Search Results

May

28

2010
 
 

Buy Propecia




Evenly-spaced termite mounds help African savanna flourish


Puzzle Buy propecia, The termite mounds spread over the African savanna don’t just benefit termites. Propecia cheap, They also help boost the abundance and reproduction of other animals, scientists say in PLoS Biology.


The team studied a grassland in Kenya that was dotted with 10- to 20-meter-wide termite mounds, order propecia without prescription. Order propecia overnight delivery, The farther the researchers got from a mound, the fewer arthropods they found, Ohio OH . Köpa propecia, Trees that housed at least one gecko also tended to be located near a termite mound. And female spiders that were caught close to mounds had more spiderlings in their egg sacs than spiders caught farther away.


The regular spacing of the termite mounds is key, cheap propecia online without prescription, New Hampshire NH N.H. , according to the study. By running simulations of other landscapes, the researchers concluded that randomly-spaced mounds wouldn’t improve productivity nearly as much as the evenly-spaced mounds, buy propecia. Regular patterns could also be important in other ecosystems and aid landscape restoration, propecia no prescription, αγοράζουν online propecia, the authors say. – Roberta Kwok

Source: Pringle, Vermont VT Vt. , Acheter propecia bon marché, R.M. et al, propecia online stores. Hawaii HI , 2010. Spatial pattern enhances ecosystem functioning in an African savanna. PLoS Biology 8(5), Delaware DE Del. . αγοράζουν online propecia, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000377.

Image © alessandroiryna, iStockPhoto.com

.

Similar posts: Køb billige viagra. Osta alennus viagra. Comprar en línea viagra. Mainstream services viagra. Diazepam without a prescription. Where to buy pfizer viagra cheap.
Trackbacks from: Buy propecia. Buy propecia. Buy propecia. Delaware DE Del. . φτηνές φαρμακείο propecia. Kansas KS Kans. .

Filed Under Habitat, Restoration | Leave a Comment

Email This Post Email This Post

Mar

25

2008
 
 

Waving goodbye to frogs



New study finds no evidence that climate change causes amphibian decline A not so colorful future ahead?The alarming decline in global amphibian populations has been blamed on several factors including disease, climate change and habitat loss – not to mention various combinations of them. The precise causes are difficult to pin down, as often little is known about individual species, living as they do in inaccessible habitats. However, a study published this week in PLoS Biology makes a stab at analyzing what data we do have and rules out climate change as the driving force behind die-offs of harlequin frogs. Species in the Atelopus genus are a pretty endangered lot, but their scarcity owes more to the classical spread of the fungal infection chytridiomycosis than anything else. Southern Illinois University researcher Karen Lips and colleagues performed statistical tests on existing data to show that the most likely cause for amphibian declines in southern Central and northern South America is the repeated introduction of the causative pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, most likely aboard a non-native species. The findings are good news in the sense that conservation workers in regions where the disease has yet to emerge can concentrate their efforts on preventing the import of animals that could carry it. Source: Lips KR, Diffendorfer J, Mendelson JR III & Sears MW (2008) Riding the wave: reconciling the roles of disease and climate change in amphibian declines. PLoS Biology DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0060072 Image © Darren Green

Filed Under Climate change, Endangered species, Fresh water, Habitat, Invasive species, Monitoring | Leave a Comment

Email This Post Email This Post

Feb

12

2008
 
 

…and into the fire



Salmon farms destroy wild populations, global data reveal It was this big, covered in lice, and three years ago...More evidence of the negative impact of salmon farms on wild populations is published today in PLoS Biology. Dalhousie University researchers the late Ransom Myers and former student Jennifer Ford, now at the Ecology Action Centre, Nova Scotia, studied catch rates of wild salmon living near fish farms off the Irish, Scottish and Canadian coasts. Populations “exposed” to fish farms – whereby migrating juveniles swimming past the holding pens are assaulted by parasites, disease and the unwelcome advances of amorous escapees – have plummeted across the board. In return for a farmed harvest of 1450 tonnes in 2003, for example, the wild Newfoundland population's recruitment rate dropped by a staggering 63 percent. Decreases of 50 percent per generation are commonplace. The data build on an earlier, smaller scale study, and make fish farms look ever more unsustainable. It's almost enough to make one long for the good old days of over-exploitation! Source: Ford JS & Myers RA (2008) A global assessment of salmon aquaculture impacts on wild salmonids. PLoS Biology DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0060033 Related story in Conservation magazine: 10 Solutions to Save the Ocean | Salmon Farms Create Deadly Clouds of Sea Lice Image © Bill Raboin

Filed Under Economics and conservation, Endangered species, Marine, Monitoring, Socio-political issues | Leave a Comment

Email This Post Email This Post

Feb

5

2008
 
 

A pile of carp



Fish invasions around the world are linked to GDP, study finds These hungry carp are in a moat, but others are invading rivers near youHuman activities are the best predictor of the extent to which a freshwater ecosystem has been invaded by non-native fish, according to a study published today in PLoS Biology. Fabien Leprieur and colleagues studied data on 9968 fish species from 1055 river basis around the world, their aim being to unravel the mysteries of what makes some areas more prone to non-native invasions than others. Gross domestic product -- which serves as a useful proxy for how much we’ve degraded our environment (the relationship being positive, of course) -- closely mirrors the pattern of fish invasions, with six global hotspots identified: the Pacific coast of North And Central America, southern South America, western and southern Europe, Central Eurasia, South Africa and Madagascar, and southern Australia and New Zealand. Leprieur’s findings are actually good news, because they hint at ways to predict which areas might be most vulnerable to invasions in the future. As the CNRS-Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, researcher points out, developing countries with booming economies are the most likely to suffer the same ecological fate as the old empires. At least we can plan for it this time. Source: Leprieur F, Beauchard O, Blanchet S, Oberdorff T & Brosse S (2008) Fish invasions in the world’s river systems: when natural processes are blurred by human activities. PLoS Biology DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0060028 Related story in Conservation magazine: Snakes On Planes Image © Nick Atkinson

Filed Under Community-based conservation, Economics and conservation, Endangered species, Fresh water, Habitat, Invasive species, Monitoring, Restoration, Socio-political issues | Leave a Comment

Email This Post Email This Post

Jun

5

2007
 
 

Wings of change



Tropical birds more threatened by land-use change than climate change show us yer land-use change modelsClimate change isn’t the only problem facing the world’s birds: a study published this week in PLoS Biology suggests land-use change could be a much more potent factor to hundreds of tropical species. Using four different scenarios of climate and agricultural change, University of California San Diego biologist Walter Jetz and colleagues predicted the likely habitat availability for 8750 species of land birds by the years 2050 and 2100. Hundreds of species -- over a thousand in the most negative scenario -- will lose more than half of their current habitat. Bird species are concentrated around the equator, where they tend to occupy smaller ranges than their high-latitude counterparts. This makes them especially vulnerable to habitat changes, such as those caused by deforestation and conversion to agricultural land. Unfortunately, the tropics are also where most of these activities are happening. Although climate change is currently hogging the political limelight, maintaining bird biodiversity is going to require a shift in focus towards understanding patterns of land-use change and how they can be harnessed sustainably. Source: Jetz W, Wilcove DS & Dobson AP (2007) Projected impacts of climate and land-use change on the global diversity of birds. PLoS Biology DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0050157 Related stories in Conservation magazine: Are We Putting Tigers in Our Tanks? | Context Matters: Considerations for Large-Scale Conservation Image © Grafissimo

Filed Under Climate change, Economics and conservation, Endangered species, Habitat, Monitoring, Restoration, Socio-political issues | Leave a Comment

Email This Post Email This Post

May

8

2007
 
 

Coral wreaths



Warmer seas and coral cover combine to spread disease, study finds All white? Not quiteWhite syndrome, a devastating coral disease, is stretching over the Australian Great Barrier Reef (GBR). And writing in PLoS Biology this week, an international team of marine ecologists, led by John Bruno at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, point to the main factors that influence the disease’s spread: unusually warm sea surface temperatures and the availability of corals to infect. The scientists used a six-year data set of satellite-inferred sea temperatures -- at 48 reefs along almost 1500 km of the GBR -- to spot a link with coral dieoffs. High temperatures alone weren’t enough to trigger an outbreak: coral cover had to be high too, usually greater than 50%. But the combination of factors might, just might, offer coral reefs a lifeline in the face of climate change. Stressed corals – those suffering temperature-induced bleaching, for example – could fall below the 50% coverage threshold needed to make them susceptible to white syndrome. Desperate? Well, when you’re drowning even a straw looks like a lifebelt. Source: Bruno JF, Selig ER, Casey KS, Page CA, Willis BL, Harvell CD, Sweatman H & Melendy AM (2007) Thermal stress and coral cover as drivers of coral disease outbreaks. PLoS Biology DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0050124 Related story in Conservation magazine: A Nugget of Hope for Coral Reefs Image © Australian Institute of Marine Science Long-term Monitoring Program

Filed Under Climate change, Marine, Monitoring, Restoration | Leave a Comment

Email This Post Email This Post

Apr

3

2007
 
 

Road to ruin



forest elephant mother and calfAfrica’s forest elephants increasingly threatened as roads reach further into the jungle Recently published data in the open access journal PLoS Biology reveal the scale of an unfolding conservation crisis in Africa. A brave band of scientists, spearheaded by Stephen Blake at the Wildlife Conservation Society, walked thousands of kilometers through some of the most remote jungle in Africa, searching for signs of illegal elephant poaching. They found tuskless carcasses throughout the forests, even within the supposedly protected confines of the national parks. The location of major roads was a significant factor: forest elephants Loxodonta africana cyclotis were more likely to be found with increasing distance from the road, whereas the opposite was true for humans. No poached elephant remains were discovered more than 45km from the nearest road. The findings give the lie, the authors say, to the notion that African elephant populations are stable in the face of a near-universal ban on the ivory trade. Source: Blake S, Strindberg S, Boudjan P, Makombo C, Bila-Isia I, Ilambu O, Grossman F, Bene-Bene L, de Semboli B, Mbenzo V, S’hwa D, Bayogo R, Williamson L, Fay M, Hart J & Maisels F (2007) Forest elephant crisis in the Congo Basin. PLoS Biology DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0050111 Image © T. Breuer/Wildlife Conservation Society Related stories in Conservation magazine: Rules of engagement for conservation Forest elephant counts based on crude guesswork

Filed Under Community-based conservation, Endangered species, Habitat, Monitoring, Socio-political issues | Leave a Comment

Email This Post Email This Post