News by Subject Earth Science

What makes for an endangered species classification isn't always obvious.

When NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the Southern Pacific Ocean it gathered water vapor data that provided information about the intensity of Tropical Cyclone Tino.

It is an awkward idea, but a couple's ability to have kids may partly depend on who else is present. The reproductive tracts of males and females contain whole communities of micro-organisms. These microbes can have considerable impact on (animal) fertility and reproduction, as shown by Melissah Rowe, from the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), and co-authors this week with an extensive overview in Trends in Ecology & Evolution. It may even lead to new species.

New research finds that global South countries have pledged the largest areas of land to forest restoration, and are also farthest behind in meeting their targets due to challenging factors such as population growth, corruption, and deforestation. 'We've identified countries that need help, not failures,' says UMBC's Matt Fagan. With the right kind of international support -- that listens to locals and generates creative solutions -- communities can implement policy that will make positive change.

Sanitary care in ants to fight disease is known to improve the wellbeing of the colony, yet it has been unclear how social disease defense interferes with pathogen competition inside the individual host body. In their recent study published in Ecology Letters, Sylvia Cremer and her research group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria) revealed that collective care-giving has the power to bias the outcome of coinfections in fungus-exposed colony members.

In a study on small mammal biodiversity in the Atlantic Forest, researchers found that climate may affect biodiversity in rainforests even more than deforestation does.

Engineers at Duke University have devised a model that can predict the early mechanical behaviors and origins of an earthquake in multiple types of rock. The model provides new insights into unobservable phenomena that take place miles beneath the Earth's surface under incredible pressures and temperatures, and could help researchers better predict earthquakes -- or even, at least theoretically, attempt to stop them.