wombat and half-ton marsupial Palorchestes azael. Slightly smaller animals like the flightless bird...

New York and Washington, DC Events Highlight Research Methodology on Amphibian Declines Implemented to Study Honey Bees NEW YORK, June 6, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit organization that focuses on local conservation and global health issues, announced this week at New York City and Washington, DC events the expansion of its programs to include the study of honey bee health. Leveraging the organization's independent scientific expertise, EcoHealth...

The palms that Vietnamese villagers weave into hats, many varieties of lichens that depend on the pristine environment of the Great Smoky Mountains, and small, shrub-like trees that are threatened by development and deforestation in Brazil were among the scores of plant and fungus species that scientists at The New York Botanical Garden discovered and described in the course of one year. As part of their effort to catalog all plant life on Earth, Botanical Garden scientists named 81 new...

Major new marine herbivory study Coral reefs and seashores largely look the way they do because large fish and urchins eat most of the seaweed that might otherwise cover them, but a major new study has found that the greatest impact of all comes from an unexpected quarter – small marine snails. The study published in the journal Ecology Letters is the largest of its kind ever undertaken into the ecological impacts of marine grazing animals: it was led by Associate Professor Alistair...

Marine and terrestrial species will likely differ in their responses to climate warming, new research by Simon Fraser University and Australia’s University of Tasmania has found. The study, published this week in Nature Climate Change, provides insights into why and how species are moving around the globe in response to global warming. Researchers gathered published data from tests determining the physiological temperature limits – tolerance to heating and cooling levels - on 169...

OTTAWA, May 28, 2012 /CNW/ - The Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, today announced that the Government of Canada is continuing its commitment to advance clean vehicle technologies and work with the automotive industry to make safe, clean and innovative transportation options available to Canadians. "Our government is pleased to launch the next phase of the ecoTECHNOLOGY for Vehicles Program," said Minister Lebel. "This program will...