Ecology and the Environment

Hello fellow 'forumites' of Science Forums! I've encountered a little biology question which I've failed to obtain information from Google so please kindly enlighten me. So... the thing is that I would like to know the relationship between a water body (rivers, lakes, reservoirs etc) and the trees growing near it. I've captured an image, primarily for the assignment I'm working on, but I can show a similar one which I've found using Google Image. Source: http://www.a2jlp.co..../capontree.html I suppose that the vegetation around the lake depend on the lake for water and there is actually an ecological cycle involved which I am still seeking an explan…

I need to study the measurement of population size of density. However, I can't find information on this that is understandable. Has anyone got any ideas?

Hey there. What do you guys think about the Nature article saying we may have overestimated current extinction rates by as much as 160%? Has it been overblown? http://theconversati...ates-paper-2030 Hey there. What do you guys think about the Nature article saying we may have overestimated current extinction rates by as much as 160%? Has it been overblown? http://theconversati...ates-paper-2030

sir do u tell me wt happened if we cut the bark of tree in detail. how ?and why? and duration? each in detail .thanks

So I'm writing my research proposal for my undergrad research class and I just was wondering if anyone had any input? There is data in this rough draft that hasn't been cited yet fyi, and this is a very rough draft. Just wondering if anyone had any ideas. Thanks in advance. Abstract: The spatial scale at which most organisms utilize resources in their environment differs significantly among species and is dependent upon their body mass, food habitats, proximity to resources, dispersal range, habitat type preference, mobility, among many other variables. However, all of these variables are seemingly products of a more basic fundamental concept o…

Dear all, I am a young researcher in Biology from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. I am currently conducting experiments to study human decisions in a social context. These experiments take place on in the Internet in form of games that can be played among volunteers. Each player gets a seed capital from us that he or she can use during the game. Any capital that is left after the game will be payed by us to the player. I am looking for volunteers to participate to this study. Everyone can play, it only takes about one hour of your time and an internet connection. For more information, please visit our website https://games.unil.ch Cheers …

Let's say for the purpose of this question that there is a person who regularly urinates on the same 100 lbs of plant soil day after day . Would a point be reached where the different types of bacteria present in the soil just can't cope with the chemicals present ?

Can somebody tell me what the scientific definition of the term 'nitrogen removal' is? It is something in the context of nitrification, ammonia oxidation, etc. I really need this question answered, because my exam is on Saturday and I've already read a half-dozen articles, none of them had an actual "nitrogen removal is defined as..." section, and I'm about ready to kick something. Also, if anyone, and I mean anyone can tell me why there is speculation that marine group I crenarchaeota share similar biogeochemical roles with planctomycetes, I would be even more grateful.

Being American culture is so dependent on mass infrastructure could a way to attack a non green lifestyle be devised by more clever material schemes? Say some polymer was developed, that with minimal energy requirements could be molded to a variety of purposes, and even have greater recycling capability? Now this may sound a bit like plastic, but plastic is hardly green and in terms of simple waste which returns to the earth in a very negative way to the biosphere for instance is hardly a grand solution. I would think though that material science does not have to stop at plastic, which is what I would like to discuss. Could green materials for any purpose such as…

How harmful is nuclear radiation? It depends on the dose received. Tsunami-related Fukushina accident will probably renew debates about nuclear electricity. Such debates should be based on what is known about negative effects of nuclear radiation. Numerical data below should be useful in that context. The effect of penetrating radiation on a person depends on the dose received. The common unit of dose is Sievert (Sv). Smaller doses are expressed in milliseverts (mSv) or microseveret. The old unit of dose, rem, is also used widely (1Sv=100 rem) A dose of 10 Sv will most likely results in death, within a day or two. 5 Sv would is kill about 50% of exposed …

What's the relation between the price of something and its eco-friendliness? If you calculate in the government subsidies (and I count free right to pollution as a subsidy), will the cheapest product be the most eco-friendly? Will very expensive to produce products be bad for the environment?

all those fossil suels have deteriorated the life of this earth. lets make our hands together to support renewable sources like solar nad hydro.

People, I believe that a plant is a plant, and basically the system that plants utilize to grow/propagate/flourish generate the same chemical compounds whether its a cultivated one or wild. BUT, I feel better if a wild one is better for you if ingested. At least, they are native, and dont need pesticides to grow healthy. Also, generate very green leaves vs some lighter green "lettuces", etc. What do yous think? Thanks, Weed eater

I thought you may be interested in Terra Preta Soils and the roll they could play in establishing a sustainable agricultural technology. I feel we should push for this Terra Preta Soils CO2 sequestration strategy as not only a global warming remedy for the first world, but to solve fertilization and transport issues for the third world. This information needs to be shared with all the state programs. The economics look good, and truly great if we had CO2 cap & trade in place: These are processes where you can have your Bio-fuel and fertility too. 'Terra Preta' soils I feel has great possibilities to revolutionize sustainable agriculture into a majo…

I found a spider web next to a wasp nest (see attached jpg). This seems like a potentially epic battle could evolve. I'm curious who people think will win and your reasons.

Is it possible to grow any plant in Mars?

Has anyone got any simple examples of biomimetics? For example, the shape of bird wings influencing the shape of aeroplane wings thanks in advance

So, how does Sulphur trioxide form in the atmosphere and where does it come from? I'm getting confused between Sulphur dioxide and trioxide. Also, what does phyotoxicity mean? What does my text book mean by this "deflocculation and acidification of soils" Thank you in advanced, I'm studying for a test which is later in the year.

How many percent of species have become extinct in the Holocene? Ie, how large is the percentage of species that are extinct now that were still extant before the Holocene began?

Watch this: Then this: Then finally, this: ... and laugh at yourself. Enjoy.

Recently I noticed a line of ants going back and forth across a stretch of bike-road. I decided to take a closer look and saw that the ants made basically no effort to avoid head-on collisions by forming a new lane. They just went in opposite directions bumping into each other and then going around each other. Does it really take so much intelligence to form a new lane to avoid spending your entire trip going against traffic?

I wish i knew how to delete a thread no longer needed.

hello, I am looking to isolate and research the gene for amylase in Bacillus subtilis. I am looking for a good place to find wild bacillus subtilis, It is fairly common but I would like to be as sure as possible before I begin isolating from the environment. Thanks for the help. I don't expect the sample to be pure, I can fix that after, I simply want a good location of where it is for sure. (Demographically too)

hi ! I have been given project on anaerobic digestion of starch industry effluent. Which parameters should be checked before initiating the project? I want to know that what is loading capacity? How it can be measured? How it can help us to make the anaerobic treatment plant? Is there any method to find The amount of Methane Generation Capacity of waste water? please help me out to solve this problem. Thanks.

As i have usually heard it in lecture, viruses are 'obligate intracellular parasites', which depend explicitly on cellular nuclei for reproduction. My understanding is that the reproductive action of a virus requires the destruction of the host cell. This spells doom for single-celled organisms, although not necessarily for large populations of them, such as biofilms, or in our case, as multicellular organisms. However i've always had a little voice of doubt in the back of my mind on this point, I've wondered whether there was any kind of 'benign' virus which was capable of interacting with it's host without being so destructive (and therefore high profile). Usual…