Lizards May Help Unlock Secrets of Evolution:
Hundreds of species of anoles roam the Caribbean Islands and parts of North and South America, a highly diverse and colorful small lizard that scientists have studied in hopes of unlocking the secrets of evolution. Kirsten E. Nicholson, a Central Michigan University assistant biology professor, has just published a paper in PLoS ONE on her four-year study of Caribbean anoles that may provide a building block for future evolutionary studies.
Researchers Learn What Sparks Plant Growth:
A secret long held by plants has been revealed by Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers. The new discovery, which builds on more than a decade of painstaking surveillance of cellular communication between different types of plant tissues, shows clearly for the first time how plants "decide" to grow.
Virtual Duck Bills Demonstrate Species Coexistence:
Ecologists continue to debate how different species manage to coexist. If two species use identical resources, such as food, invariably one will be more efficient and out-compete the other. The classical explanation is that each species has evolved morphological or physiological traits that allow it to exploit some resources more efficiently than all other species. Such partitioning of resources essentially provides each species with exclusive access to resources necessary for its survival. Although coexistence is often attributed to interspecific differences in morphology, direct evidence is relatively rare.
Fish Extinctions Alter Critical Nutrients In Water, Study Shows:
Ecosystems are such intricate webs of connections that few studies have been able to explore exactly what happens when a species dies out. Ecosystems are such intricate webs of connections that few studies have been able to explore exactly what happens when a species dies out.
Lost Cuckoo Breaks Its Silence:
A team of biologists with the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) have recorded for the first time the call of the extremely rare Sumatran ground cuckoo, found only on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia.
New Marine Species Discovered In Eastern Pacific:
Smithsonian scientists have discovered a biodiversity bounty in the Eastern Pacific--approximately 50 percent of the organisms found in some groups are new to science. The research team spent 11 days in the Eastern Pacific, a unique, understudied region off the coast of Panama.
