Top 10 Ecology News in 2017

Ecologists at the Oregon State University studied data from NASA’s Aqua satellite. The records from the data showed that extremes in higher temperature occurred around the same time as severe droughts in the tropics and heat waves in the northern hemisphere.

Reference: “Thermal anomalies detect critical global land surface changes”. Accessed January 08, 2018. Link.

Scientists at the University of Hampshire are predicting that climate change could be more rampant through the mid of the 21st century and weather conditions could take the downward plunge in the future. Increased carbon dioxide emissions could lengthen summer months and lead to a decrease in snowfall.

Reference: “Ecology and Society: A coupled terrestrial and aquatic biogeophysical model of the Upper Merrimack River watershed, New Hampshire, to inform ecosystem services evaluation and management under climate and land-cover change”. Accessed January 08, 2018. Link.

Results from a big data study at the global scale reveal that countries whose socio-political situations involves unrest and problems show a decline of species. An ineffective national government was more likely to cause a decline in species of that country.

Reference: “Successful conservation of global waterbird populations depends on effective governance | Nature”. Accessed January 08, 2018. Link.

Coral grown in underground nurseries can be transplanted onto coral reefs to prevent loss of coral reefs. A new study has shown that efforts to restore the reef can positively affect the fish population.

Reference: “The effect of coral restoration on Caribbean reef fish communities | SpringerLink”. Accessed January 08, 2018. Link.

Researchers have recently performed a study which involved comparison of bacterial species from the arctic and the Antarctic. They discovered that bacteria isolated from the two poles shared similarities.

Reference: “Frontiers | Pole-to-Pole Connections: Similarities between Arctic and Antarctic Microbiomes and Their Vulnerability to Environmental Change | Ecology and Evolution”. Accessed January 08, 2018. Link.

Researchers at the Oregon state university have discovered the ideal rainfall and climatic conditions for plant growth which is in between too hot and too cold. However, the landscapes that possess such conditions have a high chance of shrinking and being unavailable for plants.

Reference: “A mesic maximum in biological water use demarcates biome sensitivity to aridity shifts | Nature Ecology & Evolution”. Accessed January 08, 2018. Link.

A new technology developed by scientists at the University of Tubingen can help predict the reaction of plant species towards climate change. In this experiment, the climate conditions for the plants were changed to observe how they react to future climatic conditions.

Reference: “Species selection under long‐term experimental warming and drought explained by climatic distributions – Liu – 2017 – New Phytologist – Wiley Online Library”. Accessed January 08, 2018. Link.

The frequencies of fires in the tundra region are seen to be on the rise. Changing climatic conditions have a negative effect on the forests of the tundra region, increasing their likelihood to face extreme drought. Due to climate change, the frequencies of fires in the tundra region are seen to be on the rise.

Reference: “Impacts and Implications of Increased Fire in Tundra Regions of North America | GEOG l Geographical Sciences Department l University of Maryland”. Accessed January 08, 2018. Link.

Researchers at the University of Antwerp have developed a new drone-based method to observe and estimate crop damage caused by wild bears, thus saving a lot of costs. Current methods of estimating crop damage are long and expensive.

Reference: “University of Antwerp – Using drones to estimate crop damage by wild boar”. Accessed January 08, 2018. Link.

Statistics from a recent study revealed that almost 36 billion tons of soil is lost every year due to deforestation and other conditions. This global soil erosion model combined with space imaging and rainfall data can perhaps help curb soil loss in the future.

Reference: “An assessment of the global impact of 21st century land use change on soil erosion | Nature Communications”. Accessed January 08, 2018. Link.

Researchers in Malaysia have studied the effects of nearby oil palm plantations, on forest ecology. The palm oil trees produce a fruit that attracts the bear population that grew 100-fold being close to a food source. These wild bears then damage nearby forests and prevent them from regenerating.

Reference: “Cross-boundary subsidy cascades from oil palm degrade distant tropical forests | Nature Communications”. Accessed January 08, 2018. Link.