Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation with Dr. Myron Shekelle

Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation with Dr. Myron Shekelle

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Organismal Biology

Researchers paint sci-fi picture of Earth's altered water cycle - Interesting Engineering 07/04/2024

I have mixed feelings about some of the things scientists are doing to communicate with the non-scientific community.

Getting the public to understand the scale of the problems that our science predict we face is important.

It is also important that the public trusts science that may be beyond their understanding.

Will having scientists be the ones to make up science-fiction scenarios promote the first at the expense of the second?

"To grasp the magnitude of these changes, a team led by Colorado State University’s Assistant Professor Patrick Keys has embarked on a daring experiment. They’ve enlisted water scientists from around the globe to use the power of storytelling to create chilling visions of our potential futures. This unique effort is a desperate bid to understand the far-reaching consequences of our actions."

Researchers paint sci-fi picture of Earth's altered water cycle - Interesting Engineering Could weather control lead to water wars? Scientists are using science fiction to make us confront the potential horrors of a water-scarce future

Is the world’s most popular lab monkey vanishing—or flourishing? 07/08/2023

"The IUCN decision was based on an assessment that '. . . does not provide actual evidence of species declines.'”

It may come as a surprise to some, but that does not necessitate a revision to a IUCN Red List Assessment.

Actual evidence of a lack of species declines could be used to justify a revision . . . the burden is on the organization challenging the assessment to provide evidence.

Is the world’s most popular lab monkey vanishing—or flourishing? Biomedical group challenges listing cynomolgus macaques as endangered, arguing it could harm research

Record snowpack, nearly full reservoirs: Here's the state of California's drought after an epic winter | CNN 27/03/2023

Global change biology:

Cape Town came within a few months of running out of water in 2018. The state of California dodged a bullet this winter.

Does global society get the hint and take corrective measures, or do we continue to put our faith in miracles?

Record snowpack, nearly full reservoirs: Here's the state of California's drought after an epic winter | CNN California has faced an onslaught of powerful, atmospheric river storms this winter, which has led to record-breaking snowpack, nearly full reservoirs and overflowing watersheds.

Brazil’s Amazon deforestation again hits record high for February 12/03/2023

In conservation we are supposed to end with a positive message.

That message is, I suppose, that there are a lot of dedicated people working very heard to ensure that, when we finally live sustainably on this planet, we will have saved the most of the best that could be saved.

"Satellite monitoring detected 322sq km (124sq miles) of forest cover destroyed in the Brazilian Amazon last month."

Brazil’s Amazon deforestation again hits record high for February Spike underscores challenge new President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva faces to reverse years of environmental destruction.

The 2200 Pound Lady Birds of Madagascar 07/03/2023

“What is it that early humans are doing that's resulting in extinction of big animals, especially?” says Miller in a press release. “This is a debate that's been going on for my whole life.”

The 2200 Pound Lady Birds of Madagascar A scientific shakeup seeks to reclassify the world's largest bird, a majestic ostrich-like creature that once roamed the forests and sands of Madagascar.

The legendary dire wolf may not have been a wolf at all 06/03/2023

"They recovered about one-quarter of the nuclear genome and the full mitochondrial DNA across five individuals, ranging in age from about 13,000 to more than 50,000 years old."

The genetic material revealed a new evolutionary family tree, and a surprise: Dire wolves occupy their own lineage, separate from those that gave rise to African jackals, gray wolves, coyotes, and dogs by nearly 6 million years . . . "Even though they look like wolves, dire wolves actually have nothing to do with wolves."

#1 And seahorses aren't horses, either. Perhaps the "pandas are not bears, oh wait, yes they are" fiasco was not educational enough and it must be said more clearly: maybe it is time for scientists to stop policing common names for whiffs of non-monophyly.

#2 If five individuals ranged in age from 13,000-50,000 years ago, they are DEFINITELY way different from wolves.

The legendary dire wolf may not have been a wolf at all North America’s “top dog” traveled a lonely evolutionary path

Strange DNA found in the desert offers lessons in the hunt for Mars life 22/02/2023

The dark biome.

"These organisms are bacteria that are “so strange and different,” as the report puts it, that researchers could not identify any known relatives."

“In almost half of the cases, the databases could not clearly say what we had in our hands.”

To the level of . . . ? It says they are bacteria, so the Domain is known, at least.

Strange DNA found in the desert offers lessons in the hunt for Mars life “In almost half of the cases, the databases could not clearly say what we had in our hands,” said researchers studying rocks from the Atacama Desert in Chile.

Paleontologists solve mystery of fossil death bed | CNN 20/12/2022

“We present evidence that these ichthyosaurs died here in large numbers because they were migrating to this area to give birth for many generations across hundreds of thousands of years."

Paleontologists solve mystery of fossil death bed | CNN The death bed of dozens of 50-foot-long ichthyosaurs, prehistoric marine reptiles that resembled chunky dolphins, had long puzzled paleontologists. A new study revealed why the creatures died in large numbers at the fossil site in what's now Nevada.

A Coyote Unexpectedly Killed a Human in 2009. Scientists Now Know Why 14/12/2022

Very interesting.

Next questions: what are the connections with wolves? Have these coyotes a sizeable component of wolf DNA in their genome? Was this peninsula originally wolf territory that has been recolonized by coyotes after, say, wolves were locally extirpated?

A Coyote Unexpectedly Killed a Human in 2009. Scientists Now Know Why It's likely due to a surprising dietary adaptation.

Officials fear ‘complete doomsday scenario’ for drought-stricken Colorado River 02/12/2022

Is it time to say, "Goodbye, Arizona. It was nice knowing you?"

or, perhaps it is time to treat global climate change as an existential threat to human civilization?

Officials fear ‘complete doomsday scenario’ for drought-stricken Colorado River A once-unfathomable scenario — Lake Powell dropping to historic lows and shutting down power generators that serve millions — could start as soon as July.

Scientists Increasingly Calling to Dim the Sun 24/11/2022

Are we failing so badly at mitigation (slowing global warming) through simple steps, like cutting fossil fuel use, that we are moving to highly complicated ones?

Or are we failing to badly at mitigation because simple steps would hurt Big Oil, and because highly complicated ones would provide another opportunity to make piles of money?

Scientists Increasingly Calling to Dim the Sun The idea of "solar geoengineering," or shooting particles into the stratosphere to reduce the warming of the Sun, is no longer science fiction.

One of nature's great mysteries may now have an answer, according to new 'fairy circle' study | CNN 16/11/2022

For all of those/us who spend 22 years or more studying one particularly vexxing mystery . . .

. . for the love of God, WHY???

Seriously, kudos to this person/team for unlocking the mystery of the fairy circles.

One of nature's great mysteries may now have an answer, according to new 'fairy circle' study | CNN Scientists have gone back and forth for decades on the cause behind the Namib Desert's mysterious "fairy circles." A new study offers what may finally be evidence for a clear explanation.

International climate change bodies win humanity award 13/10/2022

It is the interconnected Siamese Twins of global climate change and global biodiversity loss that blot the sun from our horizon.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
&
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

win the big prize.

International climate change bodies win humanity award A prize worth 1 million euros ($970,000) is being awarded to two intergovernmental bodies for their work on climate change

Want your school to be the top-listed School/college?