Hobbs%202009%20novel%20ecosystems. Metagenomics. Nitrogen pollution changing Rocky Mountain National Park vegetation. A new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder indicates air pollution in the form of nitrogen compounds emanating from power plants, automobiles and agriculture is changing the alpine vegetation in Rocky Mountain National Park. The emissions of nitrogen compounds to the atmosphere are being carried to remote areas of the park, altering sensitive ecosystems, said CU-Boulder Professor William Bowman, who directs CU-Boulder's Mountain Research Station west of Boulder and who led the study. "The changes are subtle, but important," he said.
"They represent a first step in a series of changes which may be relatively irreversible. " In other regions of the world, higher amounts of nitrogen pollutants correlate with decreased biodiversity, acidified soils and dead stream organisms like trout, said Bowman. "There is evidence that indicates once these changes occur, they can be difficult if not impossible to reverse. Acid rain all but eliminated over Britain. Time runs out for badgers in the culling fields of England | Environment | The Observer. The pluvial mist of English July wraps Warren Farm in the Mendip Hills, as James Small prepares for a morning testing his cattle for TB.
His beef herd is under "restriction" after two cows showed signs suggesting bovine tuberculosis, or bTB. One was cleared, the other had to be destroyed. "We're an annual testing parish," explains Small, who will wait a statutory 60 days for a further round of tests. "If we go clear, we'll have the restrictions lifted and can resume business.
But 60 days is a long time in any business. " He adds: "We're a closed herd. Wherever it came from, it wasn't from other cattle. England is now in limbo over an issue that arouses extreme passions in the countryside. Wales faced a similar judicial review and abandoned the cull as unlawful in favour of badger vaccination. James Small is Somerset county chairman of the NFU and speaks for dairy as well as livestock farmers who raise cattle for beef. Opposition to the cull is based on the premise that it will not work. New study maps hotspots of human-animal infectious diseases and emerging disease outbreaks. A new global study mapping human-animal diseases like tuberculosis (TB) and Rift Valley fever finds that an "unlucky" 13 zoonoses are responsible for 2.4 billion cases of human illness and 2.2 million deaths per year. The vast majority occur in low- and middle-income countries. The report, which was conducted by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the Institute of Zoology (UK) and the Hanoi School of Public Health in Vietnam, maps poverty, livestock-keeping and the diseases humans get from animals, and presents a "top 20" list of geographical hotspots.
"From cyst-causing tapeworms to avian flu, zoonoses present a major threat to human and animal health," said Delia Grace, a veterinary epidemiologist and food safety expert with ILRI in Kenya and lead author of the study. "Exploding global demand for livestock products is likely to fuel the spread of a wide range of human-animal infectious diseases," Grace added. But zoonoses present a major obstacle to their efforts. Killer mosquitoes heading the way | World News. The Asian bush mosquito measures only a fraction of an inch but can spread fevers that claim thousands of victims every year.
One disease, Dengue Fever, begins with headaches and excruciating joint pains but can develop into haemorrhaging, at which stage victims bleed from the eyes before dying. The mosquito normally infests the humid forests of Korea but is spreading across the world and has now been found in Belgium as well as several areas of the US. Scientists will this week begin an intensive programme to eliminate the Belgian mosquitoes, which may have arrived in western Europe aboard ships. The insect is adept at laying its eggs in wet tarpaulins or tyres being shipped overseas. Up to five non-native species have been found spreading across Europe in recent times, while the yellow fever mosquito is said to be knocking at the door. The Asian bush mosquito and the Asian tiger mosquito have already successfully invaded southern and central Europe.
“Surveillance is crucial. The Great Upward and Northward Migration is Underway. As global temperatures warm, organisms equipped with the gift of mobility and spreading their seed will seek climates with which they are familiar. In the Earth's northern hemisphere, this means travelling both north and to higher elevations. This movement of species has been documented for some time and is expected to continue into the future.
However, a new study from the University of York in the United Kingdom has found that plants and animals are responding to the effects of climate change up to three times faster the previously believed. The study, conducted by researchers in the Department of Biology at the University of York, analyzed over 2,000 instances of migration from both plant and animal species. On average, species have moved to higher elevations at 12.2 meters (40 feet) per decade and to higher latitudes by an astounding 17.6 kilometers (11 miles) per decade. Not all plants and animals have migrated uniformly. There is a great variation between individual species. Prodigal plankton species makes first known migration from Pacific to Atlantic via Pole.
Public release date: 26-Jun-2011 [ Print | E-mail Share ] [ Close Window ] Contact: Terry Collinstc@tca.tc 416-538-8712Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) Some 800,000 years ago – about the time early human tribes were learning to make fire – a tiny species of plankton called Neodenticula seminae went extinct in the North Atlantic. Today, that microscopic plant has become an Atlantic resident again, having drifted from the Pacific through the Arctic Ocean thanks to dramatically reduced polar ice, scientists report. The melting Arctic has opened a Northwest Passage across the Pole for the tiny algae. The discovery represents "the first evidence of a trans-Arctic migration in modern times" related to plankton, according to the UK-based Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science, whose researchers warn that "such a geographical shift could transform the biodiversity and functioning of the Arctic and North Atlantic marine ecosystems. " The consequences are already evident.
Partners. Turning down the dial: Ocean energy development with less sound. He rise of ocean infrastructure development to tap energy sources such as tides, offshore wind and natural gas will require more pile driving, the practice of pounding long, hollow steel pipes called piles into the ocean floor to support energy turbines and other structures. But pile driving creates loud, underwater booms that can harm fish and other marine animals.
Many scientists and regulators have assumed that limiting the combined amount of sound created during the course of a pile driving project can minimize harm to animals. But new research published in PLoS ONE indicates that if an individual blow to a pile rises above a particular sound level, fish can be irreparably harmed. The finding has led scientists to recommend the first-ever sound threshold for pile driving that is based on actual fish responses instead of estimates. It's hoped that regulators will use the threshold to help evaluate pile driving project applications. Under pressure Defining the most harmful. Parasitic Mite Found to Play Key Role in Collapse of Bee Populations. 290na6rss. 286na4.pdf. How we mapped tranquillity | Campaign to Protect Rural England.
CPRE commissioned researchers to create a highly detailed new approach to defining tranquillity. By using these findings to create a national tranquillity map, it is possible to assess the likelihood of finding tranquillity in any given locality. First, the researchers used a nationwide survey to test what tranquillity means to people and the different factors which make up ‘tranquillity’. What tranquillity is – the top 10 survey responses1. Seeing a natural landscape2. What tranquillity is not – the top 10 survey responses1. Then, using a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) model, they associated the survey information with a range of national datasets and took account of topography to create a map showing how likely each locality was to make people feel tranquil.
No two squares the sameEach 500m by 500m square of England has been given a tranquillity score, based on 44 different factors which add to or detract from people’s feelings of tranquillity. Redirect Notice.