What sound does a fish make?
No, it’s not a riddle– scientists have been exploring the noisy underwater world of fish since the late 1800s. With the dawn of a new online database, now you can too.
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Remote Environments
Shark Movements Can Be Used to Design Better Marine Protected Areas
Marine protected areas can be very effective at protecting marine life, and they’re even more effective when the actual movements of wildlife are used to guide the drawing of their borders. By using telemetry, scientists can make shark-friendly protected areas and watch how effective they are at reducing commercial fishing.
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The Forest of Drunken Trees
Black spruce forests in northern regions are tipping over. A new study seeks to understand why, and uncovers the role climate change plays in tilting trees.
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Who Pollinates a Potent Plant?
About once a decade, the corpse flower blooms and attracts human visitors of all ages who want to see the short-lived flower and smell the plant’s natural perfume of rotting flesh. But in the wild, these plants must attract a different kind of visitor –pollinators. Read on to learn more about the mysterious pollinators of the Corpse Flower and learn about the questions scientists still don’t know the answers to.
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When Geological Processes Collide– Exploring the Link Between Earthquakes and Glaciers
What happens when glaciers melt? Scientists have discussed numerous effects of deglaciation including sea level rise and loss of habitats but recently, geologists have been thinking about how glaciers interact with the crust of the earth. Researchers from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks found a link between melting glaciers and earthquakes in Southeast Alaska which adds new understanding about the indirect effects of climate change and the role of humans in natural disasters.
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Sperm Whales Learned to Avoid Nineteenth-Century Whalers
Nineteenth-century whalers questioned why sperm whales were getting drastically more challenging to capture. At the time, whalers of the North Pacific Ocean kept detailed logbooks about sperm whale sightings and harpoon strikes. These logbooks could help provide answers to the problem whalers faced in the 1800s and to the sperm whale populations struggling to recover today. Sperm whales that have encountered whalers might communicate to other sperm whales how to avoid the dangerous whalers. This information transfer between whales could help them adapt to rapidly changing environments.
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The churning seas are slowing down: The Atlantic Ocean circulation at its weakest in millennia
In the Atlantic Ocean there is a giant “river” that affects many aspects of life for us terrestrial dwellers, from the regional climates we enjoy to the sea level at our shore. This “river” is the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), one of the planet’s major ocean circulation systems. The ocean has been churning for millenia through this circulation system, but now there are signs of change.
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Plastic Pollution and Penguins?
Many people may see plastic pollution as a local issue, but did you know that small pieces of plastic have made their way to super remote locations? Plastic pollution has been documented in Antarctica, one of the most remote locations on the planet, for decades. Now though, scientists are finding out that microplastics, which are harmful to marine life, are also making their way to Antarctica. Researchers documented similar levels of microplastics in Antarctica as other, less remote locations globally. While many come from marine industry, we can all help solve the problem by putting less plastic into the environment.
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Some Soil Microbes Don’t Mind Our Camping Trips
Have you ever thought about the microorganisms living under your tent while you’re camping? It may seem like setting up the tent and trampling all over the campsite may harm the organisms that live in the soil but new study in the Arizona savanna turns that idea on its head. Read on to learn about camping resistant plants, microbes, and resiliency of this awesome ecosystem.
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Fear the dead: Animal carcasses attract life and death for the wider food web
On the 26th August 2016, as storm clouds gather above the alpine plateau of Hardangervidda in southcentral Norway, a herd of wild tundra reindeer grouped together for protection. A split second later, in a moment of miserable luck, the herd fell to the ground dead, having been struck by a bolt of lightning. Norwegian ecologists took this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study how the mass die-off of 323 reindeer has since impacted the local ecology and food web.
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