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External Press Releases — Page 28

Endangered rays may have unknown birthing zone in Mexican waters

By Duke University 4/23/2019 DURHAM, N.C. — The discovery of dozens of pregnant giant devil rays accidentally caught in fishing nets in a village along Mexico’s northern Gulf of California could mean the endangered species has a previously unknown birthing zone in nearby waters, a new Duke University study suggests. If further research confirms the possibility, authorities and local fishers…

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Why teenagers need to get more connected to nature

By University of Essex 4/1/2019 Mid-teenagers feel less connected to nature than any other age group, according to new research from the RSPB and the University of Essex. At a time when there are growing concerns over the mental health of today’s youngsters it is important to highlight the positive wellbeing benefits of enjoying the natural environment and the worrying…

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Centre researchers recipients of the 2019 Ecological Society of America awards

By Stockholm Resilience Centre 4/17/2019 Centre researchers Oonsie Biggs, Timon McPhearson, Albert Norström, Per Olsson, Garry Peterson and Victor Galaz are part of the team that won the 2019 ESA Innovation in Sustainability Science Award for their 2016 study Bright spots: seeds of a good Anthropocene which was published in 2016 in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. The Innovation…

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Sea level rise could make plants bigger. Then it could kill them.

By FIU 4/3/2019 Larger plants may be the first sign sea levels are rising in the Everglades, according to an FIU study. Beneath the surface, however, the roots of these now larger, moderately salt-tolerant plants like sawgrasses will begin to wither and die if the water gets too salty. If there’s no time for mangroves or other plants to take…

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Marine Protected Reserves Do More Than Restore Fish

By UMass Amherst 4/1/2019 UMass Amherst, Smithsonian, Florida research reports wider ecological benefits In a new analysis of the effectiveness of marine protected areas worldwide, University of Massachusetts Amherst marine ecologist Brian Cheng and colleagues report that reserves not only replenish target fish populations, they also restore ecological functioning. However, not all reserves performed equally well. Ecological functioning is a…

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Parasites lost: using natural history collections to track disease change

By UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences 4/4/2019 Tracking changes in diseases over time is an increasingly important topic given changes in global temperature. Put simply, is a warmer world a sicker world? Reported rates of disease may increase over time but it is difficult to distinguish between better reporting of disease, and true increases in disease prevalence. A new…

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Study Names Top Cities Emitting Light that Endangers Migratory Birds

By The Cornell Lab of Ornithology 4/1/2019 An estimated 600 million birds die from building collisions every year in the United States. Scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have published new research highlighting artificial light at night as a contributing factor. They’ve ranked metropolitan areas where, due to a combination of light pollution and geography, birds are at the greatest…

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Genetic tagging may unlock nature’s secrets and help conserve the world’s wildlife

By University of Alberta 3/26/2019 Tracking animals using DNA signatures are ideally suited to answer the pressing questions required to conserve the world’s wildlife, providing benefits over invasive methods such as ear tags and collars, according to a new study by University of Alberta biologists. Genetic tagging, or the identification and tracking of individual animals using DNA, is a non-invasive…

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Study: Southern California’s Coastal Mountain Lions Headed for Extinction

By Center for Biological Diversity 3/20/2019 Big Cats’ Habitat Fragmentation Highlights Need for Wildlife Crossings LOS ANGELES— Mountain lions in California’s Santa Monica and Santa Ana mountains are heading rapidly toward extinction, a new study in Ecological Applications finds. Researchers with UCLA, UC Davis and the National Park Service found that habitat loss and fragmentation have driven the populations to dangerously low levels of…

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Local Extinction of Southern California Mountain Lions Possible Within 50 Years

By UC Davis 3/20/2019 Two isolated mountain lion populations in Southern California’s Santa Ana and Santa Monica Mountains are at risk of local extinction, perhaps as soon as within 50 years, according to a study published in the journal Ecological Applications. The study showed the extinction risk is due to low genetic diversity and mortality that affects the stability of the…

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Tiny Songbird Makes Record Migration, U of G Study Proves

By University of Guelph 3/19/2019 It’s an epic journey for a tiny bird. For the first time, University of Guelph biologists have tracked an annual migration of up to 20,000 kilometres made by the 12-gram blackpoll warbler, one of the fastest declining songbirds in North America. The bird’s trek between its breeding grounds in the central and western boreal forest…

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New cause for concern over weedkiller glyphosate

By McGill University 3/14/2019 New research from McGill University reveals an overlooked impact that the widely used herbicide glyphosate may be having on the environment. First commercialized by Monsanto under the name Roundup, glyphosate has come under scrutiny in the past, mostly in relation to its potential toxicity. This new research, published recently in the Ecological Society of America’s Frontiers…

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UW Research: Hungry Moose More Tolerant of Wolves’ Presence

By University of Wyoming 3/13/2019 Driven by the need for food, moose in western Wyoming are less likely to change their behavior to avoid wolves as winter progresses, according to new research by University of Wyoming scientists. The findings, published today (March 13) in the journal Ecology, provide new insights into the interactions of the region’s apex predators and their prey….

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New SDSU Study Examines Role of Sea Urchins on California Kelp

By San Diego State University 3/14/2019 California sheephead and spiny lobsters may be helping control sea urchin populations in Southern California kelp forests, where sea otters — a top urchin predator — have long been missing, according to a new San Diego State University (SDSU) study published in the journal Ecology. The research provides new insight into the complex predator-prey relationships…

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Little owls on the move

By University of Freiburg 3/12/2019 The little owl, Athene noctua, is a small nocturnal owl and is classified as an endangered species on the German Red List. In recent years the existing population of little owls has successfully been stabilized in the south-west of Germany, and in some places numbers are even rising. In neighboring northern Switzerland on the other…

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