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Microplastics Have Sunk to the Ocean Floor

The deep sea is becoming a collecting ground for plastic waste, according to research led by scientists from Plymouth University and Natural History Museum.

17 Dec 2014

Natural Reserves Managed by UC Riverside to be used in Study of Ecological Impacts of Climate Change

Three natural reserves managed by the University of California, Riverside will be involved in an ambitious plan to use the UC Natural Reserve System (NRS) to detect and forecast the ecological impacts of climate change in California.

12 Dec 2014

Eastern Pacific Species Driven Northward Due to Climate Change

Anticipated changes in climate will push West Coast marine species from sharks to salmon northward an average of 30 kilometers per decade, shaking up fish communities and shifting fishing grounds, according to a new study published in Progress in Oceanography.

11 Dec 2014

Current Rate of Climate Change Will Outpace Animals' Acclimation Capacity

Animals that regulate their body temperature through the external environment may be resilient to some climate change but not keep pace with rapid change, leading to potentially disastrous outcomes for biodiversity.

11 Dec 2014

Caribbean Gorgonian Corals May Be More Resilient to Ocean Acidification

A new study on tropical shallow-water soft corals, known as gorgonians, found that the species were able to calcify and grow under elevated carbon dioxide concentrations. These results suggest that Caribbean gorgonian corals may be more resilient to the ocean acidification levels projected by the end of the 21st century than previously thought.

10 Dec 2014

Study May Help Predict What Ecosystems Will Look Like in the Future

Humans are rapidly changing the look and function of earth's ecosystems, from the increase of greenhouse gases to the unintentional and harmful spread of plants and animals to new environments. A major challenge for ecologists is to understand how and why communities respond to factors that underlie global change.

8 Dec 2014

New Global Wetland Suitability Map Developed by Chinese Scientists

Wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems on Earth. Yet with increasing urbanization and agricultural expansion, wetlands around the globe are in danger. Better mapping of wetlands worldwide will help in their protection.

5 Dec 2014

Logging Triggers Gradual Release of Carbon Stored in Forest's Mineral Soils

Logging doesn't immediately jettison carbon stored in a forest's mineral soils into the atmosphere but triggers a gradual release that may contribute to climate change over decades, a Dartmouth College study finds.

3 Dec 2014

Climate Change Buffers against Protection Measures for the Baltic Sea

Despite extensive measures to protect the Baltic Sea from anthropogenic activities since the late 1980s, oxygen concentrations continue to decrease. Rising temperatures in the bottom water layers could be the reason for the oxygen decline. This paper reports on the first comprehensive analysis of measurement data from the Boknis Eck time series station, and it was recently published in the international journal Biogeosciences.

2 Dec 2014

NEIKER-Tecnalia Evaluates Impact of Climate Change on Soil Microbial Communities, Ecological Processes

The Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development NEIKER-Tecnalia has had a Microbial Observatory in the Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Nature Reserve (Huesca Pyrenees) since 2011.

29 Nov 2014