FLORA FAUNA

5,060 articles

India holds census of endangered asiatic lions
May 02, 2015 (AFP)
India on Saturday began a five-yearly count of asiatic lions in the western state of Gujarat's Gir sanctuary, the last habitat for the endangered big cats globa...
Diverse sea creatures evolved to reach same swimming solution
May 01, 2015 (SPX)
The ability to move one's body rapidly through water is a key to existence for many species on this blue planet of ours. The Persian carpet flatworm, the cuttle...
Rare dune plants thrive on disturbance
Apr 30, 2015 (SPX)
Beginning in the 1880s, coastal dunes in the United States were planted with European beachgrass (Ammophila arenaria) in an attempt to hold the sand in place an...
Low-reflection wings make butterflies nearly invisible
Apr 30, 2015 (SPX)
The effect is known from the smart phone: Sun is reflected by the display and hardly anything can be seen. In contrast to this, the glasswing butterfly hardly r...
Congo destroys illegal ivory as wildlife summit begins
Apr 29, 2015 (AFP)
Two African leaders torched five tonnes of seized ivory on Wednesday as an international conference on tackling illegal exploitation of wildlife opened in the R...
Kestrel shooting brings Malta hunting season to early end
Apr 29, 2015 (AFP)
Malta's controversial Spring hunting season has been brought to an early end following the jailing of a man for shooting a protected bird of prey. Kirstin Mifsu...
Evolution makes invading species spread even faster
Apr 29, 2015 (SPX)
Today, invasive animals and plants spread all around the globe. Predicting the dynamics of these invasions is of great ecological and socioeconomical interest. ...
DNA of bacteria crucial to ecosystem defies explanation
Apr 29, 2015 (SPX)
Scientists have found something they can't quite explain in one of the most barren environments on Earth: a bacterium whose DNA sequence contains elements usual...
How ecological communities are assembled
Apr 29, 2015 (SPX)
What do you get when you combine a professor who literally wrote the book on community ecology and another who has more than 40 years experience as a leader in ...
Spread of pathogens between species is predictable
Apr 29, 2015 (SPX)
A study of disease dynamics in a California grassland has revealed fundamental principles underlying the spread of pathogens among species, with broad implicati...
Photosynthesis has unique isotopic signature
Apr 27, 2015 (SPX)
Photosynthesis leaves behind a unique calling card, a chemical signature that is spelled out with stable oxygen isotopes, according to a new study in Science. T...
Woolly mammoth genomes offer insight into their history and extinction
Apr 27, 2015 (SPX)
Before the world's last woolly mammoth took its final breath, the iconic animals had already suffered from a considerable loss of genetic diversity. These findi...
Thai temple banned from making money off tigers
Apr 25, 2015 (AFP)
Thailand's controversial "Tiger Temple" has been banned from charging tourists to visit dozens of big cats in their care, the parks department said Saturday, fo...
To predict disease researchers ask if plant neighbors are relatives
Apr 24, 2015 (SPX)
Disease is an invisible hand, shaping plant communities across the globe and determining the outcomes of environmental change, weed invasions and agriculture an...
Don't judge a book -- or a plant -- by its cover!
Apr 23, 2015 (SPX)
The kwongan has revealed the dirty secrets of the plant kingdom to University of Montreal and University of Western Australia scientists. The kwongan is a type ...
The scramble for nutrients intensifies as soils age
Apr 23, 2015 (SPX)
Confronted by extreme scarcity of nutrients in an Australian dune ecosystem, the leaves of different plant species converge on a single efficient strategy to co...
Big butts aren't everything to male baboons
Apr 22, 2015 (SPX)
While the female baboon's big red bottom may be an eyesore to some, it has an aphrodisiac effect on her mates. Biologists have long thought that baboon males pr...
Down to three wolves on Isle Royale
Apr 22, 2015 (SPX)
Only three wolves seem to remain in Isle Royale National Park. Researchers from Michigan Technological University observed the wolves during their annual Winter...
A better grasp of primate grip
Apr 22, 2015 (SPX)
Scientists are coming to grips with the superior grasping ability of humans and other primates throughout history. In a new study, a research team led by Yale U...
Decreasing biodiversity affects productivity of remaining plants
Apr 22, 2015 (SPX)
When plant biodiversity declines, the remaining plants face diminishing productivity, say scientists in study published in the journal Proceedings of the Nation...
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