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La poule est apparue avant l'oeuf ! Qui, de l'oeuf ou de la poule, est apparu en premier? Si c'est l'oeuf, il faut bien qu'une poule l'ait conçu, mais si c'est la poule, il faut bien qu'elle soit sortie d'un oeuf... Plus besoin de laisser ce grand paradoxe gâcher votre vie, des scientifiques affirment l'avoir résolu, rapporte Metro.co.uk. Ces scientifiques anglais affirment que la poule est apparue avant l'oeuf, puisque la formation d'un oeuf n'est possible que grâce à une protéine qui existe dans... les ovaires de la poule. «On a longtemps suspecté que l'oeuf était apparu en premier, mais maintenant nous avons la preuve scientifique qui montre que c'est en fait la poule qui est arrivée d'abord», explique le Dr. Colin Freeman
What Plant Genes Tell Us About Crop Domestication Anyone who has seen teosinte, the wild grass from which maize (corn) evolved, might be forgiven for assuming many genetic changes underlie the transformation of one plant to the other. However, a method for exploring the genetics of domestication called Quantitative Trait Locus (QTL) mapping has revealed that only modest modifications are needed to convert a wild plant to a crop plant. Some major transitions in phenotype can even be achieved by a single genetic change.
Thousands of Undiscovered Plant Species Face Extinction Worldwide Faced with threats such as habitat loss and climate change, thousands of rare flowering plant species worldwide may become extinct before scientists can even discover them, according to a paper published today by a trio of American and British researchers in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Quand le climat chauffe en montagne, c'est la plaine qui trinque ''Ce sont les gens de la plaine qui risquent d'être les plus concernés par le problème du changement climatique en montagne''. C'est ainsi que le directeur général de l'Office international de l'eau (OIEau) et secrétaire du Réseau international des organismes de bassin (RIOB)		Etonnante contribution du Grand Port Maritime de Marseille à l’année de la biodiversité Selon les scientifiques, la biodiversité est la dynamique des interactions dans des milieux en changement. On peut donc aisément en déduire que protéger la nature c’est protéger les capacités d’adaptation du vivant. Or, dans un article de la revue « navigation ports & industries, de janvier 2010 » intitulé « l’accès fluvial contesté par les écologistes » une journaliste ironise : « connaissez-vous la Tolypella Salina ou l’Althelie filiforme ? Non ? Vous n’êtes pas les seuls ! »
Scientists Find Direct Line from Development to Growth It may seem intuitive that growth and development somehow go together so that plants and animals end up with the right number of cells in all the right places. But it is only now that scientists at the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy have gotten some of the first insights into how this critical coordination actually works in a plant.
Complex, Multicellular Life from Over Two Billion Years Ago Discovered The discovery in Gabon of more than 250 fossils in an excellent state of conservation has provided proof, for the first time, of the existence of multicellular organisms 2.1 billion years ago. This finding represents a major breakthrough: until now, the first complex life forms (made up of several cells) dated from around 600 million years ago.			Why Some Plants Flower in Spring, Autumn and Some in Summer A team of researchers from Warwick have isolated a gene responsible for regulating the expression of CONSTANS, an important inducer of flowering, in Arabidopsis. 'Being able to understand and ultimately control seasonal flowering will enable more predictable flowering, better scheduling and reduced wastage of crops', explained Dr Jackson.
Algues vertes Des députés veulent faciliter l'installation d'élevages de porcs en Bretagne Peut-on lutter contre les algues vertes en Bretagne d'un côté et y faciliter de l'autre l'implantation d'élevages de porcs et de volailles, dont la concentration est l'une des causes de l'excès de nitrates dans l'eau... donc des proliférations d'algues ? Le débat promet d'être vif à l'Assemblée nationale, où le projet de loi de modernisation de l'agriculture et de la pêche est examiné en première lecture à partir de mardi 29 juin. Un amendement du député Marc Le Fur (UMP, Côtes-d'Armor), adopté en commission des affaires économiques, propose en effet d'alléger la réglementation applicable aux installations ou extensions d'élevages. Les écologistes parlent de "déclaration de guerre à la politique environnementale".
Global Wind Shifts May Have Ushered in Warmer Climate at End of Last Ice Age Scientists still puzzle over how Earth emerged from its last ice age, an event that ushered in a warmer climate and the birth of human civilization. In the geological blink of an eye, ice sheets in the northern hemisphere began to collapse and warming spread quickly to the south. Most scientists say that the trigger, at least initially, was an orbital shift that caused more sunlight to fall across Earth's northern half. But how did the south catch up so fast?			Climate Change Complicates Plant Diseases of the Future Human-driven changes in the earth's atmospheric composition are likely to alter plant diseases of the future. Researchers predict carbon dioxide will reach levels double those of the preindustrial era by the year 2050, complicating agriculture's need to produce enough food for a rapidly growing population.
PROTEGER LES ESPECES NE SUFFIT PAS ! « La conservation de la biodiversité doit aussi passer par le maintien des fonctions et des processus évolutifs », c’est ce qu’annoncent les chercheurs du CNRS de l’Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de l’université Montpellier II (ISEM), dans un article à paraître dans Ecology Letters en août 2010. Grâce à une nouvelle approche intégrative, les scientifiques ont prouvé que les aires protégées françaises ne permettent pas d’optimiser la protection de la biodiversité
The Great Pond Experiment: Regional vs. Local Biodiversity Scientist Jon Chase once worked in a lab that set up small pond ecosystems for experiments on species interactions and food webs. "We would try to duplicate pond communities with a given experimental treatment," he says. "We put 10 of this species in each pond, and five of these species, and eight of the other species, and 15 milliliters of this nutrient and 5 grams of that and 'sproing,' every replicate would do its own thing and nothing would be like anything else.				Climate Change Linked to Major Vegetation Shifts Worldwide Vegetation around the world is on the move, and climate change is the culprit, according to a new analysis of global vegetation shifts led by a University of California, Berkeley, ecologist in collaboration with researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service.
Molecular Methods Are Not Sufficient in Systematics and Evolution Modern evolutionary systematists often use molecular methods, such like mitochondrial DNA analysis, to differentiate between species and subspecies. These molecular methods are a flashy symbol of modern science cleverly exploited by media to draw interest of public and by laboratory scientists to draw attention of government funding agencies.		Biodiversity Hot Spots More Vulnerable to Global Warming Than Thought Global warming may present a threat to animal and plant life even in biodiversity hot spots once thought less likely to suffer from climate change, according to a new study from Rice University. Research by Amy Dunham, a Rice assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, detailed for the first time a direct correlation between the frequency of El Niño and a threat to life in Madagascar, a tropical island that acts as a refuge for many unique species that exist nowhere else in the world. In this case, the lemur plays the role of the canary in the coal mine.
Follow the Money: Wealth, Population Are Key Drivers of Invasive Species A new study of biological invasions in Europe found they were linked not so much to changes in climate or land cover, but to two dominant factors -- more money and more people. Wealth and population density, along with an increase in international trade and commerce, were the forces most strongly associated with invasive species that can disrupt ecosystems and cause severe ecological or agricultural damage, scientists said
Aquatic Life Declines at Early Stages of Urban Development, Research Finds The number of native fish and aquatic insects, especially those that are pollution sensitive, declines in urban and suburban streams at low levels of development -- levels often considered protective for stream communities, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Making Lake and Stream Conservation More Effective "We call our approach landscape limnology," said Patricia Soranno, MSU associate professor of fisheries and wildlife. "It's a new way to study freshwater that considers all freshwaters together -- lakes, rivers and wetlands -- as they interact with one another and with natural and human landscapes. Our goal is to improve our broad understanding of the diversity of freshwater resources and to give freshwater managers science-based tools to manage and protect these bodies of water."			Oasis Near Death Valley Fed by Ancient Aquifer Under Nevada Test Site Every minute, 10,000 gallons of water mysteriously gush out of the desert floor at a place called Ash Meadows, an oasis that is home to 24 plant and animal species found nowhere else in the world. A new Brigham Young University study indicates that the water arriving at Ash Meadows is completing a 15,000-year journey, flowing slowly underground from what is now the Nevada Test Site.
Who Are We Sharing the Planet With? Millions Less Species Than Previously Thought, New Calculations Suggest New calculations reveal that the number of species on Earth is likely to be in the order of several million rather than tens of millions. The findings, from a University of Melbourne-led study, are based on a new method of estimating tropical insect species -- the largest and one of the most difficult groups on the planet to study -- having significant implications for conservation efforts.
Le futur agricole d'Haïti selon l'américain Monsanto La multinationale fait un don de 476 tonnes de semences aux agriculteurs haïtiens. Un « geste humanitaire » pour le moins intéressé. En Haïti, les paysans accusent Monsanto de vouloir mettre la main sur l'agriculture locale. La vague d'indignation a débuté le 10 mai, initiée par un article du curé Jean-Yves Urfié qui dénonce le « cadeau empoisonné » de Monsanto. Sa première inquiétude porte sur les graines envoyées par Monsanto, qu'il soupçonne d'être des OGM accompagnés d'herbicides toxiques (les « Roundup »). Mais le ministre de l'Agriculture Joana Gué dément cette information lors d'une conférence de presse deux jours plus tard. Puis c'est au tour de Monsanto de réfuter sur son site une accusation « erronée ». Jean-Yves Urfié rectifie finalement sa dénonciation.				20th Century One of Driest in Nine Centuries for Northwest Africa Droughts in the late 20th century rival some of North Africa's major droughts of centuries past, reveals new research that peers back in time to the year 1179. The first multi-century drought reconstruction that includes Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia shows frequent and severe droughts during the 13th and 16th centuries and the latter part of the 20th century. An international research team figured out northwest Africa's climate history by using the information recorded in tree rings. The oldest trees sampled contain climate data from the medieval period. One tree-ring sample from Morocco dates back to the year 883.
21 mai 2010: et l'homme créa la vie Le biologiste américain John Craig Venter et son équipe annonce la naissance d'une bactérie au génome synthétique «Nous rapportons la conception, la synthèse et l'assemblage de 1,08 Mb du génome Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn 1.0, numérisés à partir des informations sur la séquence du génome et sa transplantation dans un Mycoplasma capricolum, cellule receveuse, pour créer de nouveaux Mycoplasma mycoides, cellules qui sont contrôlées uniquement par le chromosome synthétique. L'ADN présent dans les cellules n'est que de l'ADN conçu par synthèse y compris (...) les polymorphismes et les mutations acquises au cours du processus de construction. Les nouvelles cellules ont les propriétés phénotypiques prévues et sont capables d'autoréplication. » Interview de Craig Venter
Nematodes Illuminate Biological Diversity of the Island Réunion in the Indian Ocean Réunion is to Ralf Sommer and Matthias Herrmann from the Max Plank Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen what the Galápagos Islands were to Charles Darwin. This is the island in the Indian Ocean where biologists are now studying biological diversity with the help of a very unremarkable creature: the nematode.			Are Invasive Species Bad? Not Always, Say Researchers New research at Brown University challenges the notion that invasive species can't coexist with native animals. The researchers studied the Asian shore crab, which has proliferated along the Atlantic shore. In a paper in Ecology, the team explains why the crab has been successful in its new home without hurting native species.
Scientists Release Biocontrol for Water Hyacinth Waterhyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is a free-floating aquatic plant native to South America that has infested freshwater ecosystems from North Carolina to California but is especially problematic in the southeastern United States. The plant is a real menace, affecting water traffic, water quality, infrastructure for pumping and hydroelectric operations, water use and biodiversity. Other problems include fish kills due to low oxygen levels and increases in populations of vectors of human and animal diseases.
'New vision required to stave off dramatic biodiversity loss', says UN's Global Biodiversity Outlook report Natural systems that support economies, lives and livelihoods across the planet are at risk of rapid degradation and collapse, unless there is swift, radical and creative action to conserve and sustainably use the variety of life on Earth. That is a principal conclusion of a major new assessment of the current state of biodiversity and the implications of its continued loss for human well-being. The third edition of Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-3), produced by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) confirms that the world has failed to meet its target to achieve a significant reduction in the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010.
Charting the Development of Human Populations in the North and South of the Mediterranean Region The Mediterranean is the birthplace of ancient peoples and cultures, but has it acted as a bridge or a barrier in the genetic history of northern and southern populations? Gene flow and population structure on the north and south shores of the Mediterranean form the basis of the work published recently by the Human Population Genetics research group.				Catalog Details 1.25 Million Species of Organisms Across the World The world's most valuable asset, on which we all depend, is silently slipping through our fingers -- it is the world's astounding biodiversity, in some cases lost before it is even discovered.
First Large-Scale Formal Quantitative Test Confirms Darwin's Theory of Universal Common Ancestry More than 150 years ago, Darwin proposed the theory of universal common ancestry (UCA), linking all forms of life by a shared genetic heritage from single-celled microorganisms to humans. Until now, the theory that makes ladybugs, oak trees, champagne yeast and humans distant relatives has remained beyond the scope of a formal test. Now, a Brandeis biochemist reports in Nature the results of the first large scale, quantitative test of the famous theory that underpins modern evolutionary biology.
Linnaeus 2.0: First E-Publication of New Plant Species Four new Neotropical plant species in the hyperdiverse genus Solanum (Solanaceae), which includes plants as diverse as the deadly nightshade as well as the more palatable tomato have been published in the open access online-only journal PLoS ONE by Dr. Sandra Knapp of the Natural History Museum, London.
Biodiversity Found In Unexpected Regions: More Than 200 Plant Species Found In Semi-Arid Rivers In South Eastern Spain The prevailing belief to date has been that the streams of south eastern Spain contained nothing of interest. However, a research project by the University of Murcia has shown that these ecosystems, which are unique in Europe, are home to great plant and animal biodiversity. This has enabled the research team to explode the myth that arid systems do not contain any organisms of interest, and to call for them to be protected because of their ecological value.
'Different Forms of Flowers' Continues to Fascinate: Darwin's Influential Study Inspires Research on Breeding System Called Heterostyly Although Charles Darwin is most well-known both for his book "On the Origin of Species" and his theories on natural selection, he once stated, "I do not think anything in my scientific life has given me so much satisfaction as making out the meaning of the structure of these plants." What could be more satisfying than unraveling the mysteries of evolution?			Scientist Ties Distribution Modeling to Ecological Theory As the planet warms, scientists have observed a radical disruption in the geographic distribution of thousands of animals and plants, which has unknown consequences for species survival. William Godsoe, post-doctoral fellow at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, studies the statistical relationships between a species ecological requirements, or niche, and its distribution, which offers a way to predict and mitigate ecological challenges facing the plant, such as climate change, habitat loss and species invasion.
Trees Facilitate Wildfires As a Way to Protect Their Habitat Fire is often thought of as something that trees should be protected from, but a new study suggests that some trees may themselves contribute to the likelihood of wildfires in order to promote their own abundance at the expense of their competitors. The study, which appears in the December 2009 issue of the journal The American Naturalist, says that positive feedback loops between fire and trees associated with savannas can make fires more likely in these ecosystems.
Species distribution models can exaggerate differences in environmental requirements Separate species that live in radically different environments don't necessarily also have different ecological niches. This is the finding of a study investigating the accuracy of current statistical tests that use models of geographic distributions to infer changes in environmental requirements.
Secrets of Unique Enzyme May Illuminate Ancient Ecosystems Montana State University chemists have determined the structure of an intermediate form of a unique enzyme that participates in some of the most fundamental reactions in biology.	Complexity and Diversity The mechanisms for the origin and maintenance of biological diversity are not fully understood. It is known that frequency-dependent selection, generating advantages for rare types, can maintain genetic variation and lead to speciation, but in models with simple phenotypes (that is, low-dimensional phenotype spaces), frequency dependence needs to be strong to generate diversity. However, we show that if the ecological properties of an organism are determined by multiple traits with complex interactions, the conditions needed for frequency-dependent selection to generate diversity are relaxed to the point where they are easily satisfied in high-dimensional phenotype spaces.
Pollens et allergie : tout dépend du temps Plus de 20% des Français sont touchés par des réactions allergiques dues aux pollens. La météo joue un rôle déterminant : elle intervient dans le déclenchement de la pollinisation, la quantité de pollen produit et le transport des grains dans l'air que nous respirons.
Breeding Orchid Species Creates a New Perfume Some orchids mimic the scent of a female insect in order to attract males for pollination. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology found that breeding two of these orchid species to generate a novel hybrid resulted in a new scent. This new odour had no effect on normal solitary bees from the area but was highly attractive to another species of wild bee that never visited any of the parent orchid species.
How Ancient Flowering Plants Grew: Early Angiosperms Were Weedy, Fast-Growing Fossils and their surrounding matrix can provide insights into what our world looked like millions of years ago. Fossils of angiosperms, or flowering plants (which are the most common plants today), first appear in the fossil record about 140 million years ago. Based on the material in which these fossils are deposited, it is thought that early angiosperms must have been weedy, fast-growing shrubs and herbs found in highly disturbed riparian stream channels and crevasses.
Brésil: tir de barrage contre les écologistes Un consortium brésilien à dominante publique a remporté mardi l'appel d'offres pour la construction en Amazonie du gigantesque barrage de Belo Monte, infligeant une défaite aux écologistes et aux indiens qui ont tenté jusqu'au bout de s'opposer à ce projet jugé dévastateur. Le consortium Norte Energia, dirigé par une filiale du brésilien Electrobras (publique), a été choisi à l'issue d'une bataille judiciaire à rebondissements. La justice fédérale a finalement rejeté mardi plusieurs recours présentés par un tribunal de l'Etat amazonien du Para, qui avaient eu pour effet de suspendre l'appel d'offres.			Une nouvelle espèce de champignon spectaculaire Une équipe de chercheurs du Laboratoire des symbioses tropicales et ses partenaires vient de découvrir, dans le Grand Sud de la Nouvelle-Calédonie, une nouvelle espèce de champignon d’un rose presque fluorescent et d’une forme très inattendue. Podoserpula miranda , ainsi nommé par ses découvreurs pour l’émerveillement qu’il a suscité, vit au cœur d’une forêt de « chênes gommes », en symbiose avec ces arbres
Presence of snails points to forest recovery - Post-fire management applications A team of Catalan researchers has studied the changes in the make-up of animal populations following forest fires, and have concluded that malacological fauna are a good indicator of forest recovery. The conclusions of this study will help to ensure that post-fire forestry operations that do not harm these species of molluscs, which are sensitive to microclimatic conditions of the soil and vegetation structure.
Traces of early Native Americans -- in sunflower genes In an upcoming issue of Current Biology, Indiana University Bloomington biologists present the first concrete evidence for how gene duplications can lead to functional diversity in organisms. In this case, the scientists learned how duplications of a gene called FLOWERING LOCUS T, or FT, could have evolved and interacted to prolong a flower's time to grow. A longer flower growth period means a bigger sunflower -- presumably an attribute of great value to the plant's first breeders.
Species distribution models can exaggerate differences in environmental requirements Separate species that live in radically different environments don't necessarily also have different ecological niches. This is the finding of a study investigating the accuracy of current statistical tests that use models of geographic distributions to infer changes in environmental requirements.		Traumatized Trees: Bug Them Enough, They Get Fired Up Whether forests are dying back, or just drying out, projections for warming show the Pacific Northwest is becoming primed for more wildfires. The area burned by fire each year is expected to double -- or even triple -- if temperatures increase by about 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit (2 C) in our region, according to University of Washington and USDA Forest Service research. Such temperature increases could occur in as little as 40 years, according to projections from the UW's Climate Impacts Group.
4,000 Years of Data Support Prescribed Burns in Southern Appalachians A new study reconstructing thousands of years of fire history in the southern Appalachians supports the use of prescribed fire, or controlled burns, as a tool to reduce the risk of wildfires, restore and maintain forest health and protect rare ecological communities in the region's forests.
Scientists to Unearth Ice Age Secrets from Preserved Tree Rings Oxford University is involved in a research project to unearth 30,000 year old climate records, before they are lost forever. The rings of preserved kauri trees, hidden in New Zealand's peat bogs, hold the secret to climate fluctuations spanning back to the end of the last Ice Age.
La biodiversité végétale est certes menacée par le changement climatique, mais pas de manière homogène Une étude dirigée par des chercheurs de l'Université de Bonn indique que les conditions de vie des plantes vont, en raison du changement climatique, être bouleversées dans les années à venir. Les résultats de l'étude, publiés dans la revue Proceedings of the Royal Society London [1], révèlent que la diversité biologique des végétaux présents dans les zones tropicales et subtropicales va diminuer au cours du XXIe siècle.
Bringing Dehydrated Plants 'Back to Life': Possible Key to Desiccation-Tolerant Plants Drought can take a serious toll on plants and animals alike. When cells are deprived of water, they shrink, collapsing in upon themselves and, without water as a medium, chemicals and enzymes inside the cells may malfunction. However, some plants, like the aptly named "resurrection fern" (Polypodium polypodioides), can survive extreme measures of water loss, even as much as 95% of their water content. How do the cells in these desiccation-tolerant plants remain viable?			Was a giant comet responsible for a North American catastrophe in 11000 BC? 13,000 years ago the Earth was struck by thousands of Tunguska-sized cometary fragments over the course of an hour, leading to a dramatic cooling of the planet, according to astronomer Professor Bill Napier of the Cardiff University Astrobiology Centre. He presents his new model in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Image: HST image of fragment B of Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3. Credit: Credit: NASA / ESA / H. Weaver (JHU/APL) / M. Mutchler / Z. Levay (STScI)
Le décryptage du génome de la truffe noire du Périgord : une avancée majeure dans la compréhension de la biologie du champignon le plus prestigieux Un consortium franco-italien, coordonné par une équipe du Centre INRA de Nancy et impliquant le Genoscope(1), le CNRS, et les Universités de Lorraine et de Méditerranée publie aujourd'hui un article sur le séquençage et le décryptage du génome de la très réputée truffe noire du Périgord (Tuber melanosporum). Cette avancée permet de mieux comprendre la biologie de cette espèce, la formation de ce précieux champignon et l'évolution de la symbiose entre arbres et champignons.
Microbial Answer to Plastic Pollution? Fragments of plastic in the ocean are not just unsightly but potentially lethal to marine life. Coastal microbes may offer a smart solution to clean up plastic contamination, according to Jesse Harrison presenting his research at the Society for General Microbiology's spring meeting in Edinburgh.
Un troisième sexe chez une espèce proche de l'olivier Un système de reproduction inconnu jusqu'à ce jour chez une espèce proche de l'olivier, Phillyrea angustifolia L. vient d'être découvert par des chercheurs du laboratoire de Génétique et évolution des populations végétales (CNRS/Université de Lille 1) et du Centre d'écologie fonctionnelle et évolutive (CNRS/Université de Montpellier 1, 2 et 3/ENSA Montpellier/CIRAD/Ecole pratique des hautes études). Ce système explique chez cette espèce la présence élevée d'individus mâles en mélange avec des hermaphrodites.	Entressen : la plus vaste décharge d'Europe fermera ses portes le 31 mars La décharge d'Entressen, considérée comme la plus vaste d'Europe, fermera ses portes demain soir et ne recevra donc plus de déchets à partir du 1er avril, annonce officiellement la préfecture des Bouches-du-Rhône. Ouvert en 1912 entre Saint-Martin-de-Crau et le village d'Entressen, le site devenu un monstrueux tas d'ordures (une épaisseur de 40 m sur une superficie de 150 ha) aurait dû fermer ses portes le 1er juillet 2002 comme le prévoyait la loi de 1992 qui donnait dix ans aux collectivités pour se mettre en conformité avec les directives européennes.
Exotic Plant Takes Over Dunes of Southern Spain Introduced more than 40 years ago, Galenia pubescens, an exotic plant from South Africa is found in great numbers in altered coastal environments in the south of Spain. Since its impacts on the ecosystem are unknown, a Spanish research team has studied its invasive capacity. The conclusions of this study show that, although populations of this plant are still at incipient levels, effective control is needed to prevent this "potentially" invasive plant from having more serious impacts.			Global Warming Threatens Plant Diversity In the coming decades, climate change is set to produce worldwide changes in the living conditions for plants, whereby major regional differences may be expected to occur. Thus today´s cool, moist regions could in future provide habitats for additional species, and in arid and hot regions the climatic prerequisites for a high degree of plant diversity will deteriorate. This is the conclusion reached in a new study by scientists at the Universities of Bonn, Göttingen and Yale, and published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society London.
Vast Microbial Diversity of Carnivorous Pitcher Plant Uncovered The microbial ecosystem inside the carnivorous pitcher plant is vastly more diverse than previously thought, according to research published in the March 2010 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.		Eleven Questions for the Next Decade of Geographical Sciences Eleven questions that should shape the next decade of geographical sciences research were identified in a new report by the National Research Council. Reflecting a time when populations are moving and natural resources are being depleted, the questions aim to provide a more complete understanding of where and how landscapes are changing to help society manage and adapt to the transformation of Earth's surface.
Summers Were Wetter in the Middle Ages Than They Are Today The severe epidemic of plague known as the "Black Death" caused the death of a third of the European population in the 14th century. It is probable that the climatic conditions of the time were a contributory factor towards the disaster. "The late Middle Ages were unique from the point of view of climate," explains Dr Ulf Büntgen of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) in Birmensdorf, Switzerland. "Significantly, there were distinct phases in which summers were wetter than they are today."
Les écosystèmes aquatiques menacés par la taille des poissons exotiques Les poissons introduits par l'homme dans les cours d'eau depuis 150 ans ont modifié la taille moyenne des communautés de poissons dans de nombreuses zones du globe. L'étude réalisée par des chercheurs du CNRS, de l'Université de Toulouse, de l'IRD et du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, ainsi que des universités d'Anvers (Belgique) et d'Ultrecht (Pays Bas), montre que les espèces de poissons introduites sont en moyenne 12 cm plus grandes que celles naturellement présentes dans les cours d'eau. Le remaniement de la structure en taille des communautés de poissons représente un fort risque de modification des écosystèmes aquatiques. Ces travaux sont publiés dans la revue Ecology Letters d'avril 2010.			Le monopole Monsanto : quel rôle pour l'administration Obama ? Le géant des semences, Monsanto, doit sa position de leader dans le secteur des biotechnologies semencières du fait qu'il a investi dans la recherche longtemps avant ses autres concurrents comme DuPont. La société a en effet consacré près de 6 milliards de dollars pour la recherche sur les semences pendant 10 ans avant 2008 et 1 milliard par an depuis. La multinationale américaine est surtout connue pour ses organismes génétiquement modifiés à l'aide d'un gène : le Roundup Ready inséré dans les semences depuis 1996 et qui en 2009 était présent dans près de 93% du soja américain. Cette position dominante sur la scène internationale lui a valu de nombreux procès.
Giant Sequoias Yield Longest Fire History from Tree Rings A 3,000-year record from 52 of the world's oldest trees shows that California's western Sierra Nevada was droughty and often fiery from 800 to 1300, according to new research. Scientists reconstructed the 3,000-year history of fire by dating fire scars on ancient giant sequoia trees, Sequoiadendron giganteum, in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park. Individual giant sequoias can live more than 3,000 years.
Rapid Increases in Tree Growth Found in US Researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Earthwatch met in Panama from Mar. 1-5 to present mid-term research results from the HSBC Climate Partnership, a five-year initiative to identify and respond to the impacts of climate change. The program is supported financially by HSBC and involves a global team of bank employees -- 'climate champions' -- in vital forest research.
Exploring Echinacea's Enigmatic Origins An Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist is helping to sort through the jumbled genetics of Echinacea, the coneflower known for its blossoms -- and its potential for treating infections, inflammation, and other human ailments. Only a few Echinacea species are currently cultivated as botanical remedies, and plant breeders would like to know whether other types also possess commercially useful traits. ARS horticulturist Mark Widrlechner, who works at the ARS North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station (NCRPIS) in Ames, Iowa, is partnering in research to find out how many distinct Echinacea species exist.
When Did the First 'Modern' Human Beings Appear in the Iberian Peninsula? Research carried out by a group of archaeologists from the Centre for Prehistoric Archaeological Heritage Studies of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (CEPAP_UAB) at the Cova Gran site (Lleida) has contributed to stirring up scientific debate about the appearance of the first "modern" human beings on the Iberian Peninsula* and their possible bearing on the extinction of the Neanderthals.
Flowering Plants May Be Considerably Older Than Previously Thought Previous studies suggest that flowering plants, or angiosperms, first arose 140 to 190 million years ago. Now, a paper to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences pushes back the age of angiosperms to 215 million years ago, some 25 to 75 million years earlier than either the fossil record or previous molecular studies suggest.			From International Harbor to Native Habitat: Detecting Exotic Pests Before Forest and Agricultural Invasion In the 1930s, soil used as ballast to weigh down cargo ships from South America to Mobile, Alabama introduced the red imported fire ant to the southern United States. Since then, the ants have been found as far north as Maryland and as far west as California, shorting out streetlights and eating through crops and native plants in the process.
Prehistoric Response to Global Warming Informs Human Planning Today Since 2004, University at Buffalo anthropologist Ezra Zubrow has worked intensively with teams of scientists in the Arctic regions of St. James Bay, Quebec, northern Finland and Kamchatka to understand how humans living 4,000 to 6,000 years ago reacted to climate changes.
Europe's research future AbstractThe region's member states must follow through on their political and scientific commitments.	Plant biologists fear for cress project Is enthusiasm withering for funding studies into Arabidopsis thaliana? The brilliant career of a diminutive weed may have hit a snag. Arabidopsis thaliana has been the darling of plant biologists for some 30 years because of its small genome and rapid growth, and in 2000 it became the first plant to have its genome sequenced. To capitalize on this, the US National Science Foundation (NSF) soon afterwards dedicated US$200 million towards determining the function of every Arabidopsis gene by 2010.
Nature : la climatologie confrontée au «street fight» La revue Nature, l'une des plus lues dans les labos, a proposé hier un éditorial musclé. Il invite les climatologues à comprendre que les «deniers» - les «négateurs» ou climato-sceptiques - ne sont pas des gentlemen, mais des voyous, adeptes du combat de rues, «street fight» dans le texte. Et que ces derniers ont conquis les médias, sans difficulté (avec des complicités multiples, comme celle de Guillaume Durand sur la 2 qui a bien usé la brosse à reluire pour Claude Allègre).
38 % of World's Surface in Danger of Desertification Researchers have measured the degradation of the planet's soil using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), a scientific methodology that analyses the environmental impact of human activities, and which now for the first time includes indicators on desertification. The results show that 38 percent of the world is made up of arid regions at risk of desertification. Article in The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment
Idea of Restoring 'Natural Systems' Misses Mark as Response to Climate Change Challenges, Expert Argues The adage says that to discover the right solutions to a problem you first have to ask the right questions. As Arizona State University engineering professor Brad Allenby sees it, our search for technological solutions to large-scale environmental problems sometimes gets off on the wrong track largely because we're posing the wrong questions.
Geraniums Could Help Control Devastating Japanese Beetle The beetle, Popillia japonica Newman, can feast on a wide variety of plants, including ornamentals, soybean, maize, fruits and vegetables. But within 30 minutes of consuming geranium petals, the beetle rolls over on its back, its legs and antennae slowly twitch, and it remains paralyzed for several hours. The beetles typically recover within 24 hours when paralyzed under laboratory conditions, but they often succumb to death under field conditions after predators spot and devour the beetles while they are helpless.
Asexual Plant Reproduction May Seed New Approach for Agriculture Farmers throughout the world spend an estimated $36 billion a year to buy seeds for crops, especially those with sought after traits such as hardiness and pest-resistance. They can't grow these seeds themselves because the very act of sexual reproduction erases many of those carefully selected traits. So year after year, farmers must purchase new supplies of specially-produced seeds			Le Grenelle .. «Je voudrais dire un mot de toutes ces questions d'environnement. Parce que là aussi, ça commence à bien faire» N. Sarkozy, le 6 mars
Europe’s flora is becoming impoverished Halle/Saale. With increasing species richness, due to more plant introductions than extinctions, plant communities of many European regions are becoming more homogeneous. The same species are occurring more frequently, whereas rare species are becoming extinct. It is not only the biological communities that are becoming increasingly similar, but also the phylogenetic relations between regions. These processes have led to a loss of uniqueness among European floras, scientists from the DAISIE research project have published their findings in the current online edition of the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS). l'article PNAS
Strategic Research Program Needed to Determine Whether, How Past Climate Influenced Human Evolution WASHINGTON -- Understanding how past climate may have influenced human evolution could be dramatically enhanced by an international cross-disciplinary research program to improve the sparse human fossil and incomplete climate records and examine the link between the two, says a new report from the National Research Council. Le document complet (pdf 2 Mo)
New Energy Source from the Common Pea: Scientists Create a Solar Energy Device from a Plant Protein Structure If harnessing the unlimited solar power of the sun were easy, we wouldn't still have the greenhouse gas problem that results from the use of fossil fuel. And while solar energy systems work moderately well in hot desert climates, they are still inefficient and contribute only a small percentage of the general energy demand. A new solution may be coming from an unexpected source -- a source that may be on your dinner plate tonight.
UE : l'autorisation de la culture d'une pomme de terre OGM est vivement critiquée La pomme de terre OGM Amflora de l'allemand BASF, dont la Commission européenne a autorisé hier la culture, suscite des critiques de la part des écologistes mais aussi du gouvernement français qui attend l'avis du HCB pour ''arrêter sa position''. Après l'annonce hier de la Commission européenne d'autoriser la culture de la pomme de terre OGM Amflora du groupe allemand BASF, les Ministères français du Développement durable et de l'Agriculture ont décidé le 2 mars de saisir le Haut Conseil des biotechnologies (HCB), ''notamment sur la présence, dans cette pomme de terre, d'un gène marqueur de résistance à un antibiotique'', ont-ils indiqué dans un communiqué commun.				Stress and Trade-Offs Explain Life's Diversity: A New Model Plants and people alike face critical choices as they reproduce: to make a few big, well-provisioned seeds -- or babies--or many small, poorly-provisioned ones. Different species make strikingly different choices, resulting in a great diversity of life forms: Darwin's "endless forms most beautiful.
Scientists Develop New Method for Tracking Seed Dispersal and Establishment A Penn State biologist and his collaborators have developed a new method for tracking seed movement and germination. According to Tomás Carlo, assistant professor of biology at Penn State and the leader of the study, the technique will be useful for studying plant dispersal and how plants adjust to global climate change. The technique also will enable scientists to gather biological information about invasive plants that is critical to controlling their spread. The team's results appeared in the December 2009 issue of the journal Ecology.
La photosynthèse offre une nouvelle source d'énergie électrique Des chercheurs du CNRS ont transformé l'énergie chimique issue de la photosynthèse en énergie électrique. Ils proposent ainsi une nouvelle stratégie qui convertit l'énergie solaire en énergie électrique de manière écologique et renouvelable. Cette biopile pourrait aussi avoir des applications médicales. Ces travaux viennent d'être publiés dans la revue Analytical Chemistry.
Forest Tree Species Diversity Depends on Individual Variation It's a paradox that's puzzled scientists for a half-century. Models clearly show that the coexistence of competing species depends on those species responding differently to the availability of resources. Then why do studies comparing competing tree species draw a blank? Competitors like black gums and red maples have coexisted for millennia in the shaded understories of eastern U.S. forests, yet species-level data offer scant proof that they respond differently to environmental fluctuations that limit access to light, soil moisture and other essential resources.					More Frequent Fires Could Aid Ecosystems With a changing climate there's a good chance that forest fires in the Pacific Northwest will become larger and more frequent -- and according to one expert speaking at a professional conference, that's just fine.
DNA Sequencing Unlocks Evolutionary Origins, Relationships Among Flowering Plants The origins of flowering plants from peas to oak trees are now in clearer focus thanks to the efforts of University of Florida researchers. A study appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences unravels 100 million years of evolution through an extensive analysis of plant genomes. It targets one of the major moments in plant evolution, when the ancestors of most of the world's flowering plants split into two major groups
Environmental Disaster in Southern Spain Compared With Cretaceous Mass Extinction Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) have compared the disaster caused by the Aznalcóllar spillage in the Doñana National Park in Andalusia 11 years ago with the biggest species extinction known to date. What do these two disasters have in common? The scientists say that carrying out comparisons of this kind will make it possible to find out how ecosystems recover following mass extinctions.				Roots Key to Second Green Revolution Root systems are the basis of the second Green Revolution, and the focus on beans and corn that thrive in poor growing conditions will help some of the world's poorest farmers, according to a Penn State plant scientist.
Will Earlier Springs Throw Nature out of Step? The collaborative study, involving scientists from 12 UK research institutions, universities and conservation organisations, is the most comprehensive and rigorous assessment so far of long-term changes in the seasonal timing (phenology) of biological events across marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments in the UK.
Scientists Unlock Mystery in Important Photosynthesis Step An international team of scientists, including two from Arizona State University, has taken a significant step closer to unlocking the secrets of photosynthesis, and possibly to cleaner fuels.			Discovery of Nutrient 'Mining Machine' in Plants Scientists from the John Innes Centre and the University of Oxford have discovered which genes control the specialized nutrient mining machine that develops on the surface of plant roots.
Evolution Impacts Environment: Fundamental Shift in How Biologists Perceive Relationship Between Evolution and Ecology Biologists have known for long that ecology, the interaction between organisms and their environment, plays a significant role in forming new species and in modifying living ones. The traditional view is that ecology shapes evolution. The environment defines a template and the process of evolution by natural selection shapes organisms to fit that template.
Thirty-Eight Percent of World's Surface in Danger of Desertification Researchers have measured the degradation of the planet's soil using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), a scientific methodology that analyses the environmental impact of human activities, and which now for the first time includes indicators on desertification. The results show that 38 percent of the world is made up of arid regions at risk of desertification.
Almond Tree's Secret Weapon Has the almond tree developed a unique way of drawing potential pollinators? A group of researchers at the Department of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology and the Department of Science Education at the University of Haifa-Oranim speculate that the toxin called amygdalin that is found in almond tree nectar is in fact an evolutionary development intended to give that tree an advantage over others in its surroundings.
Environmental Disaster in Southern Spain Compared With Cretaceous Mass Extinction Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) have compared the disaster caused by the Aznalcóllar spillage in the Doñana National Park in Andalusia 11 years ago with the biggest species extinction known to date. What do these two disasters have in common?		First Discovery of the Female Sex Hormone Progesterone in a Plant In a finding that overturns conventional wisdom, scientists are reporting the first discovery of the female sex hormone progesterone in a plant. Until now, scientists thought that only animals could make progesterone. A steroid hormone secreted by the ovaries, progesterone prepares the uterus for pregnancy and maintains pregnancy. A synthetic version, progestin, is used in birth control pills and other medications.
World Wetlands Day Focuses on Climate Change World Wetlands Day 2010: 'Wetlands, Biodiversity and Climate Change' stresses the fact that caring for wetlands is a part of the solution to climate change with the slogan: 'Caring for wetlands -- an answer to climate change Wetlands are vulnerable to human-induced climate change but, if managed well, they also play a role in its mitigation. These habitats will also be important in helping humans to adapt to climate change through their critical role in ensuring water and food security.
The Secret Life of Smoke in Fostering Rebirth and Renewal of Burned Landscape The innermost secrets of fire's role in the rebirth and renewal of forests and grasslands are being revealed in research that has identified plant growth promoters and inhibitors in smoke. In the latest discovery about smoke's secret life, an international team of scientists are reporting discovery of a plant growth inhibitor in smoke.
Ecologists discover forests are growing faster Speed is not a word typically associated with trees; they can take centuries to grow. However, a new study to be published the week of Feb. 1 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has found evidence that forests in the Eastern United States are growing faster than they have in the past 225 years. The study offers a rare look at how an ecosystem is responding to climate change.			Plantations Can Provide the Same Ecosystem Services as Natural Forests Not all plantations need to be the biological deserts that have come to characterize large-scale, industrial plantations. According to scientists in a paper out in February's issue of the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, well-planned plantations can actually alleviate some of the social, economic and ecological burden currently being placed on natural forests.
Ecoregion Prioritization Suggests an Armoury Not a Silver Bullet for Conservation Planning In the face of accelerating species extinctions, map-based prioritization systems are increasingly useful to decide where to pursue conservation action most effectively. However, a number of seemingly inconsistent schemes have emerged, mostly focussing on endemism
Last Neanderthals in Europe Died out 37,000 Years Ago The paper, by Professor João Zilhão and colleagues, builds on his earlier research which proposed that, south of the Cantabro-Pyrenean mountain chain, Neanderthals survived for several millennia after being replaced or assimilated by anatomically modern humans everywhere else in Europe.		Cave Reveals Southwest's Abrupt Climate Swings During Ice Age Ice Age climate records from an Arizona stalagmite link the Southwest's winter precipitation to temperatures in the North Atlantic, according to new research. The finding is the first to document that the abrupt changes in Ice Age climate known from Greenland also occurred in the southwestern U.S., said co-author Julia E. Cole of the University of Arizona in Tucson
How Organisms Can Tolerate Mutations, Yet Adapt to Environmental Change Biologists at the University of Pennsylvania studying the processes of evolution appear to have resolved a longstanding conundrum: How can organisms be robust against the effects of mutations yet simultaneously adaptable when the environment changes? The short answer, according to University of Pennsylvania biologist Joshua B. Plotkin, is that these two requirements are often not contradictory and that an optimal level of robustness maintains the phenotype in one environment but also allows adaptation to environmental change.						Budget des Universités 2010
Des fleurs vont être plantées le long des routes de France pour les abeilles Des fleurs vont être plantées le long de certaines routes de France pour venir en aide aux abeilles butineuses en mal de pollen et décimées par les maladies, une initiative lancée par le gouvernement qui pourrait être étendue à terme à l'ensemble du réseau routier national. Au printemps 2010, des espèces végétales mellifères vont ainsi être semées sur plus de 250 kilomètres d'accotements routiers afin d'offrir aux abeilles de nouvelles ressources florales pour leur alimentation", ont expliqué mardi Dominique Bussereau, secrétaire d'Etat aux Transports, et Chantal Jouanno, secrétaire d'Etat à l'Ecologie.			Les glaciers fondent en Alaska, mais moins vite que prévu Des glaciologues du Laboratoire d'Etudes en Géophysique et Océanographie Spatiales (LEGOS) (CNRS/CNES/IRD/Université Toulouse 3) et leurs collègues canadiens (1) montrent que les pertes de masse des glaciers d'Alaska depuis 40 ans ont été largement surestimées, remettant en cause des résultats publiés en 2002. Des données récentes issues des satellites SPOT 5 et ASTER ont permis aux chercheurs de cartographier presque intégralement les pertes d'épaisseur de ces glaciers qui ont contribué à hauteur de 0.12 mm/an à la hausse du niveau de la mer entre 1962 et 2006 et non pas 0.17 mm/an comme avancé précédemment.
Sunflower Genome Holds the Promise of Sustainable Agriculture The sunflower family includes a number of valuable food crops, with sunflower seed production alone valued at about $14 billion annually. Yet the sunflower family is the only one of a handful of economically important plant families where a reference genome is not available to enable the breeding of crops better suited to their growing environment or consumers tastes.
Stable Climate and Plant Domestication Linked Sustainable farming and the introduction of new crops relies on a relatively stable climate, not dramatic conditions attributable to climate change. Basing their argument on evolutionary, ecological, genetic and agronomic considerations, Dr. Shahal Abbo, from the Levi Eshkol School of Agriculture at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, and colleagues, demonstrate why climate change is not the likely cause of plant domestication in the Near East.
Muséum: Lancement du nouveau site Internet de l'inventaire national du Patrimoine naturel A l'occasion de l'Année Internationale de la Biodiversité, le Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle et le CNRS ouvrent une version rénovée du site internent de l'Inventaire national du patrimoine naturel, outil indispensable dédié à la connaissance de la biodiversité en France métropolitaine et dans les départements et territoires d'outre-mer. Cette nouvelle version, plus ergonomique et plus complète, présente les données compilées des nombreuses bases de données naturalistes conservées au Muséum national et fait le lien avec les statuts de protection des espèces. Site INPN
Genome of Woodland Strawberry, a Model System for Rosaceae Plants, Sequenced Fragaria vesca, commonly known as the woodland or alpine strawberry, is a member of the Rosaceae family, which consists of more than 100 genera and 3,000 species. This large family includes many economically important and popular fruit, nut, ornamental and woody crops, such as almond, apple, peach, cherry, raspberry, strawberry and rose.				Biologists Merge Methods, Results from Different Disciplines to Find New Meaning in Old Data A growing number of scientists are merging methods and results from different disciplines to extract new meaning from old data, says a team of researchers in a recent issue of Evolution.
ARTE à fond sur l'écologie Global mag est de retour à partir du lundi 11 janvier à 19h30, et en version quotidienne ! Voici un aperçu du Global mag mouture 2010			Biodiversity loss is 'wake-up call', warns UN The Secretary-General is expected to argue that the failure to protect biodiversity "should be a wake-up call", leading to effective ways of protecting forests, watersheds, coral reefs and other ecosystems
Can a drop of water cause sunburn or fire? To the gardening world it may have always been considered a fact, but science has never proved the widely held belief that watering your garden in the midday sun can lead to burnt plants. Now a study into sunlit water droplets, published in New Phytologist, provides an answer that not only reverberates across gardens and allotments, but may have implications for forest fires and human sunburn.				A new species of lichen discovered in the Iberian Peninsula Spanish scientists have described the lichen Phylloblastia fortuita, new to the Iberian Peninsula and to science. Another species from the same family, Phylloblastia dispersa, is also a new entry for Europe and is the first time it has been found outside the tropics.
How Plants 'Feel' the Temperature Rise Plants are incredibly temperature sensitive and can perceive changes of as little as one degree Celsius. Now, a report in the January 8th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, shows how they not only 'feel' the temperature rise, but also coordinate an appropriate response -- activating hundreds of genes and deactivating others; it turns out it's all about the way that their DNA is packaged.
Warmer Climate Could Stifle Carbon Uptake by Trees, Study Finds Our findings contradict studies of other ecosystems that conclude longer growing seasons actually increase plant carbon uptake," said Jia Hu, who conducted the research as a graduate student in CU-Boulder's ecology and evolutionary biology department in conjunction with the university's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, or CIRES.					Scientists Map Speed of Climate Change for Different Ecosystems
Evolution Experiments With Flowers Evolution uses every chance it gets to try something new. Dutch researcher Anneke Rijpkema investigated how petunia flowers are formed and discovered that nature is even more varied than the naked eye can spot. The genes involved in flower formation can function differently in different species. Evolution has discovered a system that works, but within that system it continues to innovate. Up until now, research into the regulation of flower formation focused mostly on two model species: Arabidopsis and Anthirrhinum. Yet according to Rijpkema that is not enough to gain a complete picture.
Phragmites Partners With Microbes to Plot Native Plants' Demise The invasive strain, which hails from Eurasia, overtakes its "native" cousin, which has lived in North America for the past 10,000 years, ironically by provoking the native plant to "take itself out," through a combination of microbial and enzymatic activity in the soil.
Europe's Flora Is Becoming Impoverished With increasing species richness, due to more plant introductions than extinctions, plant communities of many European regions are becoming more homogeneous. The same species are occurring more frequently, whereas rare species are becoming extinct.			The Past Matters to Plants It's commonly known that plants interact with each other on an everyday basis: they shade each other out or take up nutrients from the soil before neighboring plants can get them. Now, researchers at the University of Michigan have learned that plants also respond to the past.
Microorganisms Cited as Missing Factor in Climate Change Equation The research, publishing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, incorporates into global computer models the significant impact an enzyme, carbonic anhydrase, has on the chemical form of carbon dioxide released from the soil and reduces uncertainties in estimates of CO2 taken up and released in terrestrial ecosystems.
Valley in Jordan Inhabited and Irrigated for 13,000 Years You can make major discoveries by walking across a field and picking up every loose item you find. Dutch researcher Eva Kaptijn succeeded in discovering -- based on 100,000 finds -- that the Zerqa Valley in Jordan had been successively inhabited and irrigated for more than 13,000 years. But it was not just communities that built irrigation systems: the irrigation systems also built communities.
Les premières traces d'activités humaines connues en Europe occidentale repoussées de plus de 200 000 ans. Une équipe mixte du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle et du CNRS vient de mettre au jour un site archéologique d'exception dans la vallée de l'Hérault (Sud de la France). La carrière de basalte de la commune de Lézignan-la-Cèbe révèle en effet l'existence d'une nouvelle faune « villafranchienne (1) » du Pléistocène inférieur (entre 1,8 million d'années et 780 000 ans), couplée à un cortège d'objets fabriqués par l'homme.		Changement climatique et environnement Des cornes de bouquetin qui en disent long sur le climat des prairies Comment les écosystèmes végétaux réagissent-ils à long terme à la hausse de la concentration en dioxyde de carbone (CO2) dans l'atmosphère ? Cette question fondamentale dans un contexte de changement climatique a été soulevée par un groupe de chercheurs du département des sciences végétales de l'Université technique de Munich (TUM) [1]. Ceux-ci ont, lors d'une première mondiale, analysé le phénomène sur des prairies européennes. Leurs résultats sont le fruit de moyens plutôt inhabituels : des cornes de bouquetins suisses et du foin âgé de 150 ans provenant d'Angleterre.
Your Christmas Tree Has Seven Times More DNA Than You Do! Take a close look at your Christmas tree -- it has seven times more genetic material (DNA) than you do! Why this is so is still largely unknown, but now the DNA of the spruce is going to be mapped by Swedish researchers from Umeå Plant Science Center (a collaboration between the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and Umeå University), the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), and the Karolinska Institute (KI), with the aid of a SEK 75 million grant from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation
‘Extreme’ genes sheds light on origins of photosynthesis While most school children understand that green plants photosynthesize, absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, few people consider the profound global-scale effects that photosynthesis has had on Earth. One of those actively shedding light on the origins and evolution of photosynthesis is Jeffrey Touchman, assistant professor in the School of Life Sciences.
Poissons de rivière : une espèce sur cinq menacée en France Selon un rapport publié hier, plus du quart des espèces de poissons d'eau douce vivant en France sont menacées de disparition. L'étude a porté sur 69 des 95 espèces connues en France métropolitaine. La plupart des espèces non étudiées sont des nouvelles venues sur le territoire, introduites par exemple au 19ème siècle comme le Silure glane ou l'Omble de fontaine. Le résultat majeur : 15 espèces sont menacées de disparition à court terme. En outre 22 espèces sur les 69 ne sont en réalité pas classées faute de données suffisantes. (photo Apron du Rhône, Marianne Georget, CREN).				Nearly 100 New Species Described by California Academy of Sciences in 2009 In 2009, researchers at the California Academy of Sciences added 94 new relatives to our family tree. The new species include 65 arthropods, 14 plants, eight fishes, five sea slugs, one coral, and one fossil mammal. They were described by two dozen Academy scientists along with several dozen international collaborators.
Europe's Flora Is Becoming Impoverished With increasing species richness, due to more plant introductions than extinctions, plant communities of many European regions are becoming more homogeneous. The same species are occurring more frequently, whereas rare species are becoming extinct. It is not only the biological communities that are becoming increasingly similar, but also the phylogenetic relations between regions. These processes have led to a loss of uniqueness among European floras ...			Can Biodiversity Persist In The Face Of Climate Change? Predictions made over the last decade about the impacts of climate change on biodiversity may be exaggerated, according to a paper published in the journal Science. Oxford University researchers, Professor Kathy Willis and Dr Shonil Bhagwat, argue that predicting the fate of biodiversity in the face of climate change is 'fraught with caveats and complexities'.
Glacial Rebound: 10,000-Year Study of Strata Compaction and Sea-Level Rise on English Coast Environmental scientists at the University of Pennsylvania and Durham University have employed a novel combination of geological and model reconstructions of wetland environments during a 10,000-year period to address spatial variations in sea-level history and provide quantitative estimates of subsidence along the east coast of England.
'Killer Petunias' Should Join the Ranks of Carnivorous Plants, Scientists Propose Scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Natural History Museum believe that carnivorous behaviour in plants is far more widespread than previously thought, with many commonly grown plants -- such as petunias -- at least part way to being "meat eaters." A review paper, Murderous plants: Victorian Gothic, Darwin and modern insights into vegetable carnivory, is published			Study finds new relationship between gene duplication and alternative splicing in plants Athens, Ga. – University of Georgia scientists looking to understand the genetic mechanisms of plant defense and growth have found for the first time in plants an inverse relationship between gene duplication and alternative splicing. The finding has implications for diversity not only in plants, but in animals and humans.
Iron Curtain kept out alien birds (Perruches à collier à Marseille) The Iron Curtain that divided Europe for 46 years left an indelible imprint on the continent's wildlife. The isolation of Eastern Europe meant that far fewer alien bird species colonised it, scientists have found. Restrictions on the movement of people and trade into Eastern bloc countries prevented the birds entering. While westerners imported exotic birds such as parrots and weavers, people in Eastern Europe introduced just a few game birds that were good for hunting. The discovery is published in the journal Biological Conservation.
Logging Effects Vary Based on a Forest's History, Climate A Smoky Mountain forest's woodland herb population has shown that climate may play a role in how forest understories recover from logging, according to Purdue University research. Despite heavy logging in portions of the forest nearly 80 years ago, the distribution of trillium plants on the secondary forest floor was similar to that of undisturbed areas. Michael Jenkins, a Purdue assistant professor of forestry and natural resources, said that contrasts with a study by other researchers of an Oregon forest in which trillium didn't recover after logging.
Carbon and Oxygen in Tree Rings Can Reveal Past Climate Information Scientists have long looked at the width of tree rings to estimate temperature levels of past years. Larger rings indicate more tree growth in a season, which translates into warmer summer temperatures. But the analysis of carbon and oxygen isotopes in tree rings can also provide accurate data on past climate events, say researchers working in northern Canada.		Découverte d'une nouvelle espèce d'arbre Andiroba au Guyana Une équipe de botanistes à laquelle appartiennent des scientifiques du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle et du CNRS, Pierre-Michel Forget et Odile Poncy, vient de décrire une nouvelle espèce d'arbre endémique du Guyana central(1) Carapa akuri, suite à une série de missions(2) réalisées entre 2003 et 2006. Ce précieux travail de terrain, associé à une combinaison d'études phylogénétiques et morphologiques a permis la mise en évidence de cette nouvelle espèce et de souligner sa fragilité. Les résultats de cette étude sont publiés dans la revue Brittonia (New York Botanical Garden) du mois de décembre
Some Trees and Insects Are Made for Each Other Christopher Irwin Smith describes research on Joshua trees, yucca moths and the question of whether coevolution between plants and their insect pollinators produced the spectacular diversity of plants and insects
Drought-Related Shrinking Processes Detected in Living Roots in the Soil for the First Time Plant roots can shrink as a result of water deficit and lose contact with the surrounding soil. This effect has been suspected for a long time, but has only now been demonstrated for a fact with the help of x-ray tomography. The formation of an air gap could initially help plants prevent impending water losses when the soil dries out, say scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) writing in the Vadose Zone Journal.				How Did Flowering Plants Evolve to Dominate Earth? To Charles Darwin it was an 'abominable mystery' and it is a question which has continued to vex evolutionists to this day: when did flowering plants evolve and how did they come to dominate plant life on earth? A new study in Ecology Letters reveals the evolutionary trigger which led to early flowering plants gaining a major competitive advantage over rival species, leading to their subsequent boom and abundance.
Dans les secrets du bois La dendrochronologie, qui permet de dater le bois en analysant les cernes de croissance, est un formidable outil de connaissance du patrimoine bâti. Pourtant, les professionnels de la restauration des monuments sont loin d'en exploiter tout le potentiel, peut-être à cause de son image un peu poussiéreuse », estime Yannick Le Digol. Pour y remédier, le jeune archéologue a cofondé Dendrotech1 en 2006, avec Vincent Bernard, chargé de recherche au Centre de recherche en archéologie, archéosciences, histoire
How Can Evolutionary Responses to Climate Change Be Measured? As global temperatures continue to rise, scientists are presented with the complex challenge of understanding how species respond and adapt. In a paper published in Insect Conservation and Diversity, Dr Francisco Rodriguez-Trelles and Dr Miguel Rodriguez assess this challenge.		Past Regional Cold and Warm Periods Linked to Natural Climate Drivers Intervals of regional warmth and cold in the past are linked to the El Niño phenomenon and the so-called "North Atlantic Oscillation" in the Northern hemisphere's jet stream, according to a team of climate scientists. These linkages may be important in assessing the regional effects of future climate change.
Big freeze plunged Europe into ice age in months In the film, ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ the world enters the icy grip of a new glacial period within the space of just a few weeks. Now new research shows that this scenario may not be so far from the truth after all. William Patterson, from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, and his colleagues have shown that switching off the North Atlantic circulation can force the Northern hemisphere into a mini ‘ice age’ in a matter of months. Previous work has indicated that this process would take tens of years.
Traditional Indigenous Fire Management Techniques Deployed Against Climate Change A landmark Australian project that mitigates the extent and severity of natural savannah blazes by deploying traditional Indigenous fire management techniques is being hailed as a model with vast global potential in the fights against climate change and biodiversity loss, and for protecting Indigenous lands and culture.			L'évolution du climat depuis 1500 ans précisée Ce travail permet de résoudre plusieurs mystères, notamment l'étendue spatiale du réchauffement perçu en Europe à l'époque médiévale (entre 950 et 1250), symbolisé par l'installation de Viking au Groënland (image d'Eric le Rouge ci-contre). Ou celle du Petit âge glaciaire (entre 1400 et 1700), lui aussi très marqué en Europe. Science podcast
Doctorats aux Etats-Unis : le rêve américain est encore bien présent ! Selon un rapport commandé par six agences fédérales et publié par la NSF, 48 802 doctorats ont été décernés par des établissements d'enseignement supérieur américains en 2008. Il s'agit de la sixième année consécutive d'augmentation (+1,4% par rapport à 2007).
Rare Woodland Plant Uses 'Cryptic Coloration' to Hide from Predators It is well known that some animal species use camouflage to hide from predators. Individuals that are able to blend in to their surroundings and avoid being eaten are able to survive longer, reproduce, and thus increase their fitness (pass along their genes to the next generation) compared to those who stand out more. This may seem like a good strategy, and fairly common in the animal kingdom, but who ever heard of a plant doing the same thing?
Safety Valve” Protects Photosynthesis from Too Much Light Photosynthetic organisms need to cope with a wide range of light intensities, which can change over timescales of seconds to minutes. Too much light can damage the photosynthetic machinery and cause cell death. Scientists at the Carnegie Institution were part of a team that found that specific proteins in algae can act as a safety valve to dissipate excess absorbed light energy before it can wreak havoc in cells.		LANCEMENT D’UN PLAN NATIONAL D’ACTIONS POUR LA RESTAURATION DES MILIEUX AQUATIQUES A l'occasion de la signature du contrat d’objectifs entre l’Onema et l’État à Lisieux le 13 novembre dernier , Chantal JOUANNO, secrétaire d’État chargée de l’Ecologie, a annoncé le lancement d’un plan d’action national pour la restauration des cours d’eau. Avec Jean-Louis BORLOO, elle juge en effet impératif, aujourd’hui, que l’Etat, ses établissements publics, dont l’ONEMA, mais aussi les agences de l’eau, adoptent tous un plan d’action ambitieux, regroupé autour de 5 piliers
On the Origin of Nematodes: Phylogenetic Tree of World's Most Numerous Group of Animals Scientists from Wageningen University and Research Centre have published the largest nematode phylogenetic tree to date in cooperation with the Dutch Plant Protection Service (PD) and the University of California (Riverside) in the November issue of the journal Nematology. It contains over 1,200 species and is entirely based on the analysis of DNA sequence data.				Time-Tunneling for Climate Change Clues ARS researchers have been studying plant reactions to changes in C02 levels, from the Ice Age 13,000 to 18,000 B.C. to the year 2050 A.D. by growing them in long, plastic-covered "time tunnels."
Can Biodiversity Persist In The Face Of Climate Change? Predictions made over the last decade about the impacts of climate change on biodiversity may be exaggerated, according to a paper published in the journal Science. Oxford University researchers, Professor Kathy Willis and Dr Shonil Bhagwat, argue that predicting the fate of biodiversity in the face of climate change is 'fraught with caveats and complexities'.
Paleoecologists Offer New Insight Into How Climate Change Will Affect Organisms An article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences written by a team of ecologists, including Robert Booth, assistant professor of earth and environmental science at Lehigh University, examines some of the potential problems with current prediction methods and calls for the use of a range of approaches when predicting the impact of climate change on organisms.
Ancient High-Altitude Trees Grow Faster as Temperatures Rise Increasing temperatures at high altitudes are fueling the post-1950 growth spurt seen in bristlecone pines, the world's oldest trees, according to new research. Pines close to treeline have wider annual growth rings for the period from 1951 to 2000 than for the previous 3,700 years, reports a University of Arizona-led research team. Regional temperatures have increased, particularly at high elevations, during the same 50-year time period. The National Science Foundation has a related audio slide show, "Written in Tree Rings,"					New Climate Treaty Could Put Species at Risk, Scientists Argue Plans to be discussed at the forthcoming UN climate conference in Copenhagen to cut deforestation in developing countries could save some species from extinction but inadvertently increase the risk to others, scientists believe.
La découverte de plantes rares dans des salins sème la discorde Dans ce salin, situé vers Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône, le port prévoit de creuser une liaison fluviale qui permettra de connecter une darse au canal du Rhône. Informée du projet, l'association dépêche des équipes sur place pour faire un inventaire. « On ne s'attendait pas à ça, raconte Cyril Girard, de Nacicca. L'une de ces plantes aquatiques, qui est protégée, n'existe que sur quelques sites dans le sud de la France et de l'Italie. L'autre espèce avait disparu de l'Hexagone depuis trente ans. »
Claude Allègre insulte à nouveau les climatologues Dans Le Parisien, l'ancien ministre socialiste Claude Allègre affirme à propos des climatologues «c'est un lobby de spécialistes météo du monde entier qui travaille dans un intérêt financier.» Cette insulte est publiée sous un titre-citation qui affirme «la planète s'est refroidie depuis dix ans». Sur ce point, lire ici et ici. Cette nouvelle attaque du géochimiste, membre de l'Académie des sciences, survient alors que les négociations pour le sommet de Copenhague sont de plus en plus ardues, et laissent penser que cette Conférence des Parties des pays membres de la Convention Climat de l'ONU s'achemine vers un niveau de décision très faible, en tous cas très éloigné des recommandations des climatologues.			Can A Plant Be Altruistic? Although plants have the ability to sense and respond to other plants, their ability to recognize kin and act altruistically has been the subject of few studies. The authors explored kin recognition in Impatiens pallida (yellow jewelweed). By moving their resources into leaves, these plants not only positively affected their own growth, but also negatively affected their competitors' growth. This is the first instance where researchers demonstrated that a plant's response to an aboveground cue is dependent upon the presence of a belowground cue.
Etang de Berre : les élus locaux souhaitent une poursuite du contentieux Cinq ans après la condamnation de la France par Bruxelles concernant la pollution de l'étang de Berre et à l'approche du bilan final, les élus locaux demandent une poursuite du contentieux et de nouvelles mesures de protection.		Liste Rouge des espèces menacées en France (2009) L'Union mondiale pour la nature (UICN) a mis à jour la liste rouge 2009 des espèces menacées dans le monde. C'est un rapport alarmant qu'elle a publié, révélant que 17.291 espèces animales et végétales sont menacées d'extinction, dont 778 hébergées sur le territoire français.
L'avenir de la planète se prédit sous les étoiles de Haute-Provence Sur le site de Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire, des chercheurs ont installé, dans une forêt de chênes blancs, un laboratoire pour expérimenter le réchauffement climatique. Un observatoire pour explorer le changement climatique Parution du 8 novembre dans la Provence Lien vers le site de "La Provence"
How Bacteria Get Past Our Defenses Mucus is more than gross--it's a critical barrier against disease, trapping many of the germs that want to invade your body. A wet mesh of proteins, antiseptic enzymes and salts, mucus is what keeps all but a few microbes from wreaking havoc on many of our most exposed tissues.
L’environnement semi-boisé d’Ardipithecus ramidus, un hominidé vieux de 4,4 millions d’années La revue Science a publié il y a quelques semaines un numéro spécial contenant onze articles consacrés à Ardipithecus ramidus, un hominidé femelle de 4.4 millions d’années trouvé en Ethiopie en 1994. Dix-sept années de recherches ont été nécessaires à la cinquantaine de chercheurs ayant participé au Middle Awash research project. Des scientifiques du Centre européen de recherche et d’enseignement en géoscience de l’environnement (CNRS/Université Aix-Marseille 3) et du Centre de bio-archéologie et d’écologie (CNRS/Université Montpellier 2) ont notamment participé à ces travaux dont les résultats paléo-anthropologiques ouvrent un nouveau chapitre sur la connaissance de l'évolution des hominidés et leur environnement.				Common Plants Can Eliminate Indoor Air Pollutants Air quality in homes, offices, and other indoor spaces is becoming a major health concern, particularly in developed countries where people often spend more than 90% of their time indoors. Surprisingly, indoor air has been reported to be as much as 12 times more polluted than outdoor air in some areas. Indoor air pollutants emanate from paints, varnishes, adhesives, furnishings, clothing, solvents, building materials, and even tap water.
Le coussoul reprend ses droits sur les anciens vergers de Crau Il y a quelques mois encore, des milliers de pêchers s'élevaient là, sur quelque 380 hectares au beau milieu de la plaine de Crau, le long de la RN 568. Ça, c'était avant que la société "Cossure fruits" ne se retrouve sur le devant de la scène avec l'affaire des "forçats de la Crau". Depuis, le site, avec ses hectares d'arbres fruitiers, a été acquis par la Caisse des dépôts et consignations (CDC) et littéralement rasé . Les herbes folles ont gagné du terrain, et c'est bien là le problème. "Ce type de végétation n'a rien à voir avec les coussouls originels, qui rassemblent plus de 70 espèces au mètre carré, dont la fameuse "baouque", la brachypode, dont se nourrissent les troupeaux de moutons", relève Thierry Dutoit, de l'Institut méditerranéen d'écologie et de paléoécologie (Imep).
Secrets In A Seed: Clues Into The Evolution Of The First Flowers Approximately 120-130 million years ago, one of the most significant events in the history of the Earth occurred: the first flowering plants, or angiosperms, arose. In the late 1800s, Darwin referred to their development as an "abominable mystery." To this day, scientists are still challenged by this "mystery" of how angiosperms originated, rapidly diversified, and rose to dominance
Trees Facilitate Wildfires As A Way To Protect Their Habitat Fire is often thought of something that trees should be protected from, but a new study suggests that some trees may themselves contribute to the likelihood of wildfires in order to promote their own abundance at the expense of their competitors.		L'Europe finance 13 nouveaux projets français LIFE+ à hauteur de 33 millions € Les projets proviennent de toute l'UE et incluent des actions dans les domaines de la conservation de la nature, de la politique environnementale ainsi que de l'information et de la communication. Ensemble, ils représentent un investissement total de 431 millions €, dont 207,5 millions € seront financés par l’Union européenne. Description des projets français retenus...
Is a world without humans possible ? The potential annihilation of the human race is a topic that is often relegated to science fiction. Authors and film-makers seem sometimes gleefully inventive when it comes to eradicating human civilization: deadly viruses in Terry Gilliam's Twelve Monkeys (1995); nefarious aliens in H.G. Wells's War of the Worlds (1898); scientific experiments gone wrong in Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle (1963); the degeneration of oil-addicted civilization in George Miller's Mad Max (1979); or a massive environmental catastrophe in Roland Emmerich's The Day After Tomorrow (2004).
Advance In 'Nano-Agriculture:' Tiny Stuff Has Huge Effect On Plant Growth With potential adverse health and environmental effects often in the news about nanotechnology, scientists in Arkansas are reporting that carbon nanotubes (CNTs) could have beneficial effects in agriculture. Their study, scheduled for the October issue of ACS Nano, found that tomato seeds exposed to CNTs germinated faster and grew into larger, heavier seedlings than other seeds. That growth-enhancing effect could be a boon for biomass production for plant-based biofuels and other agricultural products, they suggest.			Scientists Reveals Secrets Of Drought Resistance A team of biologists in California led by researchers at The Scripps Research Institute and the University of California (UC), San Diego has solved the structure of a critical molecule that helps plants survive during droughts. Understanding the inner workings of this molecule may help scientists design new ways to protect crops against prolonged dry periods, potentially improving crop yields worldwide, aiding biofuels production on marginal lands and mitigating drought's human and economic costs.
Diverting Sediment-rich Water Below New Orleans Could Lead To Extensive New Land Diverting sediment-rich water from the Mississippi River below New Orleans could generate new land in the river's delta in the next century. The land would equal almost half the acreage otherwise expected to disappear during that period, a new study shows. For decades, sea-level rise, land subsidence, and a decrease in river sediment have caused vast swaths of the Mississippi Delta to vanish into the sea.		Norwegian Wood For The Ages: 'Mummified' Pine Trees Found Norwegian scientists have found “mummified” pine trees, dead for nearly 500 years yet without decomposition. Norway’s wet climate seems perfect for encouraging organic matter to rot – particularly in Sogndal, located on Norway’s southwestern coastline, in one of the most humid, mild areas of the country. In fact, with an average of 1541 millimetres of rain yearly and relatively mild winters, Sogndal should be an environment where decomposition happens fast
Oh, brother, it's true: Plants can recognize their siblings and now we know how The ID system lies in the roots and the chemical cues they secrete. The finding not only sheds light on the intriguing sensing system in plants, but also may have implications for agriculture and even home gardening. The study, which is reported in the scientific journal Communicative & Integrative Biology, was led by Harsh Bais, assistant professor of plant and soil sciences at the University of Delaware. Canadian researchers published in 2007 that sea rocket, a common seashore plant, can recognize its siblings -- plants grown from seeds from the same mother.
Une île surgit dans l'estuaire de la Gironde A deux kilomètres du phare de Cordouan, des sédiments se sont accumulés sur 4 hectares, formant un territoire encore ignoré des cartes. Un phénomène extrêmement rare. Aujourd'hui, on recense sur l'île une douzaine de plantes différentes, dont une partie relevant de la végétation spécifique aux dunes. Autant de signes, selon Jean-Marc Thirion, que le milieu évolue «vers quelque chose de plus complexe». Mais cet écosystème fragile pourrait être victime de sa toute nouvelle notoriété. «Ça devient presque un lieu à la mode. Deux cents personnes sont venues faire la fête sur l'île début septembre, et l'autre jour, elle a servi de terrain d'atterrissage à un groupe de parachutistes. Or, c'est un lieu sensible au surpiétinement», s'alarme l'écologue, qui s'est pour sa part rendu sur place à deux reprises avec d'autres naturalistes pour étudier la faune et la flore locales.					Sous les chantiers, les temps retrouvés L’archéologie préventive, «c’est 90 % des fouilles depuis vingt ans», explique Jean-Paul Demoule, protohistorien, ex-président de l’Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap). Voies à grande vitesse, autoroutes, ZAC en périphérie des villes… Depuis 2001, tout cela suppose diagnostics et, souvent, fouilles. «Nous avons en permanence près de 300 chantiers en cours, petits et grands», annonce Nicole Pot, la directrice générale de l’Inrap.
Mediterranean forests require more research As the Mediterranean forest ecosystems provide multiple goods and services, their sound management calls for improved knowledge, targeted education and capacity building. The Mediterranean Forest Research Agenda (MFRA) 2010–2020 presents the challenges Mediterranean forests are facing and how science can best address them during the next decade. MFRA aims at networking and coordinating research at Mediterranean level, requiring a coordinated effort by the research community and related stakeholders (forest owners, NGOs, companies, public administration, etc) to utilise in an efficient and effective way the available international and national research funding resources.
A Tree's Response To Environmental Changes: What Can We Expect Over The Next 100 Years? The many environmental issues facing our society are prevalent in the media lately. Global warming, rainforest devastation, and endangered species have taken center stage. Our ecosystem is composed of a very delicate network of interactions among all species and the non-living environment. Predicting how each component of this complex system will respond to the many environmental changes sweeping the globe is a challenging problem today's scientists face.			Huelva Is Swallowing Up Coastal Lagoons In Doñana, Spanish Scientists Find A team of Spanish scientists from a variety of fields has analysed the effects of human activity on the peridunal lagoons in the Doñana National Park. Results show that the lagoons are in the process of regressing, largely due to the extraction of underground water for the Matalascañas tourist resort (Huelva). Moreover, the natural effects of the ecosystem itself are further aggravating the situation.
Livestock Can Help Rangelands Recover From Fires A 14-year study by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in Oregon found that rangelands that have been grazed by cattle recover from fires more effectively than rangelands that have been protected from livestock. These surprising findings could impact management strategies for native plant communities where ecological dynamics are shifting because of climate change, invasive weeds and other challenges.
Black rat does not bother Mediterranean seabirds Human activities have meant invasive species have been able to populate parts of the world to which they are not native and alter biodiversity there over thousands of years. Now, an international team of scientists has studied the impact of the black rat on bird populations on Mediterranean islands. Despite the rat's environmental impact, only the tiny European storm petrel has been affected over time by its enforced cohabitation with the rat. Ruffino, L.; Bourgeois, K.; Vidal, E.; Duhem, C.; Paracuellos, M.; Escribano, F.; Sposimo, P.; Baccetti, N.; Pascal, M.; Oro, D. "Invasive rats and seabirds after 2,000 years of an unwanted coexistence on Mediterranean islands" Biological Invasions 11(7): 1631-1651 agosto de 2009.
Les premiers agriculteurs ont-ils vraiment détraqué le climat ? Elégante et surprenante. Discutée et controversée. La théorie du paléoclimatologue William Ruddiman, professeur émérite à l'université de Virginie (Etats-Unis), avait tout pour séduire. A l'en croire, l'homme aurait commencé à influer sur le climat global de la Terre il y a environ 8 000 ans, en même temps qu'il apprenait le défrichage et l'agriculture. Las ! Des travaux menés par Thomas Stocker (université de Berne), publiés fin septembre dans la revue Nature, lui mettent un sérieux coup dans l'aile... Sans la tuer tout à fait.				New Ancient Fungus Finding Suggests World's Forests Were Wiped Out In Global Catastrophe Tiny organisms that covered the planet more than 250 million years ago appear to be a species of ancient fungus that thrived in dead wood, according to new research published October 1 in the journal Geology.
Algae And Pollen Grains Provide Evidence Of Remarkably Warm Period In Antarctica's History For Sophie Warny, LSU assistant professor of geology and geophysics and curator at the LSU Museum of Natural Science, years of patience in analyzing Antarctic samples with low fossil recovery finally led to a scientific breakthrough. She and colleagues from around the world now have proof of a sudden, remarkably warm period in Antarctica that occurred about 15.7 million years ago and lasted for a few thousand years
La France doit mieux contrôler les traces de radioactivité dans les dépôts industriels de cendres de charbon Entre terrils, silos et bassins de stockage, les stocks de cendres de charbon font souvent partie du paysage. La majeure partie dépend des centrales thermiques d'EDF et de la SNET, filiale du groupe allemand d'énergie E.ON. Malgré leur volume, ces sites n'attirent pourtant pas souvent l'attention. "Les dépôts de cendres sont oubliés", lance Jacky Bonnemains, de l'association de défense de l'environnement Robin des bois, qui a mené, pour l'Autorité de sûreté nucléaire (ASN), une étude sur ces dépôts. >>> Terrils de Gardanne >>> OHM Bassin minier de Provence
Paléo : Une saison de forage record sur le site groenlandais de NEEM La saison de forage sur le site de NEEM, situé sur la partie nord-ouest de la calotte de glace groenlandaise vient de s'achever. Cette mission, qui rassemble des laboratoires du CEA, de l'INSU-CNRS...		Mountains may be cradles of evolution Growing mountains may give rise to new species — and not simply provide a refuge to species whose traditional habitats have been lost, US scientists suggest. "The major times of [species] diversification directly coincide with times of large tectonic events," says Catherine Badgley, a palaeontologist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, who presented the findings this week at the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Bristol, UK.
Peruvian Glacial Retreats Linked To European Events Of Little Ice Age A new study that reports precise ages for glacial moraines in southern Peru links climate swings in the tropics to those of Europe and North America during the Little Ice Age approximately 150 to 350 years ago. The study, published this week in the journal Science, "brings us one step closer to understanding global-scale patterns of glacier activity and climate during the Little Ice Age," says lead author Joe Licciardi, associate professor of Earth sciences at the University of New Hampshire. "The more we know about our recent climate past, the better we can understand our modern and future climate."
Focus On The Wild Could Avert Plant Pollination Threat The global threat to the pollination of flowers and food production crops, highlighted by a dramatic decline in honeybee colonies, could be eased by a renewed focus on ‘wild' pollinators. Agri-environment schemes that encourage farmers to create bee-friendly habitats could be the key to increasing numbers of valuable wild pollinators like bumblebees in the wider countryside.
Microbiology: Free-for-all On The Leaf Surface For the first time, ETH Zurich scientists have examined the genes and proteins of bacteria that live on leaves to clarify which unicellular organisms are found on leaf surfaces and what they are doing there. Bacteria are everywhere: in the ground, on the seabed, in boiling hot sources, in the gut. They are even on the surface of plants, and lots of them at that: one to ten million of the unicellular microorganisms live on every square centimeter of stem and foliage.
Woody Plants Adapted To Past Climate Change More Slowly Than Herbs Can we predict which species will be most vulnerable to climate change by studying how they responded in the past? A new study of flowering plants provides a clue. An analysis of more than 5000 plant species reveals that woody plants — such as trees and shrubs — adapted to past climate change much more slowly than herbaceous plants did. If the past is any indicator of the future, woody plants may have a harder time than other plants keeping pace with global warming, researchers say.			Plants' Response To Fire Tested A team from the National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology (INIA) has developed a new method for identifying the flammability of plant species by using a device that measures how construction materials react to fire. The technique, which is being presented this week at the Fifth Spanish Forestry Congress, can be used to improve fire risk maps. Evaluation of Forest Fuel Flammability and Combustion Properties with an Adapted Mass Loss Calorimeter Device
‘Green Clean:’ Researchers Determining Natural Ways To Clean Contaminated Soil Researchers at North Carolina State University are working to demonstrate that trees can be used to degrade or capture fuels that leak into soil and ground water. Through a process called phytoremediation – literally a “green” technology – plants and trees remove pollutants from the environment or render them harmless. Through a partnership with state and federal government agencies, the military and industry, Dr. Elizabeth Nichols, environmental technology professor in NC State’s Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, and her team are using phytoremediation to clean up a contaminated site in Elizabeth City, N.C. Phytoremediation uses plants to absorb heavy metals from the soil into their roots. The process is an attractive alternative to the standard clean-up methods currently used, which are very expensive and energy intensive. At appropriate sites, phytoremediation can be a cost-effective and sustainable technology, Nichols says.
Une nouvelle chance pour Marseille LE MONDE \| 22.09.09 - Arenc, quartier de la zone portuaire, le prolongement de la ligne de tramway vers l'ancienne gare SNCF est en chantier. Au pied des docks réhabilités, on enfouit une passerelle autoroutière. Partout des grues élèvent de nouveaux bâtiments. Symbole provisoire du renouveau de l'arrière-port marseillais, la tour CMA-CGM, futur siège social de la troisième compagnie mondiale de fret maritime, est en voie d'achèvement. Ce bâtiment, dessiné par l'architecte britannique Zaha Hadid, donne une nouvelle visibilité à Euroméditerranée, ambitieux programme d'aménagement et de revitalisation économique, sociale et culturelle lancé par l'Etat et les collectivités locales en 1995 et qui devrait être achevé en 2014.
Direction régionale de l'environnement Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur Biodiversité et paysages Vous trouverez dans cette rubrique, des informations et des documents concernant l’inventaire et la protection du patrimoine naturel : Réserves naturelles, Parcs régionaux et nationaux, Sites classés et inscrits, Atlas des paysages, Natura 2000, Convention de Washington sur la protection des espèces (CITES)...
Uncertain Future Predicted For Forests The composition of some of our nation's forests may be quite different 200 to 400 years from today according to a recent study at the University of Illinois. The study found that temperature and photosynthetic active radiation were the two most important variables in predicting what forest landscapes may look like in the future. The uncertainties became very high after the year 2200
Melting Of The Greenland Ice Sheet Mapped Will all of the ice on Greenland melt and flow out into the sea, bringing about a colossal rise in ocean levels on Earth, as the global temperature rises? The key concern is how stable the ice cap actually is, and new Danish research from the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen can now show the evolution of the ice sheet 11,700 years back in time – all the way back to the start of our current warm period				Getting Plants To Rid Themselves Of Pesticide Residues Scientists in China are reporting the "intriguing" discovery that a natural plant hormone, applied to crops, can help plants eliminate residues of certain pesticides.
Link Between 1918 El Niño And Flu Research conducted at Texas A&M University casts doubts on the notion that El Niño has been getting stronger because of global warming and raises interesting questions about the relationship between El Niño and a severe flu pandemic 91 years ago. The findings are based on analysis of the 1918 El Niño, which the new research shows to be one of the strongest of the 20th century. El Niño occurs when unusually warm surface waters form over vast stretches of the eastern Pacific Ocean and can affect weather systems worldwide. Using advanced computer models, Benjamin Giese, a professor of oceanography who specializes in ocean modeling, and his co-authors conducted a simulation of the global oceans for the first half of the 20th century and they find that, in contrast with prior descriptions, the 1918-19 El Niño was one of the strongest of the century.
Fossils From Animals And Plants Are Not Necessary For Crude Oil And Natural Gas, Swedish Researchers Find Researchers at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm have managed to prove that fossils from animals and plants are not necessary for crude oil and natural gas to be generated. The findings are revolutionary since this means, on the one hand, that it will be much easier to find these sources of energy and, on the other hand, that they can be found all over the globe		Humans Causing Erosion Comparable To World’s Largest Rivers And Glaciers, Study Finds A new study finds that large-scale farming projects can erode the Earth's surface at rates comparable to those of the world's largest rivers and glaciers. Published online in the journal Nature Geoscience, the research offers stark evidence of how humans are reshaping the planet. It also finds that - contrary to previous scholarship - rivers are as powerful as glaciers at eroding landscapes.
Weeds That Reinvented Weediness: New Research Sheds Light On Origins And Success Of Flowering Plants Flowering plants are all around us and are phenomenally successful. But how did they get to be so successful and where did they come from? This question bothered Darwin and others, and now a paper published in the September issue of the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society indicates that their ability to adapt anatomically may be the answer.			Early Warning Signals Of Change: 'Tipping Points' Identified Where Sudden Shifts To New Conditions Occur What do abrupt changes in ocean circulation and Earth's climate, shifts in wildlife populations and ecosystems, the global finance market and its system-wide crashes, and asthma attacks and epileptic seizures have in common? According to a paper published this week in the journal Nature, all share generic early-warning signals that indicate a critical threshold of change dead ahead.
Web Page Ranking Algorithm Detects Critical Species In Ecosystems Google's algorithm for ranking web-pages can be used to determine which species are critical for sustaining ecosystems. Drs. Stefano Allesina and Mercedes Pascual find that "PageRank" can be applied to the study of food webs, the complex networks describing who eats whom in an ecosystem. Article PloS
Les fleurs viennent avec le temps Les scientifiques de l'Institut Max Planck de biologie du développement de Tübingen viennent de découvrir une voie de signalisation qui "fait fleurir" les plantes, et ce, indépendamment de tous stimuli externes tels que la durée de la lumière du jour ou la température. Les biologistes sont en effet parvenus à montrer que la concentration d'un brin d'ARN agissait dans les cellules comme un sablier : lorsque la concentration du brin de microARN 156 - qui diminue avec le temps - atteint un certain seuil, la plante quitte alors son état de développement végétatif pour entrer dans une phase reproductive (floraison). Il est ainsi certain que la plante puisse fleurir et se propager même en cas de mauvaises conditions météorologiques. Les travaux de l'étude ont été publiés dans le numéro du 21 août 2009 de la revue scientifique Cell [1].			Le pissenlit : le futur du caoutchouc ! Le caoutchouc naturel provient en grande partie du Ficus elastica - plus communément appelé "caoutchouc" - un arbre surtout présent en Asie du Sud-Est. La production de ce matériau devenu essentiel pour notre société moderne est néanmoins aujourd'hui menacée : un champignon infecte en effet un nombre croissant de Ficus elastica sur la planète et notamment en Asie du Sud-Est. Afin de pouvoir continuer à récolter la précieuse substance, une équipe de scientifiques de l'Institut Fraunhofer de biologie moléculaire et d'écologie appliquée (IME) d'Aix-la-Chapelle travaille actuellement à l'obtention de caoutchouc naturel à partir de pissenlits. En empêchant la polymérisation spontanée du caoutchouc issu du pissenlit, les chercheurs viennent de réaliser un grand pas vers la production industrielle de caoutchouc naturel à partir de cette plante.
Restoring The Ecology Can Boost The Economy Research co-authored by Bournemouth University (BU) Professor Adrian Newton and published in the journal Science this week shows that ecological restoration in areas of environmental degradation can help reverse global biodiversity losses, as well as promoting recovery of ecosystem services.
Seeing The Tree From The Forest: Predicting The Future Of Plant Communities The ability to envisage the future may be closer than you would think. A recent paper by Sean Hammond and Karl Niklas in the August 2009 issue of the American Journal of Botany presents an algorithm that may be used to predict the future dynamics of plant communities, an increasingly interesting area of study as significant environmental changes, such as global climate change and invasive species, are affecting current plant communities. Hammond, Sean T., Niklas, Karl J. Emergent properties of plants competing in silico for space and light: Seeing the tree from the forest. American Journal of Botany, 2009; 96 (8)
Douglas-fir, Geoducks Make Strange Bedfellows In Studying Climate Change NEWPORT, Ore. – Scientists are comparing annual growth rings of the Pacific Northwest’s largest bivalve and its most iconic tree for clues to how living organisms may have responded to changes in climate. Analyzed by themselves, the rings from a single tree or mollusk may sometimes reflect conditions that are either favorable or unfavorable for growth. When scientists look at numerous individuals of the same species, however, the consistency of the ring patterns allows them to build a model and compare that to known climatic measurements.
Using Thread-like Fungi To Help High Elevation Pines Grow Thread-like fungi that grow in soils at high elevations may play an important role in restoring whitebark and limber pine forests in Canada. Montana State University professor Cathy Cripps is looking for ways to use fungi to help pine seedlings get a strong start.
Small Fluctuations In Solar Activity, Large Influence On Climate Subtle connections between the 11-year solar cycle, the stratosphere, and the tropical Pacific Ocean work in sync to generate periodic weather patterns that affect much of the globe, according to research appearing this week in the journal Science. The study can help scientists get an edge on eventually predicting the intensity of certain climate phenomena, such as the Indian monsoon and tropical Pacific rainfall, years in advance.		Des interactions biologiques plus riches sous les tropiques Le processus est bien connu en milieu tempéré : la plante, qui reçoit de la lumière du soleil, donne du carbone au champignon associé à ses racines qui, en retour, lui donne de l’eau et des sels minéraux. On sait aussi que parfois, certaines plantes non chlorophylliennes renversent le processus et reçoivent leur carbone du champignon lui-même. C’est le cas notamment de certaines espèces qui, poussant dans les sous-bois peu éclairés, s’adaptent ainsi à l’ombre. Le champignon, qui trouve son carbone sur les racines des plantes vertes voisines, devient alors la source de tous les besoins de la plante.
Unique Study Isolates DNA From Linnaeus' Botanical Collections Researchers at Uppsala University has succeeded in extracting long DNA fragments from dried, pressed plant material collected in the 1700s by Linnaeus' apprentice Adam Afzelius. It is hoped that the study, led by Associate Professor Katarina Andreasen, will shed light on whether plants growing today at Linnaeus' Hammarby estate outside Uppsala reflect the species cultivated by Linnaeus himself.				Global Model For The Origin Of Species Independent Of Geographical Isolation The tremendous diversity of life continues to puzzle scientists, long after the 200 years since Charles Darwin's birth. However, in recent years, consistent patterns of biodiversity have been identified over space, time organism type and geographical region.
Quand les e-mails augmentent le stress au travail "Les e-mails représentent la principale source de problèmes dans nos vies professionnelles" , décrypte Karen Renaud, du département de science informatique de la Glasgow University, sur le site de la BBC. Parlant d'un phénomène « harassant » , Karen Renaud relève notamment qu'il n'est pas rare qu'un salarié rafraîchisse « jusqu'à quarante fois par heure » sa messagerie électronique
Study Shows Why North America Tree is Invasive in Europe Black cherry trees, native to the United States, are an invasive species in Europe and thrive in that part of the world. Experiments show why: A soil-borne pathogen keeps these trees in check in the United States, but is too weak to stop them from spreading in Europe. That's according to a study by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) ecologist Kurt Reinhart at the agency's Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory in Miles City, Mont. He and cooperators collected soil randomly around black cherry trees in more than 20 forests throughout their range in the United States, and nearly 20 forests throughout their range in Germany, France, Belgium and The Netherlands. They isolated the pathogen, called Pythium, from the soil samples.
Darwin’s Mystery Of Appearance Of Flowering Plants Explained The appearance of many species of flowering plants on Earth, and especially their relatively rapid dissemination during the Cretaceous (approximately 100 million years ago) can be attributed to their capacity to transform the world to their own needs. In an article in Ecology Letters, Wageningen ecologists Frank Berendse and Marten Scheffer postulate that flowering plants changed the conditions during the Cretaceous period to suit themselves. Ecology Letters
New Study Ranks ‘Hotspots' of Human Impact on Coastal Areas (Santa Barbara, Calif.) Coastal marine ecosystems are at risk worldwide as a result of human activities, according to scientists at UC Santa Barbara who have recently published a study in the Journal of Conservation Letters. The authors have performed the first integrated analysis of all coastal areas of the world. "Resource management and conservation in coastal waters must address a litany of impacts from human activities, from the land, such as urban runoff and other types of pollution, and from the sea," said Benjamin S. Halpern, first author, who is based at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) at UCSB.			Domestication Of Chile Pepper Provides Insights Into Crop Origin And Evolution Chile peppers have long played an important role in the diets of Mesoamerican people. Capsicum annuum is one of five domesticated species of chiles and is one of the primary components of these diets. However, little is known regarding the original location of domestication of C. annuum and the genetic diversity in wild relatives. Researchers have now found a large amount of diversity in individuals from the Yucatan Peninsula, making this a center of diversity for chiles.
L'origine de la lignée commune entre les hommes et les singes se trouverait en Asie La découverte d'un nouveau primate fossile au Myanmar (ex-Birmanie) conforte l'hypothèse d'une origine asiatique, et non africaine, de la lignée commune entre les hommes et les singes (primates anthropoïdes). Pour l'étayer, une équipe internationale de paléontologues, parmi lesquels deux chercheurs français, a établi que ce primate, âgé de 37 millions d'années et baptisé Ganlea megacanina, possède une aptitude aujourd'hui observée chez les singes modernes, et non chez les lémuriens : il ouvre et mange des graines d'une manière spécifique, au moyen de sa canine démesurée, comme certains singes actuels d'Amérique du Sud.
Scientists Closer To Developing Salt-tolerant Crops An international team of scientists has developed salt-tolerant plants using a new type of genetic modification (GM), bringing salt-tolerant cereal crops a step closer to reality. The research team – based at the University of Adelaide's Waite Campus in Australia – has used a new GM technique to contain salt in parts of the plant where it does less damage.			Plants Put Limit on Ice Ages When glaciers advanced over much of the Earth’s surface during the last ice age, what kept the planet from freezing over entirely? This has been a puzzle to climate scientists because leading models have indicated that over the past 24 million years geological conditions should have caused carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere to plummet, possibly leading to runaway icehouse” conditions. Now researchers writing in the July 2, 2009, Nature report on the missing piece of the puzzle plants.
	Seconde édition du Pitch de la Science. Pole Sud Image Eric Vidal (Equipe IBBC Imep) Programme ALIENS (ANR) et projet documentaire "Les rats, pirates des îles" Voir la vidéo
Plants Save The Earth From An Icy Doom When glaciers advanced over much of the Earth's surface during the last ice age, what kept the planet from freezing over entirely? This has been a puzzle to climate scientists because leading models have indicated that over the past 24 million years geological conditions should have caused carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere to plummet, possibly leading to runaway "icehouse" conditions. The international team of researchers led by the University of Castilla-La-Mancha (UCLM) has compiled the research carried out to date on this topic in order to understand the implications of the so-called “circadian clock” as regards the survival and ecology of a wide range of plant species.
Ferns Took To The Trees And Thrived As flowering plants like giant trees quickly rose to dominate plant communities during the Cretaceous period, the ferns that had preceded them hardly saw it as a disappointment. In fact, they flourished. While modern tropical rain forests were becoming established, ferns climbed aboard, and experienced a flowering of their own species diversity.
Plants’ Internal Clock Can Improve Climate Change Models The ability of plants to tell the time, a mechanism common to all living beings, enables them to survive, grow and reproduce. An international team has studied this circadian clock from a molecular viewpoint and has found an ecological implication: it makes climate change scenarios and CO2 level figures more accurate			Années froides dans climat chaud, un mystère ? Puisque 2008 n’est pas plus chaud que 1998, c’est que le climat ne se réchauffe pas. L’affirmation semble reposer sur un solide bon sens. Et donner du grain à moudre au climato-scepticisme. D’où l’effort de pédagogie réalisé par deux scientifiques américains, David Easterling et Michael Wehner, du National Climatic Data Center et du Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
«Reconnecter les diasporas scientifiques du Sud» Jean-Baptiste Meyer, de l’Institut de recherche pour le développement «Comment organiser des diasporas qui permettent la récupération des compétences des personnes qualifiées expatriées des pays du Sud, victimes de la fuite des cerveaux ?
Desert Dust Alters Ecology of Colorado Alpine Meadows Accelerated snowmelt--precipitated by desert dust blowing into the mountains--changes how alpine plants respond to seasonal climate cues that regulate their life cycles, according to results of a new study reported this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). These results indicate that global warming may have a greater influence on plants' annual growth cycles than previously thought. Current mountain dust levels are five times greater than they were before the mid-19th century, due in large part to increased human activity in deserts.
In The Warming West, Climate Most Significant Factor In Fanning Wildfires' Flames The recent increase in area burned by wildfires in the Western United States is a product not of higher temperatures or longer fire seasons alone, but a complex relationship between climate and fuels that varies among different ecosystems, according to a study conducted by U.S. Forest Service and university scientists.			Loss Of Coastal Seagrass Habitat Accelerating Globally An international team of scientists warns that accelerating losses of seagrasses across the globe threaten the immediate health and long-term sustainability of coastal ecosystems. The team has compiled and analyzed the first comprehensive global assessment of seagrass observations and found that 58 percent of world's seagrass meadows are currently declining.
Maroc : quand l'oasis reverdit Il faut du temps, beaucoup de temps, pour rejoindre l'oasis d'Asrir, aux portes du Sahara, à 800 km au sud de la capitale du Maroc, Rabat. Il faut rouler, prendre l'avion, et rouler encore, sur des routes de plus en plus défoncées. Mais au bout du voyage nous attend, dit-on, le paradis. "L'oasis, c'est le début du paradis quand on arrive du désert, au sud, et la fin du paradis quand on vient des zones arrosées, au nord", dit en riant Mbarak Nafaoui, le maire d'Asrir. Au-delà, il n'y a plus d'eau, plus d'arbres, rien que du vent et de la pierre.
Researchers find new method for computing evolutionary trees Detailed, accurate evolutionary trees that reveal the relatedness of living things can now be determined much faster and for thousands of species with a computing method developed by computer scientists and a biologist at The University of Texas at Austin. Since Charles Darwin, biologists have constructed evolutionary trees to explain the relatedness of plants, animals and other organisms. The science of figuring out these trees, known as systematics, has progressed significantly in the last two decades largely due to advances in computation, genetics and molecular biology.			Fungus Species Traced Using The Internet Studying the ecology and distribution of plants does not take place solely in the forest. A new way of searching in scientific databases has enabled researchers from the University of Gothenburg to discover kinship between fungi from Sweden and Thailand - and has revealed some species with incorrect generic names into the bargain.