Ecology and the Environment

First, quantitative studies show that dinosaur diversity reached its highest point in the Late Cretaceous. According to data compiled in the Paleobiology Database, over 70 percent of all known dinosaur genera lived during the Cretaceous, with the greatest number concentrated in the Campanian and Maastrichtian stages. The Jurassic, in contrast, represents a smaller fraction of total dinosaur diversity, with fewer documented clades and less ecological specialization. Second, the Cretaceous period witnessed the most extensive radiation of major dinosaur groups. Ceratopsians, ankylosaurs, hadrosaurids, and derived coelurosaurian theropods like tyrannosaurids and dromaeosaurid…

HOW ???... the "epigenetic" CHANGES of the "environment" ???... "influence" !!!... "either" negatively(-) !!!... ( from the very "VIOLENCE" !!!... at a young age for MANY "YEARS" !!!...) "or" positively(+) !!!... ( growing up as a "child" in a family environment with "affection" and "love" !!!... ) HOW ???... do we "know" ???... IF THERE ARE "good" !!!... and "bad" !!!... "genes" ???... ( if <ALL> our "genes" !!!... "create" some "protein-enzyme" !!!... that "only" good <do> !!!...) HOW ???... the "environment" ???... ( through the "R.N.A.' of the "cells" !!!... ) can they "decide" ???... to"open" or "close" !!!.. if NOT "randomly" !!!... the "genes" !!…

Hello everyone, I have a query. I have been observing a relatively large amount of interspecific competition between neotropical migrants and the residential bird species within my area. For context and to my great pleasure, I do live within the pacific flyway. I have not observed this “phenomena” before as it’s primarily between residential species where I live. I have noticed 2 instances, one where a Tree Swallow and a Western Bluebird were somewhat fighting over a nest box, and the other instance was where a hooded oriole and a northern mocking bird were somewhat fighting over a spot on a palm tree, is anyone else noticing this?

This study reminded me that our family's opting to use only loose-leaf tea may have been the way to go. My partner uses a tea ball infuser, I just dump loose leaves in the cup. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-12-commercial-tea-bags-millions-microplastics.html (this website is part of the Science X news network)

At the start I had thought to only use sustainable material like wood or stone which would decompose back to the land. There are only a couple of things like tarps or liquid containers which are plastic. Well I really needed access on a wet field and you have to get planning consent to build traditional tracks which could take many months and likely to be rejected but I found out about these mats, which would not require consent as they count as temporary surfaces and just lay on top of the ground, that are made from recycled plastic which everyone raves about as being amazing for adding stability even over the worst mud. See here: https://www.mudcontrol.co…

I am a Marine Biology student, but passionate about all biology. Just to help me with studies, ask me anything about marine biology. I may not know the answer but I will use my existing knowledge to give you an answer as good as possible :)

If we were to compare modern native Australian myrmecological species with invasive ones (e.g., Pheidole megacephala), how strong would you say the current biotic resistance is?

What causes bed bugs? If they come from other infested areas, how do they appear at those areas? For example, cockroaches appear if people leave out leftovers. And one has to review and clean up one's inner world, first of all. What is the lesson about bed bugs?

Non-scientist here doing some research for a story... I know that a species needs a certain minimum population to avoid dangerous inbreeding. I've heard different estimates, but the 500/5000 rule seems to be one experts consider reliable. Do all of these creatures have to be currently present? Could you, for example, have 50 individuals at any one time, but have 5,000 genetically diverse embryos in cold storage, and use artificial insemination to add new genetic material to the herd/pack/etc. every other generation or so? You would probably have to collect new embryos every once in a while, but it would take a while to cycle through your entire supply of embr…

Ecology The study of the relationships between organisms and their environment, including the physical and biotic components. Ecologists study a wide range of environments and organisms, from microscopic bacteria in a fish tank to the complex interactions of plants and animals in a desert. Ecology helps us understand the world around us and how to manage natural resources, improve the environment, and protect human health. Environment The physical surroundings that affect the development and sustainability of life on Earth. The environment includes the phy…

I was looking for a microbiology forum but this may work, 'cause the work is focused on environmental science. First, a bit of context, in our current job we are collecting water samples from a river and the purpose is to sequence all the microbiome. So, aside from membrane filtering or centrifugation, which other methods (avoiding damage to the DNA) can we use to concentrate the microorganisms from this kind of sample? For example, I was wondering if I can agglutinate them?

Is chemistry the best scientific discipline for a person interested in a renewable energy career that is technically oriented? I have a special interest in emerging renewable energy technologies and advancing wide-spread human uses of renewable energy in various forms including ocean wave generated electricity. I have a special interest in eliminating man's dependency upon fossil fuels and other finite forms of energy such as nuclear power as soon as possible. I enjoy breathing clean air and having clean water to drink, fish in, swim in, dive in and go boating in. I have a keen interest in the emergence of the world's most advanced battery-rechargeable automobiles, truck…

If governments were smart, they would pay strict attention to the conservation experts: wildlife biologists. That California banned hounds for black bear hunts back in 2013 was stupid. By the same token, the mountain lion (or cougar) in Texas is not protected at all and there is a green light there to hunt them year-round. Texas doesn't bother to manage its cougar numbers well. Here is a message to me via Gun Owners of America email from Mark Jones, an American wildlife biologist, as follows: "Colorado's Proposed Ban on Mountain Lion Hunting is a Warning to All American Hunters …

Gaia Hypothesis, in short that the earth is in some kind of self-balancing system. Proposed by late James Lovelock and promoted by Lynn Margulis in the 1970s. This hypothesis gained some notoriety because of novelty, but lacked scientific evidence; in fact some scientists have claimed that in most ecosystems, imbalance is the norm. I offer below 2 chemical reactions for review by members: 1. Carbon dioxide + Water -> Sunlight -> Glucose + Oxygen [Green Plants] 2. Oxygen + Glucose -> Energy + Carbon dioxide + Water [Plants + Animals] These are converse reactions in that one is the reversal of the other. From the chemis…

It seems as biofuel is a sustsainable energy source for aviation that can replace fossil fuels for this purpose 100%. I would have to say, use biofuels only where they are absolutely necessary. You cannot power jet planes, or any aircraft that flies as fast and as far as jet planes, from electricty or batteries as far as I know. The earth has a limited amount of arable land area to produce fuels by ag. Farming is still needed to feed us and our domestic animals. I would have to say produce electricity by as many renewable sources as possible that does not take up a lot of land area. How sustainable is nuclear power even? Does man have enough materials to continue to make…

1. pollution 2. litter 3. failure to recycle recyclable materials religiously and have a widespread infrastructure that makes this convenient to do 4. overpopulation 5. overconsumption 6. poverty 7. war 8. hate 9. crime 10. dangerous drugs 11. dangerous chemicals and other hazardous products 12. displacement of materials to a situation where recovery is not feasilble 13. waste of resources 14. ignorance 15. greed 16. selfishness Most if not all of these human shortcomings can negatively affect the world environment. True or false? Let me explain Number 12. Let's take t…

What is the best way to achieve this while being friendly to Mother Earth at the same time? Modern comforts often means consuming a certain amount of resources such as energy. I sit in my Iowa bedroom right now typing this with my air conditioner and dehumidifier running so I don't suffer hot, nasty stickiness. The dehumidifier uses about half the power of the air conditioner. I often think to myself that if I were to start all over again, I would either want to become a civil engineer or an ecologist professionally. I see America's poor infrastructure as a serious problem. It is embarrassingly old-hat as compared with Japan, parts of Asia and in Continental …

So from what I know about the eco system is that it's got producers and consumers. The producers are the plants that take in sunlight to undergo photosynthesis and to grow. That provides a food source for consumers, the consumers are the animals that eat the plants and animals that eat other animals. So the food chain starts with plants and then herbivores and then predators and so forth. However, the plants are always the producers and the animals, whether they be herbivores, carnivores, or omnivores, are always the consumers. However, I would think there are some cases in which a life form can be both a producer and a consumer. There are some plants that in additi…

Hi Everyone, Does anyone have experience with caping the outlet of sterivex filters without the luer-lok? Looking for a way to do this to avoid leaking. I am trying to extract DNA from the filter, without removing the filter from the capsule. I have tried parafilm and leaking has still been occurring. I also need to be able to open it again to push out the lysate. Thank you,

In the culture of plants via artificial light I have read in a book on indoor gardening that the day length is not what controls plant growth and flowering but the length of darkness associated with the day is what triggers plant growth. This opens up the idea of how long does the darkness have to be and how long can the day length be and not affect the growth, maturity, and fruiting of the plants being cultured. 12 to 10 hours of darkness is necessary to trigger the plant growth/flowering/fruiting but would this still work if you used a 12/24 lighting cycle with e day being 24 hours and the night being 12 to 10 hours to trigger fruiting. If this is true, and I…

I am trying to extract Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) and Sea Surface Temperature (SST) data from the CEDA archive for a particular latitude and longtitude. The data available in their archive is a set of files containing data for all locations at any given day. However, the regression model I'm creating requires data at a specific location over time. I have tried to use CEDA's OpenDAP system (https://dap.ceda.ac.uk/thredds/fileServer/?_ga=2.223000155.1535907833.1704667788-1462485551.1703794063), however it returns a 500 Internal Server Error. How can I access this data in this format? I have a CEDA account.

Over the past 20 years while living in American cities like Citrus Heights, California, Boise, Idaho and Lawton/Fort Sill, Oklahoma, I have noticed a disturbing amount of trash covering residential streets, residential front yards, highways and parking lots. People pollute this way because they don't care, they are are lazy, they have no appreciation for cleanliness, there are no incentives to control litter and/or there are no consequences for littering. I don't think many parents teach children the value of good stewardship of the land. Litter is much more prevalent in low income areas than in rich communities. Do schools even teach children the value of not littering? …

https://knowablemagazine.org/article/food-environment/2023/climate-change-effect-on-plant-nutrients Atmospheric carbon dioxide is at its highest in human history. That’s probably fine for plants like the grasses the hoppers munch. They can turn that atmospheric carbon into carbohydrates and build more plant — in fact, plant biologists once thought all that extra carbon dioxide would simply mean better crop yields. But experiments in crops exposed to high carbon dioxide levels indicate that many food plants contain less of other nutrients than under carbon dioxide concentrations of the past. Several studies find that plants’ levels of nitrogen, for example, have falle…

https://apnews.com/article/humans-epcoch-anthropocene-climate-change-power-4699002bbc3b60ade715ee94a7b7567d This puts the power of humans in a somewhat similar class with the meteorite that crashed into Earth 66 million years ago, killing off dinosaurs and starting the Cenozoic Era, or what is conversationally known as the age of mammals. But not quite. While that meteorite started a whole new era, the working group is proposing that humans only started a new epoch, which is a much smaller geologic time period. The group aims to determine a specific start date of the Anthropocene by measuring plutonium levels at the bottom of Crawford Lake. The idea of the …

Hey all, I was wondering if anyone here knew who actually protects our coasts in the UK? And how they do this? I've been interested in doing a degree but am unsure. Do we even have people who look after or monitor our coastlines? I live in South West England.