How many species were described for the first time in the literature in 2007? Five hundred? 1,000? 10,000? Would you believe 18, 516? That’s right, in a single calendar year! “The majority of the 18,516 species described (named) in 2007 were invertebrate animals (75.6 percent), vascular plants (11.1 percent) and vertebrates (6.7 percent),” reports ScienceDaily.com […]
Archive for the 'Biodiversity' Category
How Does Bird Diversity Affect the Incidence of West Nile Virus in Humans?
Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 9:16 pm
Written by: Mary LeFever
Now here’s a relationship not many middle school students would stop to consider: bird species diversity and West Nile virus incidence. A press release dated October 6, 2008, indicates researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have collected evidence that shows an inverse relationship between bird species diversity and West Nile virus. Thus, urban […]
Posted in Topics: Biodiversity, Birds, Ecology, Insects
Granite Helps Scientists Piece Together Rodinia
Thursday, July 24th, 2008 12:35 pm
Written by: Brittany Wall
If you’ve taught plate tectonics at the middle school level, you’re probably quite familiar with the supercontinent Pangaea. But did you know that Pangaea was not the only supercontinent in earth’s history – just the last to date? Millions of years before Pangaea, another supercontinent known as Rodinia united all of earth’s landmass in an […]
Posted in Topics: Biodiversity, Earth Science, Education, Evolution
Crop Failures and Food Riots
Wednesday, May 21st, 2008 4:58 pm
Written by: Mary LeFever
Many news outlets reported earlier this week that recent rice crop failures could have been avoided. An infestation of the brown plant hopper is the cause for the crop failure. The science knowledge and biotechnology needed to breed resistant rice plants have been in existence for several years. However, funds were not available to mass […]
Posted in Topics: Agriculture, Biodiversity, Food Supplies, Insects, Life Science, Science
What Are Seed Gene Banks and How Do They Work?
Friday, March 7th, 2008 8:03 am
Written by: Mary LeFever
Seed gene banks exist throughout the world. As you might guess, their purpose is to catalog, store, and protect as many varieties of plants as possible. These banks are useful to plant breeders trying to find crop species that are more drought or disease resistant, for example. They also provide a resource for countries in […]
Posted in Topics: Biodiversity, Genetics, Life Science
One in Three Amphibian Species at Risk of Extinction
Friday, February 1st, 2008 6:58 am
Written by: Mary LeFever
No one wants to see pandas, polar bears, or penguins go extinct. Why have organizations like the World Wildlife Fund been so successful in garnering the general public’s support for their conservation efforts? Perhaps it is because we find these animals appealing on an affective level. In many people’s minds, they’re worth conserving for emotional […]
Posted in Topics: Biodiversity, Conservation, Evolution, Life Science
Mortality Rate of Captive-Bred and Released Carnivores is 70%
Thursday, January 24th, 2008 10:01 am
Written by: Mary LeFever
The American Association for the Advancement of Science news site, EurekAlert!, brings us this week’s topic. Increasing rates of extinctions have focused conservation biologists on finding the most effective means of preserving biodiversity. Releasing captive-bred animals is one. However, a review of 45 published studies of 17 different carnivores revealed the high mortality rates of […]
Posted in Topics: Biodiversity, Conservation, Life Science
A Microbiologist and a Mathematician Use Game Theory to Predict More Virulent Microbes
Wednesday, October 24th, 2007 7:35 pm
Written by: Mary LeFever
Looking for another opportunity to integrate math and science? How two researchers applied game theory to explain the coevolution of microbes and humans and to predict some “pretty bad epidemics” in our biological future was the subject of a story in ScienceDaily, October 20, 2007. The original model by microbiologist Martin J. Blaser […]
Posted in Topics: Biodiversity, Evolution, Life Science, Mathematics, Science
Posted in Topics: Biodiversity, Life Science, Taxonomy
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