December 10, 2006, 6:21 PM CT

Extreme Life

A host of record-breaking discoveries and revelations that stretch the extreme frontiers of marine knowledge were achieved by the Census of Marine Life in 2006, highlights of which were released recently.

They include life adapted to brutal conditions around 407ºC fluids spewing from a seafloor vent (the hottest ever discovered), a mighty microbe 1 cm in diameter, mysterious 1.8 kg (4 lb) lobsters off the Madagascar coast, a US school of fish the size of Manhattan Island, and more unfamiliar than familiar species turned up beneath 700 meters of Antarctic ice.

Now in its 6th year, Census participants and their supporters pool talents and specialties, ships and laboratories, archives and technology in an unprecedented global scientific collaboration. Together, they are systematically recording the diversity, distribution, and abundance of global marine life. The most intense field work is taking place in 2006-8; the results will be analysed and synthesized in 2009-10 with the goal by 2010 of an initial census describing what lived, now lives, and will live in the oceans.

Census scientists mounted 19 ocean expeditions in 2006 (a 20th expedition underway in the Antarctic can be followed online at www.awi.de/MET/Polarstern/psobse.html). They inventoried nearshore biodiversity, where the number of active sampling sites grew exponentially from 30 to 128 in 2006 alone. And, using satellites, they followed across thousands of kilometers of ocean more than 20 tagged species - from sharks and squid to sea lions and albatross.........

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December 10, 2006, 5:42 PM CT

Unusual Deep Sea Animals

We are all familiar with dolphins, whales and sharks; we know what tuna and snapper look like, but what about some less familiar fish such as lizardfish, giant squid, or blind eels? There are so a number of lesser known animals in the depths of the ocean that we hear little or nothing about most times, it is interesting to investigate a few of these creatures and understand them a little more.

The first on our list of deep sea creatures is the fangtooth fish. This fish is one of the most evil looking ocean predators. It lives in the deep ocean and catches its prey by luring them in with glowing light organs called photophores. In such a dark abyss, fish are attracted to the light put off by the organ and once they are close enough the fangtooth fish catches them in his numerous large teeth. He looks like an underwater vampire.

Another carnivorous sea animal is the deep-sea lizardfish. These interesting fish look almost like a short snake in water. Their mouths are covered with harpoon-tipped teeth that grasp their prey and don't let go, similar to a fish hook. These teeth are hinged so that they can flattened down when prey is going in and stand up when resisting. They don't even need to actively swallow; the struggling prey just ratchets itself inside. With their glowing yellow eyes, the lizardfish is a wonder to behold.........

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December 1, 2006, 4:27 AM CT

Seagrass ecosystems at a 'global crisis'

An international team of researchers is calling for a targeted global conservation effort to preserve seagrasses and their ecological services for the worlds coastal ecosystems, as per an article reported in the recent issue of Bioscience, the journal of the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS).

The article "A Global Crisis for Seagrass Ecosystems" cites the critical role seagrasses play in coastal systems and how costal development, population growth and the resulting increase of nutrient and sediment pollution have contributed to large-scale losses worldwide.

"Seagrasses are the coal mine canaries of coastal ecosystems," said co-author Dr. William Dennison of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. "The fate of seagrasses can provide resource managers advance signs of deteriorating ecological conditions caused by poor water quality and pollution."

Among its findings, the study analyzed an apparent disconnect between the scientific communitys concerns over seagrass habitat and its coverage in the popular media. While recent studies rank seagrass as one of the most valuable habitat in coastal systems, media coverage of other habitats including salt marshes, mangroves and coral reefs receive 3 to 100-fold more media attention than seagrass systems.........

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November 29, 2006, 9:39 PM CT

Save the whales? Sure, but how many?

How many wildebeest should live in the Serengeti" How many grizzly bears should call Yellowstone home" Are there too few tigers in the world" Conservationist biologists grapple with the task of setting population targets for the species they are trying to protect a decision steeped in politics, emotion, and sometimes, science.

In a new paper appearing in the journal Bioscience, the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) examines the current hodgepodge of population target levels (PTLs) being used by wildlife managers, and proposes a simpler, four-tiered system to measure conservation success. The paper cataloged 18 different approaches currently used to set PTLs, and showed the diverse ways in which they apply to national laws and international treaties.

According to the paper's author, WCS ecologist Dr. Eric Sanderson, 'minimum viable populations' the goal commonly used by wildlife managers that aims to have self-sustaining populations should be seen as the beginning, not the end, of conservation.

'People want much more from wild animals than to see them just persist: we want animals to interact with their environment, evolve over time, be beautiful and useful to us, and to satisfy ethical teachings regarding respect for nature,' said Dr. Sanderson.........

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November 28, 2006, 4:54 AM CT

Biocontrol of wavyleaf thistle being studied in Texas

Wavy leaf thistle was difficult to find along Panhandle highways five years ago. But now the noxious weed can be found moving into pastures, said a Texas Agricultural Experiment Station researcher.

Dr. Jerry Michels, Experiment Station entomologist at Bushland, along with Nagendra Earle, a West Texas A&M University graduate student, began looking at controlling the intruding noxious weed with natural controls about two years ago.

Michels' entomology team travels the highways to Colorado frequently each year to monitor biocontrol work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. At first, they noticed wavyleaf thistle growing in small clumps along roadsides, Michels said, but in the past few years it seemed to be spreading.

Deciding they wanted to look at possible control measures, he submitted a proposal for a grant to the Joe Skeen Institute for Rangeland Restoration. His team received funding for two years.

In spring 2005, Earle began mapping the infestations across the Panhandle. The highest concentrations were found in the northern Panhandle down to U.S. Interstate 40, he said. Wavyleaf thistle has been found along I-40 from New Mexico to Colorado, but not much to the south.

"Our idea was that it was coming in through vehicle traffic, because it is common in Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming," Michels said. "Also, thistles love disturbed areas, so any road work could have increased the infestation".........

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November 26, 2006, 7:42 AM CT

Controlling Poaching Of Buffalo, Elephants, Rhinos

A technique used since the 1930s to estimate the abundance of fish has shown for the first time that enforcement patrols are effective at reducing poaching of elephants, African buffaloes and black rhinos in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.

"Wildlife within protected areas is under increasing threat from the bushmeat and illegal trophy trades, and many argue that enforcement within protected areas is not sufficient to protect wildlife. Some say the $2 million spent annually in the Serengeti on patrols would be better spent on other preventive activities," says Ray Hilborn, University of Washington professor of aquatic and fishery sciences and lead author of a paper in the Nov. 24 issue of Science.

The 5,700-square-mile Serengeti is one of Africa's most pristine preserves.

"The animals are 'telling' us poaching is down now that there are 10 to 20 patrols a day compared to the mid-1980s when there might be 60 or fewer patrols a year," Hilborn says. They tell us, he says, by increasing in abundance, something that can measured using aerial surveys.

It's been impossible to actually count the number of animals that are poached because poaching is illegal and most animals apart from elephants and rhinos which are traditionally not eaten are caught in snares set by local villagers for their own use or sale. A recent article in National Geographic, for example, said estimates of the poaching toll range as high as 200,000 in the Serengeti. Hilborn says that poaching cannot be nearly that great or the populations still would be declining.........

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November 22, 2006, 5:02 AM CT

How Many Cubs Does A Black Bear Have?

Litter size ranges from 1 to 4 young, averaging from 1.4 in Arkansas to 3.0 in Pennsylvania. First litters may be small, sometimes a single cub. Two or 3 cubs are typical thereafter. Five-cub litters are uncommon; extraordinary litters of 6 cubs have been reported in Manitoba and Pennsylvania. Average litter sizes in 2 Massachusetts study areas were 2.0 and 3.0. Two 5-cub litters have been reported in Massachusetts, once in the den and another in the field. Field observations are probably valid, as natural adoption of cubs is rare.

The sex ratio at birth is usually 1:1. However, the sex of cubs is related to the mother's weight and to litter size. The number of males is usually higher with heavier mothers, but lower as litter size increases. In one Minnesota study, 82% of single litters were male, while only 52% of 3-cub litters were males. One exceptional Massachusetts sow, 13 yrs old and 175 lbs., produced a litter of 5 male cubs.

During the denning period, sows may produce more than 50 lbs. of milk, metabolized from body fat. This milk is rich in fat and protein and nearly twice as high in kilocalories (per 100 ml) than either human or cow milk. Cubs may weigh up to 9 pounds by den emergence. Massachusetts cubs normally reach 13 to 20 lbs. by early July.

References: Alt 1980, Alt 1984b, Clark 1991, Elowe 1987, Hock and Larson 1966, Kolenosky and Strathearn 1987a, McDonald and Fuller 1998, Noyce and Garshelis 1994, Rowan 1947.........

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November 19, 2006, 9:26 PM CT

Insights Into Periodic Table

The periodic table of chemical elements hangs in front of chemistry classrooms and in science laboratories worldwide. Yet much was unknown about its history and evolution until now.

"The moment I discovered there was this elegant, orderly chart that encompassed chemistry, I fell in love with the periodic table," said Eric Scerri, a UCLA chemist and author of the recently published "The Periodic Table: Its Story and Its Significance" (Oxford University Press). "It captured my imagination, and it still does. It is completely unique in science. Chemistry is the only field with one simple chart that embodies the essence of the field. This wonderful tool serves to organize the whole of chemistry".

Who discovered the periodic table of elements --the fundamental materials of which all matter is composed? There is no simple answer. The story begins with the ancient Greek philosophers. Aristotle, among others, identified four elements: earth, water, fire and air. Some elements -- such as iron, copper, gold and other metals -- have been known since antiquity.

Today, the periodic table has 116 elements, the most recent of which was added just last month -- an element that for now is known as element 118 for the number of protons in its nucleus, more than in any other element. (Two other elements are predicted from the existence of spaces in the periodic table, but have still not been synthesized.).........

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November 19, 2006, 9:03 PM CT

Which Wasps Are Bad Losers

Wasps have more than just a sting in their tail as per new research published this week in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, they also carry the insect version of pepper spray in their heads, which they can release when fighting other wasps. The research not only gives us a fascinating insight into insect behaviour but could also help us to use wasps to kill crop destroying pests.

For the first time scientists, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), have recorded 'chemical exchanges' undetectable by the human nose which take place between females of a species of bethylid wasp - Goniozus legneri, when they fight over larvae on which they lay their eggs. Not only have they discovered that chemical exchanges take place, but also that it is always the losing wasp that releases the potent gas.

While the research was primarily aimed at improving the understanding of animal behaviour, lead researcher Dr Ian Hardy, from the University of Nottingham, explains that there is great potential for applied spin-offs: "Bethylid wasps kill the larvae of a number of insects that are pests of crops, such as almonds, coffee and coconut, ruining harvests and costing industry thousands of pounds. These wasps could be used as a cheap and effective biological control to kill the larvae, avoiding the use of expensive and polluting pesticides. But for successful biological control, we need a good knowledge of wasp behaviour, including how wasps from the same and different species interact. Understanding these patterns can inform us of the best combinations of species to release against a given crop pest".........

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November 16, 2006, 9:54 PM CT

Emperor Penguin Physiology

Long before they lit up movie screens in animated feature films or enthralled documentary film audiences worldwide with the story of their endless struggle to survive and reproduce, Emperor penguins intrigued early Antarctic explorers.

As movie makers prepare this weekend to release "Happy Feet," about an animated Emperor who loves to dance, and the Hallmark Channel readies the cable-television premier of the documentary "March of the Penguins" on Sat., Nov. 25, 2006, the National Science Foundation (NSF) is making available B-roll of the penguins in Antarctica. The agency is also offering journalists the opportunity to ask Antarctic researchers questions about why the birds still challenge the scientific mind.

On the eve of International Polar Year (IPY), Emperor penguins, which can dive unharmed to depths that no human could survive unaided, still fascinate researchers.

By studying the animals' physiology and the way their bodies respond to the crushing pressure of deep dives, these NSF-funded scientists, who also are medical doctors, may one day provide clues to help improve surgical procedures and anesthesia. The study of Emperors also is very much in the spirit of NSF's IPY theme of attempting to understand what makes the processes of life in the cold and dark unique.........

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