Rainforests – Page 3 – PossibleThreat Articles

CRISPRed fruit flies mimic monarch butterfly, and could make you vomit

October 2, 2019 0 Comments animals, Ecology, Endangered Plants, Environmental Science, Genetics, Hazardous Waste, Insects (including Butterflies), Rainforests

Monarch butterflies and a few other insects evolved essentially the same genetic mutations allowing them to eat toxic milkweed without getting sick. Monarch butterflies and caterpillars store the toxins to deter predators. Scientists have now used CRISPR gene editing to make these same mutations in fruit flies, successfully conferring toxin resistance. This is the first time an animal has been genetically engineered to eat a new food and employ a new type of deterrence.

News Science

Extreme wildfires transforming forestlands into shrublands

October 2, 2019 0 Comments Botany, Ecology, Ecology Research, Endangered Plants, Forest, Rainforests, Trees, Wildfires

Wildfire is transforming some forestlands into shrublands, a new study finds. The results suggest these forests, which are used to living with and even benefiting from fire, have not yet adapted to this newer regime of intense, high-severity fires.

News Science

Preventing future forest diebacks

October 2, 2019 0 Comments Environmental Awareness, Environmental Policies, Extinction, Forest, Land Management, Nature, Ocean Policy, Rainforests, Trees

Removing dead trees from the forests and reforesting on a large scale: this is the German Federal Government's strategy against 'Forest Dieback 2.0', researchers say. Ecologists call for other solutions.

News Science

Limited seed availability, dry climate hamper post-wildfire forest recovery

October 2, 2019 0 Comments Botany, Exotic Species, Forest, Nature, Rainforests, Seeds, Trees, Wildfires

A lack of tree seedling establishment following recent wildfires represents a crucial bottleneck limiting coniferous forest recovery in the western US, new research finds.

News Science

Biologists track the invasion of herbicide-resistant weeds into southwestern Ontario

September 30, 2019 0 Comments Ecology, Endangered Plants, Evolutionary Biology, Exotic Species, Grassland, Nature, Rainforests, Seeds

A team led by biologists have identified the ways in which herbicide-resistant strains of the invasive common waterhemp weed have emerged in fields of soy and corn in southwestern Ontario. The resistance, first detected in 2010, spread thanks to two mechanisms: either pollen and seeds of resistant plants were physically dispersed by wind, water and other means, or resistance appeared through the spontaneous emergence of mutations that then spread.

News Science

Purple martin migration behavior perplexes researchers

September 30, 2019 0 Comments Bird Flu Research, Birds, Ecology, Exotic Species, Forest, Nature, Rainforests, Trees

Purple martins will soon migrate south for their usual wintertime retreat, but this time the birds will be wearing what look like little backpacks, so scientists can track their roosting sites along the way. The researchers recently discovered that purple martins are roosting in small forest patches as they migrate from North America to Brazil, an unexpected behavior.

News Science

Scientists connected fragments of pine savanna and new species keep showing up

September 26, 2019 0 Comments Biodiversity, Ecology, Ecology Research, Endangered Animals, Exotic Species, Extinction, Nature, Rainforests

By connecting small, restored patches of savanna to one another via habitat corridors at an experimental landscape within the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, a nearly 20-year-long study has shown an annual increase in the number of plant species within fragments over time, and a drop in the number of species disappearing from them entirely.

News Science

Otherworldly worms with three sexes discovered in Mono Lake

September 26, 2019 0 Comments Environmental Awareness, Exotic Species, Extreme Survival, Global Warming, Marine Biology, Nature, New Species, Rainforests

The extreme environment of Mono Lake was thought to only house two species of animals — until now.

News Science

Private boats in the Mediterranean have extremely high potential to spread alien species

September 25, 2019 0 Comments Environmental Awareness, Environmental Policy, Exotic Species, Extinction, Mating and Breeding, Nature, New Species, Rainforests

A Mediterranean wide study has found that 71% of sampled recreational boats hosted alien marine species. Over half carried an alien species that was not yet present in the marina the boat was visiting.

News Science

Earth, wind, flora sway Trinidad sulfur levels

September 23, 2019 0 Comments Acid Rain, Air Quality, Environmental Awareness, Environmental Science, Geography, Oceanography, Rainforests, Renewable Energy

Geologists get a glimpse into the power of wind, rain, coastal proximity and climate on coastal environments.